For third consecutive year we headed south a week long adventure in Ocean City, Maryland the week of June 21st to the 28th. This year it was Wesley, Addison, Kate and I, Canaan didn't want to go. We hit the road at 3:15 and just like last year we forgot Wesley's inhaler. This time though, we only were 2.8 miles from the house when we realized our mistake.
We literally made the same exact stops this year as last year. First the TA Travel Center on Ruby Rd in Willington, Connecticut. Next was the Connie Chung travel plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike, except this year I got a Chick-Fil A breakfast sandwich instead of a breakfast burger from Burger King. Finally Royal Farms in Milford, Delaware.
We got to the condo at 2:15pm for an 11 hour trip down, hit some traffic on the Garden State Parkway and of course Delaware State Route 1 south through the beaches to Ocean City. After getting everything was loaded up in the condo we headed to Food Lion for supplies.
We were all pretty beat so we stayed in for the night relaxing and watching The Waltons thanks to the Roku we brought. Wesley and I did head up to the 20th floor to take in the view.
Sunday June 22nd
Today was a chill day and it was fantastic! Kate and I got up early, and after a bit went to Bethany Beach to get bagels at 19dough1. They were pretty darn good, today I also learned from watching the Waltons that bagels are, as they said on the show, a type of Jewish bread.
At 10am we went down to the pool as that is when adults only time ends. We stayed down at the pool for a couple hours, Wesley was in the water the entire time.
After lunch we all went to Seaside County Store in Fenwick Island so Addison could get her favorite fudge. They really do make some fantastic fudge. I even grabbed a photo of them making heath fudge.
After we went to Dumser's Dairyland for hand made cherry cokes and some ice cream. Wesley got two scoops of oreo crunch and the rest of us got various sundaes. I ate too much!!
We stopped at Candy Kitchen to get some candy. They have THE best English toffee square, so friggin good!! Kate found a medium size berry palm pal, so she has all 4 different sizes now. Back at the room we went to the pool again for a couple hours. I think Wesley spent 4 hours in the pool today.
We headed to the Northside Park for their Sundae's in the Park where they have live music, ice cream, and other things set up. The musical act tonight was Josh Christina & The Revivals. He plays the piano and his act is a tribute to the piano men, Elton John, Billy Joel, and Jerry Lee Lewis. They were pretty darn good and sprinkled in some original songs as well.
After the concert they had fireworks. it was one of the best views I've ever had for a fireworks display, and they put on a good show.
It was a fun day and a great relaxing day.
Monday June 23rd
Wesley and I went on an adventure together to see Digger's Dungeon in Poplar Branch, North Carolina. I wrote a separate blog post that you can check out here: Digger's Dungeon Adventure
In Virginia on Interstate 64 they had a speed lane that was divided on the highway by white markers and it cost money to drive in that lane via ezpass and the speed limit was higher.
Kate and Addison and a fantastic day together as well, they hit the pool multiple times, door dashed some lunch from the Bull On The Beach and watched the movie Blue Crush, as Addison wanted to watch a beach movie.
Wesley and I got back to the condo with the Chick-Fil-A, after dinner we headed down to the pool for a dip spending over an hour down there. When we got back from the pool I had one of the peaches and it was fantastic!! Wesley and I headed to the 20th floor to watch the sunset.
Addison took a late night walk on the beach to look for shell. It was getting late so I went down to check on her, found her very easily. It was a gorgeous evening and she found a few nice shells.
It was a great day for everyone, a very long day for myself.
Tuesday June 24th - My 46th Birthday
Today was a scorcher of a day!! High was mid 90's and the head index was 111 degrees, shockingly it was hotter back in Maine!
Today we went to Assateague Island in hopes of seeing some wild ponies, Kate just loves them. We were concerned the heat would keep the ponies in the shade, but right over the bridge there was a momma and her foal and another group just up from them. We went to the Life of the Forest Nature Trail first, we didn't see any ponies and it was blistering hot in the sun.
We drove through the old ferry landing and saw a couple in the distance, it was too hot so we didn't get out. However, we could see some over at the Life of the Marsh Nature Trail. We drove over to that parking area and the kids decided sitting in the van was just fine with them.
Kate and I did the walk around and saw 4 ponies, Kate recognized them from last year and even pulled up a photo of a foal that was now a yearling on her phone. It was the first time she'd recognized ponies from one year to the next.
On the way in at the visitors center we bought a poster print of Assateague Island that was produced by Retro Ranger Graphics. We have others by them or in a similar style and they look great in the living room.
We headed over to the boardwalk next. We all got some Kohr Bros frozen custard, I usually get Dumser's as I prefer hard serve ice cream so it was my first Kohr Bros and I'm a convert! It was darn good!
We then played gamed it up at Marty's Playland, I got some pinball action in and Addison got hooked in on a token drop game that Kate got to playing as well. I played a few rounds myself, I can see how it they got sucked in. Wesley has a good time as well.
After Marty's, Addison, Wesley, and I went to Ripley's Odditorium. It was my third time through, Addison and Wesley's first run at this one. It's deceptively large and we had a good time running through.
.jpg)
We got some Thrashers fries before heading back to the condo for some pool action. Everyone was hungry early so Kate went and got us Lombardi's pizza which is always good.
Wesley and I decided to head out and go to the Delmarva Shorebirds game. The stadium us only half an hour away and we had a great time last year. This year they took on the Carolina Mudcats in a one sided game that saw the Shorebirds win 13-6. Going into the top of the 9th the bird were up 13-1 but they pitcher they put in wasn't doing the best and gave up 5 runs before being replaced for the final out.
Wesley got a new hat, grabbed a photo with Sherman the mascot and even managed to secure a toss up from the bullpen. It was still very hot at game time, thankfully the stands were in the shade. We got back to the room about 11pm.
Last years post about the game as some history of the team if your interested in reading about it: Shorebird vs. The Cannon Ballers
Wednesday June 25th
Another hot one today! We headed north to Delaware and Cape Henlopen State Park to visit the Seaside Nature Center. Addison loves her an aquarium and this is the closest thing to one they have in the area. They have a large touch tank and a few tanks with local fish in them. It's very nice considering it's included with the $10 per vehicle State park fee. That's for out of state plates, Delaware plates are only $5.
We headed down to the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk after for lunch at Grotto Pizza. I dropped the family off near Grotto and went hunting for a parking spot. I got lucky and found one right in the shade under a tree in front of Gidget's Gadgets.
Pizza was terrific, the birch beer really hit home today!! Addison took her leave and went heading to the shops, she really likes the ones in this area a lot. We went down to Zelky's Beach Arcade where Kate and I each won a palm pal from a crane game.
I picked up some long taffy for Canaan and we got Kohr Bros again, I got strawberry banana twist and it was superb. We hit a few shops, Addison got a bunch of Smiski's at the shop Fun For All! as they are sold out everywhere and she can't find them. She was very excited locate them and had an opening party back at the condo.
We finished up at Rehoboth beach and headed back to the condo. Kate has found a dress at Torrid a few months ago and put it in her cart but didn't buy it. That ended up being a good decisions as it went on clearance sale, then reduced again, and with some Torrid cash she paid $12 for it! They had it at the Torrid store in Ocean City at the Ocean Gateway, so we dropped the kids off at the condo and headed down to pick it up.
After getting her new fancy dress, we headed to the boardwalk to get some Thrasher fries and I wanted to ride Trimper's Haunted House ride, I love that ride. It was closed the other day when we were at the boardwalk and as it was open why not.
It was the first time I ever rode on it alone and it actually made it a bit creepier because of it. Both of the costumed actors jumped me during the ride, which made it more fun.
We had a very refreshing dip in the pool before calling it a night.
Thursday June 26th
The heat finally let up, however we had rain to deal with in the afternoon. Kate made us big breakfast of eggs and sausage with toast. We went down to the pool when it opened and enjoyed a couple hours of swimming, and I did some reading.
Went back to the room for lunch and that when the rain started, some passing thunderstorms as well. I was able to work on this blog post and finish season 8 of the Waltons. We left the room and headed to dinner at an Italian place that Kate has been following on Instagram, Cheese Wheel Pasta Ocean City.
They make homemade pasta daily, and they put the cooked pasta in a cheese wheel and it's AMAZING!
Wesley got spaghetti and meatballs, Addison, Kate, and I got the cheese wheel fettuccini, I added sausage, Kate added chicken, and Addison didn't add anything.
I would absolutely go back! The owner / chef was very nice and the wait staff was excellent. They have a take out location on the boardwalk as well.
We went to the boardwalk after to go back to Marty's Playland, it was to be the final cash in but Wesley for got his ticket slips so we will be going back on Friday. Wesley killed it on Skeeball.
Addison went on Trimper's Haunted House ride with me. She was scared twice by "Michael Myers" and screamed both times. I just love this ride! Wesley took a video of us riding on the second level that goes outside.
Before leaving the boardwalk we got Kohr Bros again. I got mint / chocolate twist this time. I dropped everyone off at the condo and went to Candy Kitchen as I wanted some English Toffee pieces. They are the best I've had!
Friday June 27th - Our 12th Anniversary
Are last day at the condo and the high today is an overcast 75 degrees. Kate and I went to Barn 34 for our Anniversary breakfast. We usually go to Bayside Skillet but this was another place that Kate has been following on Instagram and wanted to check out.
They opened at 8am and we got there at about 10 minutes of and they were already seating people so we went in. Good thing we got their early because by 5 after there was a wait. The breakfast was very good, Kate got the Fried Green Tomatoes Benedict with poached eggs and I got the classic breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I got grits as well so we could both try them...not for me. Kate enjoyed it but next year we will return to Bayside.
Back at the room we began picking up for our departure, however we still had a couple fun things to do. Addison still had a couple gifts that she wanted to pick up for friends. As we headed back to the boardwalk for the kids to cash in their tickets we stopped at Sunsations. They have these all over the beaches areas.
At the boardwalk the kids redeemed their tickets and we all got one more Kohr Bros. We drove to Fenwick Island, Delaware so Addison could get more of her favorite fudge. We then played minigolf at the pirate ship course that Addison picked out. She had asked on the way down to Ocean City if we could play mini-golf.
From the roadway so many of the courses look very flashy, this one does not, however it was one of the best and most fun I have ever played. So many unique holes on the course.
We headed back to the room to pack up and clean up. We normally leave at like 3am, but decided to flip it and head out in the evening and drive through the night. We stopped in Rehoboth Beach because Addison wanted to get more smiskis at Fun For All, however they only had one left, which she bought. She had been saying they were hard to find, and they fact they sold over 200 in the two days since we were last there is a testament. Kate got a sweatshirt at the T-Shift Factory that they pressed right there for us.
We got Chick-Fil-A and fueled up Vanatu at WAWA heading north about 6pm. We didn't hit any real traffic until the New Jersey Turnpike, it was a bit annoying but we got through. The Garden State Parkway had a small hiccup as well, however after we cleared that it was smooth sailing all the way home.
We made out normal stops at the Whitney Houston plaza on the Garden State Parkway and TA on Ruby Rd in Connecticut. Made a couple extra stops for bathroom breaks but made it home in good time at 4:45am.
Another successful Ocean City vacation, it was a fantastic week, we had some absurdly hot weather, but made the best of it with pool time everyday and trying to stay in the AC.
Total miles driven: 1902.0
No comments:
Post a Comment