OC 2008 - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Good info flagger. Im heading down on Aug 16 and Im looking forward to the trip.
Something I've been hearing though (which kinda goes with people not spending much while down at the beach).....As we all know, many of the merchants, restaurants, etc. have been hiring many, many Russian and Eastern European students during recent years. I heard that, this year, many businesses have had to let many of them go.
Has anyone noticed a decline in the amount of foriegn workers in OC this year?
My husband and I just got back from our annual trip July 16th to the 21st. We had a great time. We did notice that the crowds were down from last year, beach wasn't crowded until Saturday. Boardwalk was the usual families during the week, more youngin's on the weekend. No trouble though and not much of a police presence. Saw the usual packs of kids, scantily clad females, a few drunks but no one causing problems. We always have fun people watching on the boardwalk at 1am while enjoying a funnel cake from the North Pole stand. Weather was great, hot but there was a breeze during the day and it was cool at night and no rain the entire time. Water was clear and cool but a little rough due to the storms off shore. Food was great as usual, our favorite band was playing at the Moose and we checked out the Bearded Clam for the first time and had a great time. Didn't really notice a difference from last year with the amount of Eastern Europeans working down there but the ones we've always encountered have been nice and only had one problem in the Dough Roller when I asked for grated cheese when our pizza was delivered. I got a nod and a smile and no cheese. Had to get up and get it from a different table. Had fun watching the "newbies" My husband went for Thrasher's Fries one afternoon and had to laugh when one guy asked the inevitable question, "do you have any ketchup"? When the kid just pointed to the sign, he said, "you don't have ketchup? Where am I supposed to get ketchup"?? The kid said to him, "try Dunkin' Donuts"! LOL Then another day, a guy and his wife walk up to the stand and say, "Is this all you have, is fries?" Then there was a family complaining because they were told at the Brass Balls that there would be a 15-20 minute wait regardless of whether or not they wanted to sit outside. Then got mad when a group of 8 people before them got seated and took up 2 tables outside. What do they expect on the Boardwalk in July on a Saturday at 8pm? Enjoyed our Fractured Prune donuts and coffee for breakfast on our way out yesterday, Moo Gobbler sandwiches from The Bull on the Beach on the ferry home and our cup of Fisher's popcorn on the ride home on the parkway..can't wait to go back next year!:):)
The Good: Just being there with the smells, sites and sounds (and of course, the tastes). Camping at Assateague was great but the mosquito population was high most evenings. Good swimming but rough seas caused many rescues even in our camping loop. We heard that OC had over 800 rescues last weekend due to currents. At Assateague, it was mostly stupid people venturing out too far who didn't heed the ranger's warnings.
Assateague Crab House was excellent. Ate dinner at Shenanigans two times and both were great. Service was best by the server who didn’t institute the mandatory tipping, what a surprise. She was tipped quite well for her efforts, mandatory guy got his mandatory tip, nothing more. Dough Roller about the same, good service, pizza OK. Trimpers was great. They have a wonderful group of employees, very professional and courteous. A fine testament to what makes Trimpers such a fine place to frequent. Good fries at Thrashers and of course, Polish water ice.
The Bad and Ugly: Jolly Rogers got my last dime. We let the kids ride the Ferris Wheel on the pier. The girl in the ticket booth was just plain miserable, the ride operators weren’t much better. We did the haunted house on the pier too, all I can say is “Lameâ€.
Rude people everywhere. Even the merchants we spoke with were complaining about how rude people were this year. It seemed to us that the two legged garbage was more rampant on the boardwalk than in previous years. Lots of foul mouthed teenagers and more drunks than normal. I lost count of how many times people cut lines ahead of us during our 4 trips to the boardwalk. It was funny watching this stuck-up yuppie woman argue with the guy at Thrashers though. Her vinegar was leaking and she needed a new bucket. He couldn’t accommodate her due to inventory. She insisted in her own snobby way that her bucket had a hole in it, he shot back “No Hole, you don’t have a holeâ€. The only that would have made it perfect is if he shouted back, “No Fries for Youâ€. Her husband finally pulled her away. We got a good laugh on it.
IN Summary: The Merchants we spoke with all agreed that crowds were good but nobody was spending. Everyone said sales were way down.