Happy Halloween! Earlier this week, I wrote a story on dark ride enthusiast Brandon Seidl, who knows pretty much everything about Trimper’s Haunted House. Seidl also has a vast collection of photos related to everything OCHH. In the spirit of Halloween and celebrating the spookiness (and occasionally gloriously cheesiness) of the holiday, here are a few behind-the-scenes photos that Seidl has taken or acquired over the years. More can be found on his website and Facebook.
(If you’d rather not have the illusion spoiled, don’t read on! Some photos are of the ride with the lights on.)
Up close and personal with Count Wolf Von Vinderstein (he may look old, but he was added to the lobby in 1995).After Wolfstein, the Attic Rat–who’s barely changed in appearance or location for over 50 years–is the official greeter of OCHH.Ever look closely when driving through the mine shaft? These miners have been down there awhile.Anyone who’s been in the Haunted House knows this damsel in distress. The Sawmill stunt has gone through a few paint jobs over the decades, but it’s original to the 1964 haunted house.Another tragic female character of the original haunted house, this poor woman resides in the Torture Chamber. The photo on the right is from the catalog she was purchased from and shows how she would have looked in the ’60s. (She’s been tied up for over 50 years but at least someone was nice enough to modernize her hairstyle.) Another OC local ends up on the cutting board.The Knit Wit, up close (not pictured are her hands, knitting with a spider tangled in the yarn)Anddd her back is turned again.The man in the electric chair once greeted you as you exited the Upside Down Room.It’s not every day that you see the Upside Down room right side-up.(There’s not really a train coming at you.)The upstairs bat.A few years after the Haunted House opened in 1964. It wasn’t until 1989 that the second floor was added.Seeing the ride’s interior with the lights on might ruin the illusion, but sometimes it just illuminates how truly creepy some of the old stunts are. Happy holidays!
Front Row (l – r) Anna Jonske, ‘Mike’ England, Maureen Kirkland, Nancy Howard; Center Row (l – r) Linda Welsh, Linda McCready, Karen DeFonzo, Jackie Denhardt, Denise Pugh, Rosie Bird; Back Row (l – r) Joyce Fensterer, ‘Mike’ Kroener, Sylvie Doyle, Margie Geisler, Anne Giannelli
Loving Hands celebrates 12 years of service to the community. These ladies from Maryland and Delaware meet weekly at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church to knit and crochet items for those less fortunate. During the 12 years the ladies have made baby clothes and items for Worcester County GOLD and items for seniors, veterans and others in need distributed through Atlantic General Hospital and Coastal Hospice.
The Art League of Ocean City, located in the Ocean City Center for the Arts on 94th street bayside, is one of Ocean City’s hidden jems. The art center’s five galleries display new exhibits of regional and local artists which rotate monthly, so whenever you stop in, you can expect to see something different and exciting.
Exhibits kick off with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. on the first Friday of each month. The receptions, as with all of the Art League’s activities, are open to the public.
Here’s what you’ll find when you take a look around the galleries this November.
“Reimagined” Theme Group Show
Thaler Gallery—One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This month the Art League brings that phrase to life with a “reimagined” group show in the Thaler Gallery, inspired by an effort to clean our beaches and use art as a way to solve problems creatively and improve the world around us. All artwork on display will have been created in part or totally with reclaimed, recycled and/or repurposed materials.
The exhibit will include a moveable but permanent art installation comprised of trash gathered from Assateague and Ocean City’s beaches, created collaboratively by The Art League of Ocean City, Alex Otterstein and other local artists. The goal of the exhibit, which will be officially unveiled at the Art League’s First Friday opening reception, is to raise public awareness about beach trash via a visually impactful art installation.
Kathy Gibson, “A Caregiving Journey”
Galleria—In the Galleria will be work of artist Kathy Gibson’s from “A Caregiving Journey: Through the Eyes of Huntington’s.” Gibson’s journey as a painter began over a decade ago as she sought to shed light on her role as caregiver, as her father, brother and sister all suffered from Huntington’s Disease. She says in her statement on “A Caregiving Journey,”
As my sister’s sole caregiver, I cared for her from the moment she moved into our home with my husband and I in 1997, until her death in 2014. I did everything possible to give voice to her story but when she was gone, my story was the one that was left, my legacy.I have been channeling my story into the only voice I know – painting. Since my sister’s death, I have been creating a visual dialogue of our journey together, tapping into those deep, intense moments when we stood together trying to battle this monster – Huntington’s Disease. My series of paintings pays tribute to my family’s journey and to all of those who have suffered through Huntington’s Disease.
While Gibson’s paintings will not be for sale, prints of her artwork will be available for purchase at the Art League. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these prints will be donated to The Huntington’s Society of America in support of caregiving programs.
“Family: Who Cares, Who Gives” by Kathy Gibson
Barbara Siskind
Spotlight Gallery—In the Spotlight Gallery will be photography by Barbara Siskind, a lifelong Maryland resident with a primary residence in Columbia, MD and a vacation home in Ocean City. In 2011, Siskind retired from a 35-year career in pediatrics and has since had more time to devote to family, travel and photography. Siskind’s artist statement is as follows:
Having enjoyed film photography for over 50 years, I reluctantly switched to digital photography in 2008. This has allowed me unimaginable freedom to grow artistically, spiritually and professionally. I find joy in trying to capture a unique scene: a painterly and peaceful moment, an energetic split second, a sharp detail or a semi -abstraction of the seemingly ordinary. The words of Wendell Berry’s poem, “The Peace of Wild Things”, embody the feelings I experience when pursuing my nature oriented works. It is my desire to create photographic images which are engaging and are capable of generating emotional experiences for the viewer.
Eva Fox, Rina Thaler, Chelsea Thaler, “From Realism to Abstraction”
Studio E— “From Realism to Abstraction” reflects the generational differences in artistic approach, from a family with three generations of artists. Eva loves to paint people and thinks of her paintings as storytelling. Rina’s work ranges from traditional watercolors and acrylics to more complex collage and mixed media painting. Chelsea works from an abstract perspective, often incorporating elements of pop art into her work.
Eva
Eva Fox has been painting for over 80 years. She received her early training at the Educational Alliance on the Lower East Side of New York in the 1930’s and 40’s, developing a love for painting figure which still intrigue her at the age of 89. Her love of art was passed down to her son Richard and daughter Rina who are both working artists.
By Eva Fox
Rina
Rina has always been fascinated by color. Her mother Eva taught oil painting to the neighborhood kids and she was an eager pupil, but never considered it as a career. It wasn’t until she was an adult that she started studying watercolors. Her work has evolved over the years to incorporate mixed media, collage and acrylics. She paints in a vibrant expressive yet somewhat representational manner. Her favorite subjects are landscapes, abstracts and florals.
Rina is the Executive Director of the Art League of Ocean City and serves on the Ocean City Arts Advisory Board. She is also a partner artist at Gallery One on Rt 26 in Ocean View Delaware, a cooperative art gallery.
By Rina Thaler
Chelsea
Chelsea Thaler graduated with a degree in theater from American University in Washington DC. She is an actor, director, artist and yoga teacher currently based out of Washington DC.
By Chelsea Thaler
Debbi Dean-Colley
Artisan Showcase—In the Artisan Showcase this November is the work of Debbi Dean-Colley, a Mom, artist and instructor who creates art (and messes) in her Berlin home. She knows the power of creativity, and that the gift of being able to make art brings people back to the center of their innate creativity and helps them live more authentically in the world. She loves learning for learning’s sake and sharing what she knows with others.
Dean-Colley attended Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and loves painting surfaces while building up texture in her work in unconventional ways. Her art medium at the time was pottery, wheel throwing, jewelry making and metal work. This was the start of her creative movement, which has since evolved into the mixed media world. Largely self-taught, she loves experimenting and working with different mediums. She was employed as an Art Educator Assistant at a Montessori school located in Stuart, Florida and she continues to teach mixed media classes as an educator at the Art League of Ocean City, Zenna Wellness Studio and Urban Nectar in Berlin. The majority of her classes are considered art therapy, with a continuation of series at the Art League of Ocean City titled “Seek the Soul” workshops. In her workshops, she strives to create experiences and art that encourage connection, validate emotion and nourish the sou
The Jolly Roger ferris wheel is a staple of the Ocean City boardwalk. When you look down toward the Inlet from the northern end of the beach or boardwalk, you expect to see it there as much as you expect to see the two poles of the Slingshot or the Looping Star roller coaster that’s normally right next to it.
But sometimes, in the off season, instead of seeing this…
(AKA the usual rides and a clear blue sky)
You see this.
Only the Slingshot and the coaster–with a cloudy autumn sky to boot.
As you might have guessed, the 116 foot Giant Ferris Wheel is down for maintenance.
“It needed some refurbishment and some general maintenance, probably needs a coat of paint and new lights but it’ll be back in the same spot with the same great views,” said Dean Langrall, Jolly Roger’s Director of Sales. “Certainly we’ll have it back up by the time the weather’s good in the spring.”
There might be a big, empty spot on the pier now, but you can bet that the ferris wheel will be back up by the time Jolly Roger opens for the 2018 season on Easter weekend (which, thankfully, is early this year, at the tail end of March and the start of April).
Jolly Roger will be open on weekends from Easter until Springfest, after which they will return to their seasonal hours. Then you can ride the freshly-painted ferris wheel as many times as your heart desires.
The Trimper’s Haunted House at the south end of the Boardwalk is as iconic as the teeth-barring bat that adorns the ride’s second story.
For over five decades, kids and adults alike have fallen in love with the Ocean City Haunted House (OCHH)’s neon-painted walls, kitschy stunts and decapitated Count Wolf Von Vinderstein who guards the ride’s entry. Brandon Seidl was one of those kids who looked forward to riding through the Haunted House every summer. But his love for the ride developed into a lifelong passion.
(Unfortunately, Seidl and his wife did not marry on the Haunted House roof.)
Seidl’s passion inspired a book, “Trimper’s Rides,” where he wrote the section on OCHH. It also inspired OCHH.net, a virtual encyclopedia for all things related to the Haunted House (the site celebrated its 10-year anniversary last month), and when the widely-accepted history of the Haunted House stated that the ride was built in 1962, Seidl’s research proved it to have been built in ’64. As a kid, he built a walk-through model of the haunted house in his backyard. When he got married, his wedding cake depicted–you guessed it–the Haunted House, and photos of his wedding party were taken inside the ride. (More on that here.)
Today, Seidl says that taking care of his family has taken priority “in contrast to a time when all I had to worry about was when the HH was going to break down next.” However, he still keeps up with the ride’s progress, which he documents on Facebook, and keeps in touch with the friends he’s made at the park.
“I’m excited to take my children on the ride some day and can only hope they’re as amazed as I was,” he said.
The following is a Q&A with Seidl about his passion for OCHH, the ride’s designer Bill Tracy and other Trimper’s rides throughout the years.
What initially sparked your passion for the Haunted House?
As a Marylander, I spent ample time in Ocean City vacationing during the summer with my family when I was young. As with most families, certain things became traditions, and it was no different for us. I was always drawn to iconic things that made places visually unique, like the giant “Tony” statue on top of the entrance of “Tony’s Pizza,” the giant green dome on top of Plim Plaza, the Giant Bull in front of what was then Captain Bob’s, and of course, the giant bat on the facade of Trimper’s Haunted House.
I was fortunate enough to first ride Trimper’s Haunted House when I was about four, and I have very faint memories of the ride as a one-story attraction before it was expanded to two stories in the winter of ’88-89. It wasn’t until elementary school when I realized that Trimper’s Haunted House, and the entire amusement park, was beginning to grow more and more special to me with every year that passed. By middle school I very much looked forward to spending my free time exploring around the park, and in particular Trimper’s Haunted House.
At first, the mere grandeur of the ride and the feeling it gave me struck the biggest nerve, but it wasn’t until later in middle school when I started making friends with some Trimper family members and employees of the park that I became interested in the operation of the ride from a technical standpoint. I started growing curious about how the cars worked, how they were worked on, the motors that made the effects inside operate. From there, I also grew curious about select other rides in the park in terms of how they were set up, taken down and maintained, but since Trimper’s Haunted House was a permanent feature of the OC boardwalk, it drew me in the most.
In all, I’d say my interest in the ride initially was a pretty even split between the actual ride experience (what was inside, the effects, the illusions) and how the ride operated. Today, my interest remains but is a nice combination of the two and I think my website, which I started in September 2007, reflects that.
When did you start documenting OCHH?
By late middle school, I found myself beginning to document the ride in its entirety, not really sure at the time what I was going to do with the information. But it was important to me. I took pictures with disposable cameras I would buy on the boardwalk. I used my dad’s video camera to take video in and around the ride, and I took notes about what I learned. A few folks I met at the time, Clifford Hudson (the HH manager until 1999) Scott Hudson (current manager, son of Clifford) and Chris Trimper (grandson of the late Granville Trimper and current manager of Marty’s Playland) were instrumental in teaching me about the ride and putting up with my childish annoyances. I’m still very close with Scott and Chris to this day, along with select other Trimper family members and Trimper employees. Little did I know at the time that I’d be able to start friendships with people who today I’ve known well over 20 years. It’s a really great family full of really awesome, hardworking people that work together to make the operation possible each and every summer.
This scale model in Seidl’s OCHH collection was created by a dollhouse designer in Gettysburg, PA. He also has original ride drawings in his office, handmade props from the ’60s, letters by Tracy and more (see the picture at the bottom).
When you were younger, you had an entire model of the Haunted House in your backyard. How’d that come about?
In middle school I took my passion to the next level and my grandfather, dad and I built a miniature Trimper’s Amusement Park in my parents’ backyard (thanks mom and dad!) complete with a walk-thru version of the Haunted House and multiple carnival games. Kids from around the neighborhood would come play the games, walk through the Haunted House and get a class of lemonade. When I was in 7th grade, Chris Trimper recorded the Haunted House interior sound for me, and a longtime Trimper employee named Dan Lewis recorded the HH lobby music for me. So it very much felt like you were at Trimper’s when you were in my backyard. It was a ton of fun and I learned a lot from my dad and grandfather. My own mini amusement park, which I called “Zoomer Amusements” at the time, was in the backyard from 1996-2002. I didn’t use it much in high school and tore it all down one Saturday afternoon. I was happy to give my parents their patio back, and I’m sure they were just as thrilled!
When I graduated high school in 2002, I went to live in OC and worked at Trimper’s for most of the summer. Along with the HH, I operated rides like the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Avalanche and the Sling Shot. But working that up-close and personal with the HH that summer really allowed me to satisfy many of my curiosities about the ride and how it operated. To be honest, most days were downright tiring, between the ride breaking down, etc. But it was fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
The mini Haunted House, in Seidl’s old backyard.
You’re also really interested in dark ride designer Bill Tracy, who created the Haunted House in 1964. When did that start?
I didn’t really know who Bill Tracy was until high school. I always heard that “Tracy built the ride,” but I didn’t have a clue who he was or the extent of his role. By college I had become more aware of Bill Tracy and his work, not only in Ocean City at Trimper’s, but at other select locations around the country, too. I remember finding it interesting to look at photos of other dark rides he had built and comparing them to his Trimper designs. It wasn’t until 2008 when I co-founded The Bill Tracy Project that my curiosity about Tracy, echoed by my website partner Wayne Bahur of Pittsburgh, PA, took a huge turn. We began uncovering many details about Tracy’s personal and professional life, and were floored to learn that he and his companies were responsible for over 80 known projects around the world, the two rides at Trimper’s (the Haunted House and the Pirates Cove fun house) being only a small fraction.
It turns out that Tracy was a pretty interesting character who at the time was a true innovator in the industry. After we learned about how he lived his life and conducted his business, it became clear that a lot of his feelings were translated into his work, whether it be the design of a ride front, a stunt or an illusion inside the ride. Bill Tracy wasn’t just a businessman, he was an artist. And, as with any artist, his expression was, and still is, evident in a lot of his dark ride and fun house work.
Today, we’ve pretty much taken a break with the Bill Tracy Project because we feel we’ve exhausted a lot of the avenues. There just comes a time when you have to put your hands up and be thankful for what you’ve learned. But for all that we’ve published on our project’s website, I know there’s still a ton to learn out there. Fans will send a rare photo every now and then and it’s fun to meet other people who know who the illusive Bill Tracy is and respect his contributions to the amusement industry.
Is there anything specific about the Haunted House that you’d want OCHH riders of today to know?
Trimper’s Haunted House is one of only eight surviving Bill Tracy attractions left in the world. As the ride enters in to its 54th year it’s important not to lose sight of what’s involved with maintaining a ride of this magnitude and keeping it relevant not only for fans who enjoy the papier-mâché and blacklight stunts of yesteryear, but the more modern, scary stunts of today. The care of such a titanic ride with so many moving parts paired with the ongoing maintenance of the rest of the park is what I find interesting today in my older age.
‘Til death do us part: this coffin carriage is one of many pieces of OCHH memorabilia in Seidl’s personal collection.
*Trimper’s Haunted House is open on select weekends off-season. For exact hours of operation, contact Trimper’s Rides at 410-289-8617.
When thinking of real estate, everyone is familiar with primary houses. A primary house is the one property you call home, whether it is a townhouse, condo, apartment, single house, boat or RV. However, there are other types of homes that primary homeowners have invested in, such as secondary homes or vacation homes. This is especially true of couples over 50 with an eye towards eventual retirement.
This writer owns one such property in Rincon, Puerto Rico. Rincon was a beautiful, quiet, peaceful and lush paradise that I looked forward to every winter. That was before Hurricane Maria hit with full force, stripping leaves away, bringing down trees, utility poles, homes and historical buildings alike. Imagine an island in the middle of the Caribbean without power, water, food or sewage!
It has been five weeks tomorrow since a ferocious Maria slammed Puerto Rico straight on, as a category 4 hurricane. In those five weeks, the improvement has been astonishing. While the military does bring a 500 gallon tanker truck with water once a week to Aguadilla, overall, their efforts aren’t as notable as the work accomplished by the citizens themselves. At least that is true in Rincon. However, the supplies are slowly being distributed, so perhaps that is due to the efforts of the military in the San Juan area.
Picking up the pieces
The damage from Maria was daunting, to say the least, however the resilience of the people was far more impressive than the storm. For those unfamiliar with the area, Rincon is a small fishing village on the North Western Coast of Puerto Rico. While those who live in larger cities may not have experienced the same reaction to the storm that we observed, we can’t help but think the situations must have been somewhat similar. When the storm hit, the power grid was destroyed. Food in everyone’s freezers began to thaw, so the people just started cooking on grills in their yards. Handmade signs went up declaring “free food” to welcome anyone who was hungry and encourage them to come and eat. Free Food signs became a part of the new scenery for our area.
Ocean City resident recounts his Hurricane Maria experience on the Island of Dominica
Although favorite restaurants and bars were closed down, the local liquor store owner posted a “free internet” sign and started to share his internet service. Internet service is very scarce, so even though his internet didn’t work well, it was still a (shaky) link to the outside world. The store owner then began serving drinks, thereby taking up the slack for the local gathering places that were still closed down. Food was being cooked on a grill next door. Children were running around, grownups hugging and visiting with their neighbors and friends, right in the parking lot of Bonnet Liquors!
The local gas station on Route 115 has a natural spring running behind the store front, the owner was offering water for those in need. People were on hand to help their neighbors, to bring food and water to those that lost their vehicle or means of transportation. Everyone shares whatever they have.
Coffee could be found at the bakery once their generator was up and running, providing the ability to open their store, After their reopening, there were people waiting in line every morning, chatting and laughing. It was the new (social) morning ritual. You would think they were standing in the line by their own choice rather than due to a storm ravaged town!
Light through the storm clouds
Further, although the local grocer doesn’t have fresh meats, fruits or vegetables in his refrigerated cases, he is still open to the public. He makes fresh oatmeal every day in his deli and whatever else he is able to prepare to help sustain his neighbors and friends. On his shelves there are whatever can goods, or food products he is able to obtain through shipments.
Along the roadways the fallen trees have been cleared, and much of the debris is slowly being removed. Additionally, stores are starting to open here and there. Building materials are more available. Things are shifting towards normalcy once more and the people sway with the times. Always smiling, always polite and always ready to lend a helping hand.
The people of Rincon teasingly compare their present circumstances to “camping out.” No complaints bemoaning their fate. They accepted that they were unable to enjoy a hot shower, or any shower for that matter, or that they could not flip on a light at night. There was no power, no television, or air conditioning in 90 degree heat. None of that mattered. They were among family and friends. These people were genuinely happy! They are going to continue to laugh, hug, love and keep on with their lives in gratitude, regardless of whatever hand they are dealt.
Rincon locals don’t mind if they were now standing in a parking lot rather than sitting in a nice restaurant! They are actually grateful they are alive, grateful for everything that survived the storm. Nothing is going to keep them from enjoying their lives. They are a deeply giving, and happy, people. They make one feel honored and humbled to walk among them. Selfishness seems to fade in their presence. Almost as a testament to the steadfast nature and goodness of the local people, the land is already green again with the promise of blooms soon to come.
Coming back after Maria
As an aside, what are the chances that two people (from the same family) who are in the direct path of two separate, dangerous and destructive storms, could escape both hurricanes without damage? The answer is: Zero.
Nevertheless, my daughter’s home, her sail boat in the Florida Keys, suffered only minor damage from Hurricane Irma, for which I am extremely grateful. Unfortunately, my home (Villa Panorama) in Puerto Rico was not as lucky with Maria. The roof to our shed was lost. The shed holds our cistern (for fresh water). The top floor wall (on the gable end) pushed outward and allowed extensive water infiltration into the mid level. All three sets of mahogany French doors towards the Caribbean were shattered and splintered. Once the doors blew in, more water was allowed to flood the bottom floor. There are broken windows. Furniture was destroyed, and my oven has two inches of water in the bottom, etc. etc.
However…. we carry homeowners insurance. Anything material can be replaced. I am extremely grateful that the majority of the people of Rincon are safe, happy and smiling. That image will carry me through.
Summer has been winding down for months and as we approach November, Joe White still is keeping busy serving crowds at the Shrimp Boat. Traditionally there have been peaks and valleys in Ocean City, with insanely busy summers followed by deadish falls and winter doldrums, but that hasn’t been White’s experience in recent years. He opens every weekend in the fall, and often is open through the week well past the days he traditionally would have been. More recently, he has expanded the Shrimp Boat’s business by completing the dining area and making a play for both the local dinner and lunch crowd. He has added a significant craft beer selection and, most important, has secured an air-tight supply chain that’s going to allow the Shrimp Boat to (technically) stay open all year.
A big part of the decision was the fact that the fall really has picked up in Ocean City with events nearly every weekend through Thanksgiving. It is a lot busier than it ever has been in October and November.
“There are all these events throughout the fall,” he said. “When I was a kid we were happy if there was anything to do at all.”
People with places at the beach, in broad terms, close up their homes one of two weekends (if they close up at all). The first is generally Cruisin’ Weekend and the second is Thanksgiving. When people return for the holidays, they often arrange to get fresh seafood from Joe, who provides everything from salmon to the specialty fishes that people enjoy particularly at the holidays (octopus, calamari, salted cod) It was the sustained holiday boom that gave Joe the insight into extending the Shrimp Boat’s services beyond the fall.
People love shrimp and crabs as often as they can get them, and the Shrimp Boat can get them pretty often.
Fresh caught and delivered
In addition to owning the shrimp Boat, Joe owns Salty Wave Seafood in Harrington, Del. It’s a wholesaler with a small carryout business upon which Joe will build a fresh-delivered seafood business.
“In the summer you do the things you do best,” he said. “But in the winter we get to dabble.”
For him, the past few winters have been dabbling with recipes and logistics in preparation for this additional venture. It was important to figure out not only what people wanted, but how they wanted it. To that end, he has prepared meals that he can ship, as well as a crab cake mix, along with fresh salmon, catfish, tuna and flounder.
“We’re sticking to the favorites, the things we know people want,” he said.
For Joe, it all comes down to his reputation and how people view the quality and care that goes into everything he does with seafood. If a person is going to make an effort to get fresh caught salmon, for instance, they want to be certain that is will arrive in good condition and be a pleasure to serve as well as to eat.
Joe has been beta-testing the delivery systems to make sure that what he sends is what people are receiving. That way, once the online store goes live it will enhance, rather than detract from his reputation.
The Shrimp Boat still does brisk business on the weekends and even is open several weekdays as necessary in the late fall.
Cruising into the fall at the Shrimp Boat
For the time being, Joe and his staff are keeping busy with the Shrimp Boat proper, which still is open weekends and often later in the week as well (call for details). They’ve been really busy every weekend and, with their expanded menu offerings, have attracted new fans every week. And that is a huge part of why it has been and remains a successful business.
Once people have popped in for lunch or dinner, they get a sense that the Shrimp Boat is even more than in look like from the outside. Sure, people still swing by to bring something fresh home, or even to take advantage of the carryout, but for people who remember the boat before the restaurant was added, it still is a pleasant surprise.
Excellent service and food is kind of what you would expect given the reputation of the fresh and carryout aspects of the business, but to experience it as a sit down place really gives you a sense of how deep the quality goes.
If you combine one of the nicest guys in Ocean City with a business he has been a part of since he was a child and add fabulous, FRESH seafood, you will just begin to understand how cool the Shrimp Boat is in West Ocean City.
For one weekend out of every year, Ocean City gets All Shook Up and becomes a Promised Land for Elvis fans who just Can’t Help Falling in Love with the Ocean City Elvis Festival. But it’s not happening at the Heartbreak Hotel–the four-day festival is actually located at the Clarion Resort Fountainebleau Hotel on 101st street.
Bad puns aside, the Elvis Festival is one of the most unique events to ever hit OC, making Coastal Highway look more like the Las Vegas strip from October 19 – 22.
Elvis by the Atlantic
This is Ocean City’s fourth year hosting an Elvis Festival. In 2014, Sherry Management brought the festival, sanctioned by Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., to Ocean City in order to replace the Pocono Mountains Elvis Festival.
“They were looking for a new location to replace that festival, so they came down to Ocean City and of course we were a good fit because of the size of our Crystal Ballroom,” said Jackie Berger, Sales Manager at the Clarion. “They loved the idea of having everything in one location, so we partnered with them and decided to have it as a package.”
The Elvis Festival isn’t exclusive to Maryland–there’s also one in Georgia, New York, Vegas and Memphis–but followers of Elvis Fest travel from all over the United States to see Ocean City’s version of the event.
“We have people coming from Florida, Las Vegas, from the New England area,” Berger said. “The Elvis Festival has a big following because they do these festivals across the country, and we’re getting a lot of the attendees who used to go to the Poconos coming down here.”
Festival schedule (it’s more than “One Night”)
–In fact, it’s four, and there’s a lot happening during each of them. Details, times and admission prices are available here.
Thursday night kicks the weekend off with a Welcome Karaoke Party hosted by Dan Barrella in the Horizons Oceanfront Restaurant.
On Friday is the first round of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest, where Elvis impersonators perform four songs and compete to represent Ocean City at the annual Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest in Memphis, TN. Later there’s a Headline Show featuring Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Dean Z followed by the Great ETA Auction to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Saturday features round two of the Ultimate ETA Contest, “’56,” a rockabilly show starring Cody Ray Slaughter, and a “Spooktacular” Halloween Costume Ball.
On Sunday there’s an Elvis Gospel Music Event, the final round of the Ultimate ETA Contest and a Fabulous Fifties Wrap Party to close out the weekend.
“A great time to come for guests to come and have a fun time with the impersonators is Sunday at the Fabulous Fifties Wrap Party,” Berger said. The Wrap Party is free to the public.
There are some pretty great deals happening at Horizons, too.
See it for yourself
Tickets to the Elvis festival are usually included in a hotel package offered by the Clarion (a package which no one, by the way, would ever want to Return to Sender).
This year, the Clarion is selling a limited number of gold and platinum passes for Ocean City locals, who won’t need to get a room at the hotel in order to partake in the ticketed festivities. Those interested in purchasing tickets can call Jackie Berger between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 410-390-4011 or make a purchase on Friday afternoon outside of the Clarion’s Crystal Ballroom. More information on tickets and packages is available here.
“It’s a fun, fun event if you love Elvis and Elvis impersonators,” Berger said. “They are so nice and fun, and the after-events held in the Ocean Club are open to the public and they are free.”
At the end of September, a dole of about 100 baby loggerhead turtles emerged from their eggs and began their journey from the sand to the sea. One Facebook user, Keegan Burke, took some incredibly cute photos and videos of the tiny hatchlings in pursuit.
The Assateague Island National Seashore also got a short video of a turtle’s slow crawl to the waves, on the Maryland portion of Assateague’s Over Sand Vehicle zone where the loggerheads hatched.
Why is this so cool?
As far as the Park Service knows, this is the first time a dole of sea turtles has nested successfully on Assateague Island.
This is also the first known nest of sea turtles to thrive in Maryland ever. It’s rare for loggerhead sea turtles to even attempt to nest north of Virginia, and while turtles have made attempts to nest on Assateague’s beach, this is the first group of hatchlings to make it to the water.
A little about loggerheads
Loggerhead turtles, named for their huge heads, are most commonly found in Florida. According to the World Conservation Union, they’re an endangered species.
Loggerheads have been on the threatened species list since 1978, thanks to shrimp trawling, pollution and development over nesting areas. That could be why they’ve recently turned to Assateague for nesting, and we might see more of them in the future, too: mature females will often return to the place where they hatched to lay their own eggs.
Fun fact: Loggerhead hatchlings are about 2 inches long and weigh just .04 lbs. Because they’re so small, they’re often prey to crabs, large reptiles and birds like vultures and seagulls, who could potentially devastate an entire nest. For this reason alone, sea turtles would be smart to nest far, far away from Ocean City.
We often think of Real Estate as being in a stationary location and never moving from its original place. It is stable and does not travel about. Homes are subject to wind, and storms of course, but, generally will be located in its correct spot. If your home is a sailboat, however, everything you have always been comfortable with is changed. Additionally, when the sailboat is in the path of a super storm like Irma, all bets are off.
Here is an accounting of one Berlin local, that gave up land for water. This is my daughter’s story.
“I became a “liveaboard” in the fall of 2013, at 41 years old. My boyfriend and I purchased a 31 foot sailboat, and headed down the coast to spend the winter in the Keys. He and I parted ways the following summer up in Essex, but I was hooked on the sailboat. I bought him out, and returned to the Keys that year as a “singlehander”. I have since traveled down the East Coast in the fall of each year, and back north again in the late spring, working the summer seasons in various locations. For the winters, however, I always headed back to Marathon.
This past winter I completed my fourth winter season down here. As much as I love the nomadic lifestyle, I decided this year to become a year round resident of the Conch Republic in order to save up the money that will enable me to do some serious, long term cruising in my fifties. I have a pretty great job, and the community here at Boot Key Harbor is fantastic. The city runs a mooring field with a little over 250 moorings, and then there are two other areas where boats can anchor if they prefer. There are private showers, laundry facilities, spacious work areas, a community room with a small library, and a tiki hut out on the water for hanging out. The marina has a wifi signal that I can grab with the antenna on my boat. We all travel around in skiffs/dinghies, tying up to the marina dinghy docks when we need to go ashore.
Community volunteers run a “cruiser’s net” each morning at 9 am on the VHF radio, keeping everyone informed and connected. “New arrivals/departures”, “announcements”, “questions/comments/need help”, “buy/sell/trade/give away”, these are the categories. You say your boat name, and wait to be recognized by the net controller du jour, then you say your piece. It always wraps up with a few rounds of trivia.
All in all, just a fun and interesting place to live; that is, until a monster hurricane is bearing down on you.
I am very, very happy to say my sailboat did survive Irma here at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. There is an unoccupied island that borders the harbor called Boot Key, from which the harbor gets it’s name. Whiskey Creek runs into the heart of the island, surrounded by nothing but mangroves. This was my saving grace, thanks to the wise advice of some old school local fishermen.
Where my boat was anchored
I took her up into Whiskey Creek on the Tuesday prior to landfall, fearing that if I did not go in early, there would be no room. As it turns out, that fear was unfounded. Only 13 or so boats sought refuge there. There was room for many more. This just kills me when I see all the wreckage that is currently everywhere here in Boot Key Harbor. Boats piled on top each other along the shoreline, crammed in half sunken pieces into canals, piled up under the old bridge at the west end of the anchorage. Carnage. But all of the 13 boats that went in to the creek did OK. Only about one fifth of the boats that stayed on the moorings remained attached, and many of those had damage from collisions with boats that had broken free.
I am aware of five people that rode the storm out on their boats in the harbor. Two were able to climb off their boats in the middle of the hurricane after they hit the mangroves and began sinking. Two made it through, still attached to their moorings. One died trying to get off his boat where it ended up wrecked in a residential canal. There was a recording of a VHF conversation from that one; he had called for the Coast Guard during the hurricane after his boat was struck by another vessel. They told us all from the beginning, when they told us not to stay; no one will come to help you in the storm. You stay, you are on your own.
Dude. When they tell you to go, just go.
On that Tuesday prior, I motored up to where Whiskey Creek splits, and hung a left towards the narrower upper reaches. I did not make it past the first bend, however. The water was shoaling quickly, and there was a boat in the second bend, so I settled for the spot. Really I was pretty happy with it.
I won’t devil you with all the details, but for three days I prepped her back in the mangroves, and packed the things I was taking with me. It was melt-your-face-off hot in there, except in the mornings and the evenings when the noseeums came out so thick they were in your ears, up your nose, in your eyes. I had never noticed my eyelids sweating before. I spent the days removing all canvas and sails, my wind generator, solar panel, grill etc. I even removed the davits from the stern for fear that if the guy behind me broke loose, it was just one more thing with the potential to get hung up in his rigging and rip a hole in my boat, or at best hold his boat to mine, beating each other to death. Perhaps I have an overactive imagination, but hey, an ounce of prevention….
I cleared her decks, and duct taped down anything that the wind might catch, such as my cockpit seats/locker lids. They do not have hasps, and I didn’t want them ripped off, or falling open and allowing rain inside. Once I locked her up for the last time, I even duct taped over the companionway to try to stop any water intrusion there. I also taped over my dorade vents (type of vent that permits the passage of air in and out of the cabin or engine room).
I closed all the thru hulls, which are essentially holes in the bottom of the boat to allow water to drain from the sink, for example, or allow water in to cool the engine. All below the waterline thru hulls have valves to shut them off so that your boat doesn’t sink in the event of a rupture in a hose. I was unable to close the thru hull for the sink in the head (bathroom for you landlubbers) because it has no valve. I suppose this is because it is slightly above the water line. I was afraid it may be a way for water to get in if she were laid over, or god forbid, being drowned by her lines, so I filled the thru hull with caulk. I need a new one with a valve anyway. As it turns out, she appears to have spent a good bit of time laid over on that side, so I believe this to have been a good choice.
As for lines, I had ordered 320 feet of 1/2″ three strand nylon line, along with some chafe gear around the time I made the decision to stay. I had intended to cut it into lengths, and splice the chafe gear into the loop, and have it on hand in the event of a storm. I never had gotten around to it, nor did I know how to splice line until that Wednesday in the mangroves. But I knew it was the strongest thing I could do, so I watched a You Tube video and got on with it. I guess I work well under pressure! But hey, I’m a sailor 😉
320 ft line
The first one was a little sloppy, but after that it was on. I measured out the lengths to the mangroves I had picked to tie off to, and customized the lines accordingly. In order to secure the boat, I had to dinghy over to the mangroves, and crawl up in to them to get to a suitably sturdy branch to attach each line. If you’ve never met a mangrove, they grow right up out of the water along a shoreline, thick as thieves, making said shoreline almost impossible to see. So, I had to tie the dinghy to the exterior, smaller branches so it wouldn’t drift off in the tidal current of the creek, and step into the water on to the mangrove roots, and then climb back in to where the stronger branches could be found. It’s a good thing I was a tomboy growing up, or this wouldn’t have ended well.
In the end, I had six lines with a larks head knot on the mangrove branches, leading back to the various cleats on my boat. Chafe gear all around, anywhere the lines might get friction. I also put my Danforth anchor out to the port side stern with about 100 feet of 5/8″ rode (rope), and my 33 lb Rocna anchor off the port bow, with 75 feet of 5/16″ chain, and an additional 20 feet of 3/4″ rode. The curve I was in was about 7 feet deep along the east bank, and only a few feet along the west bank, so I wanted to keep her in the east bank of the curve so she didn’t end up hard aground. My boat needs at least four feet of water under her to keep her off the ground. Of course, they were calling for a 10 foot storm surge, so plenty of water, but I didn’t want her coming to rest on the shallow bank. Or on a house. Or in a tree.
Tied down before Irma
I took this shot as I dinghied away, praying it wouldn’t be the last time I saw her afloat. I noticed as I was leaving that I had left an old halyard (rope) on the deck, and I grabbed it and threw it in the dinghy as I left. This turned out to be a lucky thing.
I had intended to drag the dinghy up on a small beach near the marina and tie it off to the mangroves there, and just hope it didn’t break loose or sink. The plan didn’t work out because so many boats had already tied up into that tiny beach area, there was no more room. Disheartened, I rode around into the marina docks, trying to resign myself to the idea that I would have to let her sink, and hope I could recover her after the fact. Then I saw where one of my neighbors had pulled his dinghy up on top of the floating dock and lashed it down. I had 110 feet of halyard to tie it down with if only I could drag it up there! It wasn’t easy, dragging a ten foot skiff with a 15 hp motor up on that dock, but I did manage it after a half an hour and some choice expletives. It’s a good thing, too, because the inner dinghy dock area was practically crushed by several large boats that were pushed in there. But good fortune smiled on me, and my dinghy survived as well.
As for the big boat, well, the Danforth anchor off my stern held its ground, which is the only thing that kept her from swinging around. You see, when I tied her up, and still when I finally evacuated on Thursday night, the eye was forecast to pass to the east of Marathon. As it turns out, the eye passed to the west, completely changing the wind directions. I had inadvertently tied her to be stern to the wind as it clocked around. And my girl has a big fat stern, so that was a bit of a problem. Better to have the wind on the pointy end. She broke three mangroves, but my anchors held as did the remaining three lines.
Of course, I didn’t know this for days. We weren’t allowed back in to the Keys for about a week. I had come back to Maryland to visit during the evacuation, and was waiting there to find out if I was homeless. In the days after the storm, I had heard on Facebook that NOAA was uploading post storm satellite imagery. I was waiting patiently to get some word about my boat, for them to finish uploading the images. On the Wednesday morning after the storm, I awoke to a text message from a friend with the satellite image of my boat, still more or less where I left her. I immediately went on to the NOAA site, and zoomed over to where I had left the dinghy. I was thrilled; I still had my “house” and my “car”!!
Satellite photo confirmed my boat was intact!
So in the end, I am very fortunate. I did lose my battery bank, and my solar controller (which moderates the current coming in from the solar panel), but it’s all good. Apparently when I shut the fridge down, I didn’t click it all the way over. It ran the whole time. Well, until the batteries died. It is a good thing that I do my best to keep a dry boat, because I imagine my batteries were dead before the storm even hit. That means my bilge pumps would not have been working.
[[ Mental note to self: install a breaker in the galley for the refrigerator!! ]]
I tried to put a charge back on the batteries, but at a badly abused three years old, they were having none of it. As for what killed the solar controller, well, who knows? Maybe it was already going. All I know is that it is currently refusing to play my little sailboat games. Time for justifiably purchased new gear!! That is exciting, as new tech gear is always going to be better at it’s job than the old stuff. I also took the opportunity to increase the size of my battery bank, also a quality of life upgrade. So, a bit pricey, but all in all, very cool.
When I returned, I had gained a few gallons of water in the bilge, and that is all right with me! There are obvious signs that she had been laid over on her starboard side. She is stained on her starboard topsides as well as on the deck along the toe rail. She has stains from mangrove bark rubbed into her starboard shrouds (wires that hold the mast up) as well as all over a halyard I had clipped to the starboard side toe rail. Other than, she was perfect, a sight for sore eyes!!
Just a few observations from the area, and the less than lucky boats; A lot of people left sails on, stuff all over their decks, etc. That stuff turns into high speed projectiles. The sails will end up opening, one way or another, and will exponentially increase the odds of that boat breaking free. I also noticed lines that had been chafed through, still attached to the mooring leads. One of these was a single (bad enough), polypropylene (worse!?!) line that I wouldn’t use that to hold my dinghy. It is simply not strong enough.
The marina recommends a setup using three lines to the mooring pendant, which is displayed in the office/community room. I guess whoever was on this ball never noticed that display. It is unfortunate for people who were more conscientious in their preparations. It is difficult enough to be prepared for hurricane conditions, but to have boats that have broken loose striking your boat on top of it all…..just a shame. That was my number one reason for hiding in the mangroves; to get out of the pinball machine.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little peek into an alternative lifestyle, and my brush with Irma. I think I might write a book about it, so stay tuned! lol. If you have questions or comments, feel free to hit me up: Candace at livingthesaltlife423@gmail.com“
Barbeque. Bar-b-cue. BBQ. No matter how you spell it, barbecue is one of America’s favorites, and Ocean City has lots of barbeque specialists in town. Use this guide to help you decide which bar-b-cue place will be your new favorite…or try them all!
You know that a place called Pit-n-Pub is going to have great BBQ, and plenty of drinks to wash it down with. Now with locations on 28th street (of course) and Ocean City’s Northside, the Pit-n-Pub has homemade barbecue to top your favorite fresh, smoked meats. The atmosphere is cozy and comfortable, making Pit-n-Pub the perfect place to enjoy a casual (and messy) dinner with family and friends. Get your BBQ straight from the grill between 11 a.m. and 2 a.m. daily. Happy hour starts at 1 p.m. and continues to 5. Open year-round.
Bull on the Beach has been a favorite barbeque stop on the boardwalk since 1980. The restaurant is still located on 2nd street today, now in the Park Place Hotel, just a few stores down from its original location, and on 94th street bayside. BOTB’s motto has always been simple: “Great food, great service and a clean environment to enjoy it in.” The great food they pride themselves on consists of mostly seafood and good, old fashioned barbecue, and happy hour is every evening from 3 to 6 p.m. on 94th street. Open year-round.
Ocean City Barbeque
This Ocean City barbeque joint is really known as just that: Ocean City Barbeque. Established in 2017, OCBBQ serves up “southern BBQ with a Maryland twist,” Ocean City Barbeque is located in the historic 45th street village right by their sister restaurant Taphouse. With racks of ribs, BBQ bone-in chicken breast, pulled pork, fried chicken sandwiches and Fresh Catch of the Day fish specials, OCBBQ already knows exactly what Maryland barbeque lovers are looking for. Open seasonally.
Located on 16th Street and the Boardwalk, Ocean View Grill & BBQ is a great spot to enjoy a sandwich while looking out over the ocean. Look for slow-cooked BBQ on the dinner menu or enjoy a seafood appetizer–from ribs to crab cakes, Ocean View does it all. Indoor and outdoor seating is available. Try Eastern Shore staples like BBQ ribs, brisket and chicken, and when it’s hot outside, be sure to try one of their seven frozen cocktails.
Sometimes passions just take over. It’s something I’ve seen happen in the craft beer industry and something that increasingly is happening in the food truck industry. Making things by hand for the people who will consume them really is a reward unto itself.
Smoker’s BBQ Pit is a local favorite, located off Route 611 in West Ocean City and open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Smoker’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and has wood smoked their pork, beef, chicken and fish in Ocean City since 1996. Not only can you enjoy their delicious barbecue options, but Smoker’s also offers Southern-style side dishes and fried chicken, catfish, meatloaf, smoked tuna and homemade banana puddin’. Head to Smoker’s when you crave a smoky barbecue flavor or a dose of Southern comfort.
Boog’s BBQ
Boog’s BBQ is a Maryland staple. Boog’s sells in Baltimore at the Oriole’s baseballs games and also in Ocean City, on the boardwalk near Thrasher’s and the Jolly Roger pier rides. Dine-in or take out your favorite BBQ specials like pit beef, pit turkey, pulled pork, smoked sausage, pulled chicken, beef brisket and pit ham. Wash everything down with an ice cold, freshly squeezed lemonade made right at Boog’s, and then enjoy a banana puddin’ or rice pudding for dessert. Open seasonally.
While family-oriented Halloween fun abounds in Ocean City every year with OCtoberfest, the neighboring town of Berlin has its own festive fun. Berlin’s Oktoberfest is a full day of shopping, food, music and games on Main Street in the spirit of Oktober. This year, the festival will take place on October 14 from 12 to 6 p.m. Read on, because while Oktoberfest has been a tradition in Berlin (Maryland’s Berlin, that is) since 2011, there’s always something new. See photos from Oktoberfests of years past below.
Things to do
Berlin’s Oktoberfest is just a bit different from the famous volksfest in Munich, Germany–there’s still beer here, just not on the scale of the festival’s German counterpart. (Oktoberfest fun fact: almost 8 million liters of beer are served annually over the duration of Germany’s 16-day festival.)
Berlin’s version of the festival places more of an emphasis on fun autumn activities that the whole family can enjoy.
Eat like a local
Food is one of the most important aspects of anyone’s Oktoberfest, and while you might not always find bratwurst and sauerkraut in downtown Berlin, brats n’ burgers do make a special appearance one day out of the year
Restaurants and cafes including Baked Dessert, Gilbert’s Provisions, Crush and Crab and Eastern Shore Kettle Korn provide sweet and savory snacks so that you can taste whatever you’re craving, German dish or otherwise.
Shop for the season
Downtown Berlin’s shops and galleries set up tables outside for the annual Fall Sidewalk Sale, where books, bags, jewelry, clothes, handmade items and more are all on display.
Enjoy a drink and a stroll
The best part of any festival is usually just walking around and people-watching. Here, you can take a slow walk around and soak in all of Berlin’s charm while sipping on a beer from Burley Oak, and you can expect to hear live music in the distance while you do it.
Kid-friendly fun
There’s also, thankfully, tons of stuff to do that will keep the kids occupied. Like most street fairs, Oktoberfest features face painting, juggling, cornhole and crafts, but there are other cool, locally-minded activities and entertainment that vary from year to year.
Like the Phillips Wharf Fishmobile–that’s a mobile aquarium that travels throughout Delmarva to bring children 13 tanks and two touch tanks inhabited by sea creatures native to the Chesapeake Bay. There’s also Scales and Tales from Assateague State Park, where park rangers allow festival-goers to get up close and personal with various regional reptiles and birds of prey.
On a more festive, autumnal note, Worcester Youth and Family provides pumpkin painting, chalking, sand art and pine cone bird feeder making.
How to get there
During the festival, Main Street is closed to vehicles from Main/West to Main/Bay & Jefferson and Broad/Main to Broad/Gay Streets. Commerce Street and Pitts to William are also closed beginning at 9 a.m.
The Town of Berlin recommends that local residents walk or bike to Main Street, while non-local festival-goers should park at the Berlin Intermediate School and take the free shuttle downtown.
If you love Halloween as much as I do, then you know the fun isn’t really limited to a single night–it happens all October long. That’s why I am officially unofficially declaring October to be the absolute spookiest and most fun month in Ocean City, ever. I’ll even be so bold as to claim that this OCtober will be more exciting than July and August combined. Obviously there will be far fewer tourists in town and no lifeguards in the stands, but the lack of cars zooming down Coastal Highway on a foggy autumn night only adds to the creepy, desolate ambience of the town. And isn’t that what Halloween is all about?
While I’m obviously of the opinion that this is the most wonderful time of the year, it’s not always obvious to Ocean City visitors what all there is to do during these “off” months. Admittedly there’s not nearly as much happening around town in October as there is in the summer, so sometimes you have to make your own fun. Luckily, around here, that’s not super hard to do. Here’s just a few things that I know I’ll be doing to celebrate Halloween in Ocean City.
Go exploring
Our neck of Delmarva is actually really haunted. Sleep with your lights on, and be sure to check out a few of these places that are well-known and widely accepted to be occupied by ghosts.
Hotels
Where there’s old hotels, there’s usually haunted hotels, too. You don’t necessarily have to book a room if you’re hoping for a ghost sighting–many of these places might be closed for the season, anyway–but Chesapeake Ghost Walks’ Ocean City or Berlin tours will likely give you a taste of such spooky lodgings. Otherwise, planning your own homemade Ghost Walk always makes for a fun Saturday afternoon. Here’s a few to add to your list. Just don’t trespass!
At the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin, which was built in 1895, it’s said that the spirit of a little girl haunts the second floor, and paranormal activity is often reported from room 16.
If you find yourself in Bethany Beach, check out the Addy Sea Inn. It’s home to a mysterious shaking bathtub, organ music seemingly without origin and the spirit of the inn’s former handyman.
In the heart of Ocean City, the Henry Hotel is no stranger to ghost sightings, either. The Henry was built around the same time as the Atlantic, but provided lodging for “colored” guests before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was put into effect. Today, people passing by have reported seeing a ghostly young man in overalls standing on the porch and at other times hearing jazz music from the empty building at night.
A bit farther down the boardwalk, the Shoreham Hotel is known for its haunting “trifecta,” having provided the backdrop to a murder, a suicide and an accidental death years and years ago. If you’re able to go inside and are hoping for a paranormal experience, check out the basement and room six–they’re said to be the paranormal hotspots of the Shoreham. (While you’re on the boardwalk, by the way, stop by the Life Saving Museum and pay a visit to Laffing Sal–she’s plenty possessed in her own right.)
Sal, while a lovely lady, is probably the scariest thing in all of Ocean City.
Homesteads
If haunted houses are more your thing than haunted hotels, you’ll want to venture out to Gumboro, DE and visit the Old Gumboro Homestead. It’s one of the most famous landmarks in the small township, known for the spooky sound of heavy breathing and disembodied footsteps upon entrance into the home, the occasional reverberation of harmonica music and sightings of translucent figures moving across the yard at night.
A few miles nearer Ocean City is Salisbury, MD, home to the Poplar Hill Mansion. The 1795 plantation functions today as a museum, which means you can actually go inside and look for the spirits of the former servant Samuel, the mansion’s former owner and a young enslaved girl who burned to death after her dress caught fire.
The great outdoors
If you’re looking to convene with nature on a crisp fall day, there’s a number of places outside that may or may not be totally haunted.
One of those places is the Witch’s Tree in Whaleyville, MD. Legend holds that women thought to be witches were once hanged from the tree, but whether that’s true or not, just being in the presence of the looming tree with its gnarling branches and long shadows cast can send chills down your spine. And there’s multiple orbs in every picture I’ve ever taken of the Witch’s Tree, for whatever that’s worth.
Not too far from the tree in Frankford, DE is a cemetery commonly known as Catman’s Grave. Supposedly a long-dead cemetery caretaker with catlike features watches over the graveyard, and if you knock three times on the bizarre brick wall just behind the cemetery, the Catman will mess with your car to keep you from leaving.
Scream!
Maybe you’re looking to be scared, but not in a “real life” sort of way. When your heart is racing and you’re terrified out of your mind, it is sometimes nice to remember that whatever’s haunting you is for sure only an illusion.
Sadly the Trimper’s haunted house only opens up for the season when Halloween falls on a weekend, but OC Screams waits until right after October 31st to close. And there’s truly no better way to celebrate Halloween than by having a tiny heart attack every time a zombified sailor jump-scares you.
Free your inner child
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the kid-friendly side of the holiday. We all need a break from paranormal investigations and pee-your-pants scary haunted houses sometimes, after all.
Most OCtoberfest events are geared toward children, but some, like the Halloween Beach Maze, are still open to all ages–and the Halloween Beach Maze is populated with witches, ghouls and zombies, in case you’re up for a lite scare. There’s not really anything too spooky about the Howl-o-Ween Pet Parade unless you’re a cat (I predict the parade is dog-heavy), but the event really embraces the cute, quirky aspects of the holiday. And the Great Pumpkin Race provides the opportunity to get a little competitive by building a tiny pumpkin racecar.
The Beach Maze is a blast for kids, grown-ups, zombies and pirates alike.
Other events and happenings…
If you’d rather engage in more adult-oriented fun, the Shore Craft Beer OCtoberfest will introduce you to a ton of delicious, local craft brews–many of them, in the spirit of the season, pumpkin flavored.
Be sure to check the events that are happening at your favorite nightlife hubs. Many larger venues throw Halloween parties, like Seacrets‘ Spooktacular Halloween Party and Costume Contest.
If your favorite Halloween activities or haunted locales weren’t mentioned here, we’d love to hear about them on our OCtoberfest thread.
Sometimes, people use our OC Dining Forum to review the local businesses they’ve enjoyed (or not enjoyed) while in Ocean City. A lot of times, the reviews are packed with great information that any OC dining connoisseur can appreciate. This one is from a thread by user pghDave. Join the forum and add your two cents, or start a new thread with your own reviews–we love to read them.
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Since a dining report this late in the season isn’t of any widespread help, and given that no more than 12 people will read it, I’ll do a short version this year.
We hit most of our favorites at least once: BJ’s, Coins, Harborside and Liquid Assets all served up excellent foods and retain their spots as our go-to places. For breakfast we of course hit Bayside Skillet and General’s Kitchen. Dumser’s was, once again, the official ice cream provider for our vacation. Of course, anyone that has ever read an OC dining report knows all of these places and they did not disappoint.
New this season was Our Harvest (the Liquid Assets spin-off in Fenwick) and it was truly outstanding. It has a similar but different vibe than LA. They specialize more in small plates and larger shareable plates (feasts, as they call them). We had a number of small plates, all of which were very good and a rockfish feast which was simply outstanding–two rockfish on a platter with the meat picked and piled high in the middle. Delicious and not a bone to be found in the whole pile.
Another one new to us this season was the Marina Deck. It’s been on the list for years and we never made it. What a fantastic view! We only did crab dip and happy hour drinks on the deck but left happy. The White Marlin cocktail was Mrs. pghDave’s favorite signature cocktail. (To be honest, I think she had many favorites…) Did I mention the view?
We made it to Hooked this year–what a great spot. I had a scallops on cheesy grits offering that was absolutely incredible. We intended to get back here for a second night but just ran out of time. Bummer.
Ropewalk offered up some great oysters in advance of really nice meals. The atmosphere and view here are killer–not a bad seat in the house.
We got back to Macky’s this year. It’s been a long time and I enjoyed it. We did crab dip and some rockfish fingers (excellent, actually) along with adult beverages. We haven’t been here in a lot of years but it was nice and with the September crowd the beachfront is very subdued and relaxing. We need to be back more regularly–can you say orange crushes in a bucket??!!
Rosenfeld’s featured an outstanding corned beef hash–simply outstanding.
A Bagel And… over in Ocean Pines wins the award for the most cream cheese on your bagel. We appreciate the hearty helping. And for my fellow yinzers I think of this place as A Bagel ‘n At.
We had crab dips at a lot of places. We love crab dips and sampling as many as possible has always been an OC thing for us. Harborside is the best we had this year. It’s our usual winner only once ousted by the Harbor Watch. (Which we didn’t get to this year as we ran out of time. Bummer.)
Places we regret missing were Harbor Watch, Ky West, Longboard Cafe, Catch 54 and Woody’s. But there are only so many days in a vacation and so many meals that can be eaten. Oh yeah, and we missed out on Julia’s Cannolis. We really must stay longer next year. We didn’t make it to the Frog Bar either…man, time to turn around and go back.
ETA: Not sure how I left Mother’s Cantina off my original report. Very good Mexican food for a change of pace. We loaded up on enchiladas for takeout after an afternoon at the Burley Oak brewery. Mother’s was jammed but the takeout service was still friendly and responsive and the food was excellent! We also picked up some very tasty steamed shrimp on the side from the Shrimp Boat, so it was a nice post-brewery feast.
So I guess I forgot several places…maybe it was the time at the brewery that clouded my mind. And, by the way, the Burley Oak is a great place to spend some time. Excellent beers. They do not have food but they do allow you to bring in your own. Only downside is that the ‘skeeters were biting in the outside seating area.
The weather is always critical around here. Frankly most of the time the only question is weather it’s going to be beautiful or gorgeous. Sometimes neither is the case. Either way, we’ve chosen among some of our favorite forecasters and each week we’ll add their updates here. In addition to this Ocean City Weather roundup, we publish updated reports on our Ocean City Weather Page.Maria will give us surf and rip currents, but it looks as if that’s it for now.
Wind and rain for the foreseeable future
National Coverage
Local Coverage
Delmar Weather is a Facebook Page originally started by two high schoolers who now study meteorology. Their page is popular because of their in-depth independent reporting and a track record as good as or better than other local outlets.
The annual Chesapeake Celtic Festival (happening this year on October 7 and 8) is one of the more awesome experiences you can have at Furnace Town, even though the living museum is pretty cool unto itself. The 28-year-old festival actually was born in Princess Anne, a vision of language professor Jeanne du Nord and a number of confederates who saw the potential for drawing people interested in Celtic life to the Lower Eastern Shore.
The festival failed to flourish there, though, and after a few years, du Nord and the other organizers spoke with the folks at Furnace Town about having the festival there. There are a billion reasons that the museum was the perfect spot for the festival, and more are discovered every year, but at the bottom of it is that the atmosphere, no the ambiance, makes people happy. Furnace Town has the space, sure, but it also is a permanent backdrop that comes alive all the more when occupied by throngs in period dress.
Prepare yourself. There are a bunch of double negatives in the following:
You don’t only not have to be interested in Celtic life to enjoy yourself at the festival, not being Celtic or familiar with Celtic culture isn’t even an issue. To be fair, Celtic life as it is portrayed is a lot of fun and certainly worth admiring, but the old-timey fairground aesthetic is much more pleasing. But beyond the beautiful grounds there are enough distractions to make a trip to the festival worthwhile, but there’s more than just the look of the thing that makes it the kind of attraction that draws hundreds of people to the region every October specifically for this festival.
Irish Wolfhounds, which always are a treat, will be as big a part of the festival as they always have been, but additionally there is a dog parade with less wolfy, less Irish and less houndy dogs.
2 All the great music
Far from being just background music, the musicians and musical acts that come to the festival come with the pointed notion of heightening the atmosphere with songs you know and song you ought to know.
3 The first rule about Celtic Fight Club…
“Martial” really just means military, and any culture that had a military developed specific means of smacking other cultures around. There will be plenty of displays of the Celtic martial arts. Also, if you didn’t know, Celtic martial arts are a thing.
4 Finally, poles that aren’t tiresome
The “caber” or log toss is a strength competition wherein people pick up big logs and see how far they can throw them. Sometimes it is pretty far. Also, when was the last time you saw semi-professional cabers? Probably not in a while…
5 Stories and other artsy stuff
There also will be tons of artisans and vendors. Some selling their wares, other plying their trade for the sport of it. There’s a lady who dances while she paints, an assortment of people who make traditional things in traditional ways and story tellers and role-players and just general merry makers.
