Ocean City Photos

I finally got around to changing the batteries in my camera. So now I have updated my OC posts with photos (here, here and here). See below for those. Here are some more sights and - okay, just sights - I snapped:

Dolle's Stand - I didn't even write about it, but I had a tasty small box of caramel popcorn here when I got off the Park and Ride Bus. I couldn't finish but half of it!



Peggy Sue and her "friend" Jolene - in front of the Down Memory Lane store at the Inlet



My camera isn't usually good enough to get a longer exposure like this, but I was playing with the light exposure settings. See those headlights?




If you see a Guinness just sitting there like that, then you are dealing with a bartender who knows the right way to pour a Guinness draft.



This, however, is purely gratuitous.



Before and after the Boardwalk (around 27th St, the very end of the Boardwalk)



Do you think this man gets bored waiting for people to rent his umbrellas? Nah, he's just enjoying the scenery. So was I.



It has been a while since I last visited OC. They didn't have the Ripley's there 10 years ago (it was a laser tag place then). I loved this room. It's the off-balance room, where you walk through a round tube while it turns fast, and all the lights help to really disorient you. They dare you to go through once. I went through it, like, ten times. Would be even more fun to go through drunk!



I took this one while I was going through that room. The last one looks better, but I think this capture the spirit of the room better.



The sun rose only an hour or so before. This was yesterday morning, while I was resting between bouts on the bike.

Sacramento, CA - 3,073 Miles

All of us who have driven into Ocean City via US-50 have seen that sign above the bridge into the Inlet that says "Sacramento, Ca 3073 mi."

A few years ago I was surprised - and at the same time, not so surprised - that Sacramento has the same thing posted outside its city limits: "Ocean City, MD 3,073 mi."

Look at this cool page for more info. You will find this:

And for the occasional visitor to this page from NoCal, here's its counterpart on our side of the continent:

OC Road Trip #3: Higgins Crab House

I insisted on crabs for dinner. There are dozens of crab houses in Ocean City, but three of us in our group finally settled on Higgin’s Crab House on 31^st and Coastal Hwy. Not cheap, but crabs rarely are, so this was an expense I expected to incur.

Higgins has all-you-can-eat crabs for $25. Ad steamed shrimp or BBQ ribs and you pay $30. I got the crabs and shrimp, which comes with so much more!

• Maryland crab soup (good)
• French fries (good, too)
• Cole slaw (doable)
• Corn on the cob (hot and juicy)
• Open-kettle fried chicken (not recommended; see below).

Of the three of us, I alone ordered crabs. As for the others, one ordered pretty tasty fried shrimp ($18). The other one of us ordered fried chicken. Please don’t order Higgin’s fried chicken. It is tough on the outside (the breading is rock-hard). The inside is standard fried chicken, but I was annoyed enough with the exterior to hardly touch the one piece I got with my meal.

As to the crabs: God, I love crabs. Not much Old Bay on them (I prefer them covered with the stuff), and I had to ask for a little cup of it to swish my crab into. I’ve heard of a dozen different ways to eat steamed crabs. The basic process of ripping them open is standard, but how and when you get to the meat is another story. Some people like to denude the crab of all meat before eating it. Me, I like ripping the crab open and then working on each half, eating the meat as I get to it. And the crab butter inside I ate little of, though I’m not always opposed to it. I’ve even seen it sold by itself in little plastic jars in Filipino markets.

What you do afterwards varies from person to person. One college friend of mine used to swirl it in beer, butter and Old Bay, and then eat it. I’d rather have the beer on the side, but I do swish it in Old Bay and butter. It’s a lot easier for me to put the Old Bay in the butter.

The crabs were good, if small, and easy to crack open – particularly the claws, from which I was able to get the entire claw’s meat in one chunk with one or two well-placed mallet strokes. But I found that I can only get through four crabs and, say, a dozen steamed shrimp – again, the Old Bay was pretty tamely applied – before I’m full. And all that butter made me feel a little ill. But I loved it, apart from the price ($74 for the three of us before tip). As steamed crabs go, these were a wee bit tame. The seasoning was not much there, which can be a plus if you want more crab flavor and less Old Bay. And again, they were small – as are the least expensive one these days. But I’d go back, after I try out a few other places.

OC Road Trip #2: On the Boardwalk

It’s so weird being able to enter just about any business wearing nothing but your swim trunks. But I got over that yesterday when I headed out to the Boardwalk. My camera's batteries are dead, so pictures are forthcoming (no, not of me in my shorts).

I went for a brief jog on the Boardwalk (sand is hard to jog on), and then some of the most uninspiring scrambled eggs I have ever had at the hotel (they did come with admission). Then I trekked off to the Boardwalk, leaving everybody else behind. I was still trying to get them all out of the hotel room when I started writing this before dinner last night. They are on a totally different schedule than I am.

After learning that I have indeed forgotten how to ride a bike (thanks to Mike’s Bikes for the rental; they helped me find a bike that was just my size), I walked back to the Boardwalk. I sprayed on a generous helping of sunscreen and bought a backpack at the Edwards store on the boardwalk to put in all the crap I had to carry – my shirt, my bathing suit, my camera, and whatever else I got along the way. I never used the bathing suit; I just used my shorts. But I brought two shirts – a guy can never be too prepared. They both wound up in the backpack while I defied the sun’s rays with the thin coat of sunscreen on my chest and shoulders.

Ooh, did I forget my legs? Shit.

Even though I didn’t really need to – this is the beach, after all – I put my shirt back on as I entered Shenanigan’s Irish Pub for a little Guinness. And the guy behind the counter, who doesn’t look old enough to even drink what he is serving, knows how to pour a pint of Guinness right! Just let it sit there and then refill it. Mmmm. I had two pints at Shenanigan’s ($5 each), and then almost left when I noticed the specials menu. One was a bucket o’ baby burgers ($6.50). These three burgers are the sizes of breakfast sausages, but were soft and tasty. And the waffle fries that came with them were pretty decent. I have had some bad waffle fries in my day, so I was not looking forward to this part of my meal.

I got out to the beach, and put more sunscreen on my upper body and my legs. I made it to the end of the Boardwalk and back! Woo-hoo! I celebrated my hike with a Corona at an outdoor bar whose name completely escapes me, and a vanilla milkshake at the Alaska Stand (not all at the same time). Interesting fact: the Alaska Stand was the first place I ever ate at the first time I visited OC way back in 199(mumble).

One last stop I made for the afternoon was the Candy Kitchen. I always had to stop by here before going home. Again, it’s for the fudge. For $11 I got four quarter-pounds (you do the math) each of chocolate, Swiss chocolate, vanilla and butter pecan. I’ve never enjoyed chocolate fudge as much as other, seemingly more exotic flavors, but I’m not going to eat all the fudge myself. And speaking of OC institutions, don’t ask if I stopped at that one last one, Thrasher’s Fries. I have never understood why people like putting vinegar on a French fry. Bleh.

Oh, for the record, I did get a little sunburned:

• Chest? OK.
• Back? OK.
• Arms? OK.
• Face and scalp (I’m not bald, but it still burns easily)? OK
• Legs? OK.
• Feet? A little burnt.
• Shoulders? Owwwie.

UPDATE: Hammer Heads Raw Bar and Grill. That's where I had that Corona.

OC Road Trip #1: the Dough Roller

The Dough Roller is expensive. Unreasonably so. I found this out while looking over the menu last night with my sister and some family friends. Lookit: I went into town myself, and we all agreed to meet up for dinner. After trying to meet up with them and my screaming niece (nothing wrong; she’s just a very loud person) last night, I finally sat down in the friendly, gazebo-esque (to me at least) Dough Roller at 3^rd St. and the Boardwalk. I didn’t really want pizza – what they’re best known for – and looked at the burgers. After my eyes bulged out of my head, I never quite warmed up to the fact that their cheapest burger is $9.50. I’ve eaten at much nicer places than this where the burgers were among the only reasonably priced things on the menu, and they were definitely not $10. For that much, it had better be as big as Alonso’s 1 lb burger!

So I just stuck with the pizzas that everyone else ordered. Two large ones ($17 each), one with pepperoni and one Hawaiian pizza with pineapple, ham and mushrooms. The pizzas were at least above average, if not better. They were ridiculously hot and gooey – you cannot fault the Dough Roller for cold or plastic-y pizza, because they just won’t give that to you. I had one slice of each. The pepperoni pizza had little curly pepperoni slices that looked more like cherry tomatoes than pepperoni. They were incidental to the pizza, though, and easily got picked off. In fact, my niece refused to eat any of them, and had a huge pile of pepperoni on her plate while she pulled the gooey cheese into her mouth.

The other pizza was better, but again the toppings were an afterthought. The ham, especially, seemed almost thrown on.

But I can’t fault the Dough Roller on making a tasty pizza. Nor can I fault them on their coconut shrimp – well, except for the $9 price tag – which were crunchy and tasty. They were deliciously coconutty, and I don’t like the feel of shredded coconut in my mouth so that’s saying something. But for the price, there should have been more, or else they should’ve been bigger.

Their beverages were comparable to other places. I got a pint of Yuengling on tap for $4

Because we were a party of six, they tacked on the tip for us. Grand total after tip? $71. For two pizzas, five shrimp, five sodas and a beer.

Man, the Dough Roller is running a good racket.

Road Trip Alert: Downy Ayshin, hon

My sister and I are going down with some family friends to Ocean City!

Okay, y'all might be thinking "Big whoop." But hold on! I have not been to OCMD for over 10 years (eleven to be exact). I went down with my girlfriend at the time (sigh, if we had only known then what I know now...).

Looking forward to some crabs, maybe a drive into Delaware. And perhaps revisiting a few old foodie haunts. But I realize now that I have no idea what's still open! What sticks in my mind the most are a few restaurants and food stands on the Boardwalk:

• a really good crepe place somewhere between 50th and 60th St.
• the England's buffet, which left me with a horrible stomachache due to overeating
• several crab houses which college friends of mine visited with me long long ago. One was around 30th, another was on the road between the inlet and Berlin
• and of course, the Alaska Stand around 9th and the Boardwalk. I had my very first OC food experience ever there, for high school senior week way back in 199-, er, sometime during the first Bush administration.

And I wonder when my lazy-arse classmates are going to plan a reunion! They did absolutely nothing for our... aaah, again I give too much info away :)

Road Trips a-Comin' Up

I know it's only May 1st, but my thoughts are already on the other end of the month - summer! The school year is winding down and this is when my thoughts turn to, er, finding employment for the summer. But I also plan to do a little traveling around. Just not too far, unless by airplane, lest I go bankrupt from super-expensive gas. Still cheaper here than most places, but it's still expensive.

I'm particularly anticipating my next trip to New York, especially now that no Yankees fans can gloat about how great their team is this year.

Heheh.

But one place I have to check out when up there is their own Pret A Manger, the UK sammich place that has several locations in the Big Apple. Also have to make it a point to stop in Little Italy, which I have yet to do up there. Just keep me away from the KFC's with the big rats. To wit:



Eww.

Later on this summer I must make it down to Richmond, near to which is Jamestown, the earliest English settlement in the Americas. Jamestown is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, and I have never been. The closest I've been, in terms of colonial cities of archaeological significance, is St. Mary's City (haven't been in almost 10 years, maybe I should drive down sometime). This'll probably happen sometime around July.

One final place I hope to get to is OC, hon. I know, easy choice. But I'm embarrassed to admit that, for all the traveling I have done, I haven't done any of it to Ocean City in years. I guess years of California made me sick of the beach, even if I still pine for the desert. But I make a promise to myself - and a prediction, not a promise to y'all, dear readers - that I will make it "downy ayshin" at some point this summer, hon.