Ocean City

Ocean City MD

Aug 30th- Sept. 1, 2022

I continue to be blessed with participating in Tulip Travel and had the opportunity to join the group to Ocean City for a second time. This was one of my first trip with the group last year when I started. I have continued to volunteer with and travel with individuals with disabilities. Here's our trip to Ocean City 2022.

DAY 1: TRAVEL

We left the Tulip Travel office and made our way south to Ocean City MD. It was quite a drive. Traveling with a group always takes so much more time then when it's just a carload. But we made it and we were able to check out the beach before it got to dark. 

We checked into our hotel and made some dinner decisions as the sun was beginning to set. 

Dinner was decided it was De Lazy Lizard. It was really a neat little place with the tables overlooking the water nestled up in a water cove.

The lizard is mostly Mexican and I enjoyed myself some nachos.
 

(view from our table)

It was pretty late by the time we finished diner, and I caught the Ocean City water tower as we were heading back to the hotel. 

DAY 2: ASSATEAGUE ISLAND and THE OC LIFE SAVING MUSEUM
 

We had breakfast at the hotel and headed off to the Assateague Island National Seashore. This was were I had been trying to get to with my girlfriends on our road trip, I just came in on the wrong side. 

We went to the visitor center where we were able to take in a movie. The movie told us all about the horses found on the Island. 

These horses, unlike the horses at Corolla, were not dropped off of Spanish ships although that is the folklore, these horses however were originally horses brought here by colonists over 300 years ago. The placement of them on the Island was an attempt for the colonists to avoid taxes and the Island created a natural corral. 

The Island spans over 37 miles in both Virginia and Maryland. There are 2 large herds. The Northern and the Southern. The southern (Virginia) has a heard of about 150 of these horses and every July the Cikiatink Fire department called Salt Water cowboys, will herd these horse to auction in an attempt to control the population. 

( The horseshoe crab)

After we left the visitor center we headed down to the area where the horses roam. 

We soon found some. 

These are part of the Southern herd who are at home in the National Park. The national park looks at these horses as wildlife, and therefor they have an hands off approach to management of the populations. 

The horses are considered an invasive species, in that they do not naturally belong here, their presence impacts the environment and affect the ecosystem. 

The horses feast on plants within the marsh, which protect other species such as crabs and birds. This impacts the survival of these other species. Additionally, the horses eat the sea grass which has a natural root that holds the dunes together. Being eaten creates erosion of the dunes. No dunes effects the plant life and other species that live beyond the harsh ocean winds and water protected by the dunes. 

In an attempt to create balance without impacting on these horses that have lived and thrived within this area, the National Park attempts to keep a herd of about 80-100 horses per season.  The National park's approach is to vaccinate Mares (the females) at the ages of 2, 3 and 5 years old. These vaccaine's have a form of birth control. These horses then only have one pony a year, during the best birthing year of the horses life. 

To prevent the horses from becoming comfortable with humans during this process, they are given the vaccines they must shot them with a dart. 

The horses create their own "little families" that establish a rank and specific social group. There is a Stallion and several Mares and their ponies. The Stallion's role is to protect, and the lead Mare makes the decisions on where the group moves, where they eat and where they will stay. 

The adult Mares in these groups will leave the group on their own and connect with another group or perhaps a solo stallion which prevents inbreeding. 

These horses are well adapted to this environment. Their short stalky legs assist in their anility to walk through brush, and they actually develop extra hair to keep them warm during the winter. 

These horses were mainly walking along the road. The National Park warns both for the safety of yourself and the animals, not to feed as well as to drive at a very slow pace. It is also very important to not get to close. 

These horses eat mostly salty foods and as as result they intake more fresh water then most horses, which create that bloating appearance.

These horses are not domesticated and injuries do happen when people get to close. 

The area is beautiful. In addition to the horses, the area has a campground a state park and a beach area. 

We left the horses and had lunch at Dairy Queen, before heading to Ocean City boardwalk where we went to the Life Saving Museum.

This museum offers information about the life saving methods used over the years to manage the area beaches and waterways. It also provides information about the sea animals found along and in the Atlantic. 

This guy is located outside the museum. A replica of the largest Mako shark found in the area. 

This area of the museum displays all the methods and examples of the ways the lifesavers have assisted in helping the population to be safe. 

There is a wall of items that were once prizes that people could win at the games found along the boardwalk. This little Kewpie doll was one of the examples. 

Of course all boardwalks have salt water taffy.

Upstairs is more about the area's fun parks and ammusement rides. This lovely lady was part of a fun house. She still laughs and you can push the button to hear her. 

There is a military history provided.

and a part of the wall of signatures the facility Legends. 

There is also a little area that houses sea creatures. 

We still had some of the day left, but we were all HOT, so we went back to the hotel and hot and hit the hotel pool. We spent several hours there before we decided to take a trip out to the ocean.

These pictures were taken while we were leaving, but we did spend some time swimming with the sun. It was so much fun to see the guys at the beach, some had never been to the ocean. I enjoyed watching their response to this opportunity. 

After the full day, we went back to the hotel and had a pizza party for dinner. 

DAY 3: OC BOARDWALK and RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT

On day 3 we headed out to the boardwalk and did a little shopping. 

Didn't every kid who have visited places like this take home a hermit crab as a pet? I remember my oldest son getting one while we were on some vacation. The shells are much more exciting then I remember, and yes, I was tempted.

Statues along the walk.

Most of the time we shopped. Be AWARE of those places that claim all shirts are whatever price, because that is a CON. I got so mad at one place. The guys only have so much money to spend and when we see a great deal, they are drawn to it. We went to one of these ALL SHIRTS are such and such dollars, only to find out that this does not include the decal. All decals are inflated in price and add so much to the final cost. There were several disappointed people in this group. 

We decided to catch the trolly that runs from one end of the board walk to the other. (I cant remember the price, but it was very reasonable.)

We went all the way to the end and we nearly reached our hotel, which is not on the boardwalk. Everyone enjoyed this ride, plus it cooled us all off. 

We had lunch on the boardwalk before heading to the Ripley's Believe it or Not. We had been scheduled to also go to the Shipwreck Museum, (not located on the Boardwalk) but it is CLOSED on Wednesdays- so don't go on Wednesdays.  So off to the non believers.....(I had several pictures outside of this place that are fun to pose in, but I did not want to put the guys out for public views.)

There is a random man (not real) in the bathroom making obscene noises in this bathroom.

What can I say about this place? Its quirky, weird and these "museums" are all over the place in big tourist areas. 

There are some interesting facts that reflect on the strange and unusual, but we had the most fun just posing with these figures and taking photos.

unusual animals

Strange and unusual people....

Torture devices

Shrunken Heads

Vending machines that offer edible Larve and other bugs.

Of course there are always those creatures that have odd deformities. 

Visual perception off.....

We had a full day, and we leave early tomorrow, so we went back to the hotel to pack up and prepare for the next day. After that we did a little more shopping off the Boardwalk, which was a little bit cheaper and had dinner at Pit and Pub. It was good.

DAY 5: 

Annette and I got up early and took in the sunrise before we packed up and headed out for the long trip home. What a great vacation. 

TTFN