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23 Jun 2018

Ocean City ~ Another Trip to the Boards

So this past Winter we asked our girls where they would like to go for our summer vacation, Disney World or Ocean City, New Jersey they both answered without hesitation, “Ocean City, New Jersey!”

So here is another picture blog (sort of) of our trip this month, back to my favorite destination as a kid.

We left for OCNJ the week after school let out for summer. And while it was plenty hot where we live, 10 hours to our North they were still trying to unwrap summer. Actually, the kids were still in school at this time.

Day 1

Eat Breakfast at Browns Donuts.

We always rent bikes in OCNJ and take a trip down the boardwalk in the morning. Browns is conveniently located at the one end of the Boards, so we start our daily bike ride from there.

This is one of two places we visited once a day (at least) on vacation. They are soooo good!

We love Brown’s donuts!

We go to Texas Roadhouse about every other week where we live. Every time we go there the young hostess asks if we had been to Texas Roadhouse before?

We walked in Browns donuts and got a big hug from the staff, which we had not seen in close to two years.

Something you might not be surprised to see then in America’s Greatest Family Resort is the playing of the Star Spangled Banner at 9am every day on the boardwalk as they raise our flag on the Boards.

Yes 9am, not too early…..cause we are on vacation.

In Ocean City, NJ a seagull flies through the scene as they sing, “God bless the USA” at around the first minute into the video. Not and eagle or jets that you see other places 🙂

It is the coast after all.

So every morning bike ride one of the things we try to decide is ‘where are we going to play miniature golf today?’

The Ocean City boardwalk has no shortage of kid courses.

Mini golf with a view…rain or shine apparently

Our first day on the Boards we opted for Medieval Golf, a.k.a., ‘the place with the dragon‘.

Skye hiding from the dragon

Next in the OCNJ routine is back to the beach house, quaintly known as 4 Beach Road this year, conveniently located to Browns and a beach grill, to freshen up and head to the beach.

Now one of the heroines in this story, Dylan, is at an age where she does not like the beach so much; it’s too dirty.

But Skye loves it! So off we went!

We dug a warm tidal pool in front of the cold Atlantic

So working on the reputation of ‘the world’s greatest daddy’ (Fathers Day was right around the corner) I dug a wall around the out-flowing water of the retreating tides to create a warm pool for Skye to play in.

This was some work as you had to stay busy and a lot of fun!

Speaking of the beach grill, here is a shot from there where Mom and I enjoyed some local ‘Philly Cheese steaks, while Dylan and Aunt Sue practiced volley ball.

Take a look in front of us.

Parents, how many of you have kids that like to lay face and belly down in the sand and just get coated top to bottom?

Life’s a beach!

We showered up afterwards and headed over to the appropriately vacation themed ‘Island Grill Seafood House for dinner. This is another place we talked about all spring as we planned our vacation.

our Miss Drama on vacation

Then back to the boardwalk for the last two destinations we dreamed of all spring,

Amusement park rides on the Wonderland Amusement pier ….

…and Kohrs Brothers Frozen Custard!!!

Kohrs Bros. frozen custard accept no substitutes

This frozen soft custard ice cream goodness really can’t be over stated. And by the end of the week Dylan had her favorite Kohrs Brothers stand with her favorite staff.

Can you imagine any finer destination for a kid then, donuts, bikes, beach, putt-putt, amusement rides and soft ice cream all in one day?

And why this beats Disney World every time?

Day 2

Browns….

4 Cinnamon, 3 chocolate, 1 powdered and one vanilla…all Mine!!

Bike ride to decide on the mini golf course to play.

Tuesday’s winner was the unforgettable favorite Seaport Village.

A household favorite, Jaws Golf

This has always been a family favorite after that unforgettable experience Skylar had years ago on her first encounter with putt-putt on the boards…and sharks!

Then it was back to the beach….

Yes a blonde life guard

…. then Castaway Cove Amusement Rides….

Fearless!

…and more Kohrs Bros.

Time for a daily dose of Kohrs Bros. Note the jackets

Notice the proper order…..

rides then ice cream and not the other way around.

Day 3

Browns donuts

Beware the paparazzi!

Boardwalk, bikes, mini golf…..

Today was the much awaited (and argued about), the legendary Congo Golf.

Congo Golf! The gorillas in the helicopter sing

Argued about you say?

Well trying to get two kids to agree on which course to play!

3 courses inside Congo golf (they all play Jimmy Buffett inside

Yes, dad took all the arguing in stride as they play Jimmy Buffett throughout the course..inside

Then back to the beach…

Today the post-card team of lifeguards actually came to life!

A family of swimmers drifted out past the breakers and could not make their way back to the shallows. A few of them waved for the lifeguards for Help.

I would like to insert a (blonde) joke here but I was really impressed.

Without hesitation, one of the lifeguards sprinted to the sea with an orange float under one arm, completely ignoring the 60 degree ocean temp.

In less than a minute two more life guards came literally sprinting down the beach full speed from the neighboring beach, floats in their hand, and dove into the ocean.

A minute later an all-terrain vehicle pulled up with two more lifeguards. And then another.

Life guards pulling swimmers from the ocean. I stood up as if I could be some assistance to the rescue

This rescue on this family of 5 was really impressive!

Adding to why this is such a great place to take your kids.

…speaking of,

later that day…

Rides

Did I mention Fearless?

…Kohrs Bros. ice cream, er, frozen custard

Chocolate and rainbow sprinkles

Day 4

Today on the Boards we tried a break in the routine,

a perk,

a decadent diversion….

Boards, Bikes, and Kohrs Custard…for breakfast

Soft Custard for breakfast!!

We still had our Browns donuts earlier on the bike ride.

(I put on so much weight this trip!)

Still no shortage of mini golf..

Pirate Island

Pirate Golf right down the boards from Congo

…that has the talking Parrott and Alligator…that tries to sell you DQ Blizzards

And the mandatory family pic….

mandatory family picture

more Beach..

This week in Ocean City they held the Miss New Jersey pageant at their famed Music Pier theater on the Boards.

This night they held the Miss New Jersey pageant ‘parade’ on the boardwalk so every one could get a glimpse at the contestants…

Miss New Jersey Parade

..ahhhh, the constants:

ahhh Ms. New Jersey parade

Each contestant rode in their favorite car and got made up to look like their favorite woman in history.

..then more rides

The Wonderland Bear says Hello to the two most avid riders

..as we were preparing to say good-bye to the Wonderland and Castaway Cove Amusement piers.

Summary:

So by now I guess you know our routine.

I didn’t take any pics of riding our bikes on the boardwalk. That, in itself, is a true highlight of a trip to OCNJ, for young and old a like.

We did not miss a single morning, rain or shine, hot or cold on the Boards with our bikes.

Here is a glimpse of what that is like..

Two and a half mile of beach homes, other bikers, joggers, and surreys.

Shops, sounds, smells and sights of vacation!

Candy, fudge, warm fresh caramel corn, ice cream, mini golf, souvenirs, beach stores.

A wake, up-stretch-your-legs, this-is going-to-be-a-great day, intro to vacation.

I stop, inhale, and marinate the ‘shangri la’ experience this is, and has been for me. Its good for the soul.

Shang ri la ~ the boards are good for the soul

Perfect morning on the boards

..cause I am pretty much still a kid at heart.

One mini golf place we did not mention or capture was the Haunted Golf with the skeleton out front that talks and sings to you.

No pictures cause it’s all inside.

Which can be a really cool thing in the summer; pardon the pun.

And that brings us to the sunset of our summer vacation.

The Sun going down to the west

Thanks for taking the time to look in and visit with us!

Sorry is it is so much of the same, past OCNJ posts. But each trip, I think this marks the 5th with the kids, is a new high with new experiences.

One more glimpse from the ferris wheel as we take the bridge across Egg Harbor and head home and say good-bye.

It’s a great place to be a kid!

Want one more version of why Ocean City is Americas Greatest Family resort and the perfect place for kids? Listen to this unbiased version from a 10-year-old strolling down the boardwalk as he gives you a narrated tour of the Boards. Too cute!

This is the Ocean City experience… as seen through the eyes of a child.

Cast of Characters in Another Trip to the Boards:

Browns Donuts

Kohrs Bros. Frozen Custard

Ocean City Boardwalk

Bikes on the Boardwalk

Miniature Golf of Ocean City

with a very special supporting to Johnson’s popcorn

(in which a gallon tub was consumed during the making of this vacation)

(I am such a tub of lard)

If I know you, and I miss your birthday or special event, you are getting a tub of this in the mail

Posted in Ocean City America's Best Family Resort and tagged a great place to be a kid, america's greatest family resort, BROWNS DONUTS, Johnson's Popcorn, kohrs frozen custard, Ocean City

23 Jun 2016

20 Comments

A Great Place To Be A Kid

Well pardon me…

Its time for another great version of:

“What I did on my summer vacation!“

(How has everyone been?)

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Three guesses where we went?

Yes, the very day school let out here we packed our bags for …

“our favorite beach town…its Ocean City, NJ”.

Actually you all know this by now I guess.

Again this town, now TOWN(!), is a GREAT FAMILY Resort.

ocean city

It markets itself that way and does a great job to brand itself that way too.

Imagine a resort where they don’t sell alcohol (at least not on the island)? All that tax revenue gone.

But the no alcohol sends that element somewhere else and you are left with a vacation spot full of young families, older folks looking for a quiet town and some really well raised teenagers.

It truly is a great place to ~~bring~~ be a kid.

RIDES_20160605_190821580_HDR

This is the place where my parents brought me and my siblings when I was young. We made some great memories!

Now its our turn to bring our girls back OC and let them make some fun memories; as well as recreate some of our own.

What were those memories?

As Junie B. Jones would say,

‘It is my favorite thing in the whole wide world! And it starts with the letter B.

And that stands for….

Boardwalk!’

BOARDWALK _20160608_095220045

And Ocean city’s boardwalk is a great place to be a kid!

(click HERE or at sunset HERE and take a peak at whats going on right now

…and get fat!

Yep, you just try and run all this food off…

Ahhhh…. yea!

Some of the best food known to kid-dom resides on ‘the Boards’! And when I say the Best, it is truly the best of the best…

“Laura’s Fudge is so so nice
Kohr Brothers is cool as ice
And top it off with a slice
And they’ve got FroYo, too

Eating all you can
Pants start to expand
Even ate some sand
Where you think you’re going baby?”

Well, we went each morning to Brown’s Donuts on our bikes. We strategically rented a home a block away from Brown’s.

BROWNS DOUGHNUTS_20160609_093706303

This is the spot where I try to sell you on brown’s, again. But this year it was summed up our very first day.

As we walked through the front door to get a table two ladies in their 50’s were sharing some donuts on the bench by the door. And as I walked on by one won-over lady was licking her fingers and said,

“Best donut ever!”

Ahh yea! They are.

Warm, fresh, made to order Brown’s donuts.

Accept no substitutes!

Powdered, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Vanilla, and Honey

After Brown’s its a trip down the boardwalk on our bikes as we try to decide what stores to stop in and where to play miniature golf at on our way back.

‘How hard did you hit that Daddy?’

Getting back to the Boardwalk, it now carries several regional brand names synonymous with the Boardwalk. (You will see below in the vid)

If some one say Kohr’s you think the best soft custard ever!

If someone says Johnson’s Popcorn you think warm fresh, smell-to-die-for caramel corn.

If someone in Philadelphia says, Manco and Manco they know they are talking about delicious 26 inch pizza pies.

And I already told you about Brown’s Donuts.

Yes, the stores carry t-shirts, pictures, key chains, and refrigerator magnets with these brands on them

So? Best place to be a kid?

Howabout a place with world famous soft custard, warm caramel corn, pizza and donuts. I promise you we ate 3 of the 4 EVERY day (I’m such a pig) including Browns donuts every morning and Kohr’s soft custard every night.

We did!

lose 10lbs

Its like being a kid in a candy store!

Like a kid in a candy store

Oh yea, they have a few old, established famous ones there too!

BOARDWALK CANDY_20160605_132223258

Did I forget to mention fresh fudge kids?

Now here is the part where I try to find a video that summed up OC’s boardwalk but I found this gem instead.

Kudos to Mom and Dad and their talented kids for pulling this off!

Their smiles and enthusiasm are A-typical of the kids in OC and the kids in all of us!

Sing along with them to the familiar tune:

“We come here ev-ver-ree year.

To the beach where there is no beer.

We really like it here.

We think you will too…

We take a walk on the boards
This pizza won some awards
We’re on the Jersey Shore
But not the tacky one”

I love it!

Now if you ask our kids what the best part of their vacation was they will tell you

THE RIDES!

BOARDWALK_20160608_191721847_HDR

There are two amusement piers on the boards with a lot of carnival type kid rides. One pier may be geared more to younger kids than the other.

We went to both.

OMG don’t ask me how much money we spent on tickets!

It starts to put a Disney trip in perspective!

PIRATES_20160610_105448345

This year we thought we would hang out with some Pirates too.

Savvy?

We took a trip on a pirate cruise.

Again, this adventure, that we have always been curious about is geared to small kids.

Skylar let one loose….her ‘Stinky Pete the Pirate’ joke..

We sailed around in the OC Harbor.

Tried to sink that smelly ol’ Pirate, Stinky Pete.

PIRATES_20160610_114155659

We They even found seem Pirate grog buried deep in the harbor.

PIRATE TREASURE_20160610_114828568

It turned out to be in a Treasure Chest with a lot of plastic kiddie toys and a 2 liter bottle of root beer.

It was great…if that gives you an idea of how cold that harbor water is!

Great job you scallywags!

RIDES_20160606_184000977_HDR

But while the trip was for the kids (most of it) Dad likes to go to the beach.

BROWNS TO THE BEACH _20160606_093233214

..where I can listen to the tides, watch some ~~girls~~ gulls, (an abundance of laughing gulls), chill, and get rid of my flip flop tan..

“Beach-Life tan”

Sadly, the air temperature was chilly for being the first week of June. We all had to buy sweatshirts. It kept a lot of the people off the beach and even more out of the cold ocean water.

I shore do love a picture where the land breeze blows the spray off the tumbling waves though!

IMG_20160608_161137063

And this pic below is for a blog follower, Apple Pie & Napalm, who did a photography post on ‘Sky’ while I was on vacation.She mentioned that she has started noticing the clouds more lately.

Well here is your typical ‘brush-stroke clouds cruising across the skies in OC…

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Ocean City even boasts of a well trained legacy of devoted life guards overlooking each beach, complete with rowboats, jet skies, and shaded life guard towers…

IMG_20160608_092615724

“Its our favorite beach town, Ocean City!”

Yes, a great place to be a kid!

And its a Great place to be a kid!

Have a great summer everyone!

Posted in Ocean City America's Best Family Resort and tagged bliss, BROWNS DONUTS, Johnson's Popcorn, kohr's bros. manco and manco pizza, Ocean City, our favorite beach town, pirates, rides

12 Oct 2014

8 Comments

Retiring

I warned you I had a few more beach photo’s from Ocean City with the new camera. So I wanted to unload some for my family and friends and be able to retire this beach vacation theme here in the middle of October.

So bear with me here. If I haven’t scared you off with the pics from our kids on the first two episodes, this won’t hurt much either.

Again, we took a trip to Ocean City, New Jersey, which calls itself America’s Greatest Family Resort. And if you have a young family this is a great place to escape to when the time is right.Well we visited on the shoulders of the off season and so the main attraction of Ocean City, its 2.5 mile boardwalk looked something like this:

The boardwalk is a great family destination for a number of reasons, not least of all is fun, great tasting, and completely unhealthy food. That’s why, literally, the first place we stopped every morning was:

For a breakfast that resembled something like this:

That’s right, there are two warm fresh made, partially eaten donuts for my oldest one, along with some Bavarian Waffles all topped with strawberries. A good father might have suggested she try something a little less ambitious for breakfast. But I was looking forward to finishing it!

And I did!

Then every day, after we finished breakfast, we would peddle on down the boards for some shopping; or probably more food.

Go Dylan Go!

Let me introduce Johnson’s Homemade Popcorn!

Anybody who has ever had fresh, warm, sweet smelling caramel popcorn knows what a treat that is. And Johnson’s makes it ways with about 4 different stands on the boardwalk, each making their own in-house, much like these Popcorn elves, hard at work one beautiful morning.

Not sold yet, here is the link to their online store, try some! Charge it to my account. ..http://www.johnsonspopcorn.com/

Manko and Manko Pizza is another Ocean City establishment with a huge reputation on on the boards.

One particular chilly afternoon, I rode my bike down the boardwalk. It was empty. But as I rode past Manko and Manko’s there was maybe three empty seats in the whole place. Its that good!

The other must try, and we did, boardwalk treat is Kohr Brothers Frozen custard. Dylan tried to con me into taking her there every day as she knew it was my favorite spot on the boards.

Our girls HAD TO HAVE the sprinkles EVERY TIME!

Friends if you go to OCNJ and try just these four places then leave it would not have been in vein.

FROZEN custard’s my favorite

The other big reason for the great family fun on their boardwalk are the two big amusement piers.

There are great, carnival style rides here for all ages. I think I have documented them enough so here are just a few more pics

The Casio camera was not so good with fast moving shots. That didn't stop the guy in the second car didn't know that though.. I never met him before!

The Casio camera was not so good with fast moving shots. That didn’t stop the guy in the second car from posing though.. I never met him before!

And, of course, the required Pirate, "Arrrgh matey" pose

And the customary Pirate, “Arrrgh matey” pose

Of course I am a beach bum. Any vacation of mine has to include some sand and some waves.

I showed a few pics over the weekend of the poetic surf to be found there. I would be misleading if I left you with the idea it was always like that.

One day the ocean was just plain flat

And two days we had rain and storm type winds creating a different look for the beach and the ocean.

But half of our stay the weather did cooperate with us and the girls didn’t mind the chilly ocean temperatures ( as much as I did) to let them get in the way of their fun….

my little surfers..

the camera lens must have been about as cloudy as I was that morning

It must have been a sea monster or Queen Ursula

And as I sat their one afternoon, not worrying about blogs to write, or to-do lists, or finances, or health my eyes kept coming back to these two.

yes, RETIRING like this some day…

I sat there watching them thinking, ‘yea that is the life in retirement for me. I could get use to this life I think; come out on the beach every day and read whatever suits my fancy, while warming in the sun and the crash of the waves for my backdrop. I hear it calling me….’

“A most mysterious calling ocean.

So far but yet so near.

I can see the day when my hair’s so gray

and I finally disappear.”

But not yet!

Have a great week knuckleheads!

I’ll try to do better next time…

Posted in Ocean City America's Best Family Resort and tagged BROWNS DONUTS, Jimmy Buffett, Johnson's Popcorn, kohrs frozen custard, Manko and Manko pizza, Ocean City America's Greatest Family resort, One Particular Harbour, Thank you!

23 Sep 2014

8 Comments

Life’s a Beach; that’s for Shore…

Well the summer is over. School is in full swing. Football is kicking in on the weekends.

Good Bye Ocean! Good bye coastal weekends! As the King of Somewhere Hot I thrive in the summer. As the temps start to cool I become more of a normal guy I am afraid. Life can be a beach some times.

I went to bed with this dilemma on my mind and the summer solstice creating odd moods and weird dreams.

Like last night, I had this dream where I woke up to a spectacular sunrise…

My family and I rode bikes down to our favorite breakfast joint, Brown’s Donuts, home of the fresh, homemade, warm donuts. It was wonderful! So many choices! So little time…

‘Brown’s Donuts are good but don’t finger them all Skylar

After breakfast we peddled our bikes down to a miniature golf course. Our daughters tried to figure out the difference between putt-putt and hockey while I got to strut my stuff and the King of Somewhere Putt!

‘how hard did you hit that Daddy?’

Later on our ride down the boardwalk we ran across these lowly pirates, begging for more money for the likes of hot caramel popcorn, frozen custard, or yummy fudge.

My favorite letter is 'Arrrrgh', matey...

My favorite letter is ‘Rrrrr’, matey…

We rode our bikes back to the perfect beach! ….just as I thought my summer was over.

The water was nice. The waves were perfect! There was a coastal breeze coming off the mainland making the waves stand up and casting picturesque spray off as they crashed towards the beach; ahhh…shore.

The only thing keeping me from slipping into Margarittaville was a horse fly caught me off guard early in the afternoon, keeping me from completely relaxing with my Jimmy Buffett Ipod. Other than that odd twerk in my dream the beach afternoon was truly classic; a beautiful day on the edge of the continent.

What do you think it means in my dream?

My girls loved it too. The day was so clear we could see all the way to Atlantic City it seems. My girls only noticed this surfer dude, asking me what he was carrying and what’s it for. I told them to stay away girls! Stay, far, far away! In order to take their mind off this peculiar dressed surfer boy I took them to the local amusement pier on the boardwalk. Here they could find rides galore!

They got to ride some of their favorite spinny, thrilling rides….

Plus, some old favorites like engineering Thomas the Train…

Cheer up, the ride will be over soon…

My girls really love trains!

The setting sun cast a spectacular view of the ocean at dusk.

We took a moment in awe of the beauty that this world has to offer.

A well manicured beach…a gift

We thanked God for allowing me to have this special time with my family, in contrast to how I was feeling a year ago. And we decided time was short so we needed to celebrate with one of the greatest gifts known to man…

FROZEN custard’s my favorite

Kohr’s Frozen Custard!

What a dream! If only…

If only it were real. If only I could relive it tomorrow. If only these stupid dreams weren’t dictated by some odd lunar effects.

If only this was not a dream and we could relive all this fun tomorrow!

THAT would be a dream for shore!

Have you had any weird dreams lately?

Posted in Archives and tagged BROWNS DONUTS, Jimmy Buffett, just a dream over my head, kohrs frozen custard, Margarittaville, Trains are the best, vacation

04 Aug 2013

29 Comments

Post Card from Ocean City, NJ or how I spent my summer vacation

We are recovering from a long trip back from New Jersey this week. We drove almost 12 hours, half of which seemed to be in the rain on the way home. Its been a jet lag and vacation withdrawal kinda week.

So in between unpacking and work I have been trying to put together some pics and videos from our trip for family and friends.

I think I told you earlier how Ocean City, New Jersey was a favorite vacation spot of mine when I was a wee kid. I loved it. It had so many fun, new things that I couldn’t do at home.

So naturally we looked forward to our kids having as good of a time for a vacation as we did. I think this is a great spot for kids and young families. Ocean City is a great family resort. It claims to be the “Greatest Family Resort”

It does seem to cover all the bases when it comes to having fun for a kid. Here is a glimpse why:

Kohr’s Bros frozen custard is reason enough for a visit

(the BEST hot caramel popcorn in the world!)

I actually have to order more Johnson’s Popcorn for my wife as I gave our last tub we brought home to our pet sitter this week…she wasn’t very happy about that decision…

“Sandy Monster”

a popular T Shirt on the boards

Like I said, we had a great time with so many great things to see and do…and TASTE! So I put together Top 10 Reasons this is one of our favorite family resorts. Or, otherwise a glimpse at how we spent our time on vacation week. These are the things we enjoy in Ocean City. Maybe, hopefully you’ll see it too.

OUR TOP TEN REASONS WE VISIT OCEAN CITY, NJ

1. The Boardwalk.

Most of the fun for a kid, Dad or even a Senior revolves around the 2.5 mile long boardwalk. Their literally is something for everyone here and probably lost of it. Its a mecca for fun in OC and every trip is planned around trips to, as well as what to do on the boardwalk. Here are a few images:

What?????

Some elaborate Mini-golf courses

2. Rides of the Boardwalk.

There are two amusement piers on the boardwalk. Most of the rides are geared towards the little adventurer than the teenaged one but there is something for everyone. I think we went through over $250 in TICKETS for these rides in one week. Ouch! But it is all about the kids. Here is few examples of the fun:

3. People You might meet on the Boardwalk.

I am not talking celebrities here. More like mascots. There is even a mascot parade every week. But what fun for a kid and some photo taking ops; if they’re not too scared.

I think you saw Skylar with Mr. Fries at the beginning of the week. Some of the other party mascots include….

We met Andy the Android

…Andy the Android from Verizon. Actually we had to take this one since my wife works for Verizon.

There was also the Kohr’s Bros. Custard monkey. I’m sure he has a name. Whether he did or not the kids sure loved him. Really, Kohr’s Bros. is the only name you need tot remember!

Kohr’s Brothers mascot

We also saw the sailor from one of the miniature golf courses on the boards. But whoever it was the kids sure loved their chance to meet a kid celebrity.

4. Miniature Golf.

There is a miniature golf course for everybody on the boards with at least 10 courses up there. There are courses of all type from the standard pool table bounce-off-the-boarders type of putt-putt to elaborate mazes for holes in ones. With so much competition many go to great ~~length~~ expense to lure you in.

You might have seen Jaws on Skylar’s video on Monday. Here are a few more we visited…

Give credit to the family resort… how many places start the day with our national anthem in front of a putt-putt course? And talking parrots pitching Dairy Queen?

5. Food of the boardwalk.

Many agree, all the various food stands and restaurants are the prime reason for visiting OC’s boardwalk. This isn’t the best food of the boardwalk, or Ocean City. These places of some of the BEST vacation / snack / junk food anywhere. They are practically their own food groups here, in that you should try to get a helping of each one DAILY. And many try!

So here are our Top 5 places to eat / things to try / must haves / Reasons to visit Ocean City and its boardwalk. We actually talk about each one of these places on the way up. Really! We are that nerdy!

Top 5 at 5

...that’s “Hot, Fresh, Made-To-Order” donuts at Brown’s They are so good!

Now, how many of your kids would love that food in the video? How many of YOU would enjoy it? Its your vacation, right? Calories don’t count!

But, if they did, or if you are worried about fitting in your suit the next day, Ocean City has a way to help you out….

6. Vacation Ways for Exercise and / or Transportation on the Boardwalk

Every morning a ritual occurs on the boardwalk. We look forward to riding bikes on the boardwalk as a way to explore it quickly, wake up, stretch our legs and set the plan for the day. Runners (lots of) show what they got on the boards in the morning too. Others find their favorite ways to stretch and get some exercise with other modes of transportation.

Because what kind a of resort has you feeling guilty or wishing you could try those donuts? Get up and work it off. You have until noon….

I guess some ~~lucky~~ people don’t have to work that hard.

7. Live Entertainment on the Boardwalk.

First Ocean City has its own Music Pier the sticks out towards the ocean from the boardwalk that dates back to 1928. Each year there plays, big bands, and other forms of entertainment lined up for the summer.

The last time we were in town there was a skit on one of our childhood Saturday morning cartoons, Schoolhouse Rock. Have I told you how nerdy we are?

But anything could happen! One overcast night last week, while we were sampling the pizza, fudge and frozen custard we kept on running into live bands plugged in. Again, it was really a kick for young and old kids! A little something for everyone!

8. Protected Beaches.

The audacity of Ocean City to want to charge you to use their beach, a gift of nature. Yes, each visitor pays about $10 a week for the privilege to use Ocean City ‘s beaches. What?

Yes, everyone on the beach needs to be displaying a beach tag saying they paid their beach toll that day.

You know what? It works.

Ocean City’s beaches and dunes are some of the best maintained I’ve seen anywhere. They look like right out of a book. They have a beach service their that includes at least 4 life guards per beach, including life guard stands, life boats, jet skies, and yes , whistles. ( i hate to get a whistled at….by life guards. parents of any age can feel safe knowing their is that much help and resources around.

And that $10 or $15 fee, well lets just say that just helps to keep America’s Family Resort for families

The ultimate validation, last fall’s Hurricane Sandy ripped death and destruction in every direction of Ocean City, NJ. Its eye hit a few mile north in Atlantic City. Yet, this town is running like a clock this summer. And I have to think in part due to a well established and maintained dune system. Sure most of the dunes ended up on main streets a block or two inland. But that boardwalk was preserved. Most of the houses were preserved. A way of life was preserved…

And the waves are for real…

9. Beach bunnies.

No, I am not talking about curvy beach bunnies…

I wish I was but I’m not…

I am talking about those adorable little bunnies that now call some of the protected sand dunes home. They blend right in at first but then the more you look the more you see.

I think any other resort claiming to be America’s favorite would have to be very creative to top Easter Bunnies at their resort.

“Happy Easter Bunny day!“, right Skylar?

“Happy Easter Bunny Day!”

They only seem to come out at dusk, avoiding the hot summer sun. Let other beaches have their mostly nude beach bunnies. OCNJ has Easter bunnies! Well done!

10. Kids just have fun here!

Yes, kids, kids of all ages can have fun in Ocean City, New Jersey. If our Top 10 reads like a checklist, how much of this sounds like fun. its fun for kids, families and even seniors due the wholesome atmosphere that is there brand.

And there are lots more things to see and do in Ocean City too. These are just some of the things we like. There is downtown shopping. Water sports in the bay as well as Atlantic City only being a bridge away to the north.

If anyone reading this has been to OCNJ and would like to add their favorite activities to our list please feel free to add them in the Comment section.

In the end it really is a great family resort; for the whole family. Although when asked which she liked better, Ocean City or the Jamaican resort where they furnish a nanny for the day, she still preferred Jamaica. And, yes, they did have bunnies the kids could feed there as well.

We may just alternate back and forth…and throw in a Disney adventure as well.