Ocean City, MD (part 1)

We had not had a vacation all year long. Not even for our anniversary. So by the end of September we were really feeling cabin fever. Therefore, the very first weekend in October we took a short road trip to the eastern shore of Maryland- to the beach! The weather was still nice, and we had not been to the beach since Aaron was a newborn and my family was in town. I am sure he did not appreaciate it then. The kids did well in the car, but for some reason Aaron got really nervous going over the bay bridge. I don't think that kid likes heights! Elena? No problem! Here she is enjoying a juicy apple on the way.

 Here is a bit of the drive through the bridge. Nice structure! So glad we didn't hit any traffic!

Priceless.

Done with the bridge! Now, that's more like it!

Of course, my husband being the complete baseball nut, we had to stop over in Trappe, Maryland- hometown of Frank "Homerun" Baker- and check out the town. (For those unaware, he is a baseball hall-of-famer for being the champion of home runs- until Babe Ruth came along.)

Somehow we found the park dedicated to him- we didn't even know it was there- and the kids got to run their sillies out in the muddy baseball fields.

Running the bases is good exercise.

Then we drove the rest of the way to Ocean City, got a room, then went straight to the beach. Just in time for a spectacular sunset!

 The best part was watching the dolphins out in the bay. Breathtaking, I tell you! I could live here. No problem whatsoever.

Except, good food seemed hard to find. We had no places recommended to us, so we found a place of the main road. We said as we pulled in "we've either found a gem of a place, or a nightmare". Well, folks it was a nightmare. Horrible service (slow as molasses), did not smell appetizing, dirty fish tanks, and other people were complaining too. Our food took about an hour at least, and just as long to get the bill. Luckily it was within walking distance to the hotel so I could go put the kids to bed, while Jim stayed behind to pay the bill. I don't think he tipped much. Later we researched the infamous Salvatore's restaurant online and found a whole bunch of horrible reviews. A lot of them related to health code violations. Yep, so don't go there! At least we got some delicious and overpriced ice cream at Dumser's Dairyland Ice cream parlor for dessert. The day ended well, and the kids had a great time sleeping at the hotel.