2020 has felt like the year of staying at home. With all big travel plans lost to the pandemic, many areas (at least in the United States) started to open up for more local travel this summer. In my last post I mentioned how I needed to get used to and embrace this year as a time to travel and explore locally around the US because I don't believe international travel will be an option any time soon.
With staying safe and keeping all necessary precautions, that meant the best option for travel was the beach, and the closest beach was the infamous Ocean City, Maryland. Now I live about 3 hours from Ocean City, and in my opinion that calls for an overnight stay. I was lucky to go for a week in August with my family before going back to work, which was mostly spent reading on the beach [Circe - Madeline Miller] Immediately, when we got home my mom was booking a weekend trip back for the Labor Day long weekend. After being truly quarantined the months before, no one was too anxious to be home.
We left Friday after work, my mom, sister and I. I was so eager I packed my bag during my lunch break working from home. The ride was full of McDonald's fries, little traffic, and tons of rain. We stayed at the Carousel. If you've never heard of that hotel, it's like stepping into a time capsule to the 80s. The main floor even has an ice skating rink in the center of the lobby. Our room was overlooking the beach bar they have... and it was a total vibe! The first night we sat out at the fire pit and enjoyed the nice weather.
The first day I woke up at 7am, honestly my body was set at that after one week of work. I was feeling primed and ready to go, and was able to get work done on my computer while my mom and sister slept. When everyone was up, we were going to head down to the beach but the wind was so so crazy and chilly we decided to wait till the afternoon to go. So the hunt for breakfast was on. One of my top recommendations for a trip to Ocean City is Jimmy's Kitchen in Fenwick for breakfast - but be warned that it closes at noon. We tried to get a spot there, but Saturday on a holiday weekend it was too good to be true an hour from close. Time for plan b. We ended up a block away at Warrens Station (no wait!). My mom got her go to Greek Omelet, my sister got a classic eggs over easy, and I got a bagel sandwich with egg whites and Canadian bacon. Now it could be just because I was *starving* having not ate yet that day but I was very happy with my breakfast :) We all left satisfied and ready to hit the beach!
The beach Saturday was a flip flop of temperatures. I've been to the beach where it is hot with no wind so even in the shade it is not that comfortable, and I've been the beach were it is so cold you wrap yourself in a towel up to your neck. Today, it was somehow both? With the crazy wind, our umbrella broke within the first 15 minutes on the beach so we gave it a chance just sitting in the sun. The sun was making my skin hot, but the wind was making me cold. Not the best for relaxing. After the first hour I went up to explore the store for a cheap umbrella which saved the weekend.
The rest of the days on the beach weren't super windy and were spent listening to Red Velvet, reading Midnight Sun, and listening to the Criminalia podcast.
Saturday night we headed over to one of our favorite places, Ropewalk, and I had two desires on my mind: a glass of rose and a salmon caesar salad. Went for a frose for something a little different. We got views of the bay and they added more salmon than I could actually eat so you definitely get your money's worth. I left super satisfied.
After dinner we went to our new little favorite spot on the bay, the Isle of Wight park. We fell in love with the little beach this past August when looking to collect some seaweed for a terrarium and explore. The little beach was full with someone launching their boat so we headed off to the overlook to see what we could find. We spent a good hour or so looking for blue crabs and taking pics in golden hour. It's a great place to come if you want to see more wildlife. Back at the Carousel, my sister and mom went and sat at the bar outside our room. I had a headache that wasn't going away so I was tempted to just go to sleep but the fomo kicked in so I went and joined them. If painkillers don't work for a headache then a beer is a great last resort haha. I got a beer for my headache and it actually subsided so I sat out and enjoyed the night and the music.
Sunday I woke up early again and caught up on youtube. Thought I'd give actual relaxing a try. I don't know about you but whenever I get a chance to truly relax I want to start in on a bunch of projects, only really giving myself downtime when I have responsibilities. After a deep dive into youtube I decided it was time to get dressed and walked down to the cafe for a caramel macchiato and a bagel by the ice skating rink. We went down to the beach till about 4 o'clock and got sandwiches from Surfs Edge (a deli in Fenwick) on the beach.
That evening we drove about 30 minutes to Rehoboth in the evening to shop and eat. It's got a nice little downtown hub, unlike Ocean City it's pretty walkable and all located in one area without a big highway through the center. It was poppin'. Great stores, great weather, but long lines for dinner - we ate at Cooter Browns which was a southern cooking restaurant. They had really different cocktails ( I'm still disappointed I didn't get the violet mule) but I would count the food as not worth going out of your way for.
When we got back to Ocean City we went to see the beach at night and walk around a bit. The water was warmer than it was during the day and you could see a bunch of campfires down the beach. Somewhere south of us started setting off some fireworks for the holiday which really brought the whole mood together as people cheered around their campfires.
I spent the rest of the evening journaling on the balcony and listening to the classic rock station the bar was playing. It was the perfect night. That is until the cigarette situation. I came back into our hotel room and the air was thick with the smell of cigarettes. The hotel is non smoking so we thought maybe it was someone at the bar but there was no one smoking out there and no strong scent. Then we checked the front door thinking it was someone in the lobby. No again. Turns out it was coming through the air vents, so someone was probably smoking in the room near ours. Because we were leaving in the morning and it was already almost 10:30 pm we didn't want to deal with telling the hotel and having to move rooms. So we decided to air out the room the best we could, which meant the music from the bar was blasting into our late into the night, but at least the smell was gone.
Waking up Monday was a very sleepy morning after our night of bar music in our room the night before. We had to be out by 11 so we spent the morning packing up and getting ready to go to the beach. Desperate to get as much time we could at the beach for the last time of the season we stayed till 3:30. We got lunch at the Carousel Beach grill. I got a salad, desperate to have some vegetables. They had a delicious house honey mustard vinaigrette dressing that has got me searching the internet for a recipe. It was a great last bit of enjoying the beach of the season. To end the day we got changed in the hotel bathroom and headed back to Rehobeth to check out some stores we missed, Quiet Storm and our favorite crystal shop Buddhas and Beads. I got stuff to make a necklace with a black tourmaline pendant (for protection!) which I am super excited to create. We had Auntie Anne's for dinner and had a smooth quick ride back sleepy from a weekend of food and sun
In conclusion: I am really thankful for this weekend and being able to travel locally. I felt truly relaxed after the first week back at work. It has me wishing for another getaway weekend next month. And the middle schooler in me is so happy that this trip got me kicked off reading a good chunk of Midnight Sun. I hope you all can get some safe local getaways and enjoy yourself!
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