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By Bob & Tanya Waite
Tanya is, as usual, packed from the night before, while I am trying to do all my packing first thing in the morning. She says, “See, if you packed last night, you wouldn’t be so worried about forgetting something.” I agree, although I seem to always forget something, like my phone charger, toothpaste, my reading glasses, backscratcher, kindle. I am less concerned about clothing, since I always bring extra shirts.
It's a little cloudy and may rain up here, but they are calling for blue skies in Ocean City. Tanya likes rain and I see her point. There’s nothing like being on our balcony, watching it rain and drinking a cocktail, but I draw the line when it comes to highway driving.
As we drive, the sun makes itself known and we are both content, drinking coffee and eating glazed donuts. In no time we are on Rt. 1 South in Delaware, driving the scenic route. We pass through farm country, small towns and begin to see signs for the Delaware beaches. We pass Rehoboth, and find ourselves driving through an area where we can see the bay outside the passenger window and the ocean out the driver’s side. Signs on the road warn us of turtles crossing, something that amuses me, since I hit a Bucks County deer only a few months ago. I love turtles, but I’ll take my chances.
We arrive at the Grand Hotel, which is right on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Although the main entrance is on the street side, we park on the side street abutted to the boardwalk and go into the boardwalk entrance. The hotel lives up to its name. From the boardwalk we see the shops in the front of the hotel, including a jewelry store that got Tanya’s attention. “Hon,” I say, “We can window shop after checking in.” She relents and we enter.
On our way in we notice the little coffee and sandwich shop that has an entrance from the boardwalk and inside the hotel. I am craving coffee, but I realize that I cannot stop after asking Tanya not to window shop. We walk up to the check-in desk and notice the lobby with tables, art on the wall, lots of indoor plants and very comfortable seating areas.
We check in and are given an ocean view room on the floor right under the very top floor. All the rooms are on the ocean side of the hotel, which has a convex, semi-circular shape. The hotel’s sandy pink color makes it an Ocean City icon. There are city view rooms that are on the north and south sides of the semi-circle and from their balconies the ocean can still be seen. Our room is in the middle of this semi-circle and we are looking straight on at the ocean, and down below us is the boardwalk.
As Tanya takes photos of the room, I go to the balcony. It is a good sized balcony and looking right, left and down I can see the boardwalk and watch the people walking along enjoying the salty air. The ocean is sky blue and so incredibly clean looking. I look out on it and thank the Lord of heaven and earth for the view we are given and for His marvelous creation.
Our room is equipped with a coffee pot and coffee (my priority), a sink, microwave and refrigerator. The decor is very down-the-beach looking. The room is spacious and in it is a square marble topped table with two elegant aquamarine colored chairs for eating, an easy chair with a large ottoman and two queen beds separated by a shared nightstand.
After viewing the room and trying out the comfortable furniture, we change and go out for dinner. We heard of a place called Waterman’s Seafood Company, which is not only a restaurant but also a sports bar and a seafood market. It sounded good so we make our way across the bridge onto the mainland and it’s only 4:30 in the afternoon. At this time the restaurant isn’t very busy and we are waited on right away.
The menu is just what is expected from a Seafood Company. The appetizers are sports bar fare with a seafood twist. You can eat a variety of seafood / bar food combinations like Hot Crab Pretzel (a hot baked Philly style pretzel topped with Waterman's crab dip and melted cheese) or Waterman's Seafood Skins (a cheesy blend of scallops, shrimps, and crabmeat piled over potato skins toasted in the oven and served with sour cream). Then there are Wings, Dynamite Shrimp, Bacon Wrapped Scallops, and others that stimulate the appetite for what’s to come.
The menu has a section for clams and oysters and a section for salads and soups, which include Maryland Crab and Cream of Crab. To the salads can be added Grilled Chicken Breast, Blackened Salmon and Blackened Shrimp. Salad choices are House Salad, Caesar’s Salad and Waterman's Wedge Salad. Steamed seafood is another part of the menu that includes Shrimp, Drunken Mussels and Crabs. There are 11 varieties of sandwiches including Fish Tacos and the famed Chesapeake Burger (1/2 pound Certified Angus Beef® topped with their own crab dip, bacon, and cheddar jack cheese).
The entrees range from usual seafood fare such as Fish & Chips and Seafood Combinations (fried steamed and broiled) to more exotic dishes such as Caribbean Jerk Swordfish (Served grilled over roasted corn salsa with Caribbean BBQ). Tanya orders the Broiled Seafood Combination (shrimp, scallops, crab cake and flounder). I order the Ribeye Steak. As much as I like seafood, the steak seemed too good to pass up.
We also order cocktails. Tanya has a Margarita and I have Dewar’s on the Rocks. The server is very helpful and assured us that we will love our entrees, yes even the steak. And he is right. The seafood platter is perfect. The fish is juicy but cooked to perfection. The shrimp and scallops are seasoned wonderfully and tender. The crabcake is a work of art. My steak is so tender I could cut it with straw and it is actually medium rare, not rare or medium. Our baked potatoes and salads are also just right. We both give it five stars.
After eating we drive around Ocean City, looking at the amusement park and the inlet. The inlet is absolutely beautiful. We stay there until dusk just talking and taking in the majestic view of ocean meeting bay while nature’s outdoor lighting is getting dim. Back in our room we watch tv until we both fall asleep.
We get up around 8 a.m. and are ready to go to Assateague Island that is home to both a state park and a national park. There are beaches and camping spots and it is the natural habitat for thousands of water fowl and other birds. Bird watchers can see over 300 species of resident and migratory birds. But the main attraction, especially for Tanya and I, are the wild horses.
The wild horses are feral horses that once were domesticated horses but have lived on the island and reverted to a wild state. There are several theories as to how they got there. Some people believe that the wild ponies of Assateague arrived on Assateague Island when a Spanish galleon cargo ship (with a cargo of horses) sank off the coast and the horses swam to shore. Others believe the wild horses arrived there via early colonial settlers. But regardless of where they came from, we want to see them.
We drive to the mainland over Route 50 and using our GPS we head toward the park. We then approach a bridge leading to the island and the park. As soon as we are on the other side, Tanya screams, “Look. There they are. Hi babies!” Then I hear a command. “Stop, let me out!” On both sides of the road we see incredibly beautiful wild horses. People in front of us are stopped too. Tanya gets out and starts taking photos. Horses beside the marshy area of the bay are just standing, as if posing.
After taking many photos, she jumps back into the car and we drive to the National Park. There we drive around for about a half hour looking for horses. We don’t see any so we decide to do some exploring. The park is delightful. People are camping, kayaking on the bay, fishing in the ocean. Trails for walking and biking crisscross the park. We also walk on the beach which has fairly packed sand making the walk easy. We see many birds and people walking to and from their campsites.
We also take a drive to the bay and there we see a little observation station for marine biologists. We also see horses in the distance and across an inlet in the bay. We are dazzled and wish we could stay longer. We leave and go to the Maryland section of the island and see well-kept beaches with changing rooms and a refreshment area which isn’t open yet. Those beaches rival any that we have ever seen on the East Coast.
Back at the Grand Hotel we look at our photos. Tanya says, “I want to use ours in the article.” I consent. We stay in our room for a while and then, since it is midafternoon and sunny, we take a walk on the boardwalk. The boardwalk is populated but not crowded. So, Tanya does one of her favorite pastimes—people watching. She notices groups of children with adults that are either teachers or possibly parents of homeschoolers.
Tanya looks at the clothes hanging on racks outside the various boardwalk shops. She is especially interested in jewelry and beachwear. I can’t seem to stop looking at the ocean, marveling at how blue it is. I see fishing boats in the distance, knowing that Ocean City is a major sportfishing town and, in fact, may be the white marlin capital of the continental United States.
We stop to eat on the boardwalk. The little boardwalk restaurant offers pizza, burgers, Italian sausage and for my Philadelphian wife—cheesesteaks. I warn her, “Remember we are not in Philly.” Dying for her favorite, a chicken cheesesteak, she says, “I’ll take my chances.” I order a hamburger and fries and we wait while sipping on our fountain sodas. Our food comes and I chomp down my burger and fries. But as I am eating, I watch Tanya who lets me know whether she likes what’s she eating by her facial expressions. She is humming. A sure sign of happiness. I say, “Tanya likes it.” She says, “It’s so good.” I can’t believe it. She usually doesn’t like cheesesteaks unless they have that certain Philly thing about them. As we are leaving the little boardwalk eatery, I talk to the owner. I tell him how much we liked the food. We end up telling him where we are from and he tells us, “I know Bucks County. I’m from South Philly.” No wonder, I say to myself. I felt like saying, “Yo!”
When we get back to our room, we decide to eat takeout on the balcony. As we eat we look at the ocean we realize that we have only gotten a glimpse of Ocean City and the surrounding areas. We will return. After dinner we talk about our trip and ready ourselves for an early bedtime, so we can stop for breakfast, and drive home. We decide to take the scenic way back, making sure we watch for turtles crossing the road. But we are not sad to leave because living in Bucks County, is like being at a resort all year round.
Bob Waite is the editor of Bucks County Magazine and Tanya is his wife, travel companion and the co-writer of this department.