Like to be beside the sea side. No brass bands playing but there were a couple of folk bands in St Michaels. Another road trip, this time to the ocean with a couple of stops on the way. Ok so it wasn't really beach weather but it was the last weekend I was allowed on the beach so we had to go and, to be honest, I prefer the 'off season' as I get more of the beach to myself.
We headed to Ocean City which meant a trip across the 4.3 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge which was really cool. We stumbled across a quaint little town called St Michaels which was having a wine festival or something. I think the Wikipedia description is a little harsh - there weren't that many old people there. [Wikipedia:
Currently the town attracts old people that are looking for somewhere more boring than death and an eternity of nothingness to make sweet release seem that much better by comparison] There were plenty of interesting little shops, although I thought it a bit odd that Flying Fred's gifts for pets didn't allow dogs in!
Chesapeake Bay is an impossibly beautiful place. There are hundreds of nooks and inlets with magnificent houses with huge boats tied up at the dock. Goodness knows how much they cost, certainly more than a lifetime's pocket money that's for sure. I definitely need to explore the Bay more, although most of the shoreline seems to be privately owned.
Another stop on the way was at Assateague Island National Seashore. It's an amazing spit of land south of Ocean City with the Atlantic on one side and Chincoteague Bay on the other. Wild ponies roam the island and you can camp right on the beach. And best of all dogs are allowed all year round, oh and it was free when we arrived. By the way, it wasn't as cold as it looks in the photos.
Overdeveloped is the best way to describe Ocean City. Being the closest ocean development to DC I expected it to be built up but I wasn't prepared for just how built up and what an odd layout. Most British sea side towns have the beach, the promenade, the main road then the hotels. OC had beach, boardwalk (dogs not allowed in summer), huge hotels, then road. The beach was beautiful; it's been a long time since I've had sand under my paws but soft, deep sand is hard work. The boardwalk was fun and much easier to walk on. At the far end was a fun fair but we stayed up the quiet end.
Sadly the weather didn't hold out so Sunday we headed back earlier than planned. We took the coast highway towards Dover which looked great on the map but due to the beach, hotel, road layout they have it was a pretty dull journey. Still, at least the thunder storms didn't arrive as promised.
