Ocean City October 2014 Vacation.....Part 1

I am frantically trying to get those old trip reports finished up so I can start on our road trip from May 2015 to Louisiana.
Here's the first installment from the Fall 2014 vacation.  After this one is completed I am all caught up.
Yay!
 8-)


We left for our October Ocean City getaway on Sunday Oct. 12th.  We usually start these trips on a Sunday as the hotel rates go down on Sunday.

As usual we made our stop at Total Wine & More in Delaware once we got over the line from Philly.

This year we had $100 in gift cards from Christmas presents to use...woohoo!

The new growler filling station while I waited for my fill of McKenzie's pumpkin cider.
That's my growler in the "transporter tube"........looks like Scotty is going to beam it up! lolz

We still spent $126+ more after the gift cards........

If nothing else, let me be accused of commitment......

Since we had to go through Rehoboth area Hubs let me take a little detour to Lewes.
Lewes is the first town in Delaware, founded in 1631, as a whaling and trading center by the Dutch.  It was named Zwaanendael(Dutch for Swan Valley).  The local Native Lenape tribes wiped it out in 1632 and it wasn't until 1662 that the Dutch began rebuilding, this time with a group of Mennonite settlers.
At any rate, this town has been around a long time.

Besides being a very early settlement area for European immigrants it is also the site of one of the first Presbyterian Churches in American.
In 1683 the Presbytery in Laggan, Scotland sent Rev. Francis Makemie to American to found the first congregation on the Eastern Shore.  Makemie is considered the "Father of Presbyterian Faith" in America.
One of his young ministers named Samuel Davis was sent to Lewes in 1692 to form a congregation there.  A wooden church was erected in 1707 and is thought to be the 2nd Presbyterian church built in America.  A bit after Davis the second minister to head this church, Reverend John Thomson, was sent to Lewes to lead this congregation.  Thomson was responsible for rebuilding the church(after a fire)during his tenure there from 1717-1729.
Rev. John Thomson was my 7th great grandfather.

I found out a few years back from digging into the family genealogy about my connection to Rev. Thomson.  We are connected through my mother's maternal grandmother, Lucy Baker Vassar.
If you'll recall this photo I shared recently of 4 generations of my maternal line before me, Lucy is in the middle.  The connection to Rev. Thomson veers off to the paternal line pre-Lucy(her mother Lou Foster's husband Patrick Henry Baker).

Anyway turns out John Thomson was rather a big deal back in the 1700's Presbyterian Church movement in America.  But we'll go into that another day, when I am feeling the genealogical pull.

While the brick church Rev. Thomson built no longer stands(it was demolished in 1871)the church built to replace it in 1832 by Rev. Mitchelmore still stands.
And you know it just had to get a photo of it.....

Even though it was Sunday afternoon the place was locked up tight so no poking around inside on this day.  I guess Presbyterians are early worshippers.....

After that detour we were about famished for lunch, so we hit something along Route 1 leading into Rehoboth for lunch.

We had always wanted to stop here.....

A fish and chips British spot called "Go Brit!"

The menu is limited but good and fresh.

The don't do much but what they do, they do well.

We were quite happy with our lunch(even with the price of $31 and if you've been to this area you KNOW restaurants are insanely expensive!) and the décor inside was funky to boot.

We didn't plan on going back north to Rehoboth during this trip like we did last year so we hit the 2 large liquor stores in Rehoboth along the way to OC.

Here's my de rigeur selfie with the display of FREAK SHOW wine bottles......

 

 

This new "tradition" all started last July in Wisconsin at Woodman's.........

Being so close to Halloween I appreciated the play on words of this pack of beer.....lol

After getting to the hotel around 6pm we set out to get a little something to eat and find some drinks in OC.

The Ocean City Brewing Company along the main drag in OC had opened that year.

Hubs got a flight served in this clever surfboard holder.

I got a dark brew, my usual "go-to", a stout called Lost Soul's Stout.   A shipwreck/seashore themed beer.....

They had quite the selection of beers....

I liked my selection.  It went well with the meatball sub special I had for dinner though they tried to overcharge us for it.

Hubs really like this Nuckin' Futs selection and got a glass of it after his flight.

OC Brewing was large and quite noisy with a sports bar feel.  TVs everywhere and nothing on but sports!  Not great on atmosphere.
The front of the building was a huge gift shop selling all kinds of crap, as well as pre-filled growlers of brews.
All the tchotchkes were way over priced(as is most stuff in OC)so I didn't buy anything.
This shirt was clever however it stayed in the store and didn't come home with me.  8-)

The next morning when we went out I saw this raccoon flying from someone's car arial.  Very strange......

So we headed back to Assateague Island on our first full day of vacation.

Not being in a wheelchair this year was great!  I got to walk along the shore at the beach this time.....

It was a very windy, gray and chilly day.  I had to yell to get Hubs to hear me thanks to the wind and the roar of the surf.

I walked into the ocean barefoot.  Though it was cold it felt great!
I was raised by the ocean and the smell of the salty air at the shore energizes me.  Maybe it has something to do with the ion charged atmosphere too.

Hubs was bundled up tight and couldn't wait to get back to the car.

After we left the parking lot, we spied a group of ponies in the roadway tying up what little traffic there was.

They tell you to give the ponies their space for a reason folks. 

These are wild animals and though they look docile enough they will kick you if you get too close to their hind end business and they will bite too.

I prefer to use the zoom on my camera and give these critters a wide berth.

Enjoy this film clip I took of the ponies, especially the part where I am muttering under my breath at the assholes getting too close to a couple of them.....lol......



And here is the pony that was on my side of the roadway making up her mind whether she wants to cross the road.....or not.....

 

A horse in the roadway didn't keep some idiots in cars from zooming past.   Slow down how about it?!?

I am shocked more tourists aren't injured and more ponies killed during the Season.

After our excursion to the Island(and I didn't take a single photo of horse crap on the side of the roads either!) we stopped  first at a gas/convenience store........

We stopped not for gas but because they had a giant rooster standing outside.
And you know that rooster are a "chick magnet".......even for this human chick.....lol

And then we stopped at a touristy spot(closed down for the season)along the road on the way back to West OC.
Because they had a giant shark.....and this is what I do-pose with things.

Help!  I'm being et by Jaws......

 

While IN West OC we went to Sav-A-Lot over in Berlin to stock up on some groceries.
I loved the name of this tea.....Deja Tea.......I get the feeling I have drank this before.....lolz

 

 

 

They even had crab chips in Sav-A-lot.....
My Daughter who is a fan of bizarre chip flavors(her fav being Clam Chips we found in Maine years ago)would have liked these.....

Then it was time to stop at our favorite haunt nearby, Burley Oak Brewing......

We had a couple of brews before heading back to the hotel.

Someone else sitting at the bar had brought his puppy along.....

I went over to her and started petting her since she looked so forlorn and forgotten.  She was a true Bassett Hound because she rolled over and gave me the "full frontal belly" profile so I could rub her properly. lolz

After that she kept trying to get over to my side of the bar for more rubs. and kept giving me those sad Bassett eyes.  What a sweetie!

Then back to OC for an early dinner at a pub called "Coins".  It was too early for their dinner specials so we ordered off the lunch menu.  I had a bowl of cream of crab soup and a salad with blue cheese and walnuts.  Both were surprisingly good!  Hubs had a soft shell crab sandwich with fries which he gave a thumbs down-ish to.  Food and 2 iced teas and tip we were $38.98 poorer.
Imagine if we had ordered off the dinner menu!?!
Now do y'all see what I am saying about how overpriced restaurants are down in OC?
At least this place the seafood was fresh and the ingredients high quality.  I don't mind paying for GOOD food.

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with a short walk along the boardwalk, something small fixed in the room's kitchen and some drinks and ocean watching on the balcony.

Sluggy
 

Ocean City Fall Vacation 2013 Part 3

Some shots from Day Three in Ocean City.

 The view from our hotel room.....oceanfront baby!

 The dive bar/pub next door......we always stay at this hotel but we have yet to go to that bar.
What kind of self-respecting drunks are we anyway??

One of the two outdoor pools at our hotel.  This was the first year we've stayed here in October when the pool(s) wasn't/weren't drained yet of water.  They close down the outdoor pools after Labor Day and by the time we arrive each October they are drained.

Of course after our first night here which coincided with the last night that the outdoor pool bar was open happened, there were pool chairs IN that pool(people unknown had thrown them in from OUTSIDE the locked pool fence/gate.
Now I know why the pool is always drained when we go....lolz

Tuesday morning we went on a field trip.....

I must confess we had never been here before 2013(nor had my family ever been here even though I grew up not even 150 miles away from this location).

I wondered aloud if we would even get a glimpse of one of the wild ponies that live on this island as it was an overcast day.  The fact that is was past tourist season let me get my hopes up(I believe that the ponies having lived through tourist people season so long would be more likely to venture out when they had all left for the year.)

After we went over the bridge which brings you to Assateague Island we spotted this........

If you look at the left of the photo(right under the big splat of bird poop on the windshield)you'll notice a PONY!
I got my wish even before hitting the beach!

This particular pony proceeded to walk out onto the roadway and just stand there, blocking our car.

and he stood some more......

Finally he moved onto the median so we got to the parking lot......

Here's a handpainted sign warning people not to feed the ponies and to keep your distance as they are wild animals.......

 

Poor Hubs wheeled me up the wooden walkway as far as it went then he dragged the wheelchair into the sand dune walkway to the beach.

The leg was feeling better by this day so I gingerly walked(in sand!)down to the shoreline and took some photos.....

The hard part was walking back up the sand dune to the wooden walkway so I could wheel back to the car in the chair.
That part about wore me out for the day.

Then we drove around the island loop road.....

 While I took multiple photos of horse crap....

 No ponies, just their crap everywhere on the pathways, the road and the parking lots.

Another sign telling you not to touch, approach or feed the wildlife.

 A marshy area on the bay side of the island....

 No ponies sighted there but we did see a fawn in the brush nearby.......

And on the way out a different wild pony next to the intersection of the roadways.

He moved over to a grassy area and I shot a short video of him grazing HERE.

A bad still photo of the pony I filmed....Hubs decided to move the car and I missed the pony's head. lolz

After leaving Assateague Island, we went for lunch to a restaurant we had been to a few years before called "Waterman's Seafood".  This place has been in West Ocean City for ages.  When we went years before it was an old dumpy dark wood building of a crab shack.  Inside was dark, dirty and depressing and the wait staff was surly on a good day.

Turns out that between the time we were in OC in 2012 and 2013 the place burned down.  The owners had just finished having the joint rebuilt and had just reopened for the year the week we were in OC in 2013.

Needless to say that place was transformed inside, at least physically!

Brightness and color everywhere.

The one problem was that it seemed like all the staff was new and inexperienced......plus there was NOT ENOUGH staff!  We waited forever to get seated and there were 2 waitresses for a whole dining room of diners and one of the waitresses was clueless and slow.

 Just getting menus in our hands was an ordeal!  Here is Hubs looking not so happy with his menu.

So I made him smile and pretend he was having a good time! lol

The food was good however(if a bit pricey but hey! we are on vacation, right?).  Broiled seafood-scallops, shrimp and deviled crab with a side of slaw and remoulade before.....

And after.  I was starved by the time I got my plate and wolfed it down...burp!

After I almost crashed the wheelchair trying to wheel down the ramp to the parking lot at Waterman's(I wish I had had gloves on because I got a nasty burn on my palms trying to stop the chair!)we got in the car and started driving back to OC(we were in West Ocean City at this point).
We passed near Burley Oak Brewing and decided to finally go in for a drink or two.  I had found this place online the October before in 2012 but we never made it over there.

Well, Hubs was so glad we went to this place.

 It's a very small craft brewery with a tap room with a nice variety of brews at very reasonable prices.

Forget those flashy brewpubs in OC, this is where locals hang out away from the tourists.

They even brew a root beer too.  THAT is in my wheelhouse!
I love a good brewed root beer and I ended up buying a growler fill of it.  Yum!!

If you like a good brew and ever get to Ocean City, Burley Oak is a MUST STOP!

We headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading out for dinner.  We had a bit of a ride to get to Bridgeville for dinner but it was so worth the drive.

Why?
Because I got to see Tanner again!
Tanner blogs over at Working For A Goal.  Everybody now go and bug Tanner for me because she hasn't blogged since Nov. 2014.  Tell her I said to get her butt back because I miss her!

 

Yes we had dinner on Wednesday with blogging buddy Tanner.  Here she is trying to keep me from taking her photo while she chews your meal.

And just look at this HUGE Fish Sandwich I got served.  (Humongous fish sandwiches are a family joke. ;-) )
I had to take half that thing back to the hotel!

The big dessert kiosk we left tongue prints on......ok, not really, we behaved!  But we should have as everything looked so good.....

And a posed shot together before we hugged goodbye and each went our separate ways.

We made our way back to the OC to get some rest before staring our last day of vacation.

One more part left on this trip to Ocean City coming up soon.

Sluggy