A Roller Coaster of a Road Trip - Day 3

Tuesday wasn't just another vacation day--it was also my birthday!  Not that we had any special plans, nor did I expect to be able to pick my dinner of choice since our options were limited anyway, but I did figure I might need to pull the "it's my birthday card" to convince everyone to go along with our revised schedule due to the rain the previous night.  It was going to be a full day for sure.

Our plan for Tuesday morning was to grab breakfast at a restaurant in downtown Ocean City that had a great gluten-free menu.  As we walked from the van to the restaurant, Craig got a call.  It turned out that he had direct contact with someone who tested positive for COVID.  Seriously?!  It was one of his co-workers that he'd spent some time with on Friday and Saturday--including time in a car--but hadn't had quite the extended time close to him that others had.  Because he was vaccinated, he didn't really have to quarantine, but it definitely didn't start the morning off well to consider the possibilities.  In the end we figured if he was positive we were all already screwed with so much van and hotel time, but since we were masking indoors and trying to keep distance outdoors, we were just going to keep moving forward with the trip and hope none of us started to feel sick.  Testing is really hard to come by right now, so we knew he couldn't get one until we got home anyway.  We decided to just push through Thursday night after our last official activity and come straight home so we'd be free to figure things out on Friday.  It all felt even more annoying that he had just had a negative test before we left, and now we were dealing with it all over again.  

On the bright side, breakfast was awesome.  Jacob had amazing pancakes, Carter had french toast and bacon, Craig had oatmeal and toast, and I had Eggs Benedict.  I'd have enjoyed my first Benedict in years a lot more without the COVID stress, but it was nice to give Jacob a treat.

We ended up back at the arcade for a while, which featured some intense air hockey games.

Eventually it was back out to the boardwalk.  We walked to one end where the shops stop, then started working our way back.  It was impossibly hot and humid, the kind of day where the sweat just drips down your back no matter what you do.
  

Elaborately themed mini golf is a big thing here, and that one was indoors.

 I probably shouldn't have bothered to curl my hair, because the sweat and humidity were not helpful.  It was also not the best day to have forgotten a hair tie!  Carter and I took a break on a bench while the big boys shopped.

We made our way down, checking in shops, surveying food, and eventually picking a mini golf course to play.  There were so many options, and while the indoor ones were intriguing since they were air conditioned, I didn't love the thought of wearing a mask for it since we'd be inside.  

Take note of that coaster and its crazy twists and drops... 

We made it all the way down to Gillian's Wonderland Pier at the other end of the main boardwalk, which has rides and an arcade but unfortunately wasn't open yet.  We never did get to go there (we did 10 years ago, though), which was probably my only bummer aside from only being able to do one beach day.
 

We had to pick up some slushes and Polish water ice along the walk, and even take a shade break because the heat was just brutal.  

Ocean City Music Pier

One thing I was looking forward to showing Carter was the hermit crabs sold along the boardwalk.  They fascinated me 19 years ago.  We happened to catch a good, active cage, and this guy gave us quite the show.  

The cage was full of them, all brightly painted.  It was quality entertainment, and if they weren't so creepy (and a lot of work to clean, I imagine), I might have considered taking one home.  I loved them in Kindergarten when we had them in our classroom, but they freak me out now.  I actually found a book at the library before we left about a hermit crab that uses half an action figure as his "shell" and accidentally saves the day.  I think seeing the crabs helped Carter appreciate it more.

We didn't get a picture at the lifeguard stand like so many people do (and use it to measure their kids from year to year), but we did get one near a boat.

This pirate wheel cracked me up because the plaque on it says, "On this site in 1897, nothing happened."

We were getting quite overwhelmed by the heat, but we really wanted to play mini golf before grabbing lunch.  One of the things that struck me the most about Ocean City vs. Atlantic City 10 years ago was that Atlantic City's boardwalk was so not family-friendly--not just the massage and tattoo parlors, but they only had one mini golf course, and it was pretty tame.  Ocean City has probably five really cool ones that are elaborately themed (and some have multiple courses).  It took some deciding, but we finally settled on Congo Falls (which, as it turns out, I actually played 19 years ago--probably even the same course out of the three, although the theming was a bit different then).  

Note the massive gorilla on the left, and the helicopter with two animated gorillas over the main entrance.

We melted through our round, but at least a good chunk of it was half inside and shaded.

These mini golf courses tend to go vertical to manage their small slot on the boardwalk, and as we went deeper into the course, the view only got better.  The ocean was in one direction, and you could see the pirate themed course down the way, as well as Playland's Castaway Cove, the amusement park, in the distance.  Ten years ago we played mini golf at Playland's course, which was a lot of fun!

This was quite the hole.  We weren't sure how to play it because it looked like your ball would be lost forever if it went in the water on the left.  But sure enough, it actually channeled the ball to a separate spot and sent it right toward the hole!

Jacob actually asked to do a selfie, so of course I obliged!  Happy Birthday to me!

There was even an animatronic monkey who sang.  It was pretty silly!

We had a lot of fun and hopefully we can go back another time and try a different course!

After golf we were completely done with the heat and humidity, so we opted to go outside Ocean City for lunch.  As awesome as the boardwalk offerings can be, they're not super gluten-free-friendly, and by this point we just needed some air conditioning and some reliable food.  The next town over had a Chipotle, so we headed there and very much enjoyed our late lunch.  God knows my body needed some salad by this point in the trip.

I thought it might be an interesting exercise to check out Atlantic City for the afternoon.  The last time we went to the shore 10 years ago, we ended up staying in Atlantic City because Ocean City is crazy expensive and the beach was free to access.  The boardwalk is a far cry from Ocean City's, but I thought it would be an interesting experience for the kids to see another spot.  And, honestly, I was slightly interested to see post-Trump Atlantic City, since both of his casinos there are no more.  One had its tower imploded within the last year, although parts of it are still standing, and the other was converted into the Hard Rock Hotel.  So, I figured if nothing else it would be interesting to see the evolution of those parts of the boardwalk.  

However, as it was my birthday, I made the executive decision that we were first going to stop at Borgata, which is in the Marina District.  If you recall from our last trip, we tried to stop there to eat (in part because I knew there was a Chihuly there somewhere), but were greeted with a sign that said no unregistered guests under 18 were permitted inside.  This time I figured at worst I'd just leave the boys in the van and run in myself to find the Chihulys, of which there were now more!  This time the signs only said that people under 21 weren't allowed on the casino floor, and that was good enough for me!  We walked into the retail area, at which point I left them behind because I honestly wasn't sure just how close they could get to the casino floor.  Could they go on the tile walkways but not on the carpet?  I feel like that's how Vegas was, but I just wasn't sure how much criss-crossing of the floor I might be doing and figured maybe I'd be more efficient solo and they could entertain themselves in the shops.

I had no idea what I was really looking for, but I stuck around the perimeter of the casino and figured eventually I'd see something.  Sure enough, maybe a quarter of the way around I caught a glimpse and walked into the front lobby.  YES!

It was beautiful!  Between the hanging piece and the two towers, I didn't know where to look first!

The towers were cool and quite different.  I've seen individual pieces like those but not so much in a tower like this.

After getting my fill, I continued around because I knew there was one in other spot.  As I walked, I noticed this one down a long hall that was blocked off.  I'm not sure if that went to the sister hotel, or what, but I grabbed the best pic I could with my actual camera through dim lighting and zoom.  The colors looked really pretty on this one and I wished I could have gotten closer. 

As I continued to walk it became apparent that almost every "crossroads" in the casino had a smaller Chihuly dangling above.  I felt weird whipping out my phone every time I walked under one, especially since they don't like cameras in casinos, but I made it pretty obvious I was just going for the Chihulys.   

I eventually made it back to where I left the boys, and they were bearing a gift--they bought me a birthday cupcake in a cup from the Borgata Bakery!  However, I still hadn't found the one other spot I was looking for, so I used Craig's phone for a minute (mine was being grumpy) and did more research until I had a better idea of what I was looking for.  I left them one more time and followed the signs to the sports book area.  There was a hallway I didn't go down the last time, and sure enough, at the end of it was another lobby.  And this is what greeted me!

There were even those round floats under the panels of the glass bottomed bridge.  It was so lovely and pretty, and I tried to grab pics from every possible angle as quickly as possible while still trying to appreciate what was in front of me.  On my way back, I walked back through the first lobby one more time, soaked in every bit of those red and orange masterpieces, and then headed back to the boys, jubilant and successful!

I can't say the guys were particularly excited to go to the boardwalk, but we forged ahead.  We drove up and down the main drag just eyeing things up and looking for a good place to park.  We saw the backs of the casinos, including one of the remaining structures from Trump Plaza.  You could just see where the letters were, and that the center of the crest was removed.

We also saw the Absecon lighthouse down at the far end of the strip, which I don't recall seeing last time.

Eventually we found a $5 lot to park in near the center of the boardwalk.  It was much cloudier by this point, so while it was still quite hot, it wasn't as oppressive as it was in the morning.  Still, I knew this would be a battle.  As we walked up to the boardwalk, we were talking about how crappy and shady our hotel had been the last time we were there.  It was only a block from the beach, though, and was a branded hotel, which had given me hope.  But admittedly, it wasn't the best.  But as we were walking, I had a realization that the taffy advertisement on the building nearby was near our hotel, and we had literally just walked right by the hotel!  We had parked on the same street, almost right across from it.  Ha, what were the odds?!  It seemed to be even more of an island in the middle of nothing than I recall it being before, and it definitely looked just as shady.  Given our hotel issues the night before, seeing that one likely made Jacob question my hotel choosing abilities even more.  

The boardwalk was actually worse than I remembered.  Not only was the contrast to Ocean City even clearer, but everything that had been there had 10 more years of wear and tear.  Things were more faded, crumbling in spots, and just generally more rundown.  Still, there were a couple nice spots.

We walked down to the Steel Pier area near the Hard Rock Hotel.  Carter was practically salivating at the sight of the rides, but we weren't going to do that here.  We were saving it for that night!

Definitely a different look than when it was Trump Taj Mahal!

Then we walked down the other way as far as the famous Boardwalk Hall.  I realized that last time we were there they were doing some upgrades, and it definitely looked better.

It's definitely a majestic, historical building!

But as a whole, it was sort of depressing to see how things had gone downhill.  Even the mall that was out on a pier looked like it was a shell of its former self.  We didn't even go in.  The visitor center on the boardwalk where we took a cute picture with Mr. Peanut was closed and dilapidated.  It was just...sad.  Meanwhile, the boys were basically doing nothing but complaining about the walk, particularly when I vetoed Jacob playing a basketball game on the boardwalk because it was extra expensive and we know all those things are rigged.  Sigh.  Eventually we made our way back to the car and headed back to Ocean City.  It was almost 6pm and it was time for the rides to open!  

Since Craig and Jacob are anti-rides, they went back to the arcade.  Carter and I went to Playland's Castaway Cove, and I double checked the ticket counts before buying just enough for us to go on three rides--Double Shot, Alien Invasion, and GaleForce.  First up was Double Shot.  Since Carter wasn't big enough to ride the drop tower at Darien Lake, I figured this was a good opportunity to experience one, especially since it wasn't super tall.  Darien Lake's is 185 feet tall, and Cedar Point's is 240 feet.  This one turned out to be 110 feet, and though it looked shorter from the ground, it felt every single foot tall when we were on it!  It shot up and bounced down a few times, and then did it all over again.  I'll be honest--it was intense!  The free fall feeling as it shot up and started to drop was crazy, and I could hear Carter screaming next to me, just hoping he was learning to love that momentary fear feeling as it transitioned to adrenaline!  I was actually a little worried, because if it caught me off-guard, how would he do?  I checked to make sure he was ready for the second round, and he seemed shocked but ready.  We screamed like crazy, but when we got off he insisted he liked it!

Next up was Alien Invasion. It was just like Devil's Hole at Fantasy Island, which Carter rode at three years old and LOVED!  We hadn't been on one since and I figured this was a good opportunity to do it again.  He wasn't quite as giggly as he'd been the first time, when it cracked me up watching him, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

Our last ride was even a little intimidating to me!  GaleForce was new since the last time we were there, and it looked like quite a ride!  It was extra interesting since it was practically intertwined with another more standard coaster.  I had never been on one quite like this.  You can see more pictures of it here.  It had a near-vertical drop, and lots of twists and turns.  I had no idea what to expect, so Carter and I were on equal footing!  It wasn't cheap to ride, but it was totally worth it!  It started out by shooting forward about halfway up the hill, then shot backward, and then flew forward fully up the hill.  It whipped up and around a couple times, and then did the whole thing over again!  The one funny thing about it was that you got such a beautiful view over the beach and boardwalk, but that just as you were at the top, it whipped you away from the view!  It was crazy and I was again a little nervous about Carter because he's so serious on rides, but he came off excited!

Our tickets were gone, but on the way out I had to take a pic of the ferris wheel, and we also eyed up something I might like to do next time--it was like a paratrooper ride but with wings you could control to change up your ride.  It looked so cool!  You can see one in action here.

We couldn't pass up the photo op back out on the boardwalk!

Happy riders!

Just as we got back to the arcade, I heard some interesting music and realized it was the weekly Mummer's Night on the boardwalk!  The Mummers are a string band that parades down the boardwalk in crazy costumes.  It was really cool.  I only took a quick video because I wanted to get pictures, too, but here's a little sample:

I was so glad we caught it since I see them on Facebook all the time.  They're definitely a tradition there, and it was a great way to end the night and our time in Ocean City.  

With that, it was time to head back to the hotel.  We thought about food on the boardwalk, but ended up settling on picking up some snacks at a Wawa gas station and getting Chick-fil-A next to the hotel.  I was desperate to get a Philly-style pretzel at Wawa (I got two!), and the boys ended up with some Dippin' Dots-style ice cream.  We drove back to the hotel and waited in an eternal drive-thru line for Chick-fil-A.  I just got mac and cheese, Jacob got fries, and Craig and Carter got their usuals.  We ate in the room and I was once again on hotel booking duty.  Since we had cut a night off our trip and were so traumatized from this hotel, we ended up upgrading to a Tru by Hilton, which was the same brand that we once stayed at in Syracuse that had a basketball court.  This one did not, sadly, but we were eager for a good breakfast, decent gym, and comfortable room.  After that was settled, I ended up being too full for my cake in a jar, but it was a pretty decent birthday nonetheless.  I was so happy to have seen the Chihulys and done those three rides with Carter, and aside from the Atlantic City complaints, it was a fun day.  We had two days left, and on to the next stop in the morning!