When you are two-and-a-half there isn't a better place to spend a week in the summer than the Jersey Shore - particularly Ocean City. Especially when you are a short half-block from the beach making it easy to walk (and carry a squirming toddler) to and from the beach house. It was leisurely and relaxing trip although by the end, I think we were all excited to return home. I thought for that this year, Charlotte would be kicking and screaming when it came time to leave the beach, but she packed a lot in, was constantly busy running in and out of the ocean, and after an hour or two, she was fine with returning to the beach house for lunch and a nap.
Charlotte has been fascinated with the ocean ever since she first saw it from the Manhattan Beach pier. We still aren't venturing out beyond waist high water or going underneath but that doesn't stop her from having fun running in the water and jumping over the waves (with some help from dad). She's made a game of throwing sand in the water and taunting the ocean.
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What Ocean City does better than any other beach town in the world, and I do mean world, is its boardwalk. There's a part of me that gets a bit exhausted from revisiting Ocean City, a part of me that looks down on the Jersey Shore after living in Manhattan Beach, but strolling along the boardwalk never gets old. Charlotte was in her element on the boardwalk, absorbing all that each store had to offer. Forget strolling, we were moving at a snail's pace this year. Sensory overload.
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I have no idea what was going on with these M&M characters but see walked up to both and gave them huge, long hugs with a frown on her face as if they were being shipped to an overseas conflict the next day and she'd never see them again. Mind you she's never had M&Ms, didn't know that these are M&Ms' mascots, and in general, isn't even a fan of chocolate outside of eating in ice cream form.
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Pizza on the other hand. Charlotte loves pizza but I was still surprised by how excited she was when the pies came out at Manco & Manco.
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And further proof that she does love chocolate ice cream. A good desert to follow Manco & Manco.
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We are still at least one, if not two, summers away from truly enjoying a game of mini-golf at the Jersey Shore - dad is already lining up the courses to play and imagines one year where we try a new course every day to test which one is the best.
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I'm not sure how much our ice cream but has increased in the past year other than to say it's "significant". "Very, very significant." After two rounds of Kohr's on the boardwalk we gave Kessel's Korner a shot.
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Ever a fan of roadside attractions, dad took us up to Margate one morning to see Lucy the Elephant, one of America's oldest roadside attractions - built specifically as a roadside attraction for promoting real estate. It's bigger than I thought it'd be - maybe I had low expectations because roadside attractions never seem to live up to their hype - and we walked away impressed.
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We spent an afternoon/early evening with Papa's friends the Spires. A pool. A piano. What more could Charlotte ask for?
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OCEAN CITY VIDEOS
One video is a collage of iPhone photos and videos throughout the week, the other is GoPro clips from the beach.
One video is a collage of iPhone photos and videos throughout the week, the other is GoPro clips from the beach.
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