Ocean City, MD Travel Guide
This past week, my husband and I along with the rest of my family (including my little sister’s new puppy!) stayed at a lovely beach condo in Ocean City, MA. Having grown up going to beaches in the Carolinas, and then visiting LBI with my in laws every summer, OC was a new and fun experience!
Generally, when at the beach, the name of the game is rest and relaxation - maximizing our time in the sun, sea, and sand. But, since we hadn’t been to Ocean City in over 20 years, we did some roaming around the town, too.
I’m sharing my favorites of the things we did, and plaes we ate to help you better plan your next beach vacation!
Places & Things to Do
Watch the Sunrise over the Ocean
What started as an offhand comment from my little sister turned into the whole family waking up at 5:30am, bringing our freshly brewed coffee down to the ocean with us to sit on our beach blanket and watch the sun rise (and then take many, many photos).
It was absolutely stunning. While I do enjoy waking up early; I definitely see more sunsets than rises. It was really special to watch that red sun peek over the ocean and create the beautiful painted colors of the morning sky.
Play in the Waves and Sand
As I mentioned previously, most of our days were spent at the beach - either in the water or the sand.
Some pro tips from my family:
Read your book down close to the water. Plant your chair down right where your feet will get the lapping of the waves and enjoy!
Make a beach bocce ball set. All you need are 9 golf balls - 8 white, and one a bright color for the pallino. My dad made our set by coloring stripes and crosses in red and green on the white golf balls so you could play with 2, 3, or 4 separate teams. Honestly, a game changer - it was so much fun I was often the one asking for a game (even though I was by far not the best player).
Mini Golf
Is a beach vacation really coplete without a game of Mini Golf? We went to Nick’s ‘Maui’ themed one, and it was a blast! Sure, the course was relatively simple (everyone got multiple hole-in-one’s), but the props were fun and in the middle we got hit with a downpour - which is my favorite way to play Mini Golf! I don’t know why, but it just makes it that much more fun.
Oh, and yes - I won…tying with my little sister.
Visit the Boardwalk
It’s iconic! My family enjoyed soft serve custard, boardwalk fries, and margaritas at the oldest bar in OC. We even got the puppy a cute crab toy at the doggy boutique!
Seacrets Distillery Tour & Tasting
This was one of my favorite parts of the trip - I cannot recommend Seacrets Distilling Company’s Distillery Tour & Tasting enough! The whole thing is styled like a speakeasy, with beautiful antiques dotted throughout (some of which are interactive!). After going walking through how spirits are made from grain to bottle, there’s a very fun section (which I won’t spoil!) about how some people got around the illegality of alcohol during prohibition.
Then, you’re led to the tasting. I tried their coconut rum, their grapefruit vodka, and their jamaican coffee spiced rum. I also had sips of their gin, lemon vodka, and original spiced rum, which other members of my family ordered. They were all SO good, but the star of the show was their original spiced rum, which we brought home with us.
At only $15 a person it was a steal for such a good (and delicious) time.
Important to Mention: you must be over 21 to go on the tour.
Sandals - Nap Dress - Sunglasses
Bethany Beach Main Street
Well and truly - our main goal for visiting this portion of bethany beach was the bookstore. If you are a reader, I cannot recommend Bethany Beach Books enough. It was beautifully laid out, had an extensive discounted books section, and had a great collection of new arrivals and classics!
We also went to Turtle Beach Cafe for much needed caffeine. While the ambiance was cute and clearly turtle themed, you might want to try a different spot for your iced latte. It did the job, but wasn’t the best.
Other Notable Shops: Fish Tales, and Dolle’s Taffy!
Go for a Starlit Stroll along the Sand
On our last night, we all decided that we needed to go for a walk under the stars next to the ocean. One of the best things about the sea is the lack of light pollution, so the stars were numerous and beautiful!
Notable Eats
Seacrets
That’s right, the same Seacrets Distilling Company also has a restaurant, which I again, cannot recommend enough. Everyone said their meals and drinks were phenomenal, and my meal was just as good for leftovers the next day, too.
My picks: The Seacrets Smash (pineapple juice, spiced rum & coconut rum) with the Jamaican Jerk Chicken Rice Bowl, and a side of fried plantains (which I cut up and added to my bowl!)
At the end of the meal we also split the rum cake as a family and I very nearly asked for the recipe.
Harpoon Hannah’s in Fenwick
On our way to Bethany Beach, we stopped here on a recommendation from my sister-in-law and she did not fail us! All of our food was phenomenal. My dad was practically salivating at the amount of crab in their creamy crab soup, and my salmon caesar salad was the best I’ve ever had.
Fager’s Island
We made our reservation here in the fine dining section on our first night all together, and despite this choice being made on a whim, we made the right one! Everything was so tasty, the service was phenomenal, and I think everyone practically licked their plate clean.
Honorable Meal Mentions: the calamari starter, the cream of maryland crab soup, the scallops nantucket (this is what I ordered, and if we ever go back, I will absolutely order the same thing), the chilean sea bass, and jumbo lump crab cakes.
Pro Tip: Go for sunset! The restaurant is located on the bay side, so the sunset view is amazing, and every evening they play the 1812 overture to bring on the night. It was truly beautiful.
Are y’all planning on traveling anytime before the weather gets cool? If you are - consider Ocean City (or plan it for next summer!), and let me know how your trip was in the comments below! And as always, feel free to follow along for all of the fun on instagram by following @sarah.kowalchuk, or on tiktok @sarah.kowalchuk as well!
xx, Sarah
