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"Look at the Ferris wheel!" "Dad, there's another arcade!" "Macaroons, Mom! Taffy! Fudge!" My ten-year-old daughter, Lily, was bouncing around the boardwalk like a pinball. Truth to tell, my husband and I were feeling pretty bouncy ourselves.
Strolling the Ocean City boardwalk -- a glistening 2.5-mile stretch of amusements, shops, and eateries, flanked by a sparkling expanse of umbrella-dotted beach -- is a little like walking into the past. No wonder Ocean City, a seven-mile barrier island just south of Atlantic City, bills itself as America's greatest family resort.
Our hotel, the Impala Island Inn -- nightly rates from $133 to $186 for a room that sleeps four; (609) 399-7500 -- was half a block from the boardwalk and so close to one of the town's two amusement parks that we could sit by the pool and hear the whoosh and clank of the old-time roller coaster. While this didn't exactly make for peace and quiet, we liked the sense of being right in the thick of things.
In fact, you could spend your entire stay in Ocean City within a 15-block-long, two-block-wide stretch of beach and boardwalk and never run out of things to do. But then you'd miss The Great Egg Harbor Bay, a ribbon of blue estuary and green salt marsh that separates the crowded town from the mainland and supports an abundance of wildlife. With that in mind, we headed to The Bayside Center, a two-acre property overlooking the bay whose main attraction (after the views) is an environmental center featuring model ships, a lifesaving museum, and exhibits detailing the native flora and fauna -- admission is free; (609) 525-9294.
Although the afternoon was dwindling, we couldn't resist a quick foray onto the beach before heading out to dinner at The Sindia restaurant -- (609) 399-1997, a family-friendly place that still feels very much like the Victorian residence it once was. We read about the sunken ship that gave the restaurant its name (and still rests beneath the sands just off 17th Street).
As the light waned, the boardwalk beckoned. And we discovered that at night, the boardwalk is at its glittery best. A brisk sea breeze had blown away all traces of the day's heat, and a million colored lights marked the way as we headed toward Gillian's Wonderland Pier amusement park -- (609) 399-7082, which has an old-timey feel but enough 21st-century thrills to satisfy the most intrepid amusement seeker.
