Blue Skies and Beach Town Vibes

This video is a compilation of clips I have taken throughout my time in Ocean City. Blue skies and beach town vibes:

From bike rides with your dog to long walks on the beach, you can be sure to find scenes worthy of capturing in OCNJ. Local businesses all keep a beachy touch and love to incorporate Ocean City into their decor. I would encourage any and all visitors to explore this great town on their own and capture scenes they feel are worth remembering!

Peaceful Crazy

This picture was taken at a local art store in Ocean City called Peace of Wood. If you’re ever looking for a place to relax and de-stress this is definitely a good option. You can come in, grab a piece of wood (literally!) and paint whatever your heart desires! I love this photo because I really think it captures the vibes of this store. The walls are covered in pictures and paintings that make the entire place visually pleasing and exciting.  The paint table is a fun messy that would make any creator feel comfortable working in. I love the “peaceful crazy”, or so I like to call it, in this picture. There is a lot going on in the background, and the bin and brushes are covered with traces of colorful paint. To some, it would seem to be like too much going on. However, I think any painter would see this picture and think this is exactly somewhere they would like to be. The colorful walls make the room happy and fun, and definitely provides a great deal of inspiration. 

Top 5 MiniGolf Boardwalk Spots

Mini golfing on the Ocean City boardwalk is a must for all who visit. There are plenty of great places to go, but these are my top five recommendations:

1. Congo Falls Adventure Golf
• This course is my absolute favorite one on the boardwalk! You are greeted right away by a ginormous gorilla who shoots water out at you (which is very refreshing on a hot summer's day). From there, you get to choose your destiny, taking the outdoor course or diving into the indoor caves under a huge waterfall. With having both indoor and outdoor options this course is perfect for any type of weather. 
2. Pirate Island
• Play your way through this uniquely designed golf course all centered around pirates. From suspended bridges and waterfalls to an actual pirate ship replica, this course will make you feel like you're on a real pirate adventure. 
3. Haunted Golf
• This entirely indoor course is certainly the most spooky one OC has to offer, but the haunted aspect of it takes a more humorous route. Even if you have never golfed here, almost anyone who has been on the boardwalk has passed the infamous skeleton singing popular pop songs on repeat. This fun visual and loud music is what initially draws people in to play, and the challenging yet fun course is what gets them to return!
4. Goofy Golf
• This is a course I would recommend for families with small children. It is a very fun and colorful course but it is fit into a tight area. The holes are close together which is an advantage to families who have kids that like to wander. The bright visuals are fun and inviting and it only costs five dollars to play.
5. Tea Time Golf
• This course is full of familiar characters and stories. It is another bright and fun one that many kids would enjoy. It includes multiple statues and sculptures on the greens that are recognizable to many. Hole seven has a giant blue shoe for the nursery rhyme little old lady. Even the famous Flinstones family make an appearance at hole five! It is also full of different animals such as a giraffe, hippo, and lion. 

All of these options are great choices for anyone looking to do something fun and active. I grew up playing the mini golf courses on the boardwalk and still enjoy going to them today. After your game, make sure the loser buys everyone at the Boardwalks' famous Kohr Bros ice cream!

Surf Spots

While New Jersey isn't typically known for its waves, Ocean City still has its fair share of great places to surf. These are all the surf beaches in OC:

• Surf Road
• 7th Street
• 23rd Street
• 34th Street
• 56th Street

These are the designated surf beaches, but you can go surfing before and after lifeguard hours (10am-5pm) at any street beach. The quality of waves depends on the wind and tides, and it can sometimes be hard to determine when to go. I use an app called Surfline. The app lets you select a specific beach and get a surf report of the conditions that day. There is even a live stream of the water at some of the beaches so you can see for yourself what the waves are looking like, without having to walk down.

If you want to start surfing but don't know where to start, check out these awesome surf shops with experienced locals who can help guide you:

• 7th Street Surf Shop
• Heritage Surf & Sport
• Surfers Supplies
• By the Sea
• Ocean City Paddle Company

At these stores, you can:

• Buy a surfboard
• Rent a board
• Purchase a wetsuit
• Sign up for Surf lessons
• Purchase surfing essentials

Whether you are a beginner or experienced surfer, these stores will help prepare you to have some fun in the Ocean City waters! Using the Surfline app and meeting friends at the surf beaches has become a regular routine for the days that I want to catch some waves.

Photography Phun

Ocean City Photography

For this post, I wanted to do something fun and helpful. Here are some local secrets I've picked up along the way and the pictures I've saved!

Biking through the back alleys of Ocean City after a rainstorm can sometimes give the most stunning reflections.

While cars are still abundant on the island, bikes seem to be the primary mode of transportation for locals. Also, many of the dunes are protected for wildlife.

Ocean City Beach Patrol is posted at every street watching over the populated beaches.

5:30 am sunrise surfing is a well-known way to start the morning like a local. There are designated surf beaches, but before lifeguard hours (10am), one can find surfers in the ocean all down the coast.

My Favorite Resturaunt

The best way to make sure your Ocean City experience is a good one is knowing where to eat, and there are plenty of good restaurants to choose from. Personally, I have been making changes to my diet for the environment and my overall health. For these reasons I was inclined to try a newer vegan restaurant named Heart Beet, and I was not disappointed!

Heart Beet is located on 7th and Atlantic and has been around for almost three years now. People are often deterred by the word vegan at an establishment, but this restaurant is truly one everyone should try. It has a vast menu of familiar meals with healthy vegan ingredients. Each entree is paired with a fresh kale salad topped with a light orange tahini dressing.

This restaurant has a variety of tasty menu options to choose from. Among the choices, I am going to share with you some of my favorites.    

Buffalo Cauliflower Sandwich

This sandwich is my favorite item on the menu, and actually, the first one I ever tried too! A hot buffalo sauce coats the outside of grilled cauliflower heads. The bread is spread with a cooling ranch sauce and topped with mixed greens and a slice of tomato. This is a good menu item for those who are more skeptical about the taste of vegan food, as the buffalo and ranch combo is one familiar to many. If you love buffalo wings then you must give this a try.

The Beet Burger

One of my other top favorites is the Beet Burger. It only makes sense that a vegan restaurant would have a version of a veggie burger, and beet is in its very name. While I am not fully vegetarian, the fact that I can get a burger so good tasting without any meat encourages me to make the full switch. The patty was juicy and tasted amazing. It comes topped with mixed greens, tomatoes, and guacamole. This burger gave me hope that I could happily be a vegetarian one day!

Chorizo Tacos
This one was hard to believe it was not actually a beef taco. Tofu is known for taking the taste of any seasoning it's given, and crumbled tofu with chorizo makes for the perfect taco. Heart Beet serves three of these tacos topped with cashew cream, salsa roja, arugula, and avocado. It makes for a perfect beach day meal and does not make you feel weighed down as Mexican food normally can. It is light enough to enjoy at any time but is still a very filling meal.

The good coffee options with non-dairy milk choices (and paper straws of course!) The only downside I can find to this restaurant is that the prices are a little bit high. I would eat here every day if I could afford it! However, this is expected when dealing with high-quality ingredients and such a complex menu. Overall, this is the type of restaurant that truly knows good quality and taste, and has the potential to be loved by all vegans and meat eaters alike.

Dry Town?

There has been much debate about the fact that Ocean City is a dry town. In fact, in 2017 they tried to repeal the law to allow the sale of liquor. Changing the law would certainly be beneficial to established businesses, and offers a new world of opportunities for other entrepreneurs. However, I believe allowing alcohol into Ocean City takes away a huge aspect of why people love it so much. Ocean City was established to be a Christian resort, but today, families from all over come to enjoy the atmosphere of the town. Often called “Americas Greatest Family Resort” parents consistently count on Ocean City to provide safe family fun. Being a young adult in this town, these laws have greatly affected me. My friends and I must Uber to the next city if we want to go to a bar, we also have to go off the island to purchase alcohol and conceal any drinking on the beach for fear of reprimand. Even though this makes life a bit more challenging for my friends and me if I could vote to allow alcohol on the island I would not. With alcohol comes drunk people. Families rely on OC for a happy and safe environment, and this is compromised when more of the population is intoxicated. Bars would eventually open on the island and unfortunately, that carries a great risk of more drunk drivers on the road. The residents have voted to stay dry in the past and will most likely continue to do so, a choice I believe is the correct one.

Ocean CIty Origins

To start out this blog I wanted to share some facts and history on the town of Ocean City, which was first known as Pecks Beach. In 1700 a man named John Peck started using the land to store his whale catches. Just as “seasonals” come down for only the summers, this town used to be a place only visited, not lived in. It was frequented by people coming to fish, picnic, and hunt. It was not until 1879 that the land was purchased to open a seaside resort for Christians, which gave Ocean City its name.  Even today, the island committee makes its decisions trying to maintain the Christian values Ocean City was founded on. Ocean City has been and still is a dry town, alcohol cannot be bought or sold. Ocean City even keeps the “resort” aspect alive, with the title “Americas Greatest Family Resort”. 

Something that many people do not know is that there was actually a large fire that burned down most of historic Ocean City. They called it “The Great Boardwalk Fire of 1927” and to this day they do not know how it was started. The boardwalk was rebuilt into the one that residents and visitors know and love today. Also, many of the businesses devasted by the fire, such as Shrivers Taffy and Johnsons Popcorn, are still running strong today.  Ocean City is a place that thousands of visitors enjoy. It has won the title of best Jersey beach for the past five years by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium. Ocean City has certainly established itself in American History and continues to grow strong in numbers each year, both residential and visitors.