Ocean City, Maryland (Believe it... Or NOT)

We just got back from a somewhat spur of the moment trip to Ocean City, Maryland.  We had been there almost 10 years ago, when the kids were very small, and we had a nice time.

By coincidence, we stayed in the same place we had stayed when we went last time.  The hotel has become a bit run down, but the room overlooked the boardwalk, which was pretty cool.

I spent a fair amount of time looking out the window...  see the mime wearing gold in the lower left of the picture?  He was entertaining.

Another mime.  Or maybe just the same guy after changing outfits and moving to a new spot.


Then there was the sand art...  Some guy created The Last Supper out of sand...

... and he posted signs touting his religious beliefs and asking for donations.

Which I think is lovely, except I was a little disappointed, since we saw this exact same sand art when we were in Ocean City approximately nine years ago.  Can't this guy come up with some new material?  Is his stuff really made of concrete with a light dusting of sand on top?  I would be SO disillusioned to find that out! Come on, sand art guy, I want to see Moses parting the Red Sea in sand, or maybe Jesus walking on water in sand...  I was also wondering about the lights - how does he manage to plug all those extension cords in to light up his artwork?  Does he have a deal worked out with the city?

hummm....

Here's a picture looking down the boardwalk at night.

I would have taken more pictures, except it rained (and I mean POURED) every day except the first.

The sightseeing highlight for us, though, was the giant shark head poking out of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. 

My son talked about this shark head the WHOLE time we were there last (he was 3 years old then)  and for years afterward.  The shark head and tail move back and forth, giving the shark that 

"I DON'T CARE THAT THERE'S A BUILDING IN THE WAY I'M COMING FOR YOU!!!!" look.  

When you go inside for the museum tour, you can see how the parts work from the inside.  

Oh, and there's a bird nesting in the shark's mouth... BELIEVE IT OR NOT.