downyoshun

Fish Rustlers???

2005-10-27T17:43:00.000-04:00

Whoa pardner! I reckon we'd better try to head them off at the pass... er dock. Found this press item today. Seems some crooks are stealing little fishies from the bait shop. What a cowardly act!

Winter Rental

2005-10-26T17:20:00.000-04:00

Our Sea Watch unit is now rented for the winter season. Some lucky people will get to live on the beach from 30 October to 30 April. I sure do envy them!!! We'll spend the next six months getting the Capri unit in shape so that it'll be all set for summer guests. With all the new construction in O.C., a condo needs to be in top shape to compete against all the other offerings.

Thanks for a Great Season!!!

2005-08-09T17:52:00.000-04:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned that this season was off to a great start and advised everyone to book their vacations early. Well, apparently this was not a good season for most people. While my friends and I did very well with rentals, most condo owners had a very disappointing year according to the realtors. I can't really explain this, though it may have something to do with the quality of our units or maybe the number of repeat guests. Anyway, my thanks go out to the guests who made this a very successful year for us. Please come back!!!

If any other owners or guests would like to share ideas on how to make the condos better or how to make rentals more successful, I'd love to hear from you and will share any information I get. Thanks!

Want to Live at the Beach?

2005-08-09T17:49:00.000-04:00

We have put both our oceanfront condos up for rent for the off season. The Capri-1611 3BR will cost $900 per month and the Sea Watch-111 2BR plus den will cost $800. The rental is for October through April. This includes the computer and high-speed internet. Please call Coldwell Banker at 1-800-633-1000 for more information.

A Nice Little Coffee Shop

2005-07-11T20:24:00.000-04:00

There's a nice little coffee shop in the Gold Coast Mall, 114th Street, Coastal Hwy. It's called Caffe Cafe and they have outdoor seating where you can watch people coming into and out of the mall. Starbucks can be a little pretentious sometimes, but this place is no-nonsense. We stopped by about 8PM on Sunday and had our drinks served by a Nepalese and a Russian. Only the second Nepalese person I've ever met. Ocean City is becoming quite the melting pot. :-)

First Test of EZ-Pass

2005-07-08T19:51:00.000-04:00

We will be heading down tomorrow afternoon at peak time, so this will be a good test of how the EZ-Pass works and whether or not it helps us get through the toll booth faster. I will post our experience.

Report on the New Sea Watch Unit

2005-07-04T11:13:00.000-04:00

We decided to spend our week at the beach in our new Sea Watch unit. What a blast! Every morning we had coffee on the balcony which overlooks the pool. The balcony also affords a perfect view of the dune crossing that everyone on the south side of the building must use to access the beach, so as far as "people watching" goes, this place is PERFECT! In the late afternoon, after a fun day at the beach, we would have drinks on the balcony and watch everyone coming back from the beach. Pretty cool!

We're on the first floor, so we didn't have to wait in line for the elevator on check-in day or check-out day. When we were ready to go to the beach, we just walked down the stairs and out to the crossing.

The computer in the den with DSL was very handy. So far the feedback from our guests has been very positive.

Memorial Day

2005-05-27T07:38:00.000-04:00

Well, the summer season is upon us. The media is warning that the bay bridge traffic will be horrendous Friday afternoon. The plan is to run one lane on the westbound span the other way and reserve it for people with speedpass. http://www.mdta.state.md.us/mdta/servlet/dispatchServlet?url=/EToll/ezpass.jsp
Here's the link that shows you how to obtain a speed pass transponder. I haven't gotten mine yet, but plan to soon.

Fly to OC - Update

2005-05-12T16:17:00.000-04:00

Just received this via email:

Greetings from Simmons Air, the official airline for traveling to and from BWI and Ocean City, Maryland
Our online reservation system will be live starting Memorial Day Weekend, with flights beginning Thursday, June 30, 2005—just in time for July 4th weekend! Flights are $45 one-way and the best way to beat the traffic and arrive in Ocean City in just 35 minutes. Buy one ticket or a discounted package of tickets and use them anytime.
Summer is just around the corner and Simmons Air looks forward to making yours more fun and relaxing than ever!
Stay tuned for e-alerts informing you that the reservation system is live.

Building Boom in O.C.

2005-05-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Here's an article about the building boom in Ocean City. You'll notice a lot of cranes at work this year, building very expensive condos. Seems to me that most of them are on the bay side since that's where most of the vacant land is.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/bal-te.bz.oc03may03,0,4168021.story?coll=sfla-business-headlines
They are using up any land available. There's one very expensive place going up behind the Catholic church on 100th street. The building looks nice, but it's right next to one of the big blue water towers!

FOUND - World's Best Crabcake!

2005-05-09T09:42:00.000-04:00

Saturday, we went to a place called the Crabcake Factory on 120th street. They have jumbo lump crabcakes that are the best I've ever had. They're almost $20 apiece and the place is very informal, but Wow! they're fantastic. We'll be coming back to this place!

Smoke-free Bar Opens in West O.C.

2005-05-06T11:31:00.000-04:00

No political comment here. Since many O.C. visitors come from counties such as Howard where smoking is not allowed in restaurants, they are sometimes surprised that smoking is allowed in ALL restaurants in Ocean City. If you're looking for a smoke-free place to take the kids, I just read about this place called Dr. Unks Bar and Grille on Rt. 611 in West Ocean City. http://www.delmarvanow.com/worcester/stories/20050414/2113018.html
I have not checked it out yet, but will let you know if it's any good.

Book Your Vacation Condo Early

2005-02-25T08:48:00.000-05:00

Early indications are that this will be a very strong rental year for Ocean City. My informal survey suggests that reservations are running well ahead of recent years. So what does this mean? There will be few bargains this year compared to last year and the nice places will be booked up early. So, make your reservations as soon as possible.

BWI to Ocean City Flights Planned

2005-02-10T06:19:00.000-05:00

WJZ 13: Baltimore News: BWI to Ocean City Flights Planned
Now there's a choice... 3-4 hours on the road, or 35 minutes in the air. At $45 per person, I think I'm going to have to check this out!

Ice Land Golf - Gone???

2005-01-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Ice Land Golf is gone! www.icelandgolf.com I drove past the former mini-golf mecca last week and it was flattened. Not an igloo, not a penguin. This is from Ocean City Today:

Miniature golf is a favorite pastime for summer visitors and there are more than a dozen businesses that cater to them, but many locals consider the courses to be eyesores.
"Places like Iceland Golf (on Philadelphia Avenue) have no historic significance," Irwin said. "Most of them are probably land-banking businesses, something that the developers can use to generate some revenue until they can afford to redevelop it."
Wrecking crews are currently breaking the ice at the polar-themed mini-golf course to accommodate a new condo. http://www.oceancity.md/octoday/headline.cfm?PubID=2576

WJZ 13: Baltimore News: Snow Blankets Ocean City, Eastern Shore

2004-12-28T07:54:00.000-05:00

WJZ 13: Baltimore News: Snow Blankets Ocean City, Eastern Shore
It's freezing downyoshun!!! The sky is clear and it's really beautiful, but best enjoyed indoors.

Want to Live at the Beach?

2004-12-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

We've decided to rent our 3BR direct oceanfront condo in the Capri during the winter. If you want to live at the beach until May '05, call Coldwell Banker at 800-633-1000 and tell them you want Capri 1611. It's $850 per month.

Spring in December?

2004-12-11T10:42:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe how beautiful it is today. I took the dog for a walk on the beach about 9AM and the sun was shining and the temperature was at least 60 degrees. Also the waves are about the nicest I've seen in Ocean City. There are about a dozen surfers out there now, having a blast!

Sea Watch Condo

2004-12-10T23:32:00.000-05:00

Well, we did it! We closed on Sea Watch 111 and we’re really excited about the new condo! The Sea Watch has lots of amenities, just like the Capri… maybe even a bit more. The unit is the first one back from the front, so it has a fantastic view. Also, since it’s on the first floor, it’s a quick run down the stairs to the beach!!! I think we’ll try to spend our summer week in this unit.

New Condo

2004-12-01T09:41:00.000-05:00

We are very close to closing the deal on a new condo in the Sea Watch! Our closing is this coming Saturday so if everything goes well, we'll have started our vacation real estate empire. Move over, Trump!

Winterfest Gala was Great!

2004-11-22T09:45:00.000-05:00

Four bands, two soloists, food specialties from the best Ocean City restaurants and an open bar. What a night!

Winterfest Gala

2004-11-14T16:58:00.000-05:00

We just got our tickets to the winterfest gala which will be held Friday night. This the fourth year we've gone. This is a black tie optional event to benefit the winterfest light display in Northside park. Steph likes this opportunity to dress up. For the guys, there are some benefits too. Let's face it, you could put a homeless man in a tuxedo and he'd have women drooling over him.

Computing from the Beach

2004-11-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

Last year, we decided to put a computer with internet access in the condo, hoping to get more rentals. Can't really tell if this increased rentals, but we were booked solid through the season when many other condos were having trouble getting bookings. A few months ago we got DSL in the condo, so now we're feeling pretty high-speed!

A few months ago I wanted to have some work done on the computer, so I took it to OC Mind Games and they fixed me up. I don't know if they'll crack open your laptop, but if you get a virus or something, they should be able to help you out. They also have high-speed connections you can plug into if your place doesn't have DSL.

Nebula Restaurant

2004-11-08T06:04:00.000-05:00

BTW, this is a "regular guy" type review. Don't expect anything too artsy. :-)
Dinner Saturday night was outstanding! Nebula restaurant only seats about 25 people - very intimate. The decor is sort of "art deco meets spaceship" and there are TV screens located in various parts of the dining room. Saturday they were playing "Finding Nemo" sans sound. Later, vintage surfing footage was shown. Michelle has waited on us every time, also one fellow whose name I didn't get and their service is terrific. They start you out with something called the "gift from the kitchen", (It wasn't on the bill, so I guess it's aptly named), which is a lobster cuppuccino. I thought the name sounded gross the first time, but it's really great. It comes in a little cup and tastes like cream of lobster soup with cuppuccino-like froth on the top. I few of those and some French bread and I could have had a meal!

Everyone in our group had the three course meal and we shared all around, so I can say that everything was really good. I had the foie gras which was pretty rich, but somehow they kept it from going over the top. Then I had the Niman Ranch Filet. I tasted the venison, the scallops and two other entrees. I guess I should have posted immediately after dinner while everything was fresh in my mind. The menu has changed a little from what is on the website, so we had some things Saturday that aren't on the menu.

We finished up with the cheese course. Since three of us ordered it, we got eight or ten different types. I really liked the two types of blue cheese and the cheddars.

Two things the ladies thought were neat:

Baby Bubbles - Small bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne. About 1.25 glasses to the bottle. They thought these were adorable.
Glacier water - Comes in a cool decanter. Didn't taste like Ocean City water, but did it really come from a glacier? Thought I detected a slight hint of mastodon. :-)

Fun City Amusements

2004-11-06T16:57:00.000-05:00

We went to the boardwalk this afternoon and stopped at Fun City. You remember Fun City? That's the arcade where a kid can blow through twenty bucks in no time, collect tickets and trade them in for 47 cents worth of junk made in China. One of the prizes my son Ian "won" was a fridge magnet that looked like either a girlie drink or a fruit salad, but the good thing was the warning label attached to it. In English (sort of), it read:

EATING PROHIBITER

ONLY FOR SEEING

Well, we all got a good laugh out of that.