Best Kept Secrets of Ocean City, New Jersey

Let’s get one thing straight:  Ocean City, MD and Ocean City, NJ are two VERY different towns.  To compare the two, briefly:

OCEAN CITY, NEW JERSEY

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND

Yes, you read that right. Ocean City is an alcohol-free town. It makes the Ocean City Boardwalk a very popular place to hang out after dinner.

Johnson’s Popcorn, with three locations on the Ocean City Boardwalk, is a must-visit. Their buckets of caramel coated popcorn are legendary! Other boardwalk eateries you can’t miss? Mack and Manco’s pizza, where the employees put on a show of dough twirling while you dine. And Shriver’s claims to have been selling sweets since the days of Queen Victoria! With a history that long, the fudge and taffy HAVE to be outstanding!

There are plenty of great places to eat and snack OFF the Boardwalk, too. Capture that 1950s feel at Tory’s Ice Cream Parlor on Asbury Avenue. You can sip Coca Cola from an old-fashioned glass bottle — that was served by a girl in a poodle skirt! There are 45s on the juke box and malts on the menu. And take time to check out the huge collection of Coca Cola memorabilia!

With such a long history, and so many historic buildings still standing, is it any surprise that you can take an Ocean City Ghost Tour? Maybe you’ll run into the ghost of one of the town’s founders — many homes dating back to the town’s creation are still standing today. Ocean City is also home to the Discovery Seashell Museum. More than ten thousand different types of shell are featured in this museum. If you’re a collector, or you just love the amazing natural beauty the sea has to offer, don’t miss the Discovery Seashell Museum! Ocean City offers other cultural activities at the Arts Center, with new exhibits monthly, art classes, lectures, and concerts. And catch the Ocean City Pops Orchestra at the Music Pier, on the Boardwalk.

Ocean City plays host to the Miss New Jersey pageant — the annual contest to select the one lucky girl to represent the state in the Miss America pageant! If you are planning your visit for June, you just may be able to catch the pageant.

And rather than listen to a groundhog carry on about spring, Ocean City celebrates Martin Z. Mollusk day in May to see if summer is coming early.

In fact, Ocean City’s calendar is packed with the weird and the wacky. An Easter Parade for dogs, hermit crab beauty contests, taffy sculpting, and much more. The town takes pride in offering more family events than any other shore resort town. Celebrate the end of tax season in April with the annual Doo-Dah Parade. And be sure to stick around for Wacky (Not Tacky!) Week in August!

Ocean City really is a great family resort. If you’re looking for an active nightlife and more adult entertainments, you can always head for Atlantic City, just twenty minutes away.