Ocean City, MD as family vacation (amusement park, hotel, buy)

[Woodland1]

I'm sure many of you have been to OC many times, and we are hoping to get some input for our summer trip planned to OC. We will be there with several young children and staying at a campground w/shuttle service to the boardwalk areas. Any suggestions for activities, itineraries, reasonable family restaurants and beaches would be great.
We haven't been there since we have had kids and want to have a good plan in place before we get there. Thanks!

[North Beach Person]

Don't know your finances;
FOOD
Paul Revere Buffet-I can't stand it (generally buffets anyway) but my kids, even the 26 and 24 year old always want to go there even now.
Dough Roller for pizza and cheap Italian
Phillips By The Sea (13th St.) for an up scale meal-I recommend the broiled Salmon, which I just had. ($16-$29 entrees) Also has kids menu.
Harrison's at the inlet-again upscale, scallops are great there. ($16-$29 entrees) Also has kid's menu.
DaVinci's-good Italian
There are Pizza Huts, McDonalds and Burger Kings.
Brass Balls Cafe on the Boardwalk-8 oz. burgers with waffle fries.
Most of the sit down restaurants are heavy into various seafood.
Thrasher's French Fries.
Shenanigan's-much like the BB I mentioned above, somewhat Irish atmosphere


ACTIVITIES
People watching on the Boardwalk
Jolly Roger Water and other activities parks (one is at the south end of the Boardwalk one at about 22nd St.)
Trimper's Amusements at the south end-old time amusement park/rides
Bunch of arcades
Just the beach, kids always like boogie boards.


I'm usually over here now on business so most of my meals have been at the Convention Center and we tend to have a routine/family traditions for meals. I cook breakfast in the hotel.

[bande1102]

Which campground are you staying at? Will you have access to a car?

I generally go to OC for the boardwalk. For swimming, I much prefer Assateague, which is very close to OC. It's a national park, so no development. I also find it less crowded and I love the free use of the bathhouse and outside showers. You do have to pay for parking, though.

If you decide to go to Assateague, very close is Frontiertown. It's a waterpark, miniature gold, and Wild West town. Water park is smallish, but great for elementary age, maybe middle school aged kids. The Wild West town has a lot of shows and wild west shoot outs as well as some bronco riding. You can buy tickets for all three sections at once (for a discount); but you have all summer to visit each of the three sections so you don't have to cram all three into one day.

Activities on the beach: the usual swimming, boogie boarding, etc, but we also play games on the beach and fly kites. When my children were very small, I took a small inflatable pool and filled it with sea water--that and buckets and shovels would amuse them for hours on end.

Eating: most of the time we pack our own lunches. I like Hoopers, but it is just outside of OC. On the boardwalk we love Thrasher's, Fisher's popcorn, and Dumsers ice cream.

[Mr Yuk]

I second Hooper's. I could sit there and eat crab all day. Also check out Boog's BBQ which just opened on Ocean Gateway.

Between the beach, boardwalk, food, and all the stuff there was to do at our hotel (Francis Scott Key), we didn't run our of things to do in OC.

Before this summer, it had been years since I was in OCMD....we had been going to the Jersey shore the past 5 years, but I can now say that I will probably never even bother going to the Jersey shore again. OCMD is cleaner, nicer beaches, nicer boardwalk, better food. Plus, it seems like people are friendlier in MD....there's definitely more rudeness in NJ.

[Mr Yuk]

Assateague beaches are nice....but the $4 a head charge to get in stinks...plus, its not pleasant when you're constantly finding horse dung on the beach....not good if you have kids who like to dig.

[ljd1010]

I can smell the Thrasher's french fried from here! Pass the vinegar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We lived on the Eastern Shore for 7 years and spent a lot of time in OC. Great place for a family vacation. Kids love walking the boardwalk.