Parades are not what they used to be. In general, their popularity amongst attendees and those who participate in them is waning both locally and elsewhere. In Ocean City, two parades have gone by the wayside in recent years – the annual White Marlin Festival, which took place along the Boardwalk, and the American Legion parade, which the city learned last week would not be returning this summer. One summer parade that does not appear to be suffering from lack of interest is the Ravens parade, which was held last Saturday along Baltimore Avenue. It’s been said parades are for the kids. After walking the parade route last week, I would concur, but this Ravens parade is not just for the children young in age, but also those young at heart. Why else would a grown man, a Ravens fan, lie down on a sidewalk in a Peyton Manning uniform and be pulled the length of the parade on wheels? Why else would a grown woman paint her entire body purple and black and scream at the top of her lungs, “Ray, Ray”? Yes, this parade is for the big kids in all of us, and it appears to be going nowhere anytime soon. That’s good news because it’s a June tradition, a funny one at that.
Our website’s forums have been quite active of late and it’s been interesting to read what users miss about Ocean City. This all came about because people were posting their own things they like in response to the weekly column in this paper. Somehow the forum morphed into a “Things I Miss” dialogue. Some of the items mentioned included:
— The bike lane that used to be a full lane wide.
— The old blue/white then green/white jitney’s
— The old Fractured Prune
— Funk Night at the Gables
— Alan’s Deli
— $1 beers at MR’s
— Mother Clucker’s hot wings
— The old, smaller Seacrets
— Shantytown
— Playing keno in the mall on 95th Street
— The 45th Street Village in its day
— The Sunny Caribee
— Getting a condo for a week in OC for $500 in August
— Carrying in your own beer at the old Phillips Crab House
— Playland on 65th Street
— The old Billy’s Sub Shop on 140th Street
— The first years of the Ocean Club
— The Dutch Bar
— Sunshine House
— The old Lombardi’s Pizza on the boards at Wicomico St.
— The old haunted house on the pier
— Jet 400 Roller Coaster on the pier
— Evan’s Gems and Junk in the pier building
— Mario’s
— English’s on 138 Street
— The Cowboy Old Pro Mini Golf on 65th street
— BB Bombers
— Dime Time
— A sandwich at the Jackspot
— Beach Eats
— Wietzels
— Bermuda Triangle happy hour
— The old boardwalk trains, before the jeeps
— Beefy’s
— Granny’s
— The Electric Circus
— Morbid Manor
Some of the Things I Miss:
— Being able to swim to Skimmers Island
— The Captains Table Restaurant in the Santa Maria Motel
— St. Louis Avenue, when it was rarely used
— Biking from MR Ducks and the Angler to BJ’s South
— Brick-oven pizza at Worcester St. Brewing Company
— The yellow T-shirts of Park Place
— Picking up the weekly papers at the 94th Street mall
— When the Tidal Wave was scary
— The old Mad Hatter’s
— Buying wax at BB Bombers on the way to the ocean
— When the Talbot St. Café was a great place to hear live music
— Stopping in Cadillac Jack’s
