Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

Ocean City

Poor O.C. Sunfest, the big end-of-season celebration, was supposed to start today. The way the town's luck ran this summer (the worst since 1986, because of the nearly-constant rain and the economy), a hurricane would fit right in.

Ocean City has been a resort beach since the 19th century, but it was a hurricane in 1933 that created the look of the island today. That August, the storm separated Ocean City from Assateague, creating an inlet between Sinepuxent Bay and the Atlantic. The new inlet was a boon for fisherman who could then get into the ocean to fish for white marlin, and when the jetty was built to preserve the inlet, a buildup of sand created the wide white beach on the south end of town.

For the last couple of years I have been coveting a place in Ocean City, but they are quite beyond my reach. Victor gave me the silver lining last night when we were running around getting our house (~150 miles inland) ready for Isabel. "Imagine if you had one of those half-a-million dollar condos at the beach," he said. "You'd be shitting yourself right now."