Ocean City, Maryland
Thursday, May 15, 2014

This year marked my second trip down to Cruisin Ocean City MD with my 1976 Trans Am, and this year, the first time I entered the Show. The ride down to Ocean City on Thursday (5-15-2014) was pretty much uneventful, other than a few minuscule drops of rain, and other than our obligatory stop at the Milford Diner, in Milford Delaware for Brunch, we ran straight through to Ocean City. Once we arrived, we checked in at our Hotel (the Beach Plaza Hotel), dumped out luggage, and headed over to the Convention Center to pick up our Show passes. Unfortunately for me, we arrived too late for me to pick up my Show entry packet, so we headed out for a little Cruisin on the main drag in town. Much like last year, there was an overkill presence of Police, so while a few brave souls tried burning some rubber, or a little stoplight drag or two, the large number of vehicles with flashing lights, found behind those who tempted fate, kept yours truly from doing much Thursday night, other than cruising. Possibly due to ever increasing gasoline prices, coupled with the somewhat mundane nature of the cruising, this year, as last, saw a lower number of classics and Hotrods participating in the cruising activities. We awoke Friday morning to overcast skies, and so we took our time getting ready, watched the Boardwalk parade of Show cars, and then headed over to Happy Jacks for Breakfast, and then on to the Convention Center in the modern Pickup one of my Son’s friends drove down in. By the time we reached the Convention Center, the rain was coming down in sheets, washing away all thoughts of participating in the outdoor Car Show by either the Convention Center, or the Inlet Parking Lot. Instead, we went inside the Convention Center, I picked up my Show passes, and we toured the indoor events. After having seen all we were going to indoors, we sauntered on back to our Hotel, and I headed over to the Hotel Lobby, so I could get a Wi-fi connection for my Laptop. Finally, about 2 hours before dark, the rain finally stopped, and then I began a two hour clean up of my Trans Am, so it would be ready for the Saturday Boardwalk Parade, and Show. I awoke at 5:30 A.M. Saturday morning, drove down to the Parade starting point, and then found out I needed to get a Pass to participate in the Parade. So, I then drove over to the Convention Center, got on line, and secured one of the necessary Parade Passes. After having claimed my prize, I beat a hasty retreat back to the Parade line-up, ending up about 3 blocks from the starting point, which from what I later found out, wasn’t so bad after all, as the Johnny-Come-Lately’s, were 2 miles behind where I was. The Parade kicked off around 7:30 A.M., and we slowly made our way down the Boardwalk, toward the Inlet Parking Lot. To say the least, the Parade was a blast, with tons of folks lining both sides of the Boardwalk. We arrived at the Inlet Parking Lot around 8:30 A.M., that is those of us at the head end of the Parade line, and half an hour after I was unpacked, the Parade was still going. Once I was settled in I started going around photographing the numerous beautiful vehicles on display, only coming back to my own car to eat, and rest a short while before attempting to get to the outdoor Convention Center part of the Show. Due to the large number of vehicles trying to leave the Inlet lot, and heavy traffic on the road outside the Inlet Lot, it took 1-1/2 hours to travel the 2-3 miles to the Convention Center, so leaving at 3:30 P.M. to get to the other part of the Show, proved to be a BIG mistake. By the time we arrived at the Convention Center, the Show was over for the day. We cruised around a bit more Saturday night, stopping by again at the mini Show hosted by Hooters on the main drag, photographed some more vehicles, engaged in some low key stoplight drags, I picked up my Boardwalk Parade Photo TShirt, and then we headed back to our temporary home at the Beach Plaza Hotel. Sunday was pack up day, eat Breakfast at Happy Jacks again, followed by a short visit to a largely empty outdoor Show at the Convention Center, and at 12:30 P.M., we bid Ocean City MD farewell, and headed north to home.