While 2020 has been so very different for us all, I’m thrilled to share some ‘typical’ happenings at this year’s Ocean City Endless Summer Cruisin meet!
Clarence and Stephanie were the first to arrive on Wednesday and picked the first restaurant – Higgins. Keith and Lindsey arrived just after dark and determined we were in the same room (222) at the hotel as the Anthony’s. We walked to copy the same place for dinner with great outdoor seating with tables spaced out under a large tent. Following dinner, we realized we were in fact not in the same room, but next to each other! We finally rendezvoused in the parking lot to catch up and realized, as true amateurs, Keith and I forgot chairs. I’m not quite sure how that happened but a help text was answered by Robert who was able to borrow a set from Nick’s parents.
Wednesday night didn’t end until almost 2am – yes folks, I was out in the parking lot until the wee hours of the morning!!!! Amazing how much talking I needed to do!!
Thursday started with the sounds of a parade down the boardwalk and we met to pick up our packets at the convention center. There was a small show happening in the parking lot and the setup to get your items was slightly different but setup well with separate entry and exit, all had face coverings, and social distancing. Credentials and Neon Show passed picked up!
Breakfast brought us to the Satellite Café – wonderful!!!! We returned to the hotel to the overflow parking lot where Clarence and Keith began ‘cleaning’ but it was more like talking shop for a few hours before any chemicals or towels came out!! Stephanie and I got in some great conversation and poked fun at them for sure. Robert and Nick joined the party mid-afternoon and it was so wonderful to all be together!!! The sun was shining and all was so well!!!
With the treatment of cars uncertain for the weekend, we saw our first encounter with impounding. A green Mustang with a large blower who always stays at that hotel was being dropped off in our parking lot fresh out of the impound lot. As he got it on his own trailer and packed up from the hotel, he loudly made it heard he would never return to OC…’even to visit’.
Our group went to the inlet later on Thursday for a show from 5-7pm. The club banner was hung! Returning the cars to the hotel parking lot, we walked across the street to Fish Tails for dinner. We had a great table outside, right next to the bay. Everyone, even Robert, ate delicious seafood!
Back in the parking lot Keith spilled his beer to claim our space and we laughed up a storm for hours! Friday morning plans were made to get in line to participate in the parade.
Friday morning found a long line for the parade – it ended up being 2.5 hours long!! Thankfully we were near the front and had wonderful welcoming comments by the many spectators. Entering the inlet, we were roughly where we’ve been in the past…knowing Saturday would get us end spots. Traditional breakfast was at Soriano’s, who thanks to the large parade was relatively quiet. When we left, the line was long!
It was a great day at the inlet! Weather was wonderful and Nick even spent the afternoon on the beach. The cars looked great and we had some wonderful feedback from spectators. They were so impressed with how ‘clean’ they were and so many shared their love for the M. Leaving the inlet, we returned to the hotel, snagged a quick nap, and met for dinner at Watermans.
We had a great table upstairs with rum buckets all around. The seafood was flowing and we were working our way through so many dishes we discovered it wasn’t someone’s job to take dishes away. Lucky for that employee, we’re nice and simply thought the comments! But made for a great one-liner the rest of the weekend as everything ‘wasn’t my job’. Leaving the parking lot, a rum bucket in, I spotted a store I recommended Clarence and Stephanie stop at – Monkey Spunk. We laughed our faces off and learned the following day it’s actually called Monkey’s Trunk. Really, from the angle I was at and the rum bucket it looked like Monkey Spunk!! I was only ‘slightly’ off on that one!!!
Parking lot shenanigans continued but with o dark thirty lurking, it was an earlier night for all.
4:30am meeting in the parking lot found Clarence, Stephanie, Robert, and Keith driving to the inlet while Nick and I slept in. As the tail goes, the Kraken was heard coming from the sea as some napped in the cars. Nothing putting the windows up couldn’t help!! As the sun broke over the ocean, we were proud to be first in row E. Perfectly placed, the same exact spot we had last year!
Nick and I met at 8:30 to walk the boardwalk along the parade and met the others for breakfast sandwiches. A quick return to the cars was needed for cleaning and setting up. It was another great day and the conversations were all so positive!
We spent the entire day at the inlet with Kohrs and Thrashers to tide us over and a quick facetime call from Bob and Darlene! The evening brought us to the Neon Show which we looped around the corner for at 6:30. Sadly, the Boy Scouts had backed out at the last minute but we were glad the event was still going to happen. There were about 20 cars present and we were thrilled to have all three of ours there! There was so much going on in the space and it was nice to see the rides open and so many people there. The cars looked so awesome and the reflecting (new) Ferris wheel was so cool!! While comments contradicting what spectators said were overheard by the people judging, none of our cars were recognized unfortunately. I truly hope others did not overhear the comment, as there are enough issues with ticketing and impounding that they need to deal with and unfair judging would only complicate and likely reduce participants in the future.
We returned to the parking lot and ordered pizzas for dinner. When they arrived, we nearly devoured them, including items touching the ground for some of us – I won’t name anyone, as we were very hungry! So hungry, we lost track of all the moving parts and had a pizza sitting incident and a new nickname given of ‘pizza pants’! As the wind blew and it became cold, we decided to call it a night.
Sunday morning was gloomy and cool. With the tropical storm, Delta, nearing we all actually decided to hit the road to beat the rain instead of the typical breakfast, pictures, intel, awards. Stephanie and Clarence took one for the team and picked up the banner and their reward was breakfast at Dough Roller. Robert and Nick were able to return to Nick’s parents and spend extra time with family prior to returning home to MI.
All in all, there was so much that was different and so much that as the same. In this weird year, there were a few that made the right decision for them not to attend. Others didn’t make the choice and they were missed just the same. It’s always a small group that attends, and this year was the same. We did what we felt most comfortable with and stayed to ourselves. We sanitized all the things over and over and over and over and over again! We masked up very often. Much of the weekend was touchless and accommodations were truly made to keep the event happening during a world pandemic.
For the laughs and smiles, thanks to Clarence, Stephanie, Robert, Nick, and Keith!! I truly needed this time with family – more than I knew!!
Clarence and Stephanie were the first to arrive on Wednesday and picked the first restaurant – Higgins. Keith and Lindsey arrived just after dark and determined we were in the same room (222) at the hotel as the Anthony’s. We walked to copy the same place for dinner with great outdoor seating with tables spaced out under a large tent. Following dinner, we realized we were in fact not in the same room, but next to each other! We finally rendezvoused in the parking lot to catch up and realized, as true amateurs, Keith and I forgot chairs. I’m not quite sure how that happened but a help text was answered by Robert who was able to borrow a set from Nick’s parents.
Wednesday night didn’t end until almost 2am – yes folks, I was out in the parking lot until the wee hours of the morning!!!! Amazing how much talking I needed to do!!
Thursday started with the sounds of a parade down the boardwalk and we met to pick up our packets at the convention center. There was a small show happening in the parking lot and the setup to get your items was slightly different but setup well with separate entry and exit, all had face coverings, and social distancing. Credentials and Neon Show passed picked up!
Breakfast brought us to the Satellite Café – wonderful!!!! We returned to the hotel to the overflow parking lot where Clarence and Keith began ‘cleaning’ but it was more like talking shop for a few hours before any chemicals or towels came out!! Stephanie and I got in some great conversation and poked fun at them for sure. Robert and Nick joined the party mid-afternoon and it was so wonderful to all be together!!! The sun was shining and all was so well!!!
With the treatment of cars uncertain for the weekend, we saw our first encounter with impounding. A green Mustang with a large blower who always stays at that hotel was being dropped off in our parking lot fresh out of the impound lot. As he got it on his own trailer and packed up from the hotel, he loudly made it heard he would never return to OC…’even to visit’.
Our group went to the inlet later on Thursday for a show from 5-7pm. The club banner was hung! Returning the cars to the hotel parking lot, we walked across the street to Fish Tails for dinner. We had a great table outside, right next to the bay. Everyone, even Robert, ate delicious seafood!
Back in the parking lot Keith spilled his beer to claim our space and we laughed up a storm for hours! Friday morning plans were made to get in line to participate in the parade.
Friday morning found a long line for the parade – it ended up being 2.5 hours long!! Thankfully we were near the front and had wonderful welcoming comments by the many spectators. Entering the inlet, we were roughly where we’ve been in the past…knowing Saturday would get us end spots. Traditional breakfast was at Soriano’s, who thanks to the large parade was relatively quiet. When we left, the line was long!
It was a great day at the inlet! Weather was wonderful and Nick even spent the afternoon on the beach. The cars looked great and we had some wonderful feedback from spectators. They were so impressed with how ‘clean’ they were and so many shared their love for the M. Leaving the inlet, we returned to the hotel, snagged a quick nap, and met for dinner at Watermans.
We had a great table upstairs with rum buckets all around. The seafood was flowing and we were working our way through so many dishes we discovered it wasn’t someone’s job to take dishes away. Lucky for that employee, we’re nice and simply thought the comments! But made for a great one-liner the rest of the weekend as everything ‘wasn’t my job’. Leaving the parking lot, a rum bucket in, I spotted a store I recommended Clarence and Stephanie stop at – Monkey Spunk. We laughed our faces off and learned the following day it’s actually called Monkey’s Trunk. Really, from the angle I was at and the rum bucket it looked like Monkey Spunk!! I was only ‘slightly’ off on that one!!!
Parking lot shenanigans continued but with o dark thirty lurking, it was an earlier night for all.
4:30am meeting in the parking lot found Clarence, Stephanie, Robert, and Keith driving to the inlet while Nick and I slept in. As the tail goes, the Kraken was heard coming from the sea as some napped in the cars. Nothing putting the windows up couldn’t help!! As the sun broke over the ocean, we were proud to be first in row E. Perfectly placed, the same exact spot we had last year!
Nick and I met at 8:30 to walk the boardwalk along the parade and met the others for breakfast sandwiches. A quick return to the cars was needed for cleaning and setting up. It was another great day and the conversations were all so positive!
We spent the entire day at the inlet with Kohrs and Thrashers to tide us over and a quick facetime call from Bob and Darlene! The evening brought us to the Neon Show which we looped around the corner for at 6:30. Sadly, the Boy Scouts had backed out at the last minute but we were glad the event was still going to happen. There were about 20 cars present and we were thrilled to have all three of ours there! There was so much going on in the space and it was nice to see the rides open and so many people there. The cars looked so awesome and the reflecting (new) Ferris wheel was so cool!! While comments contradicting what spectators said were overheard by the people judging, none of our cars were recognized unfortunately. I truly hope others did not overhear the comment, as there are enough issues with ticketing and impounding that they need to deal with and unfair judging would only complicate and likely reduce participants in the future.
We returned to the parking lot and ordered pizzas for dinner. When they arrived, we nearly devoured them, including items touching the ground for some of us – I won’t name anyone, as we were very hungry! So hungry, we lost track of all the moving parts and had a pizza sitting incident and a new nickname given of ‘pizza pants’! As the wind blew and it became cold, we decided to call it a night.
Sunday morning was gloomy and cool. With the tropical storm, Delta, nearing we all actually decided to hit the road to beat the rain instead of the typical breakfast, pictures, intel, awards. Stephanie and Clarence took one for the team and picked up the banner and their reward was breakfast at Dough Roller. Robert and Nick were able to return to Nick’s parents and spend extra time with family prior to returning home to MI.
All in all, there was so much that was different and so much that as the same. In this weird year, there were a few that made the right decision for them not to attend. Others didn’t make the choice and they were missed just the same. It’s always a small group that attends, and this year was the same. We did what we felt most comfortable with and stayed to ourselves. We sanitized all the things over and over and over and over and over again! We masked up very often. Much of the weekend was touchless and accommodations were truly made to keep the event happening during a world pandemic.
For the laughs and smiles, thanks to Clarence, Stephanie, Robert, Nick, and Keith!! I truly needed this time with family – more than I knew!!
Lindsey
2022 Club Treasurer
Ride of the Month Winner: September 2017, May 2019, December 2022
Ride of the Year Winner: 2022
My what, my why, and my how:
2022 Club Treasurer
Ride of the Month Winner: September 2017, May 2019, December 2022
Ride of the Year Winner: 2022
My what, my why, and my how:
