We are quickly approaching the summer months and most of us go on a well deserved vacation.  If you don't have it planned yet, Ocean City, Maryland may be a great place to check out!

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In case you didn't notice, I was gone for a bit on a little vacation.  I enjoyed the sand and sun in Ocean City, Maryland.  I had been here once before when I was a kid, but didn't remember much about it.  This time around I'll remember it for sure.  My fiancé and I had a great time (I even proposed there).  So if you are still looking to plan a nice summer getaway, this is a great place to look into and it's not too far away either.  Only about a 6 hour drive, and the place is full of places to stay whether you just want a small Motel or a luxury Hotel, you'll find a spot.  There are so many great things to do while your down there and just in case you aren't sold I have some great places for you to check out if you decide to head to Maryland this summer.

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One of the first things you want to do is have a nice stocked refrigerator.  Plenty of drinks to go around and yes that's Four Loko and MD 20/20 at the bottom.  It's vacation and time to party.

You can save yourself some money by bringing some of your own food down.  Nothing major since you won't really be able to cook.  Some cold cuts and frozen breakfast sandwiches are what I brought with me.  You know as well as me that it gets pretty costly going out for meals when your away.  Plus if you can bring a small cooler pack up some drinks and food and hit the beach for lunch.

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Once you're all settled into your room your going to want to hit the boardwalk and there are several things your going to want to check out.  The first thing you'll want to do is find one of the Thrasher Fries booths.  Don't worry there are several of them scattered up and down the boardwalk.  I know what you're thinking, "french fries BJ, I can get those anywhere."  These are a bit different.  They don't offer ketchup and they might be the crispiest fries I have ever had.  You'll want to buy the biggest bucket available because if you get the small your just left wanting more. So you get the big bucket, next thing you do is load them up with salt and vinegar.  Usually when I have fries with salt and vinegar I use red wine, but they only use apple cider vinegar. A very different, but awesome taste.  This is one Ocean City staple that you will not want to miss out on.  While your pigging out, find a booth that sells deep fried Oreos.  Fantastic.

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One thing you won't be able to miss are the dozens upon dozens of Sunsations stores all over the city (not just the boardwalk).  It's okay though because you will want some souvenirs.  As you walk the boardwalk, jump into one of these spots as they have everything you could need.  There are a ton of other souvenir stands in the OC, but I found that Sunsations had the best quality stuff for the best price.   I like to get all my souvenir stuff when I first get there so I'm not scrambling at the end of the trip to find something.  Now that you have souvenirs out of the way you can explore the boardwalk and all it has to offer, and it offers a lot.  You'll be able to spend days on it without getting bored.  Whether you head to a restaurant or just walk around the shops, there is so much to do.  As it starts to get a little later you are going to want to find a nice beach side bar.

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You can sit outside, enjoy some cocktails and watch the waves roll in plus enjoy some great Maryland crab cakes.  Most of these beach side bars sell them and they are delicious.  I really enjoyed Hammerheads because they had some fantastic food plus a signature drink called the rum bucket.  It's 32 ounces and delicious.  They also offer $5 shots of patron.  We spent a good part of our night there.

If the bars aren't your thing you can always enjoy some of the restaurants that line the boardwalk as well - and you can get anything from burgers to a nice Italian dinner at these places.  Something for everyone.  If you aren't hungry you might walk all the way down to the end of the pier and check out the amusement park and also go to one of my favorite stops on my trip.

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Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum sits at the end of the pier and was such a cool place to go to.  This is another thing that is fun and not too much money.  Only $12 to gain admission and then you  can check out all the craziness inside. I guess they also have a 3D mirror maze too, but I didn't do that one.

The building is kind of hard to miss with a gigantic shark coming out of it.  Full of all kinds of out of this world stuff, Ripley's is a great stop to make.  I particularly enjoyed the space tunnel.  Nothing more than an optical illusion, but it still got me falling over.  It's like being in the gravitational pull as the star ship Enterprise is going into warp speed.  It was a lot of fun for sure.

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If you happen to get bored of the beach and the boardwalk you can always head out to the Salisbury Zoo.  Admission is free and it's just 40 minutes away.  If you are a nature dork like myself you will really like this.  Not a huge zoo, but it has some very cool animals to check out like a speckled bear, ocelot and jaguars. Plus, like I said, it's free so how can you go wrong?

So whether you are vacationing as a couple or a family, there are some really cool things to do in Ocean City.  I really recommend this place because I had a great time, and might just make it a yearly spot to go to.

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