Maryland On The Cheap: Inexpensive Events in Ocean City

Ocean City, Maryland is among the leading resort towns on the east coast. It features a busy boardwalk, a close to 10-mile long beach and loads of family-fun activities including an ice-skating rink and amusement parks. Whether you are out for a family getaway or a weekend with friends, Ocean City has you covered. And if you are traveling on a budget, here are some inexpensive or free fun activities that you can find exhilarating as well as gratifying.

Family Beach Olympics

Family beach Olympics take place on Tuesdays between 6.30 pm and 8:30 pm at the 27th street beach. There are a wide range of events including tug-of-war, sand castle contests, and relay games. Children must be in their parents’ company.

Free Family Programs

There are family programs each day at 10 a.m., offered free of charge courtesy of Ocean City Life-Saving Station. You can see fish feeding at museum’s aquarium as well as learn about sharks, knot-tying and beach safety.

Sundaes in the Park

A weekly event, Sundaes in The Park encompasses a free concert and an ice cream Sunday. It takes place at Northside Park, from 7 p.m. While adults enjoy music, children have their special entertainment. The event ends at 9 p.m. with a fireworks display.

Ocean City Beach and the Boardwalk

Ocean City Beach is credited with being among the cleanest beaches in the area, offering a wide selection of activities like sunning, swimming, kayaking, fishing, etc. The Boardwalk is the beach’s central feature. Also called the Atlantic Avenue, the Boardwalk is home to several eateries, amusement parks, retail stores and nightlife destinations.

Beach Volley Ball

You can grab a partner and go ball playing at Dorchester Beach Volleyball Park. There are about ten public courts where you can enjoy volleyball during the summer daytime hours. There are several other public nets scattered across the beach.

Kite Festival

You can also treat your family to a four-day long spectacular kite-flying festival. Thousands of fans travel to see refined kite flyers from across the globe displaying their aerial artistry. There are also kite-making workshops as well as kite battles.

Sunset Park Party Nights

Sunset Park provides the perfect view of the sun as it goes down over the Isle of Wight Bay. You can watch the sunset as you enjoy a free concert that runs between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. While entrance to the park is free, beverages are available for purchase. You are advised to bring your own seating.

Visit the Ocean City Centre for the Arts

The Ocean City Centre for the Arts is the destination for everything art in Ocean City. It houses the Non-profit Art League of Ocean City. Its newly constructed bayside facility comprises an expansive two storey gallery, classrooms, art library, a pottery studio, as well as five operational artist studios. There is usually a monthly display of new artworks, of both regional and local artists, at the gallery.

Biking

For the safety of everyone, cyclists must observe the set regulations and schedules. You can enjoy biking throughout Ocean City at any time of the year, but with restricted time periods on the Boardwalk over the summer season.

You will never run out of things to do in Maryland. The ocean is not the only place to have fun. There is a wide selection of parks, play fields, as well as sports venues providing everything from serene picnic areas to world-class tennis courts. Your dog can also enjoy at the dog’s park.

If you've ever been to Maryland, what were your favorite things to do there?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

The Real Halloweentown

If you watched Disney Channel in the late 90s, you may remember the cult movie Halloweentown. It starred Debbie Reynolds and spawned three, just as cheesy, sequels (Halloweentown II, Return to Halloweentown and Halloweentown High). It's recently come to my attention that this was filmed in a real town, one that isn't too far from where I live. St. Helens, Oregon is a little town about 45 minutes away and each October they go all out to decorate the town like the movie. What?? How did I not know about this before? I'm still not sure how this passed me by the entire time I've lived here, but I was determined to see this awesome display of Halloween.

So, a few weeks ago, we got in the car and made our way to "Halloweentown" to check it out and get in on some of the activities they have to do. While it was not as amazing as it sounds, it was still worth the drive out. It could also be that we went in the evening, when they had different events happening in the afternoon.

Visitors are encouraged to dress in costume, either from the movies or your own choosing. The goal is to make the town as much like the monster-packed other dimensional town as possible. I didn't realize this until we got there, because they don't really have a website and their Facebook page is lacking. On the list of things to do was taking a pontoon boat ride to the nearby island. Unfortunately, there was no place to sign up and no info on where to do so and once we got there, I found a flyer that said one had to have made reservations online. I eventually found this website, which is less informative, that has a phone number to call.

Anyway, let's talk about what we did do and see on our visit:

The town square, which is right in front of the old City Hall building (now a museum) has a ton of decor and photo ops to help you commemorate and share your visit with your social networks. There are signs everywhere with the hashtag to use. Obviously, the giant jack-o-lantern in the square is the biggest draw, but we enjoyed everything on display. And check out City Hall! That's an eyeball keeping watch on the town.

All of the town's merchants get in on the fun by creating their own scarecrow which is displayed out front, so visitors can vote on which they think is the best. Many shop fronts also go a little further by making their windows Halloweeny. You'll see decor, props and even ghouls hanging out.

There are a ton of houses that go all out with their decorations. I was driving when we passed all of them, though, so I didn't get any pics. One house had a wraparound porch that was covered in life-size statues of horror icons, like Freddy, Beetlejuice and Michael Myers. 

We wandered the waterfront, where a lot of people were gathered to purchase a hot dog and cuddle up by the bonfire that was put on by the Fire Department. Halloween music was being piped into the area and it was a perfect way to check out the creative costumes on display.

After we had warmed up, we headed to The Klondike for dinner. When St. Helens was a port city on par with Portland, the Klondike was a hotel, with several floors full of awesome rooms, but as Portland began to take more and more of the business and fewer people stopped at St. Helens, the Klondike closed down rooms and eventually closed. After some time, a local decided this historic building was being wasted by sitting empty and they reopened it, using the old dining room as a new restaurant. 

The decor is warm and lovely, incorporating some of the old hotel doors. The building is said to be haunted, with employees seeing things move and hearing voices, which makes it the perfect Halloween dinner destination. Throughout October, you can book a reservation for a seance or a tarot reading to heighten the spooks.

Though we weren't there to see it, on weekend days, you may see things like a haunted car parade, a parade where the littles can show off their costumes, a fair, ghost stories, boat tours, haunted tours and pumpkin painting. 

Now, I wouldn't make a special trip across the country to check out Halloweentown, but if you're in Portland in October, the drive isn't that bad and it's fun to dress up, see where the movie was filmed and get a ton of pictures in the meantime. Everything takes place in the historic downtown area, which is very walkable. Pretty much parking is your only challenge.

Does your town do anything awesome for Halloween?

Stay Overnight in a Real Ghost Town

With Halloween coming, it's hard not to have your mind on ghosts and goblins. I had the opportunity to meet with some reps from Montana's visitor board this week and learned about a fantastic little ghost town that is very unique. One, they let you stay when the sun goes down. Two, if you visit when there's snow, you can only reach it by skiing or snowmobiling in. That's pretty cool, right?

Garnet, Montana used to be a thriving gold mining town and now it's the state's most intact ghost town that is said to come alive at night. Garnet, gold and quartz was found in the area, which is how the town got its name. It was a great place to live, especially for miners and their families, but once the gold started waning, so did its population. After the war, looters came in and stripped the town of anything that wasn't nailed down, and some things that were! The upkeep and preservation of this cute little historical town is now dependent on public donations/contributions and volunteers.

Stay in an off-the-grid cabin ,where you can really get the feeling of living in Garnet. You may hear a raucous party in the saloon or the Miners Union Hall, which was also used as a dance hall. Visitors have been said to hear footsteps. Entrance fees are just $3 per person and you can stay in a cabin overnight for a mere $19 per night, so it's really budget-friendly, potentially creepy, plus totally fun and educational.

When you aren't exploring the town's rich history, taking amazing pictures or listening for ghosts, you have the option of nearby fishing, including ice fishing in the winter, hiking, hunting and mountain biking. Make sure you have the proper permits for the recreation that requires it.

June brings with it warmer weather and Garnet Appreciation Day. The third Saturday of the month is reserved for visitors to come explore the town, enjoy live music and interact with Garnet's "inhabitants" who want you to understand what life was like a hundred years ago. In addition to the interpretative aspect, get lunch, try your hand at gold panning, cool off with homemade ice cream, get in on some games and more. Commemorate your visit with a trip to the Visitors Center and a purchase from their gift shop.

Garnet makes a great side trip to your visit to Glacier National Park and Missoula, which I'll be talking about more soon. It's even made it on the Travel + Leisure list of America's Coolest Ghost Towns. Have you ever had a paranormal experience, in a ghost town or anywhere else? Tell us about it!

Want to know more? Check out Garnet, Montana online: website | Facebook | YouTube | Flickr

Photo credits: Garnet Ghost Town | Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. I'm just excited about Montana's budget options.