At The Beach – Ocean City Maryland

Assateague Island National Seashore – just 20 minutes drive from Ocean City MD – A return visit this spring was enlightening and somewhat of a welcome adventure from the past winter doldrums! Those of you who are visiting Ocean City MD should try to include this as a daytrip which can be completed in about 4 to 6 hours or longer if you wish! ( Oh! bring the kids and teens ) as they will love it if they understand and can learn more about our environment and continue to gain an appreciation for the wonders about us! The National Park Service has several FREE entry periods during the summer so take advantage of this and avoid the $15 entry (per car) fee. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm. Senior Citizens (Over 62 years of age) qualify and can register for a FREE PASS card (with a one time $10 fee) at the Parks providing free entry ANYTIME to any of the Federal Parks in the USA. http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm.

[During our visit on June 2, 2009 to the Assateague National Seashore Park, we found an abundance of photo opportunities of Deer and Assateague Horses ( Ponies ) .. It sort of began with a feeding Deer as we drove down the road towards the entry to the National Park Area .. A Deer feeding on the succulent leaves along the roadside. We stopped and took a photo from the car. The deer just sort of looked at us wondering what we were up to! Be very quiet however with little or no movement as the deer will vanish in a second if they are concerned about you or your encounter on their world!

We passed through the ENTRY GATE of the National Seashore Park - display my senior citizen pass to gain free entry (normally $20 for a pass - good for 7 days) .. and our first stop was at the "Life of the Marsh Trail" - a 1/2 mile loop out over the marshy grasses and water! There are "Placard" stands along the walk explaining about the various types of "creatures" and "plant growth" that inhabit or grow in the marsh areas, such as crabs, minnows, marsh birds, herons, egrets, etc..

Two Seagulls were perched on a railing and enjoying the view on this hot day! They were quite reluctant to fly away until we were within 10 feet of them. We really didn’t want to disturb them but had to walk past them to proceed on the trail. Off they flew when we went past , and they quickly returned to their perch once we were beyond them and further along the trail.

About 1/2 way through the trail, there is an overlook with quite a spectacular view of the Chincoteague Bay! There is a bench at the top to take a rest, or just simply enjoy the fresh breezes coming across the water. On one side is a down ramp set of stairs that leads to the bay itself and you can get your feet wet there, as seen here in the picture of one of the students “Olga” who accompanied us on this Assategue Island Tour Day.

So – onward we walked to finish the loop and return to our car in the parking lot. After retrieving us a cold soda from the beverage cooler in the trunk, we drove on to the next adventure, BAYSIDE drive, which leads to a parking lot bordering on the Bay, with Porta Potties, rental canoes and kayaks, and a bulkhead and walk over bridge for crabbing.

There were quite a few parents with children crabbing from the dock area there. We were VERY surprised to see a family of Assateague Ponies just across the bridge. 4 or so adult and one baby pony! We walked over the small bridge leading to an smaller island in the marsh to get closer to the Assateague Ponies.

We quickly realized that in the small group of horses was a small pony (foal) probably not more than a few weeks old. Eventually we managed to approach the entire group and get closer to the small “newborn”. To our amazement, the adult horses simply ignored us and keep feeding on the marsh grasses as we slowly approached the small baby pony. I was accompanied by two international students from Russia ” Olga and Irina ” and they, as well as myself were delighted and excited to be so close to a natural setting. The girls wanted to see if they could “pet” the newborn foal and kept inching closer to it.

Sucess – to our surprise .. The girls were able to walk directly up to the baby Foal and pet it while the adult horses continued on with their feeding. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 5 MINUTE VIDEO OF ASSATEAGUE Horses June 2009.

Visiting Ocean City Md for a vacation or family get away – don’t forget natures bounty is just a 45 minute drive away . Great Vacation Rentals are found on At The Beach – Ocean City Md. As always – ” best rate guaranteed ” Ocean City MD hotel reservations are available on At The Beach here:

Please DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER! Despite what one may read in the local free newspapers in Ocean City MD ( who rely upon the real estate industry heavily for advertising income) publishing articles which sort of juggle and interpret statistics to thereby reflect a coming upswing in condominium real estate sales in Ocean City MD … The truth lies in the just published sales data published by the Coastal Association of REALTORS – Ocean City MD. The January 2008 Condominium Sales Report by the Association, which tracks and compiles essential sales and listing of Ocean City Md Condos indicates the market has probably not yet hit the bottom. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW that Ocean City MD Real Estate Condominium Sales Report for January 2008.

Actual real estate settlements for January 2008 (condominiums only) reflects a modest decrease from a dismal 34 units sold (went to settlement) in 2007 to 31 units in 2008, however in reviewing the PENDING CONTRACTS, which will reflect pending “settlements” in the coming 30 to 60 day period, this new contract activity decreased significantly from 68 in Jan 2007 to 48 in Jan 2008, which is a substantial decrease in new buyer activity compared to January of 2007 and certainly a huge decline from January of 2006.

Certainly, there MUST now be some great buys for active purchasers of Condominium Rental Condos or Summer Homes at the beach in Ocean City MD. Obviously it’s good logic that the time to buy is when prices are on the low side, and it’s obvious that buyers can likely obtain significant concessions and price reductions when negotiating to purchase real estate in these times, especially 2nd home condo’s or rental condo investments. These market conditions are prevelant of course throughout the USA and all (to my knowledge) resort property markets are very depressed and wanting buyers for overbuilt numbers of condo’s on the beaches around the USA.

Real Estate is a LONG TERM INVESTMENT! It is certainly secure and historically will appreciate over the very long term in value. Make your investment today or next year when the market is at a low point, then reap the benefits (not next week) but in 10 or 15 years with price appreciation, and the benefit of using your beach getaway in the interim.

If you are considering purchasing a place at the beach, in getting started, I really suggest retaining a “buyers broker” with experience who will dilligently provide you with all the relevant details, market history and other unique factors one needs to consider when purchasing a condominium as a 2nd home or rental investment in Ocean City MD. You may interview 2 or 3 before committing to any real estate agent to represent your investment. Ocean City MD does have many experienced and highly qualified agents who are found here Ocean City MD Real Estate Agents, so find one whom you trust, are honest, hardworking, are comfortable with and respect their experience in this real estate market.

One would also think that the significant reductions in Interest Rates by the Federal Reserve will make such real estate investments much more affordable and bring more buyers into the market place over the coming months.

I welcome your comments – thoughts – and feedback on this article.

Subscribe to the Blog.AtBeach.com Blog RSS Feed!

Have a comment? Visitors are welcome to register and advance this topic, offer other views, etc.. You MUST FIRST REGISTER, AND A PASSWORD WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU: Simply CLICK HERE to login or CLICK HERE to register so that you may post a comment.

Regards,

dan

The World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest for 2007 is history! On Nov. 2, 3 and 4 the CHUNKIN contestants and the enthusiastic crowds to view it arrived from all over the planet earth! The Chunkin Site is now on a tract of land nearby Bridgeville, Delaware and offered much more earthly landspace (farmland) for the event. Bridgeville DE is a 45 minute drive from Ocean City MD and likely a shorter drive from some points North along the Delaware Coastline. It had outgrown it’s previous home and the new Punkin (Pumpkin) chunkin location was quite an improvement both for parking, road access, etc.. OLE MAN WEATHER cooperated on the 2nd and 4th .. but on the 3rd (Saturday) the event went off ok but it was blustery cold as a NorEaster (Tropical Storm) was churning off the Atlantic Coast and generated winds of a steady 30 plus or minus mph especially in the early part of the day, and brought in some unfortunate COLD winds in our faces and bodies. I attended on this day but decided it was better to return on Sunday to take photos and enjoy the day! On Sunday it was around 60 degrees with sunshine and a milder wind so the day was quite enjoyable and refreshing and certainly the punkins (pumpkins) were more willing to FLY FURTHER in the sky.

Sunday was the final day for contestants to SHOOT and FLY the pumkins into the sky! The event offers many categories of entry, such as Air Cannon, Centrifugal, Catapult, Trebuchet, Human Power, and Torsion. These categories are both in the Adult and Youth Divisions. I am sure all had a good attempt on Sunday when the sun was shining brightly, the weather cooperated and all had a good time. I had to depart early on Sunday but the Air Cannon Adult category was at that time with a punkin chunk of 4,211 feet as I recall. I am awaiting final results.

The spectators enjoyed viewing all the contestants in an organized event manner, and also had the pleasure of listening to GREAT music from live bands off and on during the event and trecking the quite huge grounds to scour out great souvenirs, foods of all flavors, rides and things for the kids, and more! Porta Potties were abundent throughtout the grounds for everyone (and they were clean). Campsites were available for those desiring to camp on or nearby the grounds, parking was abundant and the inroad and outgoing vehicle traffic was assisted constantly by the Delaware State Police.

I will continue this blog in a few days after I get complete update information on the final winners of the Punkin Chunkin categories and to provide some links to more photos and videos I managed to take during my Sunday adventure at the Punkin Chunkin Championship. You can always check the OFFICIAL web site for the punkin chunkin Associaton for updates on the winners when they announce them on their web site. Be sure to also check back here at the BLOG.ATBEACH.COM . Photos of the world Championship Punkin Chunkin are available in our At The Beach Photo Gallery .. So now maybe it’s time we get a real pumpkin and make some “real pumpkin pie” to prepare for the Thanksgiving Holiday upcoming! ..

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Holiday Season and a Happy and Healthy New Year in 2006.

Welcome to BLOG AT THE BEACH! Our thoughts, experiences and commentary centering on Ocean City Maryland. This is the place read and share our compliments, suggestions, dining, entertainment, amusements and lodging tips, or just note our experiences as a commentary from daily living At The Beach. All posts are quite simply personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the express opinion of others. Your comments are expressly welcome!