Boardwalk

— Just arrived for a six-day vacation, Mark and Diana Moyer strolled down the boardwalk, frozen drinks in hand, pausing to watch a teenage boy do a back flip onto the beach. The Moyers, from Northampton, Pa., are back in Ocean City for the first time in several years — both were laid off during the recession. But this year, with Mark back at work and their children grown, they have more money to spend and more freedom to spend it. "It's a dependable place," Mark Moyer said Wednesday, recalling the family's vacations to Ocean City going back 15 years.

— Just arrived for a six-day vacation, Mark and Diana Moyer strolled down the boardwalk, frozen drinks in hand, pausing to watch a teenage boy do a back flip onto the beach. The Moyers, from Northampton, Pa., are back in Ocean City for the first time in several years — both were laid off during the recession. But this year, with Mark back at work and their children grown, they have more money to spend and more freedom to spend it. "It's a dependable place," Mark Moyer said Wednesday, recalling the family's vacations to Ocean City going back 15 years.

Ocean City -- It's as much a part of the Boardwalk as the worn brown planks: The sweet smell of fresh taffy blends with the buttery aroma of popcorn and the heavy perfume of chocolate as you round the corner at Wicomico Street.Dolle's Candyland has been on the corner since 1910, when the present owner's father came to Ocean City, bringing a small merry-go-round he'd built in Baltimore to put on the corner of Wicomico and the Boardwalk."My dad came here to live in 1910. . . . there was a man making saltwater taffy right on this corner," says Rudolph Dolle, who inherited the business from his father.

OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) -- The Boardwalk has been a tourism nucleus for decades. And while it stays relatively the same year after year, with a multitude of stores, eateries and other attractions, each season brings a few changes. This season, visitors will notice the actual Boardwalk has received a facelift. During the off-season, some portions of the 2.5-mile span were reconstructed. It's easy to tell where upgrades were made, as the new boards are a lighter shade of brown.

There is no summer experience quite like a stop at your favorite roadside stand for Maryland tomatoes and corn. This week, we stopped on Route 16 in Caroline County, a few miles short of Denton, and filled a car. In the four days following, I polished off a whole watermelon. The stop reminded me of the day my brother Eddie decided to set up his own little market on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach, Del. It was about 50 years ago, in the days when families spent entire summers at the ocean.

OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) -- The Boardwalk has been a tourism nucleus for decades. And while it stays relatively the same year after year, with a multitude of stores, eateries and other attractions, each season brings a few changes. This season, visitors will notice the actual Boardwalk has received a facelift. During the off-season, some portions of the 2.5-mile span were reconstructed. It's easy to tell where upgrades were made, as the new boards are a lighter shade of brown.

Ocean City officials are asking beach fans for their opinions on how the town should rebuild the resort's iconic boardwalk. While there are public hearings set for March 7, the town has opened an online poll to gather more input on three options. The approaches under consideration include an all-wood surface; a wood surface with a plain concrete tram lane; and a wood surface with a concrete tram lane stamped to look like wood. Repairs and replacements are needed because of years of weathering, and wear accelerated by the trams and other heavy vehicles.

Ocean City is a calmer scene in February: Runners have plenty of room on the boardwalk, tourists are bundled in thermal shirts instead of swimsuits and only the brave venture out to the beach. The off-season has some marked differences from its warmer counterpart, but the picturesque view from Ocean City's boardwalk remains the same.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- In the mid-1980s, astute Walt Disney World observers noted that the world's No. 1 resort was moving quickly to duplicate, within its borders, the most successful attractions outside its property.Disney is continuing that strategy, even though one of the attractions from which it has borrowed ideas -- Boardwalk and Baseball near Haines City -- closed in 1990.Across Crescent Lake from the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels, Disney has begun site work on Boardwalk, a waterfront specialty-retail and entertainment complex that it's billing as "a classic '30s boardwalk experience."

Ocean City has agreed not to enforce provisions in its town code that could be construed as violating the free-speech rights of street performers under a proposed consent decree filed in federal court Friday. If a judge accepts the terms, writers, painters, performers, sculptors, musicians and others would be able to sell their works along the boardwalk without fear of interference by police. Those who sell manufactured goods such as candles, stuffed animals and sunglasses are not included in the protected class.

Ocean City wants boardwalk businesses to take it down a notch. The music, that is. The Town Council holds a final vote tonight on a proposal that would restrict noises and sounds from eminating more than 30 feet from the source. This includes playing music, instruments, sounds systems, karaoke - whatever your noise of choice.  Officials say the proposal actually comes at the behest of some boardwalk businesses that have complained they are being disturbed by noise from their neighbors.

Ocean City has agreed not to enforce provisions in its town code that could be construed as violating the free-speech rights of street performers under a proposed consent decree filed in federal court Friday. If a judge accepts the terms, writers, painters, performers, sculptors, musicians and others would be able to sell their works along the boardwalk without fear of interference by police. Those who sell manufactured goods such as candles, stuffed animals and sunglasses are not included in the protected class.

We're several days into the fall season and the sun seems to have disappeared. So I think that's my cue to pack up the beach towels, shake off the sand, wean myself off the taffy and caramel corn die t, grab a few souvenirs and take this OC blog on hiatus. It's been a terribly exciting summer season in Ocean City . The resort town has been in the news for all the right - and some wrong - reasons. We've had visits from a hurricane, a tornado, the Dew Tour and the Jersey Shore!

Imagine the trauma involved when you take one of the most sadistic groups of human beings and put them in the most evil place on earth. The Gang visited the Jersey Shore this week. Please, allow me to digress: As a Towson alum who was born in Philadelphia, I have an eternal bias against all things Jersey. While the regular "Jersey Shore" cast is plaguing Italy, the Paddy's gang visits the east coast's armpit. This week's "Sunny" was much truer to the form fans missed in last week's C+ premiere.

Michael Kenneth Williams is feeling lucky these days. The 44-year-old performer known to fans of HBO's "The Wire" as fearless stickup man Omar Little says there is nothing he's wanted more since the Baltimore-based drama ended than to "just continuously stay working" as an actor. And as the new TV season rolls out, evidence of his eminent employability is hard to miss. Williams returns to HBO tonight as a 1920s African-American community leader named Chalky White in the critically acclaimed drama series "Boardwalk Empire.

Everyone seems to be upset about the Emmys last night. And it's not just because of the bizarre inclusion of the singing Emmytones. It's what's being perceived as a big diss for HBO's "Boardwalk Empire. " After winning a slew of technical awards at the unaired Schemmys, many had predicted the 1920s period drama could eke out a Nucky Thompson-esque underdog win. Not so much. Yes, Martin Scorsese rightfully won for directing the visually stunning, movie-quality pilot episode. But I'm not surprised the show failed to take home some of the major acting awards and lost in the outstanding drama race.

A Baltimore-based company is one of the leading contenders to help Ocean City rebuild its famous but deteriorating boardwalk. The Louis J. Grasmick Lumber Co. of Baltimore submitted the "apparent low bid" to supply lumber for the first phase of the two-year project, said Terry McGean, city engineer of the resort town. Grasmick was one of 18 companies competing to supply the yellow pine decking needed for the work, and its base offer of $602,250 for 56,040 pieces of lumber was below the city's estimate of nearly $621,000, McGean said.

Every Easter for more than a half century, worshipers in Ocean City have braved the early-morning chill and gathered together to watch the sun rise and to greet the holiday with prayer and song at an ecumenical religious service at the beach.The local tradition will continue this year when ministers, choir members and a brass ensemble from the town's churches lead an outdoor worship service scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. on the boardwalk at South Division Street."I guess my favorite thing on Easter is the sunrise service," says Ocean City Mayor Roland E. "Fish" Powell.

Spray-paint artist Mark Chase typically spends his summers in Ocean City along the boardwalk where he creates sci-fi landscapes in a matter of minutes, spraying and smudging to pulsating music as crowds gather. He earns his living as a showman, taking tips for his work. But his most important performance this year may be in Baltimore's federal court, where he's waging a constitutional battle that could change the face of the boardwalk. Chase filed a lawsuit in June alleging that restrictions on street performers and artists along the three-mile stretch violate their civil rights.

Earlier this week, Ocean City's town council selected Louis J. Grasmick Lumber Co. of Baltimore to provide more than 56,000 pieces of yellow pine to rebuild the boardwalk, a contract worth about $600,000. The town also approved plans to purchase and test an alternative wood to be used on just one block of the initial project. The cost of the TimberSIL , a green product that fuses glass with wood and claims to last longer than yellow pine, was about $40,000. Plans for the boardwalk renovation call for two phases, beginning this fall.