Ocean

I'm confused about choosing a color to paint my kitchen. I've heard that green is the color of the year. And then I hear about gray being the new neutral. What are the best colors to paint the kitchen? A kitchen should be an inviting gathering space, so warmer or brighter tones are ideal, such as deep ivories, rich coppers, luscious reds, golden yellows and yellow-greens. Be sure to take countertops, appliances and floors into consideration when selecting your color. You'll want something that complements these accents and flows naturally into the surrounding rooms of your home.

Over at the beaches in Maryland and Delaware, from the Ocean City Inlet to Lewes, your favorite restaurants are getting ready for another summer season. Beach-goers will find some new restaurants, too, including a new Jewish delicatessen and an Ocean City version of Baltimore's Abbey Burger Bistro . • 10 new places to eat at the beach [Pictures] • The Baltimore Sun Beach Guide Memorial Day weekend might not be the best time to try out new restaurants, or old ones for that matter.

Students in Jack Dillinger's art classes at the University of Maryland University College often ask him after final critiques if they can see some of his artwork. There isn't enough time, he tells them. Besides, he doesn't want to show his painting and drawing students just a few of the pieces he has done throughout more than 45 years as an artist and have them think that's the kind of creativity he's looking for. But now the longtime Columbia resident has invited his students and the public to see a collection of his life's artwork in a retrospective at Mill River Gallery in Ellicott City.

After two pedestrians died and 13 were injured last summer on Ocean City streets, city officials and the State Highway Administration devised a campaign to get motorists and those on foot to be more aware of each other. The effort includes highly visible markings on crosswalks and signs directing pedestrians to them and retimed traffic signals to get vehicles to slow down. “Ocean City is one of Maryland's largest cities all summer, but every week there's turnover and a new population,” said Melinda Peters, SHA administrator.

Maureen Skelly remembers her trip to the beach after she graduated from high school. She and her friends spent every last nickel and didn't have enough cash to pay the toll on their way home. They had to go into the toll office and fill out a form promising to pay the money at a later date. Now that her son, Sean, is a senior at River Hill High School, she is hoping he will make wiser decisions during his Senior Week in Ocean City. "I wanted Sean to come and hear and get educated about appropriate behavior," said Skelly, sitting in the auditorium at Reservoir High School on Wednesday before a two-hour talk.

SHARK attack is probably the greatest fear for humans swimming and surfing in ocean waters. (Thank Hollywood for that.) But it is not the greatest danger by far, despite the recent public fixation on gruesome injuries and two deaths in Virginia and North Carolina. Drownings, heart attacks and even coral and seashell lacerations produce more deaths and serious injuries than shark bites. The number of reported shark attacks this summer is actually smaller than normal: three worldwide deaths so far in 2001, compared with eight last year.

In the ocean's languid yearningWet sand recedingIn the water's stillness movingFeel the TaoIn the child's tightrope tiptoeFeel security of mother's armsThe watchful eyeSoft sand belowIn the ocean's heave and breathingBreaking cold upon meWith you naked beside meSleeping lateI reawaken

Ocean City in the summer is a tradition to Marylanders. But the tradition may change considerably for many if a state proposal to lengthen the school year becomes reality.Businesses that rely on the traditional summer trade are natural opponents of the proposal by the state Board of Education to lengthen the school year by 20 days in the hope of better educating students."It would be devastating here, absolutely devastating," said Anne FauntLeRoy, executive director for the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce.

Thousands of fun-seekers are gathering in Ocean City this Memorial Day weekend, kicking off the start of the summer beach season at Maryland's premier beach and at neighboring Delaware's Atlantic resorts. It's far too early to tell how this season will stack up in comparison to past years, but initial indicators are promising.According to local Realtors, condo rentals are running 60 percent ahead of last year; occupancy rates for hotels and motels are expected to top 90 percent this weekend.

Ocean City crowd estimates are like kites -- they always tend to go higher. Listen to Ocean City Mayor Roland Powell: "Judging by the traffic and the number of the people on the boardwalk and the beaches and the hotels and motels, I think it's been the best Memorial Day we've ever had."Ocean City mayors are known for their optimism and exaggeration. But there is no denying the success of Maryland's major ocean resort last weekend when 250,000 people went there, spending tens of millions of dollars.

People come back to Ocean City for the traditions - a favorite restaurant, beach spot or mini-golf course. For visitors looking to try something different, this season has a lot of new things to offer, whether you eat at the town's new (and only) Jewish deli, grab a beer at a new craft brewery or take time to go to the circus. And while you're enjoying what's new under the sun, take a moment to look at what's beneath your feet. The town just finished up the second and final phase of its three-year, $6 million boardwalk renovation project.

All summer long, even on the hottest days, a gentleman in a tuxedo stands on the Ocean City boardwalk. Locals and vacationers scurry over to find out what he's up to. The man is Joe Kro-Art, owner of Ocean Gallery, and if he's not playing boardwalk emcee, he's possibly watching a bicycle plunge from the rooftop of his old, hodge-podgy building. Of all the screaming attractions along the bustling Boardwalk, few have managed to sustain a vibrant and thriving business for as long as the outrageous, half-century-old gallery.

After $1.1 million in Superstorm Sandy clean-up work, Ocean City is ready for Memorial Day weekend and beyond, said Mayor Richard Meehan. Even the damaged century-old Ocean City Inlet Fishing Pier, which was featured prominently in national TV storm coverage, will be opening Friday. Meehan will mark the occasion by making the first cast from the 489-foot structure. "People from all over the country watched as that angry ocean tore apart that pier. Now, it's back in business," the mayor said.

One of the joys of the beach is its consistency. The tide rises and falls without fail, the sun casts a glow over the water every morning and every night. But Ocean City , for all its constants, continually delivers fresh adventures. We've put together a calendar of something fun to do in Ocean City nearly every day, from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day. Many, but not all, are free, and most are suitable for the entire family. MAY May 23: Check out the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum . From May 21 through June 22, as a thank-you for their service, admission is free for police, firefighters, EMTs, active duty service members, veterans, and members of the Armed Forces.

The Palestinian immigrant and his brother lived next door to each other in homes in West Ocean City , over the years opening a number of businesses throughout the area — three pizza shops, a Mexican restaurant, a liquor store, gas stations, and development companies, court records show. This week, however, authorities in New York alleged that Basel, 42, and Samir Ramadan, 39, were also at the top of a multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling ring and said they believe members of the organization may have funneled some of their proceeds to terrorist groups.

Ocean City Restaurant Week starts Sunday. Participating restaurants in the 7th annual spring dining promotion, which runs through May 19, will offer menus fixed at $10, $20, $30 or $40. Dining options range from simple to fine dining. Organized by the non-profit Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, the event is billed as celebration of Ocean City's local cuisine  "Having fixed prices allows diners to budget a day or evening out," said Restaurant Week event manager Amy Tingle.

Unless Mayor Roland E. "Fish" Powell can stop the state in court, Ocean City soon could lose its image as a family sea-side resort. Big-time gambling, in the form of fast-paced keno, is on its way into town.Mayor Powell isn't the only local official in Maryland concerned about the insidious implications of this vast gambling expansion being pushed by the Schaefer administration. In Westminster, Mayor W. Benjamin Brown wanted to slow the keno invasion by forcing all operators to get a conditional-use permit.

You would think a tourism strategy for Ocean City would consist of planting the beach umbrellas each Memorial Day and counting the receipts by Labor Day. Apparently, it's not that easy.Room tax revenues were down 10 percent in June over last year, when they hadn't grown much from the previous summer. The resort's business community surmised several reasons: cheap air fares, which lured away more affluent travelers; the lingering recession, and dismal spring and early summer weather.One of Ocean City's most devout visitors, Gov. William Donald Schaefer, suspected one more reason, something he abhors: timidity in promotion.

In the off-season, Ocean City often adds some new feature for tourists: a miniature golf course perhaps, a seafood restaurant or maybe a bar that caters to the beachgoing crowd. But here's a possible addition that might not be so welcome - parking meters north of 10 t h Street. On Friday, the Ocean City Council is expected to be briefed on a proposal to create a whopping 4,800 paid parking spaces. The most ambitious version of the plan would require visitors to pay for parking at any space along the streets on the Atlantic Ocean side of Coastal Highway from 10 t h Street to the Delaware line.

The Navy's famed Blue Angels aerial demonstration squad has canceled the rest of its 2013 performances, including dates this summer in Ocean City, in San Diego, Navy officials announced earlier this week. "This is one of many steps the Navy is taking to ensure resources are in place to support forces operating forward now and those training to relieve them," the Navy said in an official statement. The move was caused by the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, officials said.