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July 2012

We are off to the beach!  Or, if you’re local, WE’RE GOING DOWNY OCEAN!  Our drive from Ballston, Arlington to Salisbury, MD took 2 1/2 hours.  Traffic was easy and the weather and kids were cooperative.  We checked into the Residence Inn in Salisbury.  When we reached our room it was a clean, two room suite with a nice kitchen area and TVs in both the sitting area and bedroom.

Once we unloaded, we headed grocery shopping.  Our goal was to hit Health Food and More, but we arrived to find that it is closed on Sundays.  So, we went to the Giant instead.  It was a nice, large store with a fairly large natural foods section.

By the time we finished with our shopping, we were hungry.  So, Sarah picked a place nearby and ordered pizza.  She chose Zia’s Italian Grill which is across the street from the hotel.  I picked up the pizza and brought it back to the room, and was delighted to learn that it was delicious ($15 for the pizza).

UPDATE: Zia’s is now closed.

On Monday, we began the day with Ocean City, about a 40 minute drive from our hotel.  We parked at the city lot all the way to the south of town next to the pier.  It was $5.50 for about 2 1/2 hours.  The beach was pretty much empty when we arrived just after 9 AM.  After we finished on the beach, we hit Polock Johnny’s for a funnel cake ($6).  It was hot and delicious.  The kids were tired, so we returned to the hotel for naps, lunch, some laundry and by the time we were finished it was time to think about supper.  It was Taco night at the Residence Inn, and that was enough for our 3 year old (we snacked on some things from the store after the kids went down).

On Tuesday, we began the day with a drive to Chincoteague, it took us about 1 hour to get there.  The entry to the Wildlife Refuge is $8.  The refuge connects to the southern tip of Assateague Island (our ultimate goal), called Tom’s Cove.  The beach there is great!  The dunes I had pictured in my head were washed away (along with the buildings) in a hurricane not too long ago.  Now, it’s just wide flat beach surrounding a parking area.  You can park right next to the beach, and they have put out picnic tables, trashcans, grills, as well as toilets, changing rooms and rinsing showers in the parking lot.

This is the spot if you are looking for a more “natural beach” without the stores, restaurants and other assorted hoopla.  Though, all of that can be found in Chincoteague if you want it.  When we returned to our room at 2 PM, the room had been cleaned and we were able to relax.  The staff was very, very friendly throughout our stay.

Tuesday night we ate at Zia’s again.  It was so good the first time, and so close that we couldn’t resist.  This time we ordered a pizza and (from the kid’s menu) chicken fingers and french fries.  The total was $26, but the chicken fingers and french fries were very small portions (only 3 chicken fingers) for about $10.

The Residence Inn breakfast was pretty good as well.  It’s laid out buffet style and consisted of eggs, sausage, biscuits, potatoes, corn beef hash, yogurt, orange juice, milk, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, bagels, fruit salad, bananas, apples, cereal, oatmeal, and waffles.

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