The Ocean City Air Show is an annual spectacle people look forward to all summer. It’s a weekend of thrills, spills, twists and turns. It’s also, according to my Captain Obvious Junior Ranger calendar, a summer weekend. That means time on the beach and also a ton of events going on around the region that can supplement your Ocean City experience. Beyond sunning, there are a bunch of places to explore around the region while you aren’t engaged in the Air Show. Also, plenty of diversions for people who are coming to town for the glorious weekend and not for the Air Show. Here are 4 air show activities you never even considered.
Check out all the local beer in the region
Saturday afternoon is a great time to visit breweries. Many if not most have free tours so you can get to know local beer as well as local brewers by name. Backshore Brewing is a great place to watch the airshow, being right on the boardwalk, but if you want to head inland, Fin City at Hooper’s Crab House also provides spectacular views.
Our partners at ShoreCraftBeer.com have an app that has challenges to win prizes by visiting breweries. Take a look at their site for more craft beer info. Also, if you’re coming to the beach the last weekend in June, consider joining them in Salisbury for a beer festival that includes a shuttle from Ocean City and back.
Visit the Delmarva Discovery Center
The Delmarva Discovery Center, just a half-hour down Route 113 in Pocomoke. is a hands on learning center for adults and kids alike. There are live nature displays, that include a replica steamship to explore, and interpreters that help you connect the hands on experience with the practical life on Delmarva from pre-colonial times forward. There is an entrance fee to help support the exhibits but it is worth the price of admission.Downtown Pocomoke has shops and restaurants and an old-timey movie theater.
Cross the line into Delaware
The Southern Delaware beach towns, like Bethany, Dewey and Rehoboth all have their own takes on the quaint beach life. With downtowns structured in a very specific beach town attitude that’s different from Ocean City’s in a palpable way. Beyond that, though, they offer a jumping-off point from which you can launch yourself in the the wilds of rural Delaware. There are plenty of backroads to explore in “Slower Lower Delaware” with cool bars and shops cropping up where you would least expect them. Or, of course, you always could hit the beach in Fenwick.
Walk on Water in Snow Hill
Snow Hill, just 15 minutes or so along Route 113 is having a weekend long Stand Up Paddleboard event called “Return to Goat Island.” You can check the specifics here, but what you need to know is that one of the prizes is a goat. This is not a typo, nor is it an early 20th century baseball promotion. Come for the fun, stay to watch the winner try and coax a goat into her SUV.
