There are many ways to spend Valentine’s Weekend in Ocean City. Here are a few.
Hi Ocean City readers! My name is Cynthia Cavett and I am a new blogger for OceanCity.com. As a frequent visitor to Ocean City and the surrounding areas, I wanted to share my experiences with other visitors as well as locals. I live in Smyrna, Delaware, which isn’t far, so my husband and I escape to our hidden oasis as often as we can when we aren’t working.
Jay and I drive down to Ocean City, Berlin and the Delaware beaches during almost every holiday season. Whether it’s Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, St. Patrick’s Day, National Pancake day, you name it, we’re there. This year’s Valentine’s Day was no exception. We are big fans of visiting the beach in the off season, even when it’s cold. But this year’s Valentine’s Day weekend (which also fell on President’s Day weekend) was extraordinarily warm – perfect for the OC Boat Show! I’d like to share our weekend with you.
Starting the weekend right
Friday evening started out with checking in at the Grand Hotel & Spa located directly on the Ocean City boardwalk. The view from our oceanfront room was stunning.
We booked the Valentine’s Day Couples package which included a few goodies like a bottle of champagne, custom Grand Hotel Resort & Spa Champagne flutes, chocolate truffles from Wockenfuss (which by the way, we had never tried before and I must say are delicious), a $60 gift voucher to one of six local restaurants, and my favorite goody – a commemorative plaque from the company called Plak That based out of Ocean City, Maryland.
Note – for those who like free things if you book your reservation online you become an instant gold member with the Grand Hotel Resort & Spa and receive a tote when you check in filled with coupons, maps, a Frisbee, and two bottles of water.
Once we finished checking in, we decided to venture out and do something entirely different for us. We took a ride over to Berlin to check out Ocean Downs Casino. It was a quick drive over the Route 50 bridge from the Grand. As soon as we arrived we signed up for the Ocean Downs rewards cards which gave each of us $10 in free play money. We wound up breaking even on the electronic blackjack machines, took our tails between our legs and headed back to Ocean City for chicken fingers, fries and a nightcap at the Greene Turtle, a bar that was new-to-us yet original to Ocean City. We’ll be heading back during dinnertime soon for sure.
Starting Saturday Right
Flash forward to Saturday, Day 2 of our Valentine’s weekend celebration. Up first was breakfast at another new-to-us restaurant called Happy Jack’s Pancake House. Here’s a tidbit about us – we love going to places with great reviews and write-ups. I will remember those reviews and write-ups for years, and Happy Jack’s was the runner up for #1 breakfast in Ocean City for 2015. Since Jason is a die-hard Dough Rollers pancake fan, it was hard to convince him to try Happy Jack’s. But boy that 2015 list did not disappoint! Our breakfast was fantastic and Jason wound up loving the pancakes (and scrapple).
After our awesome breakfast, we drove uptown while we waited for our day spa appointment. We drove past the OC Boat Show, which we honestly did not know was going on that weekend. My husband immediately started drooling as we drove past. I made a mental note made to surprise him with tickets the next day.
Around 2 o’clock, we found ourselves standing in the lobby of the Creative Day Spa at the Princess Royale Hotel on 91st street waiting for our couple’s massage.
While waiting for our massage time, we wound up talking with a massage therapist named Donna who oversaw appointments for that hour. I wound up showing her the list of restaurants that we needed to choose from for our $60 gift voucher from the Grand Hotel. Donna’s recommendation will soon be revealed.
For the next 60 minutes, Jason and I embarked on a couple’s massage adventure in the Princess room. Two massage therapists gave us a combination of Swedish and hot stone massages that were out of this world. The Princess room was “cozy,” – small, but just right. A small water fountain in the room, soft music and an ambient glow made it the perfect setting for relaxation. Afterwards, we received a Valentine’s Day gift from the spa. With every couple’s treatment that was booked for that weekend, the couple received a bottle of wine and Godiva chocolate truffles. What a nice surprise!
Why is there an Edible Arrangements bouquet in this photo do you ask? After we left Creative Day Spa with our bottle of Red Cat and Godiva truffles, we headed back to Berlin to Edible Arrangements to pick up a Valentine’s Day prize I won from Delmarva Life and WBOC! All I did was fill out my name after seeing it advertised on Facebook and, honest to goodness, I won the Send Me Some Love Daisy bouquet the very next day. It was delicious and a perfect addition to our romantic weekend. Plus, we got to see snow geese on the way to and from picking up the bouquet. Couldn’t get a photo of the geese since they were on the side of the highway, but we were still excited to see the flock in person.
After returning to the hotel and changing into more appropriate attire for our romantic dinner, Ocean City local resident, Donna, did not disappoint with her restaurant recommendation. Adolfo’s on the Ocean was our choice – an Italian restaurant on the boardwalk that was breathtaking. From the moment you walk in you are taken away to an entirely different atmosphere. A roaring fireplace in the bar room, Victorian couches and chairs in the lobby, and a gorgeous garden style dining room on the other side of the restaurant all proved to set the stage for a memorable night. I had the Chicken Parmesan while Jay had the Veal Parmesan. Safe meal selections for trying out a new restaurant, right? Both were exquisite. I cannot say enough about this restaurant. They had an excellent wine selection, too. I had the Moscato (a personal favorite).
The rest of that night involved champagne and a hilarious attempt at gingerly opening the bottle on the balcony. (Note: It’s impossible to open champagne without making noise of some kind – for me, it was laughing hysterically as I waited for the cork to pop out of Jason’s hands).
The next morning, Jason purchased breakfast for us to enjoy in the room while looking out at the ocean. I almost forgot to add, Jason packed my favorite shark from Ocean City bar & restaurant Fish Tales that we frequent every summer season. Aptly named “Sharky,” he comes with us on some of our Ocean City adventures. He enjoyed coffee Oceanside as well.
A surprise ending to a fantastic weekend!
After (sadly) checking out, I began driving down Coastal Highway and pretended that I was going to keep going and hit some of the Rehoboth outlets before heading home. But right around 66th street, I made a left turn towards a parking lot filled with pontoon boats, fishing boats, and yachts and parked at the Ocean City Convention Center. Jay was a happy man as we entered the Ocean City Boat Show. For $10 each, the two of us got to hop up on pontoons, check out kayaks, meet with local vendors, enter a myriad of contests and giveaways, and live the boating life for a little while. As an avid angler myself, I was completely surprised to see one of my personal fishing heroes – Scott Lenox from Hooked on OC! Not only did Scott take a selfie with me but he also autographed a bumper sticker (thanks to Dave Messick of Unscene Productions for coming up with the idea). Hooked on OC is the Mid-Atlantic Premier Fishing TV Show that’s not your ordinary fishing show. Packed with great tips for anglers in the area, he also features other topics such as the hottest local restaurants, and some of the best shops to browse while you’re in the area. Honestly, if I knew I would be taking selfies with my hero I would have let my hair down that day, but I was still grateful to finally meet him. He also gave great tips for catching flounder for the Flounder Pounder coming up this summer at Bahia Marina. Hooked on OC airs every weekend on ABC WMDT – TV ch. 47 and ch. 3 on the CW Network.
With Sharky buckled in and Jason and I officially tuckered out from an action-packed Valentine’s Day weekend, we made the trip back home to Smyrna. With love in our hearts and renewed spirits, Ocean City failed to disappoint again. Valentine’s Day in Ocean City is going to become our new tradition. Next year, we plan on staying right at the Princess Royale Hotel so we can enjoy the spa but then head back up to our room afterwards to relax.
Until next time, Seaside Cindy is planning her next Oceanside adventure. For more photos from our Valentine’s Day weekend, please visit me on Instagram.
Hello Cindy ! Your article was very well written . Keep them coming . Josephine G.