More than a quarter of a million people come to Ocean City in the summertime and thousands of them walk the 27 blocks of the Boardwalk each day. In โWhat Are You Doing Here?โ we stop a few of them and find out what brought them to our corner of the Eastern Shore.
Mary O. walked slowly down the boards, walker in hand, before sitting gingerly down on a bench in front of the clacking Zipper in Trimperโs. Sheโs hard to miss, wearing a neon yellow โTRUMP โ16โ shirt and a red โMake America Great Againโ trucker hat on her head, despite the hot, August day.
โI donโt want to get hit crossing the street,โ Mary said seriously. โI got eight variations of this shirt. Iโm a independent and vote with my conscious. Iโm not afraid of nothing and nobody.โ
She seems to own up to that promise, considering sheโs letting a total stranger shove a microphone in her face while wearing clothing that is blinding and takes a clear political stance. Mary is confident and not afraid to speak her own mind or blaze her own path, as she decided to come to Ocean City 59 years ago in the spirit of adventure. The Boardwalk is a long walk from her hometown Louisville, Kentucky.
โWhen I was 15, a lady sat next to me on a airplane and said, โIf you ever get to Maryland, make sure you go to Ocean City.โ So when I was 16, I got together with a few of my friends, got on a bus and ended up here,โ Mary said.
That was the beginning of a long, steady love of Ocean City.
โI hope I get to heaven. But if I donโt, Iโll know I spent many a day here, which is as close as it can get,โ she said. โItโs close to nature, itโs safe, and itโs a place you can feel good about.โ
Mary taught school in Hartford County for 20 years, specializing in biology, health and physical education, settled down and raised three boys. But every year, sheโd make a trip back to good โol Ocean City, eventually becoming a property owner herself.
โWeโd come down so theyโd continue with their summer jobs. Matter of fact, they ran these rides back when Mr. Trimper was alive,โ she said, pointing to the yard of amusement rides. โTheyโd make up the little ditties and songs. Thereโs a lot of hardworking kids that come here from all other countries and work to put themselves through college.โ
Now at 75, Mary said in her years watching sunsets over the water and thousands of people walk past on the Boardwalk, Ocean City has stayed the same. Itโs the culture thatโs changing, buying into high-brow intellectuals telling them they know all the answers.
Mary grew up with President Harry Truman, who she names as a down-to-earth model president that America needs to get back to. She sees a lot of parallels with Truman and her man Trump.
โThe new generationโs getting a little confused. Look at Truman – that was a man who wasnโt intellectual or hollywood. He was the son of a man who owned a hardware store. When Roosevelt died and he became president, no one there had respect for him,โ she said. โThey had their nose in the air and jealous he was in the position they wish they had. We had the doctor from Kentucky [Senator Rand Paul] and Texas [Ted Cruz]… and look at the Congress and Senate. They donโt want him to succeed. Itโs a darn shame.โ
โI love the fact theyโre trying so hard, but theyโre jealous. I watch the TV and think they should be ashamed. I canโt believe theyโre not giving a voted republican or human being a chance. Whatโs he got on his agenda will help us, taxes, new jobs, roadsโฆ Trumpโs trying to make things sensible again.โ
Maryโs in good company in Ocean City, as liberals/Democrats are outnumbered in red county. But as with a beach town that draws thousands of people a day, thereโs always someone that sheโs not going to get along with.
โI had a lady come to me the other day and put a finger in my face and said โdonโt you start!โ I looked at her and I thought, โoh, hold back, lady,โ Mary said. โI donโt want to talk about religion, sex or politics.โ
Despite the culture clash from our divided country, Mary seems to like her view of the world on a bench in a place a little closer to heaven,
โWhatโs wonderful about this place, is I can sit on a bench like this one and talk with people all over the world. . We consider our tourists so much, spend whatever money they spend here back on them. Thatโs Ocean City.โ
