4th of July at the Shore

4th of July at the shore was like wo. It was awesome except for being 101 degrees the first 2 days, which if you don’t know, is so hot that it’s humanly impossible to sleep. And also except for the traffic, whereby the ~10 minute drive from the campground to Ocean City (NJ) took an hour every time.  That ridiculous bridge across the bay needs about 19 more lanes, as do all the streets on the peninsula for that matter.  Oh, and also except for the ~15 hispanic people on the site across from us, who smoked marijuana and blasted crazy Mexican music all day and all night.

On 2 consecutive nights, I ate at the worst and best restaurants in existence.  Obediah’s, in Ocean City NJ, is to be avoided at all costs.  We ate there in the "crabhouse" which is just a pseudonym (a filty lying one at that) for "the bar".  It was noisy and smoky so right off, you know it’s gonna be crappy.  So we wait for over an hour and finally get seated in the bar room.  Our waitress Barb clearly hates us and/or her job because in the middle of writing our appetizers down, she rudely says "I’m gonna give you a few minutes" and walks away.  Just because one of us needed a second to decide something.  For the next 15 minutes, she doesn’t return.  She passes by plenty of times, though.  She apparently doesn’t want to bring us the drinks and appetizers we ordered already.  When she passes and we ask, she gives a curt "Ok" and continues on her evil way.

That was the way of things for the whole of the evening.  We asked 3 times for horseradish sauce, and she told us that she needed to "go find some".  What does that mean??  Every table around us had it.  We finally got it not from the waitress, but by asking the people next to us if they were done with theirs.  To which they replied, "Sure, and take our soup crackers too, because you’re not going to get the waitress to refill them!"  So we weren’t the only angry patrons.  When we asked for a water, it took 3 times for one and then 2 more times for another.  It also took 3 requests for iced tea and 2 for lemonade before we got them.  I’m not saying 3 requests with 30 seconds in between.  We’re talking literally 10 and 15 minutes before she finally brings what you ask for.  And for the iced tea, it wasn’t Barb who brought it, it was the manager, who we saw walking around and asked for help.  The refills of water were warm and lacking ice.

There was no soap in the ladies’ bathroom.  So I told a waitress and she said she’d take care of it.  15 minutes later, still no soap.  Again, I had to get the manager, who finally personally refilled the soap.  In the tiny men’s room, some selfish old man was smoking, so I had to prop the door open with the trash can to avoid dying of cancer while I washed my hands.

It was easily the worst dining experience I’ve ever had.  I’m not exaggerating.  No contest, this was the worst.

Then, tonight on the way home from the shore, I ate dinner at Maggiano’s in King of Prussia.  I cannot overstate how wonderful this restaurant is.  It’s an Italian place with family-size portions, and it’s not much more expensive than, say, Outback Steakhouse or Olive Garden or Carrabba’s.  But the food... the only way to describe it is amazing.  I ordered Chicken Mushroom Cannelloni, and it was superb.  And the architecture of the building was beautiful.  It’s got high ceilings, and you can eat on a balcony on the upper level, or outside if you wish.  The staircases are wide solid wood with thick carpet down the middle.  There are giant rooms off to the sides that give the place a neat atmosphere.  Even the bathrooms are neat... the toilet paper holders, for instance, are silvery metal creatures that stand on the floor!  It’s a franchise, so you may have one near you... if you do, be sure to check it out.