Fall Visitors at the Beach

Family visitors in the cooler autumn season require creative entertainment options such as the historic Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum, built in 1891 and one of the of the oldest Ocean City buildings.  With dual missions to prevent ship disasters on the shoals and rescue the ship-wrecked during the foul weather from November to April and with the motto, “you have to go out, but you don’t have to come back” the work required hearty men willing to stand alert 24 hours a day.

The original rooms of the building are cleverly repurposed to feature numerous sands of the world, a full-sized surf-boat and ingenious rescue equipment, displays of the Native Americans on the lower Delmarva, historic Ocean City Boardwalk odds and ends, and awe-inspiring individual live aquariums featuring seahorses, blue crabs, and of course the harmless horseshoe crab.  Perhaps the ugliest crab in the ocean, the horseshoe crab has had fossils discovered dating over 450 million years ago, swims upside down in shallow waters, coming into shore in the spring to lay eggs in the sand.  The crab’s external helmet-like shell encloses a spineless body with multiple eyes and legs, some with feet.

The ubiquitous museum gift shop features stuffed sea creature animals, engaging children’s books for all ages, and more weighty books for adults with an interest in additional information.  Located in the inlet area the Museum setting offers an afternoon of fun, food, and shopping to while away a beautiful fall day.