The Summer of 2025

Is it just us, or did the Summer of 2025 pass in a flash? Here we are in the middle of September already, with the Labor Day weekend practically a dim memory in our rear view mirror, and kids in school already! It seems like we were just getting ready for summer, and experiencing the first of the summer visitors to Ocean City, and now they’re gone, and our street is empty of cars with Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland license plates. Time really has a way of playing tricks with your mind, and the passing of the summer of 2025 was a big one!

It was a strange summer weatherize too, here at the shore. There were weeks when all it did was rain, and we felt sorry for the renters. There were weeks when the temperature was in the 90s from sunup till late at night. There were also days that the temperature was more spring or fall like than what one would expect from the summer. I guess it was a summer of, “if you don’t like the weather, just wait and it will change”…but you may not have liked that either!

Our Summer of 2025 started with the traditional start of summer, Memorial Day Weekend, but in our family it has an alternate meaning…Susie’s Birthday on May 28th! The festivities started on Tuesday May 27th when Kenny (representing his sister, brother, and brother-in-law) and I took Susie to Tomatoes for a great dinner with a great waitress that really made the night! Then, since her actual birthday was on Wednesday, the celebration continued at Charlie’s where the three of us were joined by our good friend Sue and her husband! Jim

Thursday, June 19th turned out to be International Martini Day, and Susie and I decided to dress appropriately for our visit that night to Angelo’s Fairmount Tavern.

June 29th was the date for Susie’s 2025 Free Table! All through the year, as we’re cleaning out things in the house that we no longer need, they are deposited in one of Susie’s Free Table boxes. Then on a day of her choice, she’s out early in the morning setting up tables in the driveway telling folks that Everything (except the tables) Are Free for their taking! Better than trashing the items and much easier than a Garage Sale!

July was our month for family visits, starting off early in the month with Kenny, Krissi and her husband Mike joining us for a long 4th of July weekend! They were with us for almost a week with Krissi and Mike working from Ocean City, but there was still time for some great family time, and the three siblings had time to enjoy things on the boardwalk they remember from being little kids in OC!

Then, about 10 days after Krissi, Mike, and Kenny left us, we had a wonderful visit from our oldest son Bill and our three Grandkids…Layla 11, Henry 9, and our baby, Annabelle 6! If you think we were busy with the 3 older kids, that ain’t nothing compared to the activity that our 3 Grandkids brought to our house! They arrived on Thursday afternoon and soon we were off to the Boardwalk for a night of food and fun! #1 on the list was dinner at Manco and Manco pizza on 9th Street, or as our family calls it, Hose Pizza! That name was coined in one of Bill’s earliest visits to Ocean City. His first summer here, he was 7 months old, and for the next 16 or 17 years, Ocean City was a part of each of his summers. Because they put the sauce on the pizza via a hose, it’s always been Hose Pizza since a very young Billy christened it with that name. Pizza done, it was time to head to Playland and some amusements, but first spend some quarters in their newly rebuilt arcade area! Stupid Grandpa, remembering what we did when our 3 were the age of our Grandkids, put a $20 bill into a coin changer and changed it into quarters. Have any idea how hard it is to grab $20 in quarters, and how heavy they are in your pockets??? Only after getting the change (and with Grandma following me and doing the same thing), did we realize that we could have put the $20 on a swipe card that could be used at all the games! After that, it was time to head out to the rides and into the crowds of people! Grandma and I found a place to sit, and doled out tickets, and a good time was had by all! Every one was tired by the time we got home that night!

The next day after breakfast, it was beach time! Chairs, toys and our Cool Cabana were packed into the beach wagon, and the D’Elia Family headed to Pennlyn Beach! After a great day at the beach, it was time for an early dinner at Charlie’s, and then some front porch games and relaxation.

Saturday dawned a bit crummy with some scattered showers, but as soon as the rain stopped, Billy, Layla, and Henry decided to walk the boardwalk. Annabelle voted to stay with Grandma and me at home, and Grandma dug out one of her old stand by rainy day at the beach activities, Painting Shells! Annabelle and Grandma had a great time and later in the day we joined the rest of the group on the boardwalk! This was the day that the kids had to get some Ocean City Merch (as they called it), and then they all wanted to play Mini Golf! No matter how many shots she took, when asked what she got on a hole, 6 year old Annabelle always said “One,” which didn’t go over great with the 9 and 11 year olds. As we approached the 15th hole, I told Billy, “Now I remember why I hated playing mini golf with you and your sister and brother when you three were little!” After golf, it was a required visit to the Surf Mall and some more Merch purchases, before Grandma and I called it quits and headed home! That night, some Chinese take-out that the kids wanted for dinner, then Billy and the kids headed to Playland for their last night in town!