Entering Ocean City, 1952 (04-02)

Historical narrative

It was the early summer of '52 and the first automobile trip Steve remembers, a trip to Ocean City from his then home in Silver Spring. To Steve, the six-hour-long, hot ride in the family's 1951 green Kaiser sedan was the beginning of a grand adventure. Those were the days before air conditioning, before limited-access highways, and just before the Bay Bridge opened. Steve's family began the trip in the early morning, heading east on two-lane highways. Traffic slowed through small Maryland towns where stoplights blinked lazily in the heat. Near Annapolis, his family queued for the Chesapeake Bay ferry at Sandy Point, windows down to catch the salty breeze. On the ferry, Steve and his sister leaned over the rails watching gulls circle as the boat churned across the broad span of water toward the Eastern Shore. Once ashore, Route 50 stretched through flat marshlands and fishing villages before the first glimpse of Ocean City appeared as they crossed Sinepuxent Bay—the excitement of the bright white hotels, sandy beaches, and the sparkling Atlantic.

Watercolor

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