Looking for a "clean water" beach?

In a July 29, 2009 online article CNN.com/Travel, "Looking for a Clean Beach?" Ocean City, Maryland gets "five stars". According to the article, the NRDC (National Resource Defense Council) just released its report on water quality of 200 beaches in the US. It states, "Ocean City, Maryland consistently ranks as one of the best for water quality." It also says that "Hands down, one of the best beaches is Ocean City, Maryland which does well year after year because of its clean water and strict water quality monitoring, two factors that earned the popular East Coast beach five stars..."

White Marlin Tournament Fast Approaching!

Ocean City is also known as the "White Marlin Capital of the World". August 3-7 will be fishing days for the White Marlin tournament. This is an offshore fishing tournament where sport fishing boats compete for prize money for White & Blue Marlin, tuna, and dolphin primarily. Last year's prize money was almost 2 million dollars with over 300 boats in the tournament. Probably one of the most spectacular sights, if you dont mind getting up at the crack of dawn, is going to the Ocean City inlet at about 4AM on the morning of one of the fishing days, and watch the boats parade out of the inlet. It is an awesome sight in those pre-dawn hours!

Tripadvisor.com Improves Our Ranking!

At the beginning of 2009 the Sea Bay Hotel ranked 31st with Tripadvisor.com. Today we are very proud to say that we are now ranked 20th in Ocean City out of 101 Hotels. No. we are not perfect yet, but this is only our 3rd season as owners of the Sea Bay, and each year we "will" be getting better. What does "getting better" mean to us? It means providing a friendly, clean and affordable Hotel that allows our guests to have a memorable stay and to enjoy our beautiful beach town and still have money left over when they leave!!! We are striving to be the "Best Value In OC".....

New Faces At Our Front Desk!

We certainly hope you will be staying with us soon! If you have stayed at the Sea Bay Hotel in past years, you will notice some new faces at our Front Desk this year. We are proud to say that this year's staff has been very good for our customer service image and improvements. We have received so many compliments on our front desk staff. Guests have mentioned "friendly", "helpful", and also "smiling faces" to name a few (See tripadvisor.com). So from all of us at the Front Desk; Amanda, Ellena, Heather, Holly, Katelin, Leslie, Shelley, and Tyann "We Hope You Will Stay With Us!"

New Seafood Restaurant just down the street!

We would like to welcome the folks at Jumbos Seafood Restuarant to Ocean City. They are located just down 61st Street from the Sea Bay Hotel and overlook the Bay. They are where "Windows on the Bay" used to be in the OC Health & Racquetball Club.

We have sent many of our guests to Jumbos this season, and have nothing but very good comments. We have 15% discount coupons for our guests, and some of our "Online Specials" also include free "$10 Jumbo Bucks" for each adult.

If you like good Seafood with an Eastern Shore flavor & style, you will love Jumbos!!!!!

Springfest 2009

I went to Springfest last night. The Food is incredible! Just look for the "FOOD" Tent. Giant Turkey wings, Crab fluffs, crab balls, single fried oysters, funnel cakes, calzone pretsels, chicken and pork barbeque, pizza, burgers, polish dogs, regular dogs, great fries, clam fritters, etc. Wow! Great Food!

I took a stroll through the vendors tents and saw some great arts and crafts! Some of the stuff has very good pricing, as well. And it's pretty cool to talk to the people who actually designed and made the artwork, jewelry, etc.

Randy Travis was in concert there last night, and it was sold out! They also had some bands just entertaining, where you could grab something to eat and just sit and listen for free!!!

Springfest is located in the Inlet Parking area which is all the way at the south end of Ocean City. Since the parking area is full of tents, your best bet is to park in West Ocean City just west of the Rt 50 Bridge and take the bus in. There's plent of parking there and plenty of buses.

If you're staying at a hotel, your best bet is to take the Ocean City bus. You can ride all day for only $2, and just find a bus stop, and normally the bus comes every 20 minutes or so. Have Fun at Springfest!

Congratulations to Bill Naylor for Receiving Honorable Mention!

The Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Fest was held in Ocean City the weekend of April 24-26 2009. Mr. Bill Naylor and his wife stayed with us. Bill came all the way from Canada to enter his carvings in the competition. Since this was Bill's first time in this Competition, he was entered in the "Novice Class". Bill received "Honorable Mention" for his Baltimore Oriole carving, and a 2nd "Honorable Mention" in the "Novice Bench" Class for his "soaring Osprey". Very impressive showing!

If you have never attended this event, it is simply amazing to see the life that these carvers bring to these peices of wood. They are beautiful to see, and many carvings are available for sale. Next year will be the Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition's 40th Year!