Every summer millions of tourists fill the thousands of motel rooms, condos and vacation houses with the intent of soaking up the sun and carnival like atmosphere. And, just as surely, every fall they leave, turning the area into a desert of wide open beaches, wrapped up traffic signals, and boarded up motels.
Ocean City is traditional also in that the primary attraction is the beach and flashing boardwalk.
Although the nearby outlet malls, golf courses, and nature areas are leading the way to a more varied resort, visitors are still correct in associating Ocean City with beaches of baking bodies. For decades the shores of Ocean City and Delaware have served as the beach of choice for the Washington, DC area and much of the mid-Atlantic area. To maintain that position a number of areas have developed, catering to different tastes. Starting at the south end of Ocean City the atmosphere is very traditional beach resort, to a more modern hotel based mid-section, to condo oriented development in the north part of the city. Moving north through Delaware there are open beaches of state parks, small towns with few hotels, and an increasing number of vacation homes.