Posted on December 16th, 2016
_________________________________
Are you looking for a fun getaway this holiday season? We decided to take a little break from the Christmas madness & have some family time in Ocean City, Maryland. I have driven by the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel on 101st street hundreds of times over the years, but have never stayed there. They have a “Winterfest of Lights” package that includes an oceanview room, $50 room credit to use towards their food/beverage inside the hotel & two Winterfest of Lights tickets. #winning
The front desk staff were friendly & we checked right into our room with a king sized bed for us & pull out couch for Ryan. The room layout that we had was interesting, because it was on the side of the hotel with two standing only balconies with sliding glass doors facing both bayside & oceanside. We checked in right around sunset & had a pretty view from both sides.
Our room was spacious & extremely clean. It almost felt like two rooms in one without a divider. One side of the room had the pullout couch, large television, desk & the bayside balcony while the other side of the room had the king bed, another television & the oceanside balcony. It was a large room plenty big enough for a family. The room also included a small refrigerator, microwave, & coffeepot. Ryan loved having his own half of the room and especially his own television.
We had barely dropped our bags before our son started begging us to take him to the indoor pool. So we did. It was a nice sized, warm pool with a large pool deck perfect for your little (and big) fish. The pool had walk in steps that started at three feet going to the deeper end of five feet. The big kid & little kid certainly enjoyed themselves.
The Clarion Hotel also has Horizons Oceanfront Restaurant, Ocean Club with live music on the weekends, Breakers Pub, a coffee shop & cardio/weight room, sauna & whirlpool on site. There is definitely plenty to keep you busy right there at the hotel.
Next up on our family fun night was the Winterfest of Lights on 125th street bayside at the OC Parks & Rec. We look forward to this annual tradition usually meeting up with our good friend Dave Messick from Hooked on OC with his son Dorian. Tickets cost $5 per person, and children ages 11 & under are free. The ticket buys you a beautiful ride around Northside Park to see over one million twinkling Christmas lights. It truly is stunning & will put you in the holiday spirit. Be sure to bundle up as it is an open air tram. They are open nightly from 5:30 pm until 9:30 pm (Mon-Thurs) & 5:30 pm until 10:30 pm (Fri & Sat) through January 1, 2017.
Grab a hot chocolate to warm you up after the tram ride & walk over to tell Santa your Christmas wish. Santa loves the big kids & little kids alike.
Don’t forget your camera as they have many great spots to capture your family memories. Special thanks to our buddy Dave Messick for letting us use these beautiful Winterfest of Lights pics.
Last, but certainly not least to round out our fun family weekend was a trip to our favorite french fry place Thrasher’s French Fries at the boardwalk. We had no idea if it would be open, but we were willing to take the gamble. It was a cold, windy Saturday in December & believe it or not we actually had to wait behind a few people in line. It is always worth the wait. They are consistently hot, fresh, crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside.
We bought a large bucket to share with lots of vinegar & salt then headed to the arcade where we played our usual skee ball, air hockey & our favorite game which involves hitting a clown with a ball…. which by the way results in a lot of tickets.
Scott, Ryan & I really enjoyed taking a break from the hustle & bustle of the Christmas season to just catch up with each other & have some relaxed family time. We’re wishing you all a safe, healthy & happy holiday full of good things like Thrasher’s French Fries!
