Weird Ocean City

Today's shore town on my "to do" list: Ocean City. Most of the chapter is done (thank goodness), but I still have some research to do about the shops on Asbury Avenue, which I'll wrap up on Saturday before the Night in Venice parade that is, FYI, starting an hour later this year for any of you crashing your friend's bay-side houses. Things won't get going until 7:30.

Today, though, was for the events section. Ocean City has the usual types of shore events, like baby parades, car shows, and fireworks. But one listing jostled looks a long buried memory: Weird Week.

Weird Week is just what the name implies -- weird. This year's events will take place August 13-17, starting every day at 11 am in front of the Music Pier.

I never spent a lot of time on the Ocean City boardwalk during the day when I was a kid -- we always went to the Avalon beaches and then, if we went to Ocean City, it was at night to ride the rides and eat ice cream. But something must have inspired my parents to head up to OC that day because I remember my brothers standing on a pedestals in their bathing suits with beach towels turned into capes for a Superman look-alike contest. I didn't get a make-shift cape but my mom's purse slung around my shoulder in an attempt to be Lois Lane. Not that we had a shot. Competition was fierce. Some contestants even made up interpretative dances, much like the one you can watch here.

And that's not even the strangest event Ocean City has every year. I took a quick tour through South Jersey Video Magazine, which has captured some of the odd things that happen at this supposedly-quiet town, including The Doo Dah Parade, Martin Z. Mollusk Day, and French Fry Sculpting. And, yes, I believe that is the same woman singing in the Mollusk Day and Weird Week videos. If I see her at this week's Weird Week, I'll report back on the blog. I'll take pictures, too. Any bets on who she'll be dancing as this year? I hope it's either Harry Potter or a Transformer...