OOB: Beach, Arcade, Rides and Food

Old Orchard Beach is a smaller version of Point Pleasant, NJ or Ocean City, Maryland. It's quieter too, which I liked.

Instead of a boardwalk, Old Orchard Beach has a long pier that juts out into the ocean. I heard the trolley driver say that it used to be much longer, but part of it got washed away during a storm and they just left it as it was. The Pier has some games, souvenir shops and places to eat. We at at the end of the pier the first day we went - it was okay, but not great. Henry's steak sandwich was very good. Ruth and I split a sampler plate with onion rings, chicken fingers, chicken wings, fries and mozzarella sticks, and Jeff had a burger. I also took the opportunity to have a glass of Shipyard's Summer Ale - very good.

We took the campground trolley down to Old Orchard Beach (hereon called OOB) three times during our stay. We only went on the beach once - in addition to the water being ice cold, it was absolutely packed. The kids were more interested in the arcade, food and rides, so that helped not only keep the visits to a reasonable length, but also reduced the issue of getting the sand out and putting on dry clothes to walk around afterward.

No matter what state you're in, if there's a beach, you will find walk-up windows with pizza, steak sandwiches, hand cut fries, real lemonade, fudge and ice cream. OOB did not disappoint, and even added one of my favorite treats from my hometown church carnival: fried dough. Imagine pizza dough stretched out into a circle and then tossed in hot oil. It comes out crispy and chewy, and is topped with powdered sugar. Here in Maine, their twist on it is as soon as they pull it out of the oil, they brush it with butter and then sprinkle it with powdered sugar and cinnamon. It sounded delicious, but I went with powdered sugar only. I had to share it with Henry because his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw it.

One other thing we saw at OOB was advertisements for "poutine," but we didn't try that. French fries and cheese curds covered in brown gravy - not my cup of tea. It's a favorite of the Canadians, and they can have it.

The second day, Ruth and I sampled pizza at Rocco's Pizza, which we both thought was delicious. Henry gave it a third thumbs up. We violated the "try local" mantra for ice cream, and visited Dairy Queen a few times.

I also found a small candy store next door and the owners asked me to sample their new recipe for Sea Salt Fudge that they were trying to finalize. They were inspired by the salted caramel craze currently underway. Earlier recipes had been to salty, but I thought the one I tried was fabulous, and they agreed. It's not quite a chocolate covered pretzel, but it was delicious. I might have to make some at home when we get back.

They also recommended their s'more, which was a two graham crackers filled with marshmallow cream, dipped in wonderful chocolate. I picked up two and we all loved them.

On our last visit to OOB, Ruth wanted to try Bill's Pizza, whose claim to fame was being in operation since 1949. My friend Jay from Portland had recommended it. Jeff took her to get a slice and he got one too. Jeff proclaimed it the best pizza he's ever eaten. Ruth loved it too. Well, with a comment like that, Henry and I had to give it a try. Henry liked it alot, but I didn't love it. I thought Rocco's Pizza was better, and Manville Pizza is still my all time favorite.

Well, that's enough about food.

The kids enjoyed the arcade, where we played some skeeball, basketball, and then finally a game where you aim your quarter in a chute and try to land it on a strip of tickets with varying values from 25 to 125. It turned out to a be a great way to accumulate tickets. In total, we ended up with about 2200 points.



The rides at OOB are the standard boardwalk/fair type. The kids asked to ride the bumper cars, which they had never done before, and they LOVED it. I drove Ruth the first time and we cruised around and slammed into Henry a few times. Another day, she rode with Henry and they had a ball. They also liked a rollercoaster-like ride they call the Dragon, and the tall, wavy slide that you go down on a sack. Lastly, Ruth wanted to ride the carousel, one of her favorites.

Due to communications error between Jeff and I (I assumed that when I gave them to him that he would put them in his wallet, but he didn't), we left the arcade tickets in the RV on our last day, so if anyone is headed to OOB in the future, let us know and you can have our tickets.