Mister Ocean City

The ongoing saga of a Post Adolescent Beach Boy

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Summer Rentals; Getting Ready…

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When you come to Ocean City before the season starts, you drive past all the condos and houses, and don’t even realize what’s going on inside!

Key Bridge-MDTA Radio Audio

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Here’s the audio from the Maryland Transportation Authority. They are the police agency in charge of bridges and tunnels in the state:

State and County police are part of the conversation. The one officer was planning on going onto the bridge to tell the workers…

Bridges, Traffic and Irony…

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I have been a traffic reporter since 1996. I started here at the beach, eventually made my way to Washington and Baltimore, then moved back here in 2014. Through advanced technology I can still do traffic wherever I am needed. (The mic on my smartphone sounds better than the $7000 ISDN unit we had in 1998). As I try to write this, I have to remind myself, and inform you, dear reader, that I am stunned. I have spent the day with my head in a fog pondering the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore earlier this morning. I did traffic in DC during 9/11, also during the DC Sniper attacks, and thought I’d seen everything. Until I saw this:

Gobsmacked. That’s what the Brits say. That’s me. But this bridge hadn’t just popped into my head this morning. Let me explain. Our 20 year old son is a music major at a local college. He’s studying to be a church organist. And since this is the week before Easter, tons of churches are having special ceremonies. He asked us yesterday if he could go to Towson, in Baltimore County to attend the Chrism Mass, which is one of the biggest events of the year. At one of the biggest churches on the east coast. With one of the biggest church organs and orchestras. I said yes, but he had to promise to “stay on the Beltway” and not drive through the city. He’s pretty good with Google maps, so he said ok. I felt like this was kind of a reward for him since a month or so ago he received his permanent driver’s license. In Maryland the first 18 months is a probationary license and if you get any violations, it resets the clock. But that didn’t happen, so as a reward, he gets his first solo trip to Baltimore. Our family has the GPS tracking app, Life 360, so I watched him on and off as he drove to the cathedral. He got there on time with 10 minutes to spare.

I’m not saying I had any sort of premonition, but I was troubled last night. I called him and told him to go back the way he came, on the west side of the beltway, to I-97 to get back home. I actually said “I don’t want you going on the Key Bridge”. He seemed to understand but maybe he didn’t. After the mass was over, he called us and said he got gas and he was heading home. That was about 10:30 or so. I went to bed, and saw that he got home around 1:00AM. When I woke up, I learned about the bridge going down. Then out of curiosity, I checked the Life 360 app to see his history. To find out where he really DID drive. Here is a screenshot from the app. Look where he was right before 11:00PM. You will understand why today, I am walking around stunned:
Life 360 history

Boardwalk Elvis

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Unless you’re a total newcomer to Ocean City, you know who Boardwalk Elvis is. It was always a special moment when you saw “Elvis” walking down the boardwalk.  He’d be wearing either his black, white or red jumpsuit, carrying his boombox on his shoulder, and playing the kazoo along with the Elvis music coming out of the speakers.

What I have here are scans of 2 rare postcards Boardwalk Elvis aka Boardwalk Norman gave to me.

The first one he gave to me in the summer of 1994.  I was standing on the boardwalk near Ocean Gallery (2nd Street) and he just handed it to me.  I guess since I always said “hi” to him, he saw me as his buddy. That postcard is below.

Boardewalk_Norman_(Elvis)

This is the card that was available for years.  I had it on the wall of my office, and I “lost” it (actually fell behind the desk).   So the next time I was in Ocean City, I stopped B.E. and asked him if he had anymore postcards.  He said he didn’t, but he knew the shop we were standing in front of sold his cards.  He said he’d wait if I went in and bought one.  So I ran in, got the card, and had him autograph it.  As he walked away, I noticed the card didn’t say “Boardwalk Elvis”  it said this:

So, Boardwalk “Norman”, eh?  I doubt the Presley estate threatened to sue, so I always wondered why the manufacturers of the postcard changed it to his real name, Norman.  I mean, not like there aren’t other people named Elvis.  Is the town of Ocean City going to sue because they are using the name “Boardwalk”?

Anyway, both times he signed it Boardwalk Elvis.  The first one he wrote “CULB Elvis” as you can see. I thought maybe he mis-spelled “Club Elvis”  But then I thought maybe it means something like “C U Later, Buddy”.  Any Elvis fans know if the Real King autographed things like that, and our buddy Norman was just following the lead?

ELVIS SIGHTING! Click on the little picture of BW Elvis below.  It’s a link to a picture I took of BW at Springfest 2009, as he was dancing at one of the shows…

Boardwalk_Elvis_Front
Boardwalk_Norman_Back

Ocean City’s “Boardwalk Elvis” Passes Away
Born on the Fourth of July in 1939, passed away at the age of 78 on June 16, 2018 at his home in Showell.