Apple Martinis & Pizza

Carousel Resort Hotel, last in a string of high-rise hotels and condos that stretches from 94th to 117th street, stands out with an indoor ice rink open to the public. Set in a lobby that rises a dramatic five floors through the center of the hotel, the rink is small but draws a good crowd on both rainy and super-hot days.

117th Street and Coastal Highway, 800-641-0011, http://www.carouselhotel.com/ . Skating is $7 per person, including skate rental.

· BEST PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL

There's not much to the new Isle of Wight Nature Park , but that's one of its charms. On Assawoman Bay across the bridge from O.C. proper, the 12-acre park offers picnic tables, a fishing pier, a bird-rich coastal marsh and a respite from the developed side of O.C.

St. Martins Neck Road and Route 90, 410-543-8223, http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/isleofwight.asp .

· BEST MINI-GOLF

O.C. boasts more than a dozen mini golf courses with themes from aliens to pirate ships, but Old Pro , with eight locations sprinkled from 23rd to 136th streets, is the town's head honcho of the short game. Top honors go to Old Pro's indoor/outdoor course at 68th Street; the outdoor course is crowded with giant dinosaurs, and the underwater-themed indoor course is air-conditioned.

68th Street and Coastal Highway, 410-524-2645, http://www.oldprogolf.com/ . Games start at $6 a round.

· BEST KID ACTIVITY

If the children are getting bored with the shovel-and-pail action on the beach, but you're not ready to drop another $50 at the boardwalk, head to the new tot lot at the 58-acre Northside Park. The state-of-the-art facility is free and features slides, tubes to crawl through and catwalks all kept cool by bay breezes. Staying for a week? The park offers reasonably priced kids' summer sports camps. And if your kids are the four-legged type, the park is a great place to walk Fido.

125th Street and the bay, 410- 250-0125, http://www.ococean.com/parks.html .

HONORABLE MENTION: Planet Maze and Laser Storm, 33rd Street and Coastal Highway (410-524-4FUN, http://www.planetmaze.com/ ) has an indoor climbing maze and laser tag at prices that won't break the budget.