A Fashionable Return to the Days of Old

The Hilton Suites hotel in Ocean City has much to offer, including ocean-view balconies, a high-end restaurant and indoor and outdoor pools. (Art Baltrotsky Ftwp)

A curious sort of tug of war is going on in Ocean City: As the condos and high-end hotels rising uptown tout their modern conveniences, the downtown area has increasingly taken on an old-fashioned look, or at least a simulacrum of one, reviving the moniker "Old Town Ocean City" for the area from the inlet to about Fourth Street. Along the boardwalk, many of the older hotels and motels undergoing renovation are unveiling pseudo-Victorian turrets, porches and pastel paint. The city itself has been working on making Old Town more pedestrian-friendly for several years, widening the boardwalk, restricting biking and blading (and banishing skateboards to the park at Third Street and St. Louis Avenue), and adding more old-fashioned entertainments such as bonfires on the beach and free concerts.

Yet the buzz of the year is the possibility that the most old-fashioned attraction of them all, Trimper's amusement park (First Street and the boardwalk; 410-289-8617) may close after this season -- a victim of Ocean City's condo-fueled prosperity. For more than a century, the complex, with its antique Herschell-Spillman carousel, scores of games and rides, walk-through fun house and roller coaster glittering until midnight, has been a symbol of Ocean City to generations of children. (The Trimper family, which still owns and operates the business, has supplied the city with two mayors.) But thanks to ever-increasing real estate appraisals, the company's taxes have risen $1.3 million in just two years, and unless some sort of relief can be arranged, the family says it will have to consider its options.

WHAT'S NEW: Sunset Park, a block-wide pedestrian center overlooking Isle of Wight Bay at the foot of South Division with benches, restrooms and environmental exhibits, will host summer concerts.

Ocean City's first Restaurant Week is June 2-9; participating restaurants are offering two-course dinners for $20 or three courses for $30; for a list of restaurants, visit http://www.oceancityrestaurantweek.com.

The Shark has opened in its new multi-level site (46th Street and the bay; 410-723-1221), with the lounge (and live entertainment) on the ground floor, a glass-sided dining room and patio on the second floor with bay vistas and rooftop dining and bar with ocean and bay views. Call the food "upscale resort casual": blackened mako, black-cherry-glazed duck, lobster ravioli, roast salmon with shiitakes and yams, soy-ginger tuna, a one-up on surf and turf siding cowboy rib-eye with lobster mashed potatoes, and what can only be described as crab-stuffed brie in a blanket.

Iguana Surf has relocated to the commercial harbor in West Ocean City, gaining almost twice the space and a great sunset view from atop the stilts foundation (12924 Sunset Ave.; 410-213-1519). The pleasantly quirky menu now includes tapas. Popular chef Fausto DiCarlo has opened his third restaurant, this one in the Howard Johnson Plaza on the boardwalk at 12th Street (410-289-2112). Fausto's Bistro has what it calls the only brick-oven pizza in town -- Mancini's is officially over the line in Fenwick Island, and Carrabba's is in West Ocean City -- in addition to pasta and seafood. Big Tuna Grill surf and turf house has replaced the old Higgins buffet at 128th Street and Coastal Highway (410-250-1001).

WHAT'S HOT: The Hilton Suites hotel (33rd Street and oceanfront, 410-289-6444) has one- to three-bedroom suites with living rooms, Jacuzzis in the bathroom, ocean-view balconies (some with hot tubs), at least two flat-screen TVs and DVD players, and full kitchens with granite counters. The hotel's high-end restaurant, 32 Palm, offers a big wine list and Yucatan/West Caribbean decor. There's one indoor pool near the fitness center and two outdoor pools on a balcony, a tropical-themed children's pool with water slides and a lazy river and an adult pool with swim-up bar.

LOCAL SECRETS: The best brew-with-a-view -- and burger and hot wings -- is at the old-style O.C. Frogs (formerly the Red-Eyed Frog) at the far end of Inlet Village (806 S. Atlantic Ave.; 410-289-2850). Check out the frog collection. Have a seafood club sandwich -- crab cake, shrimp salad, bacon and provolone -- with last call at Kirby's Pub (92nd Street and Coastal Highway next to Liquid Assets; 410-723-1700).

HOT TIPS: Shuttles run every 15 minutes from the park-and-ride lot in West Ocean City, just across the Route 50 bridge, to the transit center a block from the boardwalk ($1) and the Ocean City Factory Outlets. Children shorter than 42 inches ride free. Buses run 24 hours a day on Coastal Highway; a $2 pass is good all day, or you can get a 10-day-pass book for $15.

APRES SUN: "Sundaes in the Park" and entertainment at Northside Park (127th Street and the bay); Friday evening concerts in the new Sunset Park starting June 15; Thursday concerts at Somerset Street Plaza (the pedestrian block just off the boardwalk) and beach bonfires with speakers and activities at North Division Street; and concerts Wednesdays after July 4 at North Division. The town recreation department sets up volleyball nets at six points along the boardwalk (plus 61st Street and the bay) and runs three-day summer camps in tennis, boogie-boarding, baseball, basketball, etc. (info at http://www.ococean.com). In July and August, the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum offers history talks, knot-tying and life-saving techniques near the shark exhibit Monday through Saturday at 10:30.