Our photography director accompanied the photographer on our Ocean City shoot. She’d always thought Ocean City was like Atlantic City, only smaller—but found out it has an appeal all its own.

GIRLS’ GETAWAY
Photographer Miki Duisterhof and her assistant, Tiffany Howe, picked me up on a New York City street corner for the drive to Ocean City. A four-hour car trip with strangers can be uncomfortable, but the three of us found we had much in common, from our love of photography to food to music. As we tooled along the New Jersey Turnpike, it occurred to me that this was the first photo shoot I’d been involved with that was exclusively female. Would that change the vibe? 

After checking into the Lighthouse Club Hotel, we decided to get dinner at Fager’s Island Restaurant, a short walk from the hotel over a moonlit wooden bridge surrounded by bamboo. The waters of Assawoman Bay gleamed in the dark as we ate our meal and finalized our itinerary. 

The next morning, everyone needed a drugstore to buy some forgotten but crucial item. And we were all grateful for the absence of male eye-rolling, an unforeseen perk of traveling with women.

CRABBY PLATTERS
It was foggy when we woke up, so we spent some time driving around to orient ourselves to the places we needed to shoot. When the fog persisted, we decided to shoot indoors, and headed to Higgins Crab House. The manager, Brian, was hospitality itself, letting us choose a bright room with a swordfish hanging on the wall. Miki shoots with a medium-format digital camera, and she tethered it to a laptop so we could see the images as we went along. “Now, how many crabs do you need?” Brian asked.

“Our writer ordered the ‘all-you-can-eat’ crabs,” I said, “so bring out however many that would be to start.” There must have been 20 crabs on the platter, steaming hot and covered with salt and Old Bay seasoning. We set the scene with corn-on-the-cob, coleslaw and Blue Moon Belgian White Ale garnished with a wedge of orange, and Miki quickly captured the feast. When we decided to have lunch at Higgins before moving on, Brian dished up another platter of crabs. We set to work—and it was work! Crab-eating requires a lot of digging, breaking and sucking the meat out of the legs. But I can see why Maryland is famous for its crabs: Spicy and tender, they were delicious. 

DOWN ON THE BOARDWALK
By the time we’d finished lunch, the hazy fog had burned away, so we headed to the boardwalk to see what Miki could shoot.

I grew up going to Coney Island, Jones Beach and Long Beach, and I thought I knew what to expect from a boardwalk. Well, Ocean City’s is obviously more than a boardwalk. We walked its length about six times in three days while Miki captured shots of candy apples and the moving shark sticking out of the side of Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. All the time I kept wondering, Where’s the graffiti? Where are the nails sticking up and plastic bags blowing around? Ocean City’s boardwalk was squeaky-clean.

The beach was a surprise as well. It had been raked that morning, and it lay wide and flat as far as the eye could see. Close to the boardwalk, about every 50 yards, were adorable wooden playhouses. My favorite was shaped like a pirate ship, but there was also a castle, a biplane and a jeep. Children of all ages scrambled on and around them.

FRY HEAVEN
During our whole visit, we never saw the line at Thrasher’s get shorter. But the wait for Thrasher’s french fries is worth it—they’re amazing. The potatoes, with the skin still on, are fresh, not frozen. They’re crispy without being sharp, and surprisingly ungreasy. Add a sprinkle of cider vinegar and a big shake of sea salt, and you get the best fries you’ve ever tasted. Maybe that’s why Thrasher's has been serving fries on the Ocean City boardwalk for almost 70 years.