Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - In this beach vacation haven, home to the largest number of Jersey Shore summer rentals, they really thought they would be cleaning up this season - and not just from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Ocean City, along with most other Cape May County barrier-island towns, sustained far less damage than many northern beach communities. Recovery of public spaces and rental properties has been swift in a place that counts on the lucrative summer tourism season. Other places, such as Seaside Heights in Ocean County, where Sandy pulled amusement rides into the surf and destroyed miles of boardwalk and hundreds of homes, were not as lucky.

THE SAND IS FINE and the post-Sandy attitude is, too, on the seven-mile-long island that long ago proclaimed itself "America's Greatest Family Resort. " Families in Ocean City are typically of the very traditional variety, as was intended by the foursome of Methodist ministers who established a Christian retreat there in 1879. These holy men also instituted Blue Laws that prohibited shopping on Sundays and the sale of any kind of alcohol. The first edict is no longer in effect, but the second one lives on - A recent vote firmly enforced the city's no-BYOB policy, too. Former summer residents include Grace Kelly and Gay Talese, who grew up here.

GIRLS Teams: 1 Columbia, 64; 2 Penns Grove, 54; 3 Buena, 52; 4 Winslow, 46; 5 Millville, 46; 6 Kingsway, 42; 7 Delsea, 34; 8 Woodstown, 33; 9 Woodbury, 30; 10 Egg Harbor Township, 29. GROUP RESULTS Group 1 4x100: 1 Penns Grove (Richarrd Nichols, Jaye Pollard, Faleesha Dowe, Kianje Pollard), 49.32; 2 Haddon Heights, 51.88; 3 Woodbury, 52.48. 4x200: 1 Penns Grove (Jaye Pollard, Jocelyn Brown, Kianje Pollard, Faleesha Dowe), 1:43.39, 2 Audubon, 1:50.28; 3 Woodbury, 1:51.55.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Voters in "dry" Ocean City on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to permit consumption of alcohol by patrons in local restaurants, which would have been a first in the Jersey Shore resort's 125-year history. About 3,200 of the 4,600 people who voted - more than the number who showed up in the November election here - said no to a ballot question that sought to permit the practice called BYOB, ending the town's ban on bringing beer and wine to eateries.

A pair of first-period touchdowns held up for Ocean City yesterday, leading to a 13-0 win over visiting Cumberland at Carey Field. The game opened the Cape-Atlantic League American season. Ocean City had finished a close second to Millville in last year's race. "We can play better," said the Raiders' second-year head coach, Wayne Colman, "but I'm happy with the win. I'm especially happy with the shutout against a club with backs the quality of Cumberland. " Ocean City outgained Cumberland, 243-104, in total offense and had 17 first downs to only six for the losers.

The Ocean City boys' soccer team has yet to lose in an NJSIAA Group 3 state championship match. The Red Raiders improved to 2-0-3 in finals after defeating Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 2-0, in last night's championship at the College of New Jersey. Ocean City has now won its second outright title in three seasons. The Raiders were the state cochampions in 1995, 1999 and 2000. While Ocean City cherishes all of its state titles, last night's may go down as the most enjoyable one. "This is extra special, because of the season they just completed," said coach Mike Pellegrino, whose Red Raiders finished their campaign with a 24-0-1 record.

There is something awesome about a traditional hotel breakfast when it is done absolutely right. The table: Set heavily with monogrammed china and enough pieces of silverware to confound even Miss Manners. First a coffee spoon, then a fruit spoon, then a cereal spoon, plus a butter knife, a main-course fork and knife, and a fork and knife we had no idea what to use on. The staff: Smiling young waiters and waitresses hurrying to our table at our briefest stare, bowing slightly to offer fragrant goodies from bins and trays.

Shelley Solheim anchored three first-place relays yesterday to lead the Ocean City girls' track team to its ninth consecutive Division B title at the 23d annual Woodbury Relays. Solheim, who was named the most valuable athlete, ran the anchor leg on the Red Raiders' 3,200-meter relay, 1,600-relay and sprint-medley relay teams. Her split time of 2 minutes, 18.9 seconds in the 3,200 paced Ocean City to a division record time of 9:37.8, breaking the previous record of 9:48.2 set by Camden last year.

A man drowned in the Ocean City surf Sunday night amid the Independence Day celebration. Ocean City police were called at 10 p.m. and said they found the body near the 7th Street Beach. The man was taken to Shore Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The victim's identity was not being released pending notification of relatives, said Det. Sgt. Dennis Jones. Authorities said the man was part of a group that participated in a nightime swim.  

WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp., Ewing, developer and marketer of proprietary high-power solar systems, announced today that it has begun work on a $4 million contract installing solar systems for Ocean City. The systems, consisting of roof mounts on the cultural arts and community center, the new public-works building, the vehicle-maintenance center, the sports and civic center, and the firehouse, are expected to produce nearly 550,000 kilowatt-hours of energy in their first year, the company said in a release.

The Union will host a third-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup game against PDL side Ocean City Nor'easters next Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) at PPL Park, the club announced. Ocean City advanced after defeating the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, 1-0, last night in the second round of play. The winner plays June 12. Tickets will go on sale to the general public today at noon. Call 877-21-UNION for more info.

Baseball BURLINGTON COUNTY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS Rancocas Valley 6, Bordentown 5 CAPE-ATLANTIC LEAGUE NATIONAL Ocean City 5, Lower Cape May 0 COLONIAL CONFERENCE Audubon 4, Haddonfield 3 TRI-COUNTY CONFERENCE DIAMOND Deptford 5, Glassboro 4 TRI-COUNTY CONFERENCE ROYAL Highland 5, Clearview 0 NONLEAGUE Maple Shade 11, Westampton Tech 1 Shawnee 11, Cherokee 8 New Egypt 11, Medford Tech 0 ...

Audubon trailed Haddonfield for most of the game Friday before pulling out a 4-3 home win in a Colonial Conference baseball matchup. Haddonfield led by 2-0 after one inning and 3-2 entering the bottom of the seventh. But then, Eric Shorr led off with a triple and Justin Jannetti singled him in to tie the game. Jannetti moved to third on a sacrifice and a wild pitch. Jack Welscher, the winning pitcher, then hit a walk-off single. Nonleague. Designated hitter Joe Gatto stroked a go-ahead single in the top of the eighth inning to send St. Augustine, ranked fifth in South Jersey by The Inquirer, to a 4-2 win at No. 3 Gloucester Catholic.

The Union showed for one half Wednesday night that they were ready for the challenge presented by the Los Angeles Galaxy, the two-time defending champions of Major League Soccer. However, after playing the Galaxy to an entertaining 1-1 draw in the opening 45 minutes, the Union could not sustain their level of play in the second half and the Galaxy, behind the brilliant playmaking of Landon Donovan, dominated late for a 4-1 victory at PPL Park in Chester. In the 71st minute, Donovan, the all-time leading goal-scorer for the United States national team, delivered the first of his two assists - a perfect pass to Ireland international Robbie Keane, who booted the ball past Union keeper Zac MacMath to break a 1-1 tie. Donovan later set up Hector Jimenez in the 80th minute to make it 3-1, and then walked one in alone in the 87th minute against the helpless MacMath for the final score of the game for the Galaxy (5-3-2)

OCEAN CITY, Md. - Maryland has a rich history of breweries - the first brewery in the American colonies opened in 1703 in Annapolis - and it boasts many today, mostly centered on Baltimore. But others are popping up at the shore. De Lazy Lizard, a relative newcomer to the Ocean City bar scene, is expanding to two new locations within the resort town this summer. The bar's owners are building a microbrewery and beer garden at the former Melvin's Steak House, at First Street and Philadelphia Avenue.

WHAT IS NOW Ocean City, Md., was discovered by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. But its modern history dates to the 1870s, when a group of investors established the beach resort. Among those backers were several Philadelphians whose contributions are apparently saluted in the name of the town's main drag, Philadelphia Avenue. A landmark dating back to that era is the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum, on the Boardwalk's southern end at 1st Street, in a two-story building that originally housed the local headquarters of the forerunner to the U.S. Coast Guard.

OF ALL THE images in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy last October, two seemed to linger - that of the unmoored roller coaster in Seaside Heights, and the one of the blown-away section of Boardwalk in Atlantic City. While the former was a real victim of the rain and high winds, the latter was, in many ways, just an unfortunate circumstance. The fallout from a perfect storm, if you will. "It caused a lot of misinformation about the damage from the storm and we have spent the last months trying to recover from that," said John Palmieri, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, overseer of the biggest swath of Shore tourism: the Atlantic City casino district.

LOOKING FOR a change of location for this summer's fun-in-the-sun family vacation? You might want to consider Ocean City. No, not that Ocean City. We're talking Ocean City, Md. A few clicks less than 150 miles southeast of Philadelphia City Hall, this Ocean City offers the familiar - but in a somewhat different setting. Visitors from the Delaware Valley will likely find the seaside town - which, like so many Jersey Shore resorts, is on a barrier island - most similar to Wildwood.

Tess Solazzo started playing lacrosse in fourth grade. Her best friend, Kate Weeks, was an avid lacrosse player. Weeks taught Solazzo the game, and from that point forward, their dedication and passion for the sport grew together. "So it's just really weird how it's all worked out," Solazzo said. Only seven high school girls' lacrosse players in state history have netted 300 career goals. Weeks, a Boston College recruit and senior at the Hun School in Princeton, became the seventh on Tuesday.