It was supposed to be a wonderful and relaxing trip to the ocean with our grandchildren, that morphed into a scene from Jaws, with us running and screaming from the water.
Well not running or screaming but definitely walking with an uncomfortable stinging sensation.
Ocean City, Maryland should not to be confused with Ocean City New Jersey although they are both beach side tourist towns.
Both Ocean City's are famous for their wooden boardwalks.
As we discovered, Ocean City, Maryland is a little old and tired with most of its attractions dating back to and still looking like they did in the 70's.
Our grandchildren having grown up with Disney World and the internet, may have been a bit bored but for a while they really enjoyed the ocean.
We arrive early and came fully stocked for a day at the beach. Shade tent, beach chairs, sun tan lotion, snacks and the ever popular boogie boards.
The next few hours were spent gamboling in the huge waves
with bouts of lazing on the beach watching the dolphins playing out beyond the surf line.
As the morning wore on, I began to notice an itching, burning feeling emanating from under my bathing suit. At first I put it off to the sea salt but then our granddaughter started to complain and before long our grandson. Our granddaughter's itch got so bad, she went back to the hotel for a shower while my grandson and I made a trip to a beach shower and a very personal soaking of our private areas that seemed to reduce the stinging sensation. After lunch our grandson spent more time surfing the waves. After a few hours, the stinging sensations returned only much worse this time. Nonie took him to the beach shower where an even more vigorous soaking and scrubbing of his private parts took place, but this time did not alleviate the stinging. Sadly no pictures so I have added one post stinging.
While this vigorous cleansing was taking place, a kindly man leaving the beach with his kids explained to Nonie that the cold water of the shower would not help as he was suffering from an attack of jellyfish larvae and only warm water would work. He was kind enough to invite our grandson to join his kids in the hot tub of their hotel that was conveniently located nearby. Returning with the larvae story got us all feeling icky and in need of a warm shower.
Thus ended our day at the beach and how the hotel pool became our friend.
Sea bather's eruption is a hypersensitivity reaction to the larval form, or planulae, of the thimble jellyfish, Linuche unguiculata. ... The rash is caused by the body's allergic reaction to the toxin injected into the skin by the tiny stinging cells or nematocysts of the larval jellyfish. The rash affects areas of the skin covered by a bathing suit.
Doesn't sound so bad when you science it up.
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