Ocean Pines MD

Ocean Pines is not a resort strip. It is one of the largest year-round communities on Maryland's lower shore. The homes spread through the woods off Route 589 between Berlin and the bay. The restaurants serve locals, not weekly renters. There is no old-line crab house inside the gates. The Pines has neighborhood restaurants instead. Taylor's on Nicholas Lane leads them. Its jumbo lump crab cake sandwich has been a standing order since the place opened in 1999.

For steamed crabs by the dozen, Pines residents mostly drive. They head south to the Route 50 corridor and the crab houses along Route 611. Or they go over the bridge into Ocean City proper.