Earl Shores

Playland Earl Shores

Grab your ticket and step into Playland, Earl Shores' love letter to an amusement park and an Ocean City that no longer exist.

The long-lost Playland Amusement Park comes back to life in Playland: Greetings From Ocean City, Maryland. All the sights, sounds, and smells of this defunct, yet still beloved Eastern Shore landmark can be experienced in Earl Shores' intimate on-the-ground account of the park's final summer.


"PLAYLAND takes you back to a time when Ernie's Donuts were always hot and delicious, the Admirals played at the Pier Ballroom, and a great amusement park existed on 65th Street. It's a great beach read!"
- Hunter "Bunk" Mann, author, Vanishing Ocean City and Ghosts in the Surf

But Playland: Greetings From Ocean City, Maryland is more than just a summer story. It's about people. It's about dreams. And it's also history, capturing the sights and sounds of a time and a place that no longer exists.

"Weaving two stories together, one from his childhood, the other as a young man working during the summer, Earl Shores brings Ocean City, Maryland to life, vividly, as it was during the 60s, 70s, and 80s."
- Sandy Hurley, Curator, Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum

Playland Amusement Park was a real place. It sat on a westward pointing finger of land at 65th Street in Ocean City, Maryland. The park first opened in 1965, and over the next 15 years became a playground for millions of beachgoers.

Author Earl Shores was lucky enough to land a job in the park for the summer of 1980. At first, this position seemed like the most perfect job in the world. Running the rides on warm summer nights as the park's flashing lights and the squeals of happy children filled the air was a world of pure fantasy.

But little did Shores realize that his Playland summer would turn out to be the roller coaster ride of his life.