H2o OC 2020 Recap
H2o was literally a love and hate thing this year. There were so many things I disliked about it and some things I loved. This was my 2nd year going. I had joined a new z club and this is a thing they always did. So I was obligated to go.
Decision Day
Before making the final decision of if we were going or not we at first said no bc the last year got kind of rowdy. But like most, between the pandemic and having fewer car events this year we decided to go. Except for 1 catch,.... most of us were not bringing our custom rides. You are probably wondering what's the point in going if we are not driving our vehicles right? Well, being around other car enthusiasts and seeing other people's rides was enough for me to decide to go without my 4 wheeled babies.
The day before we left to H2O OC
The day before we left to go to OC, we canceled the hotel and was about to bail out. But since the deposit was going to be lost we decided to keep it moving and go. My emotions were all over the place because I wanted to take my car but knew with the mods on it that I would be one of the cars immediately ticketed or impounded so I knew It would be best to leave it.
Leaving for H2o & Driving to Ocean City MD
Warning signs as you enter Ocean City MD & A Clean Stinger Female Driven
We left home on Friday night planning to leave OC Sunday. I gave my vehicles a wave ( I really did, lol) and we pulled off in the only non modified vehicle we owned( a VW Passat). The way there I was so tired, but once I started seeing all the flashing police lights and signs I quickly woke up. I was a bit angry that the police presence was so heavy for car enthusiasts. I'm not the type to do crazy things in my vehicles and I like to be around other people who are into the same lifestyle. As we pulled up closer to OC you start to see signs that say there is a "special event zone" and "violators may be arrested". So I grew even more frustrated. We are bringing so much money into Ocean City MD but yet it's obvious we are not wanted. We arrived on Friday night around 11 pm and came into OC from the south end. The funny thing was, I was already ready to go to bed since I had a long day at work and I had bowling league. The police presence was extremely heavy and they blocked off the back street (Baltimore Ave) so everybody was adverted to Philadelphia Ave almost immediately. We were greeted by a police horse and the amazing sound of modified vehicles. I was surprised at how many people were bold enough to still bring their rides. I started second-guessing myself of why I didn't bring my ride until Sat came around. I should add that our hotel was around 120th street so we stayed away from most of the noise and we seemed to miss all the chaos. When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted differently this year. Every one staying had to give an ID and we were given new rules and greeted with a newspaper article on the desk that was titled "H2Oi Returns, what you should know as the pop up car gathering is back in OC". The news paper article also called H2o OC a "pop up rally". After getting checked in I went on the balcony and enjoyed looking at and hearing the beautiful sounds from below. At this point, I didn't hear too much obnoxious revving. But like I said we were staying in north OC.
Saturday H2o OC 2020
The famous H2o Bananas
An organized meeting hosted by our affiliate Revnation held at a car enthusiast friendly business: Coffee Beanery in Ocean City Md. They are for Respectful auto enthusiast. So please Make sure you support this business when in Ocean City MD.
After falling asleep to the best sounds EVER, I woke up on Saturday feeling excited to see some of the rides in daylight. The car club I was with stayed in the same hotel, so we all joined up and went out to breakfast. As soon as we got to the street we saw police cars and tow trucks, cops on bikes, and cops on motorcycles. We spent most of the day looking at cars on the strip go up and down taking pics. We frequently had reminders of why we were happy that we didn't bring our cars. Cars were being pulled over and towed for no reason. I witnessed at least 50 tows/tickets. There were a few that deserved getting pulled over. But you know there are always going to few bad seeds in a group. For every 10 cars, there was a tow truck or cop right behind them. At one point the lot that I was at had 2 cars pulled over at the same time blocking both entrances. The bananas passed us by then 30mins later come running back our way saying they were maced. I was told by them that the cops just came up and started to mace them. I'm not sure if that is 100% true. But before that, I had 2 not so polite interactions with the police. They threatened to arrest us if we didn't move off the sidewalk. We weren't telling people to do stupid things, we were just there taking pics and being real chill. Despite the interaction with the police, this was my favorite part of the trip. Just hearing and seeing the cars you admire all in one place is awesome. We eventually go eat again and as the night comes that's when you start to hear people get rowdy. I must say that If you tow everybody's cars away that were not doing anything dangerous and just impound them for having a modified vehicle, I would think those people would be pissed. You can't expect respect if it isn't given in return. That goes for both sides. As the night goes on you start to hear more burnouts and see more fireworks. We went back to our hotel in north OC around 9:30 pm and walked to get food. We sat on the balcony and ate while watching the cars go by. While I did enjoy seeing the cars on sat I would have enjoyed driving my car alongside them more.
Last Day at H2o OC
Line of auto enthusiast waiting to get their custom vehicles out of Ocean city Impound Lot. There was over 350 cars impounded throughout the weekend.
When we woke up it was raining a little bit. The people with us were upset about the time spent in OC and some people even left the night before. We ended up meeting with some people to get breakfast. We saw some online videos of what happened the night before and the videos were not so great There were videos on both sides that were just wrong. The police were wrong for how they handle some situations and the kids were wrong for how they acted. I say kids bc when you pay attention it wasn't the real auto enthusiast causing the havoc. It was some of the younger ones, and a lot of them didn't even have cars there. The videos we saw over night and in the am left such a bad taste in our mouth that we decided to go home early.
Why do people/ auto enthusiast still go H2o in OC? & H2oi Facts
Older couple walks down the street during H2o in Ocean City, MD
If you aren't aware, the real H2oi happens in Atlantic City. The "H2o event" in OC is unsanctioned and not actually a part of H2oi. I've only gone the last 2 years to H2o OC because the people I associated within the car scene prior to the last 2 years were not interested in going to H2o OC. Also, I didn't own a VW, which is technically what h2oi has. The official H2oi is mostly a VW/Audi event that is held in Atlantic City yearly. It was moved from OC a few years back. I think people still go to "h2o" in OC because its a beautiful location and the ride up and down the roads are nice. Some people also don't know exactly what H2o is, who it is for, and where it is. It would be awesome if the car community and the state/OC officials could organize a yearly sanctioned event for the REAL auto enthusiast. In OC for all cars/vehicles. Is it possible for all of us to work together? To schedule a weekend ideal for all of us to hold an official car event? To keep the clout chasers out? To keep money coming into OC while also showing the town and each other respect? Or is it too late?
*If you don't know where to start as far as helping the car scene regain respect it starts with you and sending the message that Real car enthusiast don't act the way some people acted at H2o OC 2020. Start by being an example of what a true car enthusiasts is and pointing out the clout chasers who are ruining our car community.