– by Rafael Alvarez

 “I burn, freckle and peel …”

– an Irish woman’s seaside lament

Mary Carol Reilly’s father got two week’s vacation every year from the family leather shop in downtown Baltimore. And just about every summer of her childhood, the Reillys spent part of those two weeks in Ocean City.

“My mother liked to tell the story of pushing me down the Boardwalk in my baby stroller, I guess I was about two years old,” said Mary Carol, a natural-born ham who grew up to be a television “Romper Room lady” and star in commercials with the Pillsbury Doughboy.

“I’d sit up and wave to people walking by,” said Mary Carol, now 70. “I was sure they were happy to see me.”