Living in South Jersey you have a choice of seaside resorts to visit. From Beach Haven down to Cape May, each oceanside resort has its own unique appeal and I could never pick my favorite.
Since I am the oldest of five daughters, I was able to see an evolution in my parents' vacationing habits. When I was little they liked the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania, Lake George, New York and Vermont. I remember eating at a lodge in the Poconos and the only food that appealed to me was the little boxes of Rice Krispies. Also I used to suffer from car sickness so I did not like car travel. I mostly opted to stay home with grandma and the chickens. We did not vacation at the shore since we were only 40 minutes away from seashore resorts so we would go there for day trips. There was no need to get a room in Margate or Ocean City--that was like vacationing in your backyard.
But in later years when I was grown and going out doing my own thing, my parents still had my younger sisters to entertain and they started vacationing in Wildwood Crest---not quite in our backyard so to speak. They would hang out at the beach in the Crest but at night the destination was the boardwalk in Wildwood. I did stay in at least one of those now restored motels sometime during the 1960's --I think it was the Caribbean. If anything caught my eye back then it was the fake palm trees. I probably saw those before I made my first trip to Florida in the early 1970's and saw the real palm trees. I remember on the drive down getting excited as I started to see palmettos interspersed in the lower parts of the woodlands along the highway in South Carolina.
I do not remember the neon signs in Wildwood being so unique. I just accepted that as normal. But now that era is gone and we find ourselves in a time when restoring resorts to a particular "hey day" has become a financial benefit. So for Wildwood it is still fake palm trees, the Doo-Wop influence, the motels with the Jetson-like appeal and the neon signs.
With the economy not fully recovering I think the consensus is not clear for the future. I hope the renovations continue. This blog will feature my son's photos of the neon signs on September 21, 2012. He could tell that it was the weekend for the Boardwalk Classic Car Show. People were hanging around their special show car like they were on duty to prevent any damage that might befall their pride and joy. What he did not know was the event was cancelled. So many of those gathered probably were not in a good mood. So what is the future for Wildwood? I hope with an improved economy that answer will become clear.
"Due to the differences between the corporation and the City of Wildwood and other circumstances ,we regretfully have to inform you that we are unable to put on the following scheduled events : Sept 20-23 Boardwalk Classic Car Show , Sept 28-30 Thunder on the Beach Monster truck competition , and the Oct 5-7 Thunder in the sand motocross"
Sincerely,Alan MyersSecretary
Ok, I forgot to post my photos for Hammonton's annual Our Lady of Mount Carmel's Feast on July 16, 2012. So as the end of summer is looming, I won't be able to look forward to fall's events if I haven't blogged all of the 2012 summer season fun. I got to see my cousins, again. Cousin Helen walks at the end of the procession and she keeps up her tradition. Everything is very much the same, the procession of saints, the car raffle, the Italian food stands, "I'm Italian T-shirts", the beer garden, the gatherings at the Sons of Italy club and the dusty carnival. This year I was sorry that I did not see any representation from the Mexicans. Last year they had a type of drill /dance team that honored "Our Lady of Guadalupe". In a way, the Red, White and Blue Festival has surpassed this old tradition in Hammonton but the patriotic themed event can never replace this longest running Italian festival in the whole of the US. One can view the newer replacement as a classier event but that's not what it is all about and it may have something to do with a good number of Italian Catholics who have joined some non-traditional churches in the area. Also in this town of second, third and fourth generations of Italians, there are getting to be fewer and fewer pure blooded Italians like me. Like me, they may not have chosen to marry Italian. I married German but he was of the Catholic faith. Maybe these things are not important, but it does change the character of the town and this festival.
This is a parade that lasts for hours and I do not know how the priests do it with their garments and the high temperatures of July.
Near the old cold-cut store:
This is wrong even if it is a John Deere:
Nun on the go:
Above my mailman from Egg Harbor City.
Below my cousin Helen:
Cousin Maryland, yes, I spelled it right:
I still call him cousin Butch:
So I can get to Cape May in an hour. The only other place that comes close to this gem of a town is Martha's Vineyard. But to get there on that Victorian island you have to reserve the ferry in the summer. Once you are there you kind of feel like an outsider looking in to some rather wealthy life styles--need I mention names! Well, I am sure there are some wealthy residents in Cape May, but it just seems more accessible and like we belong there. It is a National Historic landmark. Cape May is in my home state of New Jersey and they have have quaint shops at the Washington Street Mall, the ocean, the lighthouse and Sunset Beach where you look west over the water---spectacular. Also, it is world famous for birding, and the beautiful ornate Victorian architecture. Trolley tours and horse and carriage rides are available. For 10 bucks you get to see marvelous historic homes and the stories behind them. You get to learn the dates for the various styles and view the houses that feature that design model: Queen Anne, the most elaborate, Gothic, Italianate, Mansard, Federal, and stick style. You will be shown the pure representations of the different periods along the ones that have had alterations and may be of mixed periods. The trolley tour guide would say, "You see that part. It was added on after...". :)
Here are two videos on Cape May but I must say that You Tube is in need of some better promotional videos of this vacation town. Maybe I have to make my own. The second one has some loud irritating Victorian violin type of music but the photos are quite good.
This is the site for the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts which is probably the reason for Cape Mays success:
Most of my photos come from the trip in early summer with three of my former classmates. One of my friends invited us to stay at her vacation home in West Cape May. We ate at her home much of the time but we did go out to a marina bar with a live band, got take out lobster at the Lobster House, and went shopping in Stone Harbor and Cape May. So I did post a couple of Stone Harbor photos.
Nice Red Door:
Not the Historic Trolley, just transportation but we were singing tunes for him in a guessing game including, "On the Way to Cape May".
Saw quite a few for sale signs as well. These days it must be hard maintaining a Cape May address:
Mansard:
The Physick Estate:
Another view:
