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
No comments:
Post a Comment