Signs Of The Times

Posted by Valerie, Senior Editor

As a city dweller with no access to a car (and, really, no desire to drive one in unfamiliar territory), a basic knowledge of the nearest public-transit-accessible beaches is indispensable in the summer. Having not yet acquired this knowledge, I started to panic one recent Friday when I realized I had to get out of the city for the weekend but had no idea where to go. Fortunately, my intrepid and spontaneous travel partner hopped on the computer around 10:30 p. m. and found a suitable beach getaway that we could reach with a combination of subway, New Jersey Transit bus, and feet: Wildwood, New Jersey.

A resort town that experienced a boom of Doo-Wop architecture in the '50s and '60s, Wildwood has made the decision to remain stuck in the past. About 200 motels in the Doo-Wop style still exist, and they make up the majority of the waterfront development in the area. Each one has a theme, but almost all feature the same fake palm trees by their pools, and usually a sign in sun-bleached colors. Here are some examples:

The plastic palms, with a pirate in the distance.

The W, not to be confused with the luxury hotel chain.

I half expected Greg Brady to come running out of this one, toting his cursed tiki.

The pastel-perfect Bristol, with the ever popular "lava rock" walls.

The dramatically lit Crusader.

There are also some non-hotel architectural gems, like this mid-century church:

Wildwood also has a massive boardwalk and three amusement piers with roller coasters, arcade games, and even waterslides. Some of the rides are really beautiful, and it took the equivalent of wild horses (read: a two-mile walk back to the hotel to drop off my bag) to keep me off the "lazy river."

(Note: Coney Island this is not. You won’t find any beer vendors or daiquiri machines along the boardwalk -- which may explain why it seemed so clean. Venture just off the boardwalk across the street from the convention center to the Barefoot Bar in the Oceanic Hotel if you need to wet your whistle. Skip the divey front room and head around back to the swim-up pool and jacuzzi. It's free for hotel guests and a $5 cover for walk-ins. And after a long, hot day on the dry boardwalk, it’s worth it.)

An unexpected bonus on this trip: Discovering that the local convention center screens movies on the beach nightly throughout the summer -- first-run movies. For $8 each, we hauled our blanket out to the huge stretch of sand between the waves and the boardwalk and watched a 10 p. m. showing of Superbad. Score. You can also see movies in this adorable single-screen theater:

The Sea Theater.

And if all else fails, hit one of the half-dozen mini-golf courses scattered throughout Wildwood and shoot for a hole in one. I certainly got one on my trip! (Sorry.)

Comments

[the7000club]

all the new condos in wildwood are awful. the new developers aren't making any attempt to preserve the heritage of a true south jersey gem.

[Kim]

"Oh Those Wildwood Days!" That was an actual song. I grew up going to Wildwood every summer and stayed in some of those cool motel/hotels. Unfortunately, a lot of them are being torn down to build these gaudy condos. Yuck! Many people say, that this is where Rock and Roll was started. Lots of famous people have played there back in the day. Martha should do a segment on this place on her show.

The best is that my family now owns a condo in Stone Harbor, NJ, which is exit 10 on the N.S. Parkway. Wildwood is exit 4, then Cape May is exit 0, at the end of the Parkway. Atlantic City is exit 30, a little more north. We absolutely love Stone Harbor, NJ. We have lots of lovely shops, beautiful homes and our town is an island and only 4 blocks wide. So, we have the beach on one side, and the intercoastal waterway on the other side. Our condo is right on the intercoastal, and we can watch the sunset every night. Love it!!!
Kim

[Xander]

The W, the Bristol Plaza and the Royal Hawaiian are so datedly beautiful. They remind me of the very '60s apartment complex that my grandparents owned in Phoenix. Sometimes we'd go their for weekends. It had flagstone walls around the base, and a kidney shaped swimming pool. To a young boy from Albuquerque New Mexico, it seemed like the height of glamour. -X

[natalie]

this reminds me of prom weekend. growing up in south jersey -- wildwood was the prom weekend hot spot. good times!