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"CRTERRY@COMCAST.NET-CRAIG TERRY "
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by Bob & Tanya Waite
Tanya and I are dazzled by seeing what is called doo wop architecture as we come off the George Redding Bridge and are swept into a world that seems at first sight different than anything we have ever seen down the Jersey Shore. My response to large “Welcome to the Wildwoods” quirky neon sign is a simple, “Cool.” Tanya, much more expressive than I am, exclaims, “Check that out!” I think, we must be in a retro movie. Assured we are not, we see that the Wildwoods will be something new and unexpected.
We both have a scanty history with the Wildwoods. I remember being there in the 1970s and Tanya recalls being there in the ’80s and ’90s. We don’t know what to expect, except that it will be fun. We follow the GPS to the Madison Resort Hotel in Wildwood Crest. The hotel is definitely built in what is called Doo Wop Style, with the slanted roof and windows. However, it also looks more modern than the examples of doo wop that you see in some of the older hotels. We are more than pleasantly surprised.
We check in. In the lobby we can hear R&B music from the late ’50s and ’60s. In fact it can be heard outside as we enter the hotel. Tanya & I love R&B and I love the doo wop hits from the late ’50s and early ’60s. No wonder, I am originally from Trenton, New jersey and she is from South Philly.
After checking in, we do not go directly to our rooms, but instead we explore the outside of this gorgeous hotel. Walking to the right side of the building we see a pink phone booth, covered with flowers and a bench in front of it. It says something about the era Wildwood celebrates. We take turns sitting on the bench and standing in front of this inoperable phone booth from yesteryear. By the way on the coin drop it reads ‘10 Cents.’
We then walk by the pool, which is open and heated, but we are here a couple of weeks before the season begins. And it is a gorgeous day, but cool. Alongside the pool there are furnished cabanas and behind it are umbrellas with seats and reclining pool furniture. Going back toward the hotel are rows of tables and chairs. Not everything is set up yet, but there are workmen on the premises, who are busy getting everything ready in this new doo wop fantasyland called Madison Resort Hotel.
We go to our room and unpack. The microwave in the room is aquamarine and has a retro look. The refrigerator is a Frigidaire with the same doo wopish color. The handle is chrome. Tanya likes the view and the table with two chairs outside our room, where she plans to sit and look at the beach. It is 2:30 in the afternoon and we are waiting for Dr. Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt the president of Suasion Marketing to pick us up and give us a tour of the Wildwoods.
Our tour begins in Wildwood Crest where we are staying. Susan drives to the beach and we see how the wide beach already has sunbathers on it in the middle of May. She then turns around and drives us up and down the streets of Wildwood Crest. Susan was born and raised in Wildwood Crest. We drive by hotels—some old that are restored but continue sporting a Doo Wop Style. Susan notes that there is now a mixture of both modern traditional and Doo Wop Style hotels. We take a detour and drive to Sunset Lake. It is a beautiful lake in an idyllic that has a large dock, and during the season, people swim, picnic there and rent paddle boats. Several people are sitting in the park by the lake.
We drive by the hotel that Susan’s grandmother owned. Her father owned one too. A hotel that catches our eyes is the Caribbean Hotel that maintains the angular windows and slanted roof. Palm trees decorate the exterior and a crescent shaped swimming pool can be seen in the center of two stories of rooms that surround it. What looks like an island inside of the crescent has palm trees and flowers. It is one of many hotels in Wildwood that has kept the Doo Wop Style and has renovated it to keep its historic appearance while being able to serve generations of visitors who are more affluent and technologically savvy.
As we enter Wildwood, we see among the historically renovated and the not so renovated, a more traditional and chic design of the hotels. The Wildwoods are proud of their past, but are living in a new forward looking era that gives a nod to the past, but is also leaning towards a 21st century appearance.
Doo wop architecture is native to Wildwood and although it has some roots in the glitz of 1950s Las Vegas, it is truly unique. Called doo wop after the music that was being played in its clubs during the late 50s and early 60s, its blingy exterior and neon signs complemented the colorful interiors furnished with Danish Modern furniture. Susan, our guide for the day, takes us by many examples of the architecture of this era. We are mesmerized by the bling of the old and how chic the new looks.
We drive by the Wildwood’s boardwalk water parks and Morey’s Pier, gaping at the mammoth roller coasters that would have people shrieking as their carts speed down the steel hills and make hairpin curves. We think about how our grandchildren would relish the chance to be scared half to death on one of these well-constructed and safe amusements. Also in view, as we slowly drive alongside the boardwalk, is one of the three waterparks.
As we are driving we hear the word “free” over and over. A big celebration on the beach is free. The beach itself is free. Most of the many events and celebrations are free. As we look at the ocean and the notably wide beaches, we see dollar signs with question marks disappear and realize that Wildwood is a unique destination, considering that our experience when traveling is that everything costs money. Not complaining, but realizing that the Wildwoods are the exception. Perhaps family fun and a great time is really something that money can’t buy.
Our next stop is the Doo Wop Experience Museum on 4500 Ocean Avenue in Wildwood. I have been looking forward to visiting this jewel that is kept by the Doo Wop Preservation League. Before coming in we discover that building that houses the small doo wop styled museum was once a restaurant called the Surfside. The Doo wop Preservation League’s website describes the restaurant as having an “…unusual space-age architecture—including a pinwheel-shaped roof with jutting angles and large glass panes all around.” Outside the museum is the Neon Sign Garden which is “a display of fully-restored and re-assembled neon signs from classic Wildwood motels that have since been demolished or remodeled.”
We walk into the museum and our eyes pop. We are smitten by the mid-20th century Americana eye-feast and know that after browsing for about 20 minutes, we will still have not seen everything. We see old bicycles, Danish furniture, lamps that our mothers used to use, a juke box, a hi fi record player, couches and menus from restaurants that do not exist any longer. There is an interactive “I-Wall” exhibit that takes you on a journey back in time “…to learn more about Wildwood’s iconic doo wop Motels and the resort’s history as a premier summer vacation destination and rock 'n roll hot-spot in the 1950s.”
We meet John Donio, president of the Preservation League. He takes us on a tour and brings up night clubs, singers, and restaurants, while he shows us countless artifacts that have all been donated to the museum. We are thrilled and the time flies. To do justice to this museum, we would have to stay for hours and return several times. Susan hurries us, because it is time to take a tour of the boardwalk with Ben Rose, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority (GWTIDA). I once spoke over the phone with Ben about another feature and couldn’t wait to see him in person.
We arrive at the Convention Center that is on the Boardwalk and has an indoor arena that can seat up to 7,000 spectators. Ben greats us with a warm welcome. He wants to know if we have any questions. I have so many I can’t think of what to ask first. He tells us that the Wildwoods have more than 9 million visitors every year. And that USA Today named Wildwood as the winner of Best Boardwalk in USA this year.
In front of the Convention Center is a large golf cart. The three of us jump in with Ben, and he drives us the length of the two-and-a-half-mile, 38-block-long boardwalk. The boardwalk seems new. Tanya loves the Ringer Park on the beach for children and the large Dog Park. From the boardwalk we see large groups of lockers on the beaches that can be rented to keep beach chairs, blankets, balls and whatever else people bring to beach. This saves visitors from having to carry these items back and forth to their hotels. There are also parks on the beach where kids can play marbles and piers for fishing and boating.
Ben tells us that there are 160 special events and festivals throughout the year and most of them are free and on the beach. One that’s not free is the Barefoot Country Music Fest, which is a four-day festival that is located at 3600 Boardwalk, Wildwood, NJ. It begins on Thursday June 19th and ends on Sunday June 22nd. It has a lineup of the best in country music performing on two stages. For tickets and more information, visit www.barefootcountrymusicfest.com.
Closing the season is the Wildwoods Thunder Over the Waves Airshow on September 5th and 6th. Spectators can enjoy the show across the entire island with the beach and boardwalk areas showcasing optimal viewing areas.
The boardwalk has more than we can imagine. We see midway games, arcades, a shopping pier, Morey’s Piers and Waterparks, lots of eating venues, interesting retail shops and major chains such as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts.
After coming back to the Convention Center and our whirlwind tour we jump back in Susan’s car and are given a tour of North Wildwood. There we drive through a residential community with nice homes, schools, churches and everything that show us that besides being place to visit, the Wildwoods are also places where people live. I remember Ben telling us that the Wildwoods attract multi-generational tourists. “There is something for every age group to do and things they can do together.” It really is a family destination.
As we ride through North Wildwood we drive by the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse which was constructed to mark the mouth of the Inlet to help prevent shipwrecks. This year it is celebrating its 150th anniversary and as Tanya says, “It is so cute.” And like the beach and so many other things in Wildwood, it is free to visit and walk inside.
We hurry to get back to the hotel, because we have reservations at The Surfing Pig, which is located in South Dock Marina on 231 W 10th Ave, North Wildwood, NJ. We meet a friendly host who seats us by an open window a stone’s throw from the dock. The boats are lined up and birds fly by our window. Tanya says, “Lovely.” I say, “I’m hungry.” She replies, “Oh you.”
The interior is rustic, like being on a large 18th century ship. Our server Christine Larkin visits our table. She is working hard that day, moving from table to table and making sure she speaks to each of the guests. Tanya finds her to be a kindred spirit, so they talk a while. We find out that she is one of the managers. After ordering drinks and looking at the menu, we order our dinner. The menu is divided into Starters, Sandwiches & More, Salads & Bowls, Dinner Entrees, Sides, and Real Wood Pit BBQ, My eyes go directly to BBQ. And it takes me only a few seconds to decide on the BBQ Combo. Tanya, not up for a large meal, orders from the Starters section, the Firecracker Shrimp and a Ceasar salad.
Our meals come and they are large. I am no pipsqueak when it comes to eating, but I can see that I will not be able to finish this plate that has five hearty ribs, a large portion of brisket, and a good sized portion of pulled chicken and it also comes with two sides. I order Cole Slaw and French Fries. Tanya’s Firecracker Shrimp, which includes hand battered shrimp tossed in the house firecracker sauce, with a Caesar Salad is more than she can eat. So after a delicious dinner by a gorgeous waterfront, we go back to the Madison with boxes of leftovers.
We are back at the Madison around 9 p.m. and sit outside listening to the sounds of the ocean and enjoying the cool salty air. Across from where we are sitting is a bicycle renting venue and on the grounds is a beautiful metal sculpture of a big silver bicycle.
The next day we drive by the murals of iconic music legends Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checker and Bill Haley & The Comets. We don’t go surfing, fishing, boogie-boarding, body surfing, nor do we play beach volleyball in the sand. The season is beginning next week and the people who come will get to do all those things and more. We leave a little early and drive through several other scenic South Jersey beach towns. In no time we are home in Bucks County. And we both want to go back.