Wildwood, NJ

So we just got back earlier this evening from our trip to Wildwood, NJ with both of our families. It was a wonderful trip with the exception of my pseudo-dehydration episode the first evening and second morning which led me to carry around a 32 oz. Gatorade bottle every day for the rest of the trip. The heat wave was a bit of a hindrance at the beginning of the trip and I would have liked to spend more time at the beach and the boardwalk. Although, we did relax by the pool and had a chance to see Cape May, Atlantic City, and Ocean City, NJ, all of which I hadn't seen in a long time. Being back in Wildwood made me really nostaglic (although it doesn't take much...). See, every summer in August when I was little we went on our family vacation to Wildwood, NJ and drove up to Cape May one day and on the last day to Ocean City, NJ before heading back home. For some bizarre reason, what I have become nostaglic about, other than the motels in Wildwood Crest, were the Frankenstein Castle and the Dracula Castle on the Wildwood boardwalk and the "ladybug" kiddie ride in Ocean City, NJ. Does the ladybug ride still exists? Because today we peered in the Playland area which is closed during the day but we didn't see it. This was my favorite ride when I was really little. Granted, it was just red, orange, and yellow ladybugs riding around in a circle and going over minor humps every now and then...but I LOVED this ride! Ok, now to the castles. I JUST found out yesterday at our motel pool that the Dracula castle burned down years ago. Where have I been for the past six years you ask? (since apparently it was all over the media and anyone who was a fan of Wildwood, NJ was apparently aware of this). Well, let's just say I was in grad school... for a LONG time. And I don't live in the NJ area. Anyway, this guy at the pool struck up a conversation with my husband. It turns out that he is a retired Wildwood, NJ police officer. He told us wild stories about Wildwood in the 70's and 80's. About all the drugs, etc. All of this happening while I was building sand molds with my pink, plastic starfish. I happened to mention how frightened I used to be of the Frankenstein and Dracula castles so he told me all about how one of them burned down. Once I got home I checked online and found articles and pictures of them. I just remember being terrified of these giant castles. Yet, at the same time, I was intrigued and wanted to watch...from a distance. People dressed up as vampires would stand out in front of the Dracula castle and walk over to you to shake your hand. It was absolutely frightening to a young child. One thing I really liked about Ocean City, NJ's boardwalk is that it looked like the olden days still. I even had to take a picture of the huge purple octopus on top of the mini golf because that octopus just looked so old. I find myself more and more wishing that things could just stay the same. The rides, the quaint beach houses, the shops. I had a great time on our trip. But, I do have to confess that there was a part of me that kinda wanted it to feel like old times again when I was just a little kid. I hope you've enjoyed my reminiscing about Wildwood--I just missed Swingtown.