My boardwalk list reflects my age of 58 as my best boardwalk memories date to the 1970's. In no particular order here it is:
Jungleland at Hunts Pier. It seemed so real as a little kid.
The Flyer roller coaster at Hunts Pier.
The Skua Pirate ship also at Hunt's Pier. Seeing a pattern here!
Dracula's Castle. Just a great dark attraction.
Hunt's Skyline Golf. Great fun at night for a 10 year old.
Hunt's Pier back in it's heyday was like a mini Disneyland.
Restaurants:
Most of my restaurant favorites reflect my adult life from my early 20's to the present.
Ed Zaberers. Nothing else like it and I went there both as a kid and an adult until it burned down in the early 1990's. Huge drinks and Prime Rib.
The original Two Mile Inn at Two Mile Landing. Great food and atmosphere and I really enjoyed the second floor raw bar having drinks overlooking the water while waiting for a table. My favorite meal was blackened Mako shark.
Luigi's. On Pacific Ave. in Wildwood. It had great Italian as well as steaks. Just a really nice place.
Urie's Reef and Beef in Wildwood. On Rio Grand Ave. on the old Jones Boys site it had great tropical cocktails and seafood. I really liked their swordfish.
Piro's in North Wildwood. We just lost this great NWW restaurant as it was torn down this past early spring after not opening last year. Loved their tour of Italy and veal parm. They also had $10 bottles of wine I believe on Monday nights.
There was no place like Zaberer''s! Same for Dracula Castle. My parents friends had a corner store and deli back in the 70's with a slushie machine, I was addicted to them!
1) Ed Zaberer's. Immediately my mind raced to this upon reading the topic.
2) Star Wars Ride. It became the Gravitron and had other incarnations, but it would bring back the carefree days of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
3) The Shore Twin Theater. My first movie experience was there. (It was Star Wars).
4) Dracula's Castle.
5) Harry's Deli, on 18th and New York Avenue. Harry died, and it went through other incarnations as either a deli or laundromat. They had Slush Puppies!
Lamp Post Diner
Woodys Place
Samuels Pancake House
I miss all three places.
Strand Theater was fun. Especially if it was a rainy day.
Condor ride
Castle Dracula
Skua Pirate Ship
Golden Nugget Mine Ride
The Flyer
The Log Flume
The shooting gallery
1. Mariner Inn
2. The Jones Boys
3. The original Duffinettis
4. Groff's
5. The Captain's Table
6, Shumann's
The Jones Boys and Groff's.
Gold Nugget, Haunted Mansion, Slick Track and Skeeter Boats on Morey's and TURBO!!
The new place is fine but no comparison to the old. The odd thing is the new Crab House dining room was part of the old Two Mile Inn dining room.
I kept my list at 5 to keep it from getting too depressing. I remember when going to the Mariner Inn or Ed Zaberer's when I was a kid my mom would wear a dress and my dad a coat and tie. My brother and myself has to be on our best behavior or else and I don't mean a time out!
Great list!
Just too many things gone from the boardwalk to list. But I do miss that large Novelty store (forgot its name) that sold things like "Laffun Heads" and such. :) As to restaurants: Mariner Inn Neil's Steak House Urie's (the original)
Duffy's Franchi's (exceptional, delicious thin crust pizza) Captain's Table Schumann's Ed Zaberer's Bayside Pizza Marine Bakery (not a restaurant, but I can still taste their donuts, even after all these years). I'm sure others will come to mind.
-Castle Dracula
-The Strand
-Schumann's
-Duffy's
Off the top of my head.
Interesting post and I love the lists so far. Here's mine in no particular order:
Rides:
Castle Dracula (always wanted to check it out, but sadly never had the chance)
Condor
Flitzer
The Wipe Out (such a boardwalk staple)
Breakdance
Restaurants:
Captain's Table (we wanted to eat here for the longest time and but they closed before we had the chance)
Neil's (our traditional spot for crab leg night)
Groff's
Marie Nicole's (my grandma always wanted me to go there because it included my name. I later had my wedding reception there)
Pauls' Idaho Fries (this was always our last stop before getting off the boardwalk each night)
Nice lists. The Golden Nugget Mine Ride almost made my cut. I totally forgot about the Lamppost but their breakfasts were very good. It was closed a very long time before being demolished as you know. The Captains Table was great too. I remember taking my then girlfriend for breakfast there in 1985 and getting a check for 18 dollars. I remember screaming out 18 dollars for breakfast! as that was a lot of money back then especially for a 22 year old making 15k a year.
For restaurants my list would be:
1. The Lamp Post Diner in North Wildwood...a great place for breakfast or early bird specials.
2. The Bella Villa Beef house on the boardwalk...this was our go to place for roast beef sandwiches.
3. The Captain's Table Restaurant...I always remember getting a good seafood meal here...and you couldn't beat the jingle.
4. Groff's....It was a wildwood institution...and they had great pies.
5. Paul's Idaho Fries....they were better than the place that is there now.
Your list is pretty good. Here are my top five attractions that I would like to see return.
Skua Pirate Ship
Golden Nugget Mine Ride
Castle Dracula
Hitchcock Manor
Dr. Blood's House of Horror