Does anyone here have any traditions from when they first drive into WIldwood?
For us, we have to take 4A (formerly 4B) and drive all the way down Rio Grande Ave to the WIldwoods sign. From there, we head all the way down to North Wildwood and then take a ride through Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. We drive around like this several times before we finally pull up to the motel. As soon as we get in the room, I go nuts unpacking everything and, depending on the weather/time of year, my son and I head down to the pool until it's dinner time.
(Ugh, less than a month to go until I'm back down there, and I can't wait!)
Binn's & Bonito have a 3 PM check-in, but if the room is ready, they will start letting people in at 2 or 2:30.
We used to go to Woodys Place as soon as we pulled into town, get some lunch and drinks, then check in. Nowadays we go right to the motel at around 11, check-in, unpack and relax a bit. We go to lunch around 1, usually The Adam's, and after we check out the boardwalk and see if anything is new.
Bout 6, we head to Seaport Pier for the Bob Pantano dance party for a bit.
We roll into North WW and always play Philly Cuzz's rendition of "on the way to Cape may" and sing every word finishing as we pass the North Wildwood sign. We drive all the way 2nd and JFK and follow JFK all the way and then into WW and down Ocean ave into the crest. We go to the hotel and give them our phone number to reach us when the room is ready and we head to the beach for a walk and then to the sea wall for a walk. We stay around the Aloha so that when we get the phone call, we wont be far away. This thread makes me smile
The giant gorilla was the King Kong amusement in the 1970s. One time there was some damage done to it. I was only a young child then, so I don't know what it was, but my father was part of the crew hired to fix it. Every day, my older brother would say when he was on his way to work, "Hey, dad! Are you going to go fix King Kong?!"
This is a fun topic! Really cool to see everyone's different traditions.
We leave north Jersey around 9, takes us about 2 1/2-3 hrs depending on stops and traffic. Like many of you, I put together a playlist for the ride down (that I don't start playing until we get on the parkway) . For me, it's 90's dance, electronic, and rock. Brings back childhood memories.
Most times when I exit the Parkway into Wildwood, I'll turn on their local rock station and primarily listen to it the entire vacation (random fact: it's the ONLY time I listen to radio in my car) I will always reminisce about the giant gorilla that is no longer there..and then drive to the Wildwood sign, make a left...drive and soak it all in. Once I make that left I immediately reminisce about Castle Dracula, as that would be the first thing we'd see in the distance. After doing a bit of driving around, we'd find some street parking by Gateway 26 and go to Curly's Fries for lunch, then to the arcade after, hang out on the boards until check in time.
Upon crossing the Rio Grande Bridge, the first thing I usually do is switch the music on my mp3 player from my "Awesome '80s and Obscure New Wave Tunes with Random Novelty Favorites" playlist to my "Deep Doo Wop" Playlist. On weekends, we visit the Wildwood sign, because my son loves to visit it.
I'm now working in Wildwood for the first time since I was 11, so on weekdays. the first thing I do most weekdays is park at my place of employment.
we love taking the ferry, for me it kinda takes all the stress from the year of working like a dog out of my body and starts my relaxing time
We usually hit town at about 9:00 AM via exit 6 in North Wildwood and stop at Wawa for coffee and breakfast sandwiches then head over to the seawall area at 2nd Ave. and JFK Boulevard to eat and enjoy the fabulous view. From there we drive to Wildwood and walk on the boards for a while then do the same along the bike path in the Crest. Then we take a ride around the Crest and Wildwood to check out the island and see what is new. From there maybe a ride all the way down to the Cape May Lighthouse State park for a while sitting on the beach for a bit. Then we head back stopping for lunch on the deck at the Harbor View then check in usually at the Waikiki. After unpacking we usually spend the rest of the afternoon and early evening hanging out at the pool and oceanfront sundeck. After that dinner out somewhere then back to the room usually crashing out by about 10 or so since we have been up since 4 AM. A long day but great!
For us we take the Cape May ferry over to Jersey and head for AL&Ps. we enjoy lunch and relax until the condo is ready for us to check in