June 25th to 27th 2020 Trip

My son and I came down to Wildwood for a couple days to do some work to the house and check out the island. The weather was really nice during our time down here and there seems to be plenty of people on the island. A lot of restaurants have put up outside seating until they are allowed to have indoor seating again. The rides and arcades will be allowed to open on July 2nd. Most people are not wearing masks, but many of the shop owners and workers are. We tried to avoid the boardwalk at its busy times so that it was easier to distance ourselves from others. We wore a mask when interacting with employees or going into businesses..but many customers were not. Here are some pictures and observations during our trip:

So we ate at Capt'n Jacks for the first time. The new location at the Boardwalk Mall was open, but they didn't have much outside seating so we chose to eat at the Juniper Ave location. The food was fine, but a little on the salty side. Also, every meal came with frozen fries dusted with old bay seasoning. They should pair better sides with the meals and not push off sub-par fries.

Curley's Fries is now serving alcohol at both locations. We just stuck with the fries and they were good like always.

They put one of the old plate brake games at the front of Morey's Pier.

Since the arcades can't open until July 2nd, many of them have lined up crane machines outside along the boardwalk. Also, most of them are set up to play until you win...either $5 or $10 depending on the prizes.

Randy set up a bunch of punch games at the front of his retro arcade and is trying to capitalize on Covid-19.

The 99 Cents store is now selling masks….but they are not 99 cents…go figure.

The Hot Spot put out some outside seating.

They are building a new pavilion on Mariner's Landing and rearranging some of the rides.

The Ghost Ship will not open this year. But there are plans to open both Mariner's Landing and Morey's Surfside Pier...but only the water park at Mariner's Landing.

They either redid the old one or purchased a new train for the Sea Serpent.

The Capt’n Jacks at the Boardwalk Mall is finished, but they are not able to use the indoor seating yet because of Covid-19. They are serving alcohol from their bar on the boardwalk and there was a long line for booze on Saturday. Snow White is also serving alcohol from their bar on the boardwalk. It is starting to look like Seaside Heights with all the alcohol on the boardwalk now.

There is a new pot place in the mall.

This new ice cream place went in between Spicer and Spencer Avenue. None of the employees were wearing masks and they didn’t put up any barriers between the employees and customers. I guess safety precautions are optional in New Jersey.

Mack’s is still playing it safe and I got a couple slices during our visit. Both were great like always.

If you’re looking for a job, EVERYWHERE is hiring so the world is your oyster.

Someone has a couple of these near Laura’s Fudge. Maybe he is going to start doing DooWop tours.

The new Rio Grande entrance is almost complete. For now, the road is still called Rio Grande.

Vegas put up a tent for seating in their parking lot…and they are still doing pretty good business.

They closed off three blocks of Pacific Ave for increased seating around some of the restaurants. Castaway’s was doing great business and even had a band performing on Friday night.

The Wildwood Historic Museum has reopened.

We played a round of mini golf at the course on New Jersey Ave and they were doing big business….although it now costs $10 a person.

Eleanor’s Gifts now offers online ordering.

A new pierogie place is opening next to where the Mister Softee place used to be. They have savory and sweet pierogies.

We went to the beach at 15th Ave on Saturday and there were lots of people there. You now have to climb over a huge sand dune to get to the water. Most people just set up on the dune.

And that was our trip. We will not be down for the 4th, but we will return towards the middle of July.