Motel Nostalgia

[beachrat]

Tonight I started thinking about all the places in the Wildwoods I've stayed over the years, and how each one has a special place in my heart - good or bad. So I thought I'd share some of my memories.....

How many of these do YOU remember?

Lantern Lane - This was a little place on Seaview, near the Crest Pier. We stayed here in the early sixties, and again in 1970. No pool, but a pretty courtyard. The owner had big conch shells sitting on the picnic tables - he said he found them on the beach after a storm. This was the first place I ever heard of that 'went condo' - back in the 70's! Last time I drove by (couple of years ago), it still looked well-kept.

Ebb Tide - stayed here 1 night in the early 70's. I remember thinking it was cool, how it lit up green at night. We had friends that stayed here too, when we were at the Lantern Lane. Sadly, the Ebb Tide is no more.

Velvet Waters - Another little place, this one on Preston. We stayed here in the early 70's. (This also was still around as of 2 years ago) It had hopscotch squares painted on the patio around back - way cool! I can also remember walking past the brand-new El Coronado on the way to the beach, and thinking what an enormous place it was.

Crown - 1973 - we stayed in an apartment down the block owned by the same people that owned the Crown, and we had use of all their facilities. First place we stayed at that had a pool....and it was a great pool, with a diving board and a slide (that was missing the rails at the top, so it was scary) The apt was filthy, though, and had bugs (ick), and shag carpet FULL of dog hair. Don't know if the Crown is still around...

Ivanhoe - nice place on 21st St that we stayed at in 1974. My sister and I were horrified that they LOCKED the gate to the pool at 7PM! We wanted to swim til dark. This place is still around, and still looks nice.

Lamppost - another place on 21st St where we stayed a couple of times in the late 70's. (they kept their pool open til 8!) Best thing about the Lamppost was that you could duck out the "back" entrance on 22nd St and be right at Al's Funcade and the Lime Ricky store - they had (still have) the best Italian ices. This place was still standing last summer, but it was deserted. Had a condo conversion sign up...but the rooms were small, can't imagine them making it as condos.

Buccaneer - 19th St, stayed here in 1979, and at least once more in the early 80's. Only thing I remember is being impressed that you could look out the bedroom window, look under the boards, and see the ocean. This one is slated for demo soon, I believe.

Malibu - another one on 19th St. We stayed here several times in the 80's, usually in the apartments that used to be where the Mala Kai is now. They had a couple of great big units with 3 bedrooms. They were shabby, but we overlooked that for the extra space. One had a broken shower head - all you could do was take baths......and I've always been a shower person. I used to take my shampoo down to the beach shower and wash my hair there. We had some great times at the Malibu. The apts are long gone, but I am pretty sure the Malibu itself is still there.

Beach Rest - this was a small place on 25th St. Kind of shabby, but clean, and you couldn't beat it for location. Think we stayed here twice in the 80's - one of the years was the year of that noisy canyon ride on Morey's. I can still hear that thing screaming. I believe the Beach Rest is gone now - not sure what's in its place.

? - stayed at a little place on 20th St one year, late 80's. It just had a couple of units, no pool. It was right beside Hassle's ice cream.....can't for the life of me remember the name. I remember it was run by a very nice lady, and was beautifully furnished - probably the finest interior of any place I've ever stayed in the Wildwoods. Don't know if it's still there or not....I'll have to look in August.

Reges - this was in the Crest, a couple of blocks from the Captain's Table. Only stayed here once, sometime in the 90's. It was nice - the rooms are oceanfront, which is somewhat rare in Wildwood, but too far from the boards.

Silver Beach - stayed here once in 1989 or 90. WORST week I've ever spent in the Wildwoods. It rained - hard - 6 days out of 7. Couldn't even walk the boards most of the time. Our room was small......and I was seriously allergic to something in the field across the street. Miserable. So I can't get too worked up over this one meeting the wrecking ball....

Aqua Beach - stayed here a number of times starting in 1991. Great place. Great location. Love the rooftop sundeck. And if they're still giving out the boxes of taffy with the picture postcard lid - I'm standing in the upper right corner of the pool, talking to my brother-in-law who's standing on the edge of the pool. Can't believe the prices of those new condo rooms, though. Yikes! And they're not even oceanfront.

Montego Bay - 18th St - stayed here in 2004. Great location. SO nice to walk right off the boards into the lobby of the motel. The elevator seemed to be out of service constantly, though, and the outdoor pool is tiny.

Waters Edge - Buttercup Rd - stayed here a number of times since the mid-90's, and it's where we're headed this August. Love the oceanfront sundeck - it's a great place to watch the fireworks. Miss the Surfside not being right behind anymore....although (don't hate me) I do love the new wing they put up in it's place. Nice big rooms, nicely appointed.

WOW. I can't believe how long this post ended up. Thanks for indulging me

[MMM]

The Crown was demolished last year.

[writhinganacondo]

The Singapore owner(s) owned the Crown in the 60's. Here's a bit of trivia....the site of the Coliseum Motel originally had a motel called the Chalet.

[hulk007]

Is the Lamppost open for business this year?

[MMM]

writhinganacondo said:

The Singapore owner(s) owned the Crown in the 60's. Here's a bit of trivia....the site of the Coliseum Motel originally had a motel called the Chalet.

The current owner of the Singapore?

[writhinganacondo]

Same family.

[MMM]

Interesting - the husband's family, or his wife's family?

[FlyinGN]

good stuff martin.. Most old hotels that you don't hear much of ..

[scca28]

beachrat said:

Tonight I started thinking about all the places in the Wildwoods I've stayed over the years, and how each one has a special place in my heart - good or bad. So I thought I'd share some of my memories.....

Back in the '60s we always stayed at a rooming house called the Idle While (not sure of spelling) on Pine. It was across the street from the Flamingo which always taunted us with it's "Air Conditioning and Color TVs". Heck, we didn't even have a bathroom, it was down the hall. There was a community kitchen, which had several refrigerators and stoves. The 'fridges had room numbers on the doors and each was shared by two or three roooms.... There were several families with kids our age that we became friends with, and we scheduled our vacations together each year. The year we found out the place was going to be torn down, we had a last big supper there. All the men and boys went crabbing that day, while the women prepared the rest of the feast. I remember pushing all the tables together in the center of the room, and we sat down for a big family style dinner, along with the owners, of spaghetti and crabs. The next year we went back to Wildwood, the place was already torn down, and the owners, Chester and I can't remember his wifes' name, were working across the street for their competitor, the Flamingo.....(which I believe is also gone now?) Hope someone else remembers this place.

[hulk007]

Welcome scca. Sounds like tight quarters but fun also. Many of my family members who went to ww years ago also stayed in similar type boarding houses(common bathroom)

[scca28]

We stayed at a place called the Bruce for the next couple of years. Don't remember the street name but I think it was in between Hunts and Moreys, and about a block and a half from the boards. Small apartments, but we had our own bathroom and kitchen! Then, as our family grew with nieces and nephews, we discovered the Mayfair Manor on Magnolia. Three bedrooms, huge kitchen, front porch and a rear door to the outside stairway. There were six apartments, I think, and the owners lived in one of them. The ones on the ocean side were three bedroom, and the inland side were two bedroom. Nice, clean place and very friendly owners.

[hulk007]

Does anyone know if the Lamppost has(or will) become a condo conversion?

[Al Alven]

hulk007 said:

Does anyone know if the Lamppost has(or will) become a condo conversion?

It has already become a condo conversion...

What I can't remember is whether or not this is the Lampost's first or second year operating as such.

I *think* it was technically still a motel last season, but I could be wrong.

At any rate, it's definitely a condo convert now.

[MaryH]

I remember last year when I stayed at the Sans Souci, (which was right across from the Lampost), the Lampost had signs hanging from the railings with a contact number to purchase the rooms. It was late June and the only people that seemed to be there were guys working on the rooms. It looked as though they were not open for customers, but I'm not sure. But they definately started selling the rooms last summer.

[wildre]

I recall seeing Lee's RE advertising last year for Lamp Post condos. Think they had open house every weekend. This winter I started seeing rental ads for the units.

re