Post by bossman on Oct 11, 2006 17:24:54 GMT -5
Ocean Ave. Looks Grim stirred my mind up (which is not hard to do since it's so small) and I have to follow that up with the looks of Surf Ave.
When my family made its annual trek to the Wildwoods, we used to prep for it by taking Ocean Driven through all of the seaside towns from Margate on down. Crossing the wood surface bridge into North Wildwood was an experience. Zaberer's used to come into view, but that was years ago.
We then used to traverse Surf Avenue from Anglesea to the 24th Street Motel. There were too many motels along it to mention, but let's just say that no two were alike. As we proceeded south on Surf, people would be all over the place. They were at the motel pools. On every corner, they were attempting to cross the street to get to the beach. They were carrying their chairs, coolers, toys, etc. They were riding their bikes to and from somewhere.
They seemed to look at us as we passed by and I got the feeling they were thinking: "Where have you been? We've been here for days. You've really missed out on a great experience!"
We couldn't wait to get to our destination, the 24th Street Motel and join in on the fun! The kids (and myself, secretly) would look ahead to see if we could spot the famous 24th Street corner sign. Every Red Light seemed to take hours to change. The first thing to come into sight was the Thunderbird sign. We would pass the flaming candle, and then we were at the corner of 24th street and Surf. The anticipation that was created by riding down Surf for all those years, (stayed at the 24th Street for 25) can not be described. The street was vibrant and interesting and fun to traverse!
Now, let's move on to August 2nd, 2006. A peak summer week. It was only my wife and myself. The kids are grown. We were in Atlantic City for a few days and then were going to head south to Virginia. We took some time to visit Wildwood to see the latest devastation. We drove down Surf, from the north. Where were all of the motels? The novel signs? Where were all of the people? It was 4:00 pm and the streets were almost deserted. Anyone going to the beach? It was a hot spell and the temperature was in the 90's.
The unique-looking motels had been replaced by condos and construction for more condos. Blah-looking condos. Tan, Gray, Beige, & White vinyl-sided condos. An attempt had been made to have some of them look different than others, but they were still condos. No pools, just a garage and a white, cheap vinyl fence. As we drove down Surf, I felt as if I were back in the 40's and in a housing project. Or in an Army compound. The condos reminded me of barracks. No character or appeal. (At least to me, but I get blamed for having too much common sense and for being too realistic about a lot of things.)
What's happened to Surf Ave? What once was an interesting street has turned into nothing but Blah. Expensive Blah. A lot of empty Blah.
No motels, no people. No people, all Blah.
At this time, I won't go into the rest of our visit, but I will at a later time. The Ocean Ave. thread got me started on Blah, Surf Ave.
While Surf has become Blah, notice how Blah has spread throughout all of the Wildwoods. It's become a cancer, fed by $$'s. Blah, Blah, Blah!
When my family made its annual trek to the Wildwoods, we used to prep for it by taking Ocean Driven through all of the seaside towns from Margate on down. Crossing the wood surface bridge into North Wildwood was an experience. Zaberer's used to come into view, but that was years ago.
We then used to traverse Surf Avenue from Anglesea to the 24th Street Motel. There were too many motels along it to mention, but let's just say that no two were alike. As we proceeded south on Surf, people would be all over the place. They were at the motel pools. On every corner, they were attempting to cross the street to get to the beach. They were carrying their chairs, coolers, toys, etc. They were riding their bikes to and from somewhere.
They seemed to look at us as we passed by and I got the feeling they were thinking: "Where have you been? We've been here for days. You've really missed out on a great experience!"
We couldn't wait to get to our destination, the 24th Street Motel and join in on the fun! The kids (and myself, secretly) would look ahead to see if we could spot the famous 24th Street corner sign. Every Red Light seemed to take hours to change. The first thing to come into sight was the Thunderbird sign. We would pass the flaming candle, and then we were at the corner of 24th street and Surf. The anticipation that was created by riding down Surf for all those years, (stayed at the 24th Street for 25) can not be described. The street was vibrant and interesting and fun to traverse!
Now, let's move on to August 2nd, 2006. A peak summer week. It was only my wife and myself. The kids are grown. We were in Atlantic City for a few days and then were going to head south to Virginia. We took some time to visit Wildwood to see the latest devastation. We drove down Surf, from the north. Where were all of the motels? The novel signs? Where were all of the people? It was 4:00 pm and the streets were almost deserted. Anyone going to the beach? It was a hot spell and the temperature was in the 90's.
The unique-looking motels had been replaced by condos and construction for more condos. Blah-looking condos. Tan, Gray, Beige, & White vinyl-sided condos. An attempt had been made to have some of them look different than others, but they were still condos. No pools, just a garage and a white, cheap vinyl fence. As we drove down Surf, I felt as if I were back in the 40's and in a housing project. Or in an Army compound. The condos reminded me of barracks. No character or appeal. (At least to me, but I get blamed for having too much common sense and for being too realistic about a lot of things.)
What's happened to Surf Ave? What once was an interesting street has turned into nothing but Blah. Expensive Blah. A lot of empty Blah.
No motels, no people. No people, all Blah.
At this time, I won't go into the rest of our visit, but I will at a later time. The Ocean Ave. thread got me started on Blah, Surf Ave.
While Surf has become Blah, notice how Blah has spread throughout all of the Wildwoods. It's become a cancer, fed by $$'s. Blah, Blah, Blah!
But if you take away that factor there's still a socially relevant difference. Tourist hotels and motels have always been designed to be public and interactive, to have a memorable character and a friendly face. Condo complexes, with perhaps a few brilliant exceptions, are conceived and designed to be private, incognito, impenetrable. Basic idea: go home, lock your door, play with your toys and guard your stuff until it's time to go back out and do battle and earn another big pile of bucks