Ocean & Farragut Rd.

[chris]

Has anyone recently been around where the crest motel / town & country were....It was a dirt lot back in the summer. I'm curious on what it looks like now. I wish I had known when the wrecking ball was coming down on those places...I would have taken lots of pics.

[Al Alven]

I haven't gotten down that way too many times this winter, but I'll check the pictures I have and see for you.

I used to know my way around the Crest so well, but with all the demolitions and new construction going on, I tend to get lost these days.

I know exactly where the Crest and Town & Country Motels once stood, but, believe it or not, I may have passed those old spots without even knowing it, simply because things look so different now.

I was down a few weeks ago and passed a giant dirt lot. I had to actually stop and try to figure out what was there, my mind was boggled. I looked a block north and saw the Pink Orchid Motel, then looked a block east and saw the Kona Kai.

Duh! I was standing right in front of where the Casa Bahama and Dunes Motels stood just a short time ago!

It was pretty depressing, but it also illustrated to me how different the Crest now looks, how the very landscape of the town is changing right before our eyes.

At any rate, I should be heading down to the Crest at some point next week. When I do, I'll make a point to stop at Ocean & Farragut and check out exactly what is going on at the formerly hallowed locations of the Crest and Town & Country.

[chris]

Thanks Al...I know what you mean by losing footing. I went to the tihiti motel last summer and when I looked across the street they had a future sign of condos where the casa nova was...I didn't even realize that the three coins were missing, walked further down the street and saw the dirt lot in front of me. I turned and the bal harbour was still there and also the saratoga and the one across the street...It use to be called the wishing well (they changed it along time ago). Have fun on your trip, I plan one soon also when the weather breaks....

[Al Alven]

Thanks, chris.

It’s just crazy, isn’t it?

You mentioned the Tahiti… man, do I ever miss that place!

Of all of the already demolished motels in the Crest, the Tahiti just might have been my favorite. It was right up there with the Carousel and the Satellite, for sure.

Great, great motel.

I posted this a while back, but I’ll put it up again, just so that everyone gets a chance to see it. This is a link to great site that sells vintage postcards of old Wildwood motels. Check out the last one, it’s an unreal snapshot of the Tahiti, back in its heyday of the early 70s!

If these pics fail to bring on an overwhelming rush of nostalgia within your heart, nothing will!

www.vacationgadgets.com/productmgmt/results.asp?nCatID=47&nSubCatID=137&sSubCat=Wildwood+Motel+Postcards

[FlyinGN]

Its amazining what happens when the background that was so familar gets modified huh? It kinda confusing at first untill you realize what WAS there. Its so sad.

[Al Alven]

None of us should ever have to feel like strangers in the Wildwoods.

There was a time, no too long ago, when I could honestly say that I knew every inch of the island like the back of my hand (OK, that’s a bit of a stretch, but you get my point).

Bottom line is, no matter where you were in any of the four towns of the Wildwoods (including West Wildwood), you always felt like you were, well, in the Wildwoods.

These days, things are different. So much is changing so fast that there are times when you feel like you are in a foreign place. It’s a terrible feeling, to not feel fully “at home” in your home away from home (or, for the folks who live there, your actual home).

(Did that make any sense at all?)

[FlyinGN]

yiu are making great sense Al..

Frank

[MMM]

Thanks for the link, Al. I actually have that post card of the Tahiti. It's great. I agree, the Tahiti was one of the biggest losses in this past years' demolitions, behind the Satellite and the Carousel. Casa Bahama too, IMO - even if it had seen better days, that didn't mean it needed to be demolished.

Is the Swan still up? I remember the flashing SAVED when they showed the Swan on the Wildwood Days documentary, which I was very happy about, but I guess they only meant saved for one more year. I wonder what happened there - SAVED and then not?

[FlyinGN]

I thought the Swan was gone Martin. Not sure tho..

Frank

[Al Alven]

The Swan was still standing on my last visit to the Crest, in early February. It is definitely slated for demolition this offseason, though, and may already be down.

I will check on my next trip down, hopefully some time next week.

The Astronaut Motel is going to look awfully lonely, tucked away right near the beach on Farragut. Used to have the Bonanza right next to it, and the Swan right across the street.

Sad.

[MMM]

Thanks Frank and Al, I guess...

Does anyone know the story behind why the Swan was supposed to have been saved, but then it didn't last?

[Al Alven]

I believe it all came down to a matter of planning.

New condos on the site were originally going to go up last winter, but the plans were delayed until this year. Or something to that affect.

Whatever the reason, I don’t think that the Swan was ever truly “saved.” It’s demolition was just delayed for a year due to planning and developmental issues.

[novacancy]

I have wondered the same thing. Gosh, up until a few years ago, things had remained so unchanged I could actually feel like a kid again when I'd go to the Crest. We used to vacation at the Lampliter which was behind the Town and Country and Crest motels. Also near the Lampliter were the Georgianna, Catalina, Frontier, Tempo and Nautilus...also all gone. I wonder how the Lampliter is going to survive all eclipsed by the giant condos surrounding it. It probably doesn't even get sun anymore. I'd be completely lost if I went back...it wouldn't even remotely resemble the WWC of my youth...sigh .

[shoregirl]

If they insist on destroying "our" island - at least do what they did at the Crest Lodge. The new townhouses that are there now on Ocean (can't remember the cross street) on the corner in the sidewalk sits a brick that states what once stood there. I wish they would do that where the Blue Jay, Satellite, Carousel, Bonanza, Dunes, etc. once all stood - that way our grandchildren will know what once made it "Wildwood - the seashore to see for sure!!!"