Back from the sunny NJ shore.

[JerseyJanice]

Hey, guys. Seems like it's been a while since I was last here.

We got back yesterday from a 10 day vacation in Wildwood, NJ. Never before have we had such good luck with the weather on a trip there. Not one rainy day, although this past Sunday and Monday, the wind was blowing something fierce--impossible to enjoy the beach either day because of it. But other than those two days, we had excellent beach weather.

The Wildwoods are definitely going through a big change. Namely, the building of many, many condo buildings. To me, it's a big improvement. Many old, rundown eyesores are gone with big, beautiful, new buildings in their place.

We stayed in North Wildwood (which BTW is getting to be prettier than the Crest) in a "pet friendly" motel. Our dog enjoyed his vacation almost as much as we did. He had lots of other pooches around to play with, and he loved that. He also appreciated the extra time he got to spend hanging around me.

One high point of the trip--all of the restaurants we ate at were fabulous. I suspect the eateries are courting the condo crowd for repeat business, and so, have been polishing their menus and putting their best feet forward.

The boardwalk food, on the other hand, was horrible. We didn't even get a decent slice of pizza or cheesesteak up there. Outrageous prices there too. Used to be you could grab a quick and tasty meal there before you hit the rides. No more. If you're in North Wildwood and want a fast, inexpensive dinner, hit Munchies on Surf Avenue, then the boards.

My son acquired an addiction this trip: crank machines (aka crane games). We've come home with a new family of 15 or so stuffed animals. Where I'm going to put these things, I have no idea.

 

[luvwinnie]

Glad you had a good time! Where do you put your pooch when you go out? We always get takeout when we take Winnie with us, can't leave her alone in the room.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We brought his cage, Michele. Same like home, whenever we went out, Max went into his cage.

His cage keeps him out of trouble. Being at least half labrador, he'll chew almost anything. Fortunately, though, the older he gets, the less he steals and chews our stuff. (He'll be 2 years old in November.)

I have to say that he was "anxious" for the first few days we were there. I guess being out of his home had him feeling displaced. He warmed up to being there, though, and enjoyed playing watch dog at our unit's window. He barked and growled at everyone who walked past.

Halfway through the vacation, a family checked into the room next door with two pit bull puppies. They were adorable! And Max loved them. We let them play together in the motel's dog yard. Max couldn't have had more fun.

 

[Blondie]

I haven't been to the Wildwoods since about 1995, my SIL's MIL owns a summer house there, and we stayed with them. Needless to say, since I hadn't been there before that since about 1984 or 1985, I noticed a decline in many areas. I'm glad to see that they are attempting to change all of that. I have lots of great memories of summers walking the boards, to a 15-15-17 year old, there was nothing better back then! We would always stay at The Matador in North Wildwood at 16th & the beach.

My "senior" week was at Wildwood, ofcourse that was back in 1978. Today's kids go to Cancun!

I'd love to be able to bring Shiloh with us on vacation, but not too many places cater to large dogs, in fact, very few do. I think it's great that Max gets to go "on vacation" too!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Blondie, what a small world! We stayed at the Surf 16, which is two blocks away from the Matador. Surf 16 is on Surf and 16th Avenues; the Matador at Ocean and 16th.

I have to tell you that from the Matador appears to be holding its own. You might still like it there, but if you ever decide to go back to Wildwood, ask me where to stay. There are much nicer places now.

There's apprehension in the Wildwood community about the condos. The little motels (like Surf 16) certainly face a tenuous future with competition from the big condo buildings. Yet, the resort needs a boost to upgrade its accommodations, and the condos seem like the ticket.

Whenever I'm down there, I wish the best things about Virginia Beach, and WW could be combined into one resort. WW has such a fabulous beach, and the Morey family has done so much with the amusement piers. Yet, VB has far superior accommodations.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I love Wildwood. Haven't been for a few summers, but it's a fun place. I'm hoping maybe next year, and we'll bring Monty too!

 

[Hillbeans]

Welcome Back Janice....we too were "down the shore" last week in Ocean City, from the 28th through the 4th....every day was sunny, except Monday evening. The temps were great and the water was nice, except on Saturday the 4th when we were leaving, it was very rough.

I think we had the best weather of the summer last week. I'd be freezing this week. It seems to have changed over to fall in one week's time.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Did we luck out with the weather or what?!?! I swear we picked the best week of the whole summer.

This past Monday (Labor Day), we went out to eat (second visit to Little Italy in the Crest--excellent!). When we left the motel to go to the restaurant, we wore jackets because it was so windy and chilly out. But while we were eating, it was as though the chilly winds were magically taken away.

When we left the restaurant and went on the boardwalk, I got hot in my jacket. Had to take it off and carry it the rest of the night.

 

[danacara]

Thanks for the update, I'm looking forward to Cape May this weekend!

 

[minniepumpernickel]

I go down a lot on the weekends, but the water has been kind of rough lately. Something to take note of for swimmers and boaters. This weekend sounds like it will be sunny! Lets hope so!

 

[spagheddie]

Great to hear you had a good time and good weather. Now is my favorite time to head "downa shore", everything is still open and the crowds for the most part are lighter. Certainly makes the commute more enjoyable.

 

[JerseyJanice]

to Dana.

We had dinner at The Lobster House in Cape May last Wednesday night. It was awesome! My sister-in-law and her family were in LBI for the week. They drove down to CM and met us at the restaurant. Then, we all went to the WW Boardwalk that night. We had so much fun!

We found a new place to eat/drink in Wildwood called Michael's Restaurant and Bar. Yeah, it doesn't sound very fancy, but it looks like a very fun place once the band starts playing.

We ate dinner there on Saturday night and left just as the place was starting to rock. (That happens whenever you go out with an 8 year-old. Oh, and I saw lots of pretty young ladies there and thought of you. You'd fit in well there. )

 

[Patio]

Janice, glad you had such a good time. I may have stayed at the Surf 16 back around 1985 or so, if it was called the Sea Star. The Sea Star was on the corner of 16th and Surf and Hungry Joe's Deli ( we bought their hoagies and t-shirts ) was across the street. It sounds like the same place. I know it was a short walk to the beach and we really enjoyed it there.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Hi, Patio.

The Surf 16 is on the southwest corner of Surf and 16th Avenues. A big condo building is being built across the street at Surf and 15th. I'm told the land was the site of a once-loved deli. Perhaps that was Hungry Joe's.

Someone here (and I'm sorry I don't remember who exactly--Spagheddie, perhaps?) mentioned Russo's market at 9th and Ocean Avenues for sandwiches. That was excellent advice! Thanks for the tip if it was you, Eddie. (Or to whoever! )

Russo's made wonderful egg sandwiches for breakfast, that were very good for the $2.50 they charged. Three of our mornings, I walked Max to Russo's, tied him to the "Dog Parking" post outside, and picked up these nice sandwiches and some good coffee to bring back to the room. Ocean Avenue is so beautiful, walking it like that was a total delight.

 

[sweet angel]

I'm another Wildwood fan. I think I've only missed a couple of summers in my 38 years. We used to always stay in the Crest, but the past few years, we've been staying in North Wildwood (Surf Song or Montego Bay), mostly weekend stays. They have great "party weekend packages". We're going the beginning of October for the Monster Truck show.

We usually hit Cape May and the zoo during the weekend too.

Favorite Wildwood memory...Zaberer's!!!!!

Oh, and Laura's Fudge is the best fudge in the whole world.