Cygnus12's Jersey Shore Excursion

On January 31st I attended the Golden Nugget ceremony, much like several other TPR members. Considering that Wildwood is a three hour drive from where I live in North Jersey, I decided to break up the trip by staying at my families summer house in Brick, NJ; the result was a weekend long sightseeing trip!

I'll do this report in two parts, starting with the Wildwood/Golden Nugget ceremony and Ocean City, NJ.

Pretty nice turn out for the Golden Nugget event; much more than Morey's anticipated as Jack Morey later noted.

The crowds walk to the Nugget.

The front of Golden Nugget with people waiting to get their picture in the car.

Inside the Golden Nugget; it was a lot more spacious than I thought it would be!

I couldn't really get any good photos of the speakers but I did get this one at the end! From left to right: Adam Revesz (from American Coaster Enthusiasts), Rick Davis (Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts), Tom Rebby (Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters), Kristen Steindle (granddaughter of William Hunt), John Allen IV (son of John Allen III), Jack Morey, Will Morey.

Some props that used to be inside the Nugget.

Some more props.

A car sitting in the final turn.

The station!

A portion of GN as seen from the beach.

Will Morey is on hand to talk about the new coaster that Morey's Piers is going to build.

After the ceremony, I took a walk down the boardwalk only to be greeted by some boardwalk replacement going on near Mariner's Landing.

And there's Mariner's Landing with the Giant Wheel and the first Boomerang in the US, Sea Serpent.

For some reason, Morey's takes off every forth car to 'winterize' the wheel.

The Skyscraper on the old Hunt's Pier sits dormant and car-less. You can't see here but it's also strapped down with two long cables attatched to each end of the propeller looking boom.

Not a soul around...

The snake atop a tattoo and piercing shop in front of Sportland Pier

Down at the other end of the boardwalk; not much going on here! Great White, Skycoaster, Sky Ride and others are featured in this pic.

I took a ride into Wildwood Crest only to find absolutely NO ONE around. I know this guy who works in a resteraunt on the boardwalk and he once said that Wildwood gets so dead in the winter that "you could roll a bowling ball down the street." I'm not exactly sure what that means, but if I had a bowling ball, I totally would have rolled it here!

One of the Crest's many motels. If I owned one of these places, I think I'd stay down there in the offseason and sleep in a different room everynight...just because I could. lol

The Hereford Lighthouse in North Wildwood; the little structure sufficed as a light house back in the late 1800s.

I then exited Wildwood and headed over to Stone Harbour, the next island north of Wildwood.

See, Stone Harbour!

Like Wildwood, this place was dead as well; and so was every shore community up to Ocean City. I've never been to Ocean City before, so I parked near the boardwalk and took a little stroll.

The ocean at Ocean City! How appropriate!

The wheel at Gillian's Wonderland; it's a pretty respectable wheel in size, but I'm not liking the prison cell cars.

The Runaway Train coaster or whatever the hell it's called with the wheel looming above.

Music Pier juts out of the boardwalk.

Nice sunset! And hey look, a Double Shot, car-less wheel and a ship's mast! Those are all part of Castaway Cove amusement park.

After Ocean City, I contemplated heading up through Margate and Ventnor City and even thought about stopping in Atlantic City; however, I decided against it. If I did, I'd probably stop in a casino to gamble a small amount, accept too many free drinks, lose all of my money, and wake up under the boardwalk with stray cats wandering around me. Instead I headed back to Brick and stayed overnight.

In the next half of the report I'll feature Scumside Heights, uh...I mean Seaside Heights, Asbury Park, and more!

Awesome shots, love the sunset. It amazes me that an area as large as Wildwood can survive like that with only seasonal income. I mean, it's got to be hard for an entire community to go through cycles like that. Even Branson has a lot of winter activities going on.

Good Job!

What North Jersey town do you live in?

Peace, Big Mike from North Jersey

Thanks!

@ Shavethewhales: I wonder the same thing myself; besides a few big events like the Fireman's Convention, there's really nothing going on in the some 9 month long off season. However during the summer, when the population explodes, places down there are like goldmines. I once heard that some little game stand on the boardwalk made something like $150,000 before expenses were added up.

@ Big Mike: New Providence; a little town 15 minutes or so from Morristown.

Does your next update include my neighboring town, Keansburg? With Keansburg Amusement Park.. that you can enter during the winter because it isn't completely gated on the ocean side. I've never done it, but many people I know have.

Even with no stores on the boardwalk, Ventnor's boardwalk would have had some people on it. They and I guess Margate too had a lot more year round residents.

Seeing those pictures makes me wish it was summer. Being "down the shore" (Philadelphia term for those that don't know) is one of my favorite places.

Does your next update include my neighboring town, Keansburg? With Keansburg Amusement Park.. that you can enter during the winter because it isn't completely gated on the ocean side. I've never done it, but many people I know have.

You know, I did go by Keansburg Amusement Park just to see if anything was being added in or if any sort of work was being done. I didn't see anything of note and ended up only snapping one pic. Looking back, I don't know why I didn't take any more!

I'll be down to Brick again in the coming weeks, so I'll probably add a little addendum to this TR with Keansburg and maybe Long Beach Island as well.

@ Yoshi: Yeah, it seems that the whole area near Atlantic City is like the exception to how Jersey shore locations die in the offseason; I guess it's because of AC itself being a year round destination with the casinos and all.

And "down the shore" is more than just a Philly term as I, and my family, use it quite extensively as well. I wonder where the geographical location is where "down the shore" stops and "down to the shore/beach/ocean" starts. lol

Great TR! I didn't even think of driving to Ocean City or anywhere else that day. I just drove to Wildwood & back home. Nice sunset shot of Ocean City as well!

So this new coaster goes underground. But it's a pier, right? So does it go, like, down to the sand or something?

/Never been. Forgive me ignorance.

^The tunnels are supposed to go completely under the sand from one pier to another

So this new coaster goes underground. But it's a pier, right? So does it go, like, down to the sand or something?

 

/Never been. Forgive me ignorance.

Yeah basically; the pier is about 12-15 feet off the ground so there's plenty of space for a tunnel. The Great White, another wooden coaster at Morey's Piers, also navigates a tunnel under the pier, so I guess it'll be similar to that one.

^ & ^^ Thanks for the responses. I couldn't quite figure it out. Looks pretty cool.