Jersey Shore, July 24-26, 2009

Posted: September 22nd, 2009 | Filed under: Out Of Town

Late July down in Cape May County, New Jersey — Wildwood and Ocean City. We got down there by taking the new ACES Atlantic City Express Service from Penn Station, which is nice and pretty cheap (for now at least — $29 each way), though it does follow a circuitous route into North Philadelphia and back out to the Jersey shore along the Atlantic City-Philadelphia line (it’s still faster than the bus, I believe, and obviously more comfortable):

Atlantic City Express Service ACES Train, Atlantic City Rail Terminal, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City From Atlantic City Express Service ACES Train, Atlantic County, New Jersey

First order of business was an evening on the Wildwood Boardwalk:

High Octane, 3214 Boardwalk, Wildwood, New Jersey, July 24, 2009

Watch the Tram Car, please:

We dined on Curley’s Fries and Kohr Bros. frozen custard while watching the Friday Night Fireworks, and enjoyed the Wildwoods Sign before going big at the Gateway 26 Casino and Olympic Casino. We did not spend long at the Boardwalk Chapel, though the folks there seemed nice enough.

Wildwood is always a little bit of a crapshoot. In 2004 we caught the infamous “Wack The Iraq” display before it was taken down:

Wack The Iraq, Boardwalk, Wildwood, New Jersey, August 21, 2004

This time there were some slightly embarrassing T-shirts for sale, and I don’t mean those of the “Flip Cup Master” variety:

T-Shirts, Boardwalk, Wildwood, New Jersey, July 24, 2009

Elsewhere, some remnants of Wildwood’s “Doo Wop” style remain, though the old 50s-style architecture is endangered:

Panoramic Motel Apartments, 2101 Surf Avenue, North Wildwood, New Jersey

Day two was Ocean City, where we saw a giant tuna being taken apart on a dock. It smelled like a sushi joint:

Filleting Tuna, Pine Road, Ocean City, New Jersey, July 25, 2009

Filleting Tuna, Pine Road, Ocean City, New Jersey, July 25, 2009

Filleting Tuna, Pine Road, Ocean City, New Jersey, July 25, 2009

The main event of the weekend was Ocean City’s annual Night in Venice celebration, a rare night of partying in this dry town:

Night in Venice 2009 From Glenwood Drive, Ocean City, New Jersey, July 25, 2009

The idea is to decorate pleasure craft and parade them through the inlets on town’s bay side. Bay side residents typically have big parties that last well into the evening. It’s kind of difficult to photograph, but this YouTube gets across the basic idea:


Night in Venice 2009 YouTube Video