Boardwalks are traditionally built with wooden boards that make up a walkway surrounded by shops, hotels, food vendors, amusement rides, and novelty games. There are numerous boardwalks along the East coast of the United States including such places as Atlantic City, New Jersey, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Ocean City, Maryland, Coney Island, New York, and Wildwood, New Jersey.
Last year my wife and I decided to move our family from Burbank, CA to Leesburg, VA. A few months after we arrived we packed up the car and drove 4 hours to visit Wildwood, NJ on a mini-vacation. As a boy, I had visited Wildwood three times with my family on vacations in the late 1970s. I figured we can’t go wrong bringing our kids on this family friendly vacation adventure. On the way I bragged how they will love the smell of the seashore, meatball sandwiches, custard ice cream, Sicilian pizza, salt water taffy, tasty fudge, and wonderful amusements. My kids, who were only toddlers, could not contain their enthusiasm as I described what lie ahead. I think they only understood the main themes such as candy and sand castles but their excitement was off the charts.
We arrived at the Montego Bay Resort where we made reservations the night before. We chose the hotel because it was right on the boardwalk and one of the few hotels that were open all year. The off season price of $75.00 was quite enticing too. Unfortunately when we arrived, a significant storm made departing our car a bit difficult. I was left with the task of unloading our car during the storm while my wife hurried the kids into the hotel for safety. I asked the front desk clerk if he knew when the boardwalk opened. In return, he offered me a blank stare and then flatly told me it was closed for the year like I was some sort of deranged individual. I guess his obvious thoughts were quite correct. He told me there were only four other guests and that he was leaving – if we needed anything that the night security guard would be on duty. Upon hearing this I walked back to my family and told my wife who chuckled at me but looked a bit dejected at the same time.
We spent the early evening hours walking around a virtually deserted hotel – I felt like we were in the same hotel as the movie The Shining. There was a loud rain storm with wind whistling through window cracks and no one to be seen. We roamed the empty halls looking for entertainment and discovered a large water park built into the hotel with a water slide! This was a family friendly hotel for sure but my kids could only press their little noses against the window because the amazing water park was closed. We did find a mini arcade with lots of fun games so not all was lost. Later that night I needed to find milk for our kids in this deserted town. I drove around the rain drenched and empty streets with boarded up hotels and finally found the milk I needed. The next morning we awoke and walked down the chilly boardwalk where my wife and kids had their first view of an actual boardwalk. They were still excited to see this amazing place and we swore we would return the next year.
So kids, the lesson for today is always research a place before you jump in the car and drive four hours. The boardwalk opens mid April and closes in October. I know after Labor Day the boardwalk is only open on the weekends until closing day in October. The boardwalk is open seven days a week in the summer but I do not know the exact dates. I researched a bit but have yet to find the exact information needed. I’ll update when I find out.
The weekend after Labor Day 2009 I took my family on their second trip to Wildwood, NJ. We moved to Bucks County, PA earlier this month and the trip only took 2.5 hours. I’ll write about our new adventure to Wildwood in a future entry. I included a picture from our second trip above.
- Steve