Springtime in the Wildwoods

As a youngster, seeing summer end and leaving my grandparents house in North Wildwood was the saddest time of the year. Soon though, there was more than enough to do with the new school year and a hundred other activities back home. Thoughts of my Wildwood summers soon just faded away (for the time being) without notice. Six months later after the long, bleak, dragging months of January and February, came March and the arrival of spring. Once again, thoughts turned back to the shore.

Easter marked the reawakening of the Wildwoods from its long hibernation. (At least on the weekends until Memorial Day). Everyone in my family came down to North Wildwood for the Easter weekend. If we drove in on North Wildwood Blvd., the rattle and rumble of the Beach Creek Bridge let me know we were back for sure. If we came in via Rio Grande, the smell of the Menhaden plant, even through closed windows, also let me know we were near. There were dozens of other familiar sounds, sights and smells - the salt meadows, seagulls, the roar of the ocean - all were a welcome to the senses.

My grandmother started cooking Easter dinner early Sunday morning and those wonderful aromas made it difficult to leave the house for church. On the 1/2 mile walk back home from church (kids still walked back then) it was more great odors (and sounds) that got my attention. The boardwalk was in operation again!

I’d call a couple of local friends as soon as I got home and we would rush up to spend some time on “the boards”. Families were still all dressed up in their best in those days on Easter, but us kids just got into our street clothes. The first stop was always Macks Pizza (25¢ a slice). Next, the rides on Hunts Pier and then on to the Casino Arcade. The bumping cars there were my favorite but they never seemed to go as fast or “bump” as hard as I’d like. I guess most kids still feel that way.

We always had to play some skee ball of course. I’d win a bunch of coupons and put them together with the pocket full I had saved and brought along from last year. I was rich I thought - should get some valuable “major award”. When I went up to redeem them though, it was usually a cheap ashtray or a backscratcher. It didn’t matter, it was fun and we would still feed those machines all our dimes the next time up.

Even with the great Easter dinners waiting for us at home we still had to have a sampling of boardwalk “junk food” - soft pretzels, Kohr Brothers custard and Nates hotdogs (4 for $1).

I loved this weekend but I kept in mind all the upcoming ones would be work trips for my entire family. My grandparents had 3 apartment buildings and it took a lot of effort by everyone to get those old places ready for summer rentals. I learned how to use a paint brush at about 7. (No one forced me - I just wanted to help). The problem was, no matter how much care you took, an old house at the seashore had to be repainted just about every year. My grandfather always said, “when you come to Wildwood they hand you a paint brush and years later when its time to leave this earth, you still have it in your hand”.

Each weekend we came down it was a little bit warmer and my desire to go fishing kept growing. I always convinced my dad to take one day off for an early party boat trip. The problem was, the only thing usually running at that time of the year was mackerel, which I hated and wouldn’t eat. Heck, it was fishing though.

Early April could be really miserable out on the water - cold, foggy and choppy seas. Add all of these things together with the smell of diesel fuel, bait and the hoagie and chips I had for lunch - you had a recipe for a very unpleasant day to say the least. I have a few memories of return trips, just sitting below deck with my face in my hands.

Each weekend I would always try to do a little beach combing, especially after a storm. You could still find pieces of old shipwrecks, fishing floats and tackle, beach glass and unusual shells like sand dollars. Once they started to clean the beaches so thoroughly, (to prevent injuries & lawsuits) this treasure hunting came to an end. Where can a child find a seashell these days?

We also went to the movies on some of those spring weekends. Believe or not, Hunts had 2 movie theatres open year round and right across the street from each other. They were beautiful, art deco style buildings that showed first run films. Hunts had the nicest, best run theatres I’ve seen anywhere. The Matinee price for kids back then was .50 - .75 Cents!

Eventually it would be Memorial Day and despite a couple of weeks of school left, to me, summer had arrived.

If I close my eyes I can still smell the Coppertone and Noxema.