{"id":488,"date":"2015-05-13T00:55:12","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T00:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/?p=488"},"modified":"2023-06-12T21:39:31","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T21:39:31","slug":"shoobie-shuffle-uncle-eddie-berg-the-boy-who-fell-in-love-with-wildwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/shoobie-shuffle-uncle-eddie-berg-the-boy-who-fell-in-love-with-wildwood\/","title":{"rendered":"SHOOBIE SHUFFLE- Uncle Eddie Berg, The Boy Who Fell in Love with Wildwood"},"content":{"rendered":"

By AL ALVEN of WILDWOOD365.com
\n\"uncle<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Golden<\/a>
\nThe sun was just beginning to rise over the factories and smokestacks of Kensington, as 11-year-old Eddie Berg peered out of his bedroom window. A sense of anticipation abounded on this briliiant, late spring morning. After all, a great adventure lied ahead, as Eddie\u2019s older sister Patricia had promised him. Downstairs, Patricia and their mother, Florence, were wrapping up fresh sandwiches and snacks for the trip ahead.
\nWithin an hour or so, Eddie, Patricia and Florence were on the #3 Bus, en route to 47th & Market in Downtown Philadelphia. There, they boarded the \u201cSea Gull Express,\u201d bound for Wildwood, New Jersey.
\n\u201cWildwood.\u201d
\nEddie tried to comprehend and envision it, over and over. All he could picture was this forest-like place, overrun with shrubs and creatures of nature, with pathways that led to a nearly-deserted beach (less than a century prior, his imagination would have been quite accurate).
\nHe had been to the seashore before. He loved Atlantic City – Steel Pier, the larger-than-life spectacles like the famous Diving Horse, Captain Starn\u2019s Restaurant, the Boardwalk and the simple pleasures of the salt air and surf. But Patricia insisted that this new place they were heading to was different.
\nIn the years to come, Eddie wouldn\u2019t remember much about the ride down, other than the sense that it took forever to get there. The seemingly-endless scenery of the tree-lined Garden State Parkway validated his suspicion that he was headed toward some kind of glorified camping resort. He was sure of it.
\nWhen the bus finally crossed the bridge, however, he couldn\u2019t believe his eyes. Before him unfolded a place unlike anything he had ever seen, with a pulsating energy he could not have imagined.
\nHis most vivid memory was pulling into the old bus terminal on Wildwood Avenue, next to the Martinique Motel & Club. Across the street, the bright pink flamboyancy and neon elves adorning Laura\u2019s Fudge Shop made him feel like he had just arrived in some kind of fantasy land.
\nAfter exiting the bus, Eddie caught his first glimpse of the Boardwalk, a half block away. Sensing the excitement, he wanted to go there immediately; but first, he had to trek a few blocks to the modest boarding house where he, his sister and his mom would spend the night.
\nThere was little disappointment, as fascinating sights jumped from every side street they passed – grand, rustic hotels with towering witches\u2019 turrets, colorful motels with big, bold signage… even the corner delis and laundromats had zany, playful monikers.
\nThis was how he envisioned Vegas, except way better – and supposedly right by the ocean!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By AL ALVEN of WILDWOOD365.com The sun was just beginning to rise over the factories and smokestacks of Kensington, as 11-year-old Eddie Berg peered out of his bedroom window. A sense of anticipation abounded on this briliiant, late spring morning. After all, a great adventure lied ahead, as Eddie\u2019s older sister Patricia had promised him. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[7,1,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":491,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions\/491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}