If you were lucky enough to have my grandmother (Nana) and grandfather (Papa) in your family, you got to grow up in a fun, exciting, traveling, camping family. They were the best – always exploring and taking their grown children and grandchildren along for the ride, wherever the road took us.
We consistently traveled the open road, never flying because my Nana said a majority of the vacation was taking side roads and stopping in towns along the way. While my Papa and I preferred to take the highway and just “get there,” we did appreciate what we were able to experience by taking the less traveled route.
That route often took us from Michigan to New Jersey to camp within walking distance of the infamous Wildwood Boardwalk. These trips are some of my fondest memories – the smells of amazing food, the sights, the rides, the games, the campfires under the Boardwalk – all of it. Sadly, my Nana passed away at the young age of sixty years old, while my cousin and I were only seventeen. That ended our adventures with our grandparents.
When my youngest son was four years old, and my oldest was eight years old, I desperately wanted to take them to camp at the same place my family always did in Wildwood at King Nummy Campground. Unfortunately, the same year I was planning a road trip there, Hurricane Sandy came through, destroying the Jersey shoreline and later igniting an electrical fire on the New Jersey Boardwalk.
According to a report from NPR (National Public Radio) in 2014, “Officials said a fire that raged along the famous Boardwalk in the New Jersey Shore last week was caused by faulty electrical wiring likely damaged by last year’s Hurricane Sandy.
Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said fire investigators are confident that electrical wiring was to blame, saying the wiring was apparently damaged by exposure to salt water and sand during and after Hurricane Sandy.
The fire was dramatic and spread quickly, destroying more than 50 business in Seaside Park and Seaside Heights,”.
Did they rebuild the Jersey Shore boardwalk
Needless to say, our plans to revisit my family’s favorite place to vacation and camp were squashed. However, we did vacation each summer along the East Coast. Still, it was with family in the North Carolina islands, the Outer Banks, in a resort campground on Emerald Isle with our cousins who lived about five hours from the coast. It was wonderful – yet it wasn’t Wildwood, NJ.
We hoped that New Jersey would rebuild the Boardwalk. In fact, they did just that. Finally, in the last year, the State of New Jersey invested millions of dollars in revamping, rebuilding, and improving the Boardwalk. So maybe, now that my sons are twenty and sixteen years old, I can finally take them on vacation to camp in Wildwood.
The AP (Associated Press) announced that, “New Jersey on Friday chose 18 Jersey Shore towns to share $100 million from a new program to fund repairs, reconstruction or expansions of boardwalks, the iconic wooden walkways over the sand that form the connective tissue of many popular seaside resort towns.
The money comes from federal COVID19 recovery funds under the American Rescue Act, and is designed to help local shore towns pay for what has been an expensive endeavor for many.
‘So many of us have created memories with family and friends at the boardwalks of the Jersey Shore,” said Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. “Our boardwalks have long been a prized destination, and we want to keep them that way by helping shore communities repair and maintain these wooden main streets.’,”
The AP went on to note, “Other receiving funds are North Wildwood ($10.2 million); Wildwood ($8.27 million); Ventnor ($7.1 million); Cape May ($6.7 million); Ocean City and Seaside Heights (about $4.8 million each); Bradley Beach ($4.3 million); Long Branch ($3.2 million); Carteret ($2.4 million); Sea Isle City (just under $2 million); Belmar ($1.5 million); Brigantine (nearly $1.2 million); Wildwood Crest (nearly $1.1 million); Toms River (just over $1 million); Keyport ($800,000); and Berkeley Township ($448,000.)
Some of the money could be used as grants to businesses that need to make alterations to align themselves with the new boardwalks,”.
New Jersey boardwalks
As I mentioned earlier in this article, we spent many years vacationing on the New Jersey Boardwalk in Wildwood. As years went by, when I was a teenager, my mom was good friends with my best friend’s mom. They also loved the East Coast, so we vacationed and visited the boardwalks in Ocean City and Atlantic City. I distinctly remember my best friend, her brother, and I had so much fun at the “kiddie casino,” playing for tokens that we could cash in for prizes while our mothers were at the adult casinos playing slot machines, blackjack, and poker. My mom was a phenomenal card player!
Visit New Jersey’s officially state tourism site states the following about their Boardwalks, “There’s no better place than a New Jersey boardwalk to take in the glorious sensations of our beaches: the sound of screeching seagulls overhead and the nearby crashing of waves, the smell of salt-laden breezes rolling in from the vast ocean, and the sights of families playing games, shopping and enjoying the amusements — it’s all here on our iconic boardwalks.
Explore some of the top boardwalks along the Jersey Shore, from north to south:
- Point Pleasant Beach
- Seaside Heights
- Atlantic City
- Ocean City
- Wildwood,”.
They had this to say about my favorite spot in Wildwood, “If rides and amusement parks are on your agenda, Wildwood Boardwalk is the place to be. Head straight to one of the many destinations at Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Waterparks, where you can take a turn on the nostalgic carnival rides, get an adrenaline rush on one of the extreme roller coasters, try your hand at a variety of entertaining games and get wet and wild at one of the water parks. There’s more than 100 rides to try! To explore the entire Boardwalk with ease, take the Sightseer Tram Car to go from one end of the Boardwalk to the other,”.
Jersey boardwalk fire cause
In conclusion, since The Jersey Shore’s boardwalks are back—they are now better than ever. After loss and delay, there’s hope again. Maybe now, it’s finally time to make those new family memories in Wildwood. I can almost taste those Belgium Waffle Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches as I speak! May you have safe travels, my friends…