Bill Richards is my "friend" on Dailymile.com -- we're both running the Ocean Drive 10 Miler, so we follow along with each other's training. I noticed on his facebook page that he'd also been at the farewell for the Golden Nugget, which promoted a conversation about Hunt's Pier, so Bill sent me some pictures of him as a kid in Wildwood. It's a cool example of how social media can connect people -- and make the five year old Bill famous:
Bill writes: "Every year my parents took my brother and I to Wildwood for one week in August. We would stay at the Port Royal and go to the boardwalk every night. My mom was a pro at the "grabber machine" and my dad took us on rides till we got dizzy. I remember being petrified of the Haunted House. Just hearing the organ music gave me goose bumps. Thanks to my childhood in Wildwood no beach in the world will ever be the shore. Childhood memories like this have help me stay sane while working in finance during these volatile times."
And here's Bill at the Golden Nugget ceremony (Boo! That dude's scary! The caveman, not Bill):
Got shore pictures to share? Send them to jenmiller27 [at] gmail [dot] com.
3 comments:
ahhhhh how cute you are!!! Love Mommy xoxoxo
Loved the pictures- my husband worked on Hunt's Pier during his high school years (mid-to late 1970's)- so I was looking for him the background!
Hunt's Pier was my favorite spot as a kid, too between 1980-1983. I liked that train ride. It went around the Flyer coaster and through a ghost town and a tunnel. I am from Allentown, PA and I grew up with Dorney Park, too. Dorney Park was different back then, smaller, some scary rides that no longer exist, more picnic groves, etc. Today it's this mega corporate amusement park know by basically everybody in the northeast with several steel coasters and thrill rides. Only a few of the older rides still exist, like the Whip, coaster, and Zephyr train. But, Wildwood and Dorney Park have gotten back into haunt attractions, Wildwood's are open in the summer like Ghost Ship and Morbid Manor. I miss Castle Dracula that was on Nickels Midway Pier, Fun Pier also had a Castle Frankenstein open from 1978-1982, it burned Aug 1984, Castle Dracula burned, too by two males Jan 16, 2002. Morey's Pier at 26th St. had a scary three level Haunted House from 1972-1984. I loved the Pirate Ship Skua on Hunt's Pier. Keystone Kops, Golden Nugget as well. Whacky Shack looked awesome from the outside, with the colored letters that creaked back and forth, but from some reason I didn't ride it. But, I have seen some photos of the inside, plus a blue print of the track layout that the former pier owner's granddaughter sent me. Yes one of the Hunt's, he was the last surviving one when he sold the pier after 1985. He passed away several years later.
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