I recently had the pleasure of staying at
The Starlux in Wildwood and I have to admit it's the perfect place for a designer to be. I was lucky enough to be visiting the Jersey Shore during it's heyday in the 70s as a kid for vacations with my family. Then, Wildwood was a sea of funky cool technicolor neon signs, plastic palm trees and a playground of themed hotels and motels built in the 50s and 60s (when people were encouraged to do road trips and vacation within the US). The various hotel's architectural design competed heavily for your attention and business. As a kid it was always a blast to count down all the cool favorite places on the way to our motel in NorthWW and envision yourself trying out the other places as well. Sometimes I wonder whether having that overload of design surrounding me as a kid subliminally led me to this profession of graphic design.
Around 2000 there was condo boom that led to the destruction of many of these architectural gems. True, there were many places that were beyond renovation, but many wonderful places were leveled for future construction that never happened. Thankfully, there is a faction of folk in Wildwood,
The Doo Wop Preservation League, who are trying their darnedest to preserve and create wonderful places like the Starlux in the Woods. Motels like
The Caribbean and
Starlux are doing it right and playing up to their unique strengths. Not only are they taking care of their unique structures, but they are also providing a clean, fun and stylish atmosphere that you won't find anywhere else on the east coast. Their success proves that the kids who have grown up with those very fond memories of Wildwood want to share that with their own families and loved ones. I think the City of Wildwood ought to seriously pay attention to that if it wants to survive as a resort town.
Some cool websites that better illustrate what I'm blathering about:
http://www.doowopusa.org/index.htmlhttp://www.crazyaboutwildwood.com/http://www.wildwooddoowop.com/doowopspots/
