BEST IN STATE In a statewide poll, Wildwood beaches have been voted New Jersey s best every year but

View full size Greater Wildwoods Tourism How fun is sharing co op travel direct a simple pail with a friend at the beach? An astonishing quarter mile of clean, white sand lies between Wildwood, N.J. s, famed boardwalk and the Atlantic co op travel direct Ocean s surf. The free beach (no tags required) is so wide that a beach taxi has set up shop to cart sunbathers chairs and picnic baskets to the water s edge.
The Wildwoods are four separate towns that run together co op travel direct and share a five-mile barrier island near the southern tip of New Jersey. The island is dotted with casual clubs and restaurants, and many of its hotels and mom-and-pop motels proudly preserve a mid-19th century style known as doo-wop.
North Wildwood began as a fishing village called Anglesea. Its beaches are narrower but beautiful, and its Olde New Jersey Avenue District is lively with restaurants, clubs and free concerts under the stars on Thursday and Saturday nights.
Wildwood Crest is quieter. co op travel direct It s a dry town and some of its beaches are closed to humans to protect the birds. It has the country co op travel direct s largest concentration of mid-century doo-wop motels even though half of them were demolished co op travel direct to build condos during the real estate co op travel direct boom of the early 2000s.
After World War II, hotels exploded here, said Ben Rose, marketing director for the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority. People returned from the war, got a car and a job and reconnected with their families. They vacationed in places that were made to look like Hawaii and the Caribbean but were closer to home.
Wildwood fit that bill and became the plastic palm tree capital of the world. More than 200 motels were built during this heady time rash and bold with neon signs, swooping curves, space-age imagery, tropical themes and kidney-shaped swimming pools.
The recently restored Caribbean Motel was the first to plant a plastic palm by its pool. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is the first motel to become one of the Historic Hotels of America.
The small Doo Wop Experience Museum, housed in the old Surf Side Restaurant, tells the story. Its colored spotlights roam the sky at night. On Thursday and Saturday nights, Billy O, a 50s rock singer, climbs aboard an old school bus to lead tours of doo-wop sights and lights. The museum serves ice cream and sandwiches from a sliding window and an old rolling cart, said Dan MacElrevey, president of the Doo Wop Preservation League. And several times a summer, WIBG radio, once Philadelphia s preeminent rock n roll station, does live broadcasts from under the boardwalk inside the museum.
The Wildwoods have 8,000 guest rooms and 3,000 condominiums that are available for rent, second only to Atlantic City on the Jersey Shore. Many of the rooms are in family-oriented motels with kitchenettes.
These three hotels are owned by the Morey family, who have made fun their business since 1969, when Bill and Will Morey began chilling and thrilling people with an enormous 12-lane slide called Wipe Out.
If you think being scared is to die for, try the Great Nor Easter, a suspended looping coaster of twisted steel. Or board the Ghost Ship, where there are zombies and monsters so scary that kids under 10 can t go in.
For a special treat, eat breakfast in the sky during an hourlong ride on a 156-foot-high Ferris wheel. The menu includes smoked salmon and scrambled eggs or a shrimp and lobster co op travel direct omelet served on fine china on a white tablecloth atop the wheel.
With free nightly entertainment, fireworks every Friday night and more than 180 tournaments and festivals ranging from an Irish Fall Festival and hot rod and motorcycle rallies co op travel direct to a Curley Fry Festival and the 103rd annual Baby Parade Wildwood can keep vacationers busy.
History buffs can head to the East Coast s only Victorian lighthouse in North Wildwood. Tours of the restored Hereford Inlet Lighthouse show how lightkeepers and their families once lived. Freeling co op travel direct Hewitt holds the record here; he was keeper for 45 years ( www.herefordlighthouse.org ).
Off the island but nearby are tastings at several wineries and carriage rides at historic Cold Spring Village. Cape May s streets are lined with Victorian homes and B Bs; its eateries have earned the town restaurant capital of New Jersey distinction.
BEST IN STATE In a statewide poll, Wildwood beaches have been voted New Jersey s best every year but one since 2008. Its boardwalk was rated No. 1 for families by familyvacationcritic.com in 2012 and, in 2011, it was ranked one of the top 10 by National Geographic Traveler. This year, Trip Advisor included the Wildwoods on its list of 15 Destinations co op travel direct on the Rise.