Wildwoods Boardwalk
Neon, doo-wop motels and, on a live webcam, a beach so wide it needs taxis to cross it.
About this view
The Wildwoods have the widest free beach in New Jersey, up to about 1,600 feet from boardwalk to waterline, wide enough that beach taxis shuttle people across the sand. This live stream watches the boardwalk that runs alongside it, roughly two and a half miles over 38 blocks.
Wildwood calls itself the Doo Wop Capital of the World and has the country's largest collection of that mid-century motel architecture: plastic palms, boomerang signs, unapologetic neon. The Sightseer Tramcar has trundled these boards since 1949, and its recorded warning, "Watch the tramcar, please," dates to 1971.
July and August evenings are peak Wildwood: piers lit, tram running, boardwalk full. In the off-season the neon still burns over an empty promenade, which is arguably the better picture.
