Doo Wop Tour

Doo Wop tour leaves visitors in Wildwood daze
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, July 1, 2006
Updated: Saturday, July 1, 2006

WILDWOOD — Drivers caught behind the slow-moving yellow school bus occasionally honked or sped past whenever they could, but those on board hardly noticed.

Like children on a field trip, they peered through the windows trying to catch a glimpse of the globe spinning above the Pan American Hotel.

This, after all, was the Doo Wop 50s Trolley Tour, a trip designed to slow things down and get visitors to see the details they had likely passed before but never really noticed.

The dozen or so tourists on this tour oohed and aahed as tour guide, and self-described Wildwood cheerleader, Joan Husband pointed out the design elements that have come to be known as doo-wop.

Tour goers looked to the right at the roof line on the Bel Air Motel designed to resemble the fins on the car of the same name, and to the left as the bus passed the lava rock that covered the walls at the Waikiki Oceanfront Inn.

Much was said of the plastic palm trees, a native Wildwood plant, known to appear in time for spring, the neon signs that would light the night sky, and the decorative railings such as the “va va va voom” rounded balconies of the Imperial 500 Motel.

The tour bus cruised up and down the streets of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest as Husband talked of the history behind the island's collection of doo-wop motels

Husband, sporting her 50s-style “Pink Ladies” shirt, spoke of the role cars played in the Wildwoods and the development of the drive-up motel.

Other events of the times also played their part in the Wildwoods, Husband explained.

Motels like the Satellite and the Ala Moana owed their names to the space race and the development of commercial air travel to foreign locales.

“You came here for your foreign travel,” Husband said as the bus made its way past the famed Caribbean Motel.

And Miami Beach was only a drive away with motels like the Eden Roc.

“Come to Wildwood. You're in Miami Beach,” Husband said.

Along the way, Husband also pointed out what was no longer there.

As the tour bus passed new condominium construction, Husband recalled motels that once lined the streets like the Hi-Lili and the Three Coins.

“Don't get me crying,” Husband said as the bus passed what was no more.

But while some of the island's doo-wop motels have ben torn down to make way for the new, Husband literally found signs of hope.

The Acme sign, the Commerce Bank sign and more.

All are examples, she said, of doo-wop revival, a modern take on a bygone day.

With songs like “Leader of the Pack” and “Under the Boardwalk” playing on the bus speaker system, Husband pointed out the major companies that have embraced this new doo-wop. Wawa and Harley-Davidson, for instance, have doo-wop themed stores covered in neon and chrome along Rio Grande Avenue.

The tour also gave visitors ideas.

“We have to go in there,” said one as the bus passed the new doo-wop flavored Starlux Motel. “Wow,” said another.

When the tour returned to its base at the Wildwoods Convention Center, visitors like Brie and Pat Walsh departed the bus with a better appreciation for the motels and their history.

The Washington, D.C., couple came to town at the invitation of their cousins and had never been to Five Mile Beach before.

“I thought it was a worthwhile $10,” Brie Walsh said. “I'm seeing it in a new light. I really did learn about the Wildwoods, the history, the music.”

Pat Walsh said he had no idea how much cars influenced the motels' development.

Brie Walsh, meanwhile, was anxious for nightfall to arrive so she could see the neon in all its glory. She had already begun planning her next trip to the Wildwoods.

“I already picked out a couple (motels) I want to stay at,” she said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com