My First Roller Coaster Ride - Hunt's Pier, The Flyer

My father spent a lot of time in Wildwood in the 1930s, 40s & 50s. His mother worked as a ticket girl on Hunt's Pier every summer from the mid 50's through the late 70s, so it makes sense his favorite Roller Coaster was The Flyer on Hunt's Pier.

When I was little I was scared to death of roller coasters. This got my old man down, as he really wanted to take me on my first coaster ride. Like a wimp, it took me 13 years before I finally got the courage to go on. So, one summer night in 1982, my father (at the age of 51) and I got on The Flyer...in fact, he somehow managed to get us into the front seat.

What a wild blast! That sucker whipped me around like a ragdoll. My dad was laughing the whole time...like a kid himself...and I was yelling WHAOOOOHOOO! most of the trip. The wooden coaster (built in 1957 and showing obvious signs of age) creaked and rattled like crazy as the car zipped over the tracks at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour. At least three times, I though the car was going to come off the tracks...just like they wanted riders to think.

I especially like this photo as it shows the cars that ran on the track under the pier.

Damn, what a great thrill that ride was. I can still remember it like it was yesterday. When we got off the ride, my old man asked me how I liked it...I told him it was great. He was so excited that he got to take me on that ride that I though he was going to have a stroke. I wasn't far off from that assumption...I figured the huffing and puffing and wheezing was from the thrill of the ride, but I found out later he'd been diagnosed with emphysema, congestive heart failure and a few other nasty things that basically meant he should never have gone on that ride. That's how much it meant to him to take me on that coaster, and I'm so damned glad I got to do it.

All good things must come to an end, especially so it seems in Wildwood, and in 1989 Hunt's tore down The Flyer and replaced it with a more modern coaster. Damn shame, but as I always say, at least we have the memories.

-Christopher Pinto, author of Murder Behind the Closet Door, the Wildwood Paranormal Murder Mystery. 
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Late Night at The Tom Cat Diner, Wildwood, NJ

There used to be an all-night diner on Rio Grand Avenue that went by the curious name, Tom Cat. This burger joint didn't even open until 11 at night, and closed at 8 am, if I remember right. My kinda place. Not sure if it's still open...I hear it is...I sure hope it is, because it was a swingin' spot.

The original opened in 1946. Called "Tomcat Drive-In Luncheonette" it sat at 443 W. Rio Grande Avenue, Wildwood, N.J. The original building burned and was rebuilt larger in the '50s. That's when it really started to swing. From what I hear, it was THE hip place to be if you were a teenager back in the day.

My pals and I didn't discover the joint until the early 1990s. By then the outside didn't look so hot; an 80s renovation with a purple roof made it look sorta goofy, and it was next door to Wildwood's only strip club, C.R. Phanies (a place that looked so sleazy even I would go in, and that's saying a lot). Although the building itself was kind of dull, inviting neon blazed from within. Once inside, you were fully transported back to the essence of a 1950's malt shop, complete with vintage style booths, old fashioned milkshake machines and the Doo Wop tunes that made the place rock 'n' roll.

Back in the early '90s my friends and I worked as actors at Elaine's Dinner Theater in Cape May. It was a hell of haul driving down from Cardiff (just outside of Atlantic City in Egg Harbor Township) two or three nights a week, but it was worth it. We did murder mystery musicals, and had more fun in one night than most people have in a month. We got paid every Friday, and Friday night after the show we'd head to one of the only places open at two o'clock in the morning...The Tom Cat in Wildwood Crest.

Of course I don't remember every detail of every night we went there. But I do remember a few fun bits...for one, I had (and still have) a 1953 Chevy Belair that I was fixing up at the time. I painted it seafoam green and white, and got it running good enough to handle the 32-mile drive down to Cape May, so on a couple of occasions it was great to pull up to that 50's diner driving that kool, 50's car. I also, on at least one occasion, got to drive this very swingin' chick (one of the stars of the theater) over to the Tom Cat in that car after the show. I had the hots for her something awful...but was a good kat and never made a play for her since I had a main squeeze at the time. Looking back...I should have made a move!

Burgers, fries, chocolate milkshakes, onion rings, chicken fingers...the usual stuff most nights, breakfast on others. I remember they had good waffles. But the burgers were boss. I miss that joint. Maybe I'll take a special trip just to get one of those late night burgers again.


-Christopher Pinto, author of Murder Behind the Closet Door, the Wildwood Paranormal Murder Mystery.
http://wildwoodmurdermystery.com
http://tikiloungetalk.com
http://stardustmysteries.com