Stella Celebrates 1967 at the Wildwood Sign

I posted my New Years’ celebration photos previously. Going through my 150th Post Spectacular made me think a lot about several past adventures, and this one came to mind. i also had the Wildwoods sign on my mind after recently posting my visit to the sign to take photos of it. So, it’s as good time as any to share one of my many visits to the Wildwoods sign, this time during my first outing in…

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Stella's Gallery 150th Post Spectacular

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Royal Hawaiian Gets A Makeover

Unbeknownst to Stella Star, her visit at the Royal Hawaiian was on their final day of operation. It is undergoing a makeover for 1968, but its doo wop look and one-of-a-kind flying saucer penthouse will remain intact. Let’s take a look of this iconic Wildwood landmark in transition. As mentioned, the flying saucer looms over the building, like a scene out of the novel Childhood’s End. The…

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Stella Star's Ocean Sands Swan Song, Part 1

Doo Wop City has tiki fever. One of my favorite places, Ocean Sands, with its unique windows unlike any other in Wildwood, is being replaced with a tiki bar. I love Ocean Sands, so my husband arranged a visit there, to enjoy its beauty, for my birthday. We’re getting the adventure started, checking in at the front desk. Like many Doo Wop motels, Ocean Sands is shaped like a U, wrapping around…

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Wildwood's Pickin' Up Good Vibes

Binns & Bonito is embracing these revolutionary 1960s with a new mod look, and a new name: Vibes! Here are some photos offering a preview of the motel’s fresh new look. Vibes will be located on Atlantic Avenue in Wildwood Proper, between Spicer and Spencer Avenues. These photos were taken on January 26h, 1968. (…Or, was that 2024?) It’s giving me excitations! I even got a new mini-skirt for…

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Stella Star's Among the Cars, Part 5

As it approaches summer, locals enjoy driving their cars around Doo Wop City, then parking them along Pacific Avenue to show off. They make an event out of riding the streets, before the visitors descend on the town in larger numbers for the summer. These photos were taken on May 13th, 1967. (…Or, was that 2023?) Stella loves to stroll among the cars, pretending she owns each of them. She…

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Jade East East

The Doo Wop era architecture is an amusement park for the eyes, and includes many sub-movements, but they all stemmed from modernism: an aesthetically-pleasing arrangement of geometric shapes. North Wildwood has a modernist gem called Jade East. Jade East consists of two buildings: a motel on the west side, and a private residence on the east side. I, Stella Star call the east-side residence Jade…

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Stella Photographs the Wildwoods Sign

Photographing the iconic Wildwoods sign, often with one’s family before it, is one important activity that visitors to Doo Wop City must “doo”. Part of a vacation here includes taking home keepsake memories at this landmark, to share with friends, and remember the joyous time spent here. I, Stella Star, often am photographed here, but never took the opportunity to take my own pictures of the…

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Snow Day in Doo Wop City, Part 3

This is the third in a series of three posts of photos taken after a snowfall here in Doo Wop City. These photos were taken on January 22nd, 1968. (…Or, was that 2024?) The snow-glazed brick red Carriage Stop, one of the Doo Wop era’s Phonee Colonee buildings, aesthetically compliments its color. Viewing this feels like being in the winter during colonial America. Snow and palm trees: an…

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Eep Opp Ork (Means I Love You)

My husband's band recorded a classic TV tune in the mid 60s. Check it out! Do you remember this cartoon tune?

update 4/4/2024 – NOTICE! This single is no longer available on Bandcamp. We ended our contract with Bandcamp on 4/4/2024 when they bragged in a mass mailer about using their profits from sales of others’ music to commit barbaric acts of violence against children. EEP OPP ORK will soon be available from a different publisher. Until then, if you would like to order a compact disc, or a digital…

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Stella Star at Astronaut, Part 1

Ah, the space age! What is more thrilling that watching our brave astronauts pioneering the new frontier? Doo Wop City’s motels and their themes are a reflection of our modernist, future-looking society. There is no truer example than Astronaut Motel Oceanfront Resort on Stockton Avenue, just two blocks north of the Deep Crest. This is the first in a multi-part series of posts chronicling my…

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Snow Day in Doo Wop City, Part 2

Spring is here! Doo Wop City has come alive. The boardwalk s open, and vacationers on Easter break have made their way to the island. We’ll take a look at what they all missed while they were away. These photos were taken on January 22nd, 1968. (…Or, was that 2024?) At Wildwood Crest’s Centennial Park, the winter sun reflects its rays off the glistening white snow. Here at Sunrise Park,…

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Stella's Like a Queen at Starlux

I’m enjoying myself in orange tweed on a relaxing day at one of the Starlux’s One Bedroom Suites with Two Beds. These photos were taken on February 23rd, 1966. (…Or, was that 2022?) Starlux is one of the few motels that is open all year long. I’m here in the middle of the winter, and the weather makes my hair even poofier than its natural self. my orange outfit is a perfect compliment to the…

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Snow Day in Doo Wop City, Part 1

Winter is finally behind us, and a new tourist season begins. For those of you who don’t see Doo Wop City in the winter, it snowed on the island. The Doo Wop Event of the Year, from the previous post, was originally scheduled on the night that it snowed, and had to be postponed. “Cathode” Ray drove around the morning following a winter snowfall, and took photos of snow-covered landmarks in…

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The Doo Wop Event of the Year

I can’t think of a better way to begin our adventure this year than the Doo Wop event of the year! A lot of us still think Doo Wop is great in ’68! The Lower Township Healthy Youth coalition agrees. They held a Doo Wop Dance just off the island, at the rec center in- Wildwood-Villas, which the locals call “Villas” for short. Villas is the birthplace of The Ran-Dell’s hit from five years ago,…

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The Return of Stella Star

Click the link below to view the post on the web log.

Spring has returned to Doo Wop City. That means that it is time for a new season with me, Stella Star. Year 4 of this photo journal begins right now! This year, we’ll be showcasing new landmarks, new fashions, and plenty of our favorites from previous seasons. So much is happening here in town, with properties being sold, new ones being built, and old favorites getting a facelift. Come join me,…

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Post 300: Spectacular Season 3 Finale

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