Ocean City’s nice all right, but if you take Ocean City, make the beach wider, turn the party meter up a few notches, add in a smaller version of the old Las Vegas Strip and top it off with South Philly blue collar “addy-tude”, you get the rockinest summer beach anywhere – Wildwood!

Wildwood – which is actually 4 separate “Wildwoods” next to each other – is the true birthplace of Rock & Roll. It was here that Bill Haley & The Comets gave their first-ever performance of “Rock Around the Clock”. Dick Clark hosted shows at the old Starlight Ballroom, which stood literally on the beach and where Chubby Checker first danced “The Twist”. Bobby Rydell (“Wildwood Days”) and Frankie Avalon played here. So did David Cassidy and countless others.

The big stars don’t come to Wildwood like they used to, and developers are tearing down those old funky/retro “Doo-Wop” style hotels to make way for yuppie condos. But Wildwood’s traditions live on. The annual Baby Parade still takes place on the boardwalk as it has every year since 1909. The Wildwood faithful still drink Lime Rickeys (invented in Wildwood some years back), eat apple fritters at Britton’s, play Fascination in the arcades, and crowd onto a kick-ass Boardwalk (“Watch the tramcar, please!”) that has more rides than Disneyland.

In short, Wildwood still has that “addy-tude” and always will.

SOUTH FILLIE: “The Jersey Shore is one the 7 Wonders of Philly, but don’t tell Wildwood’s natives. To them, Philadelphians are just ‘shoobies’ who mob their peaceful beaches in summer. My family’s come here (and spent plenty of money) since my grandmother was my age – so how about some ‘graddy-tude’, shlocals?”

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