PART OF WHAT we all love about the Shore is that year after year, it's always the same. The bike rental shack hasn't budged since you were a kid. The custard stand and fudge store are still right where you left them last August. Skee-Ball abides.
When change happens here, it's heartbreaking.
To help ease the pain, we've cast around for places that substitute pretty well for beloved nostalgic Shore spots and nostalgic Shore fun that have disappeared - or in one case, for a nostalgic city sound that's being reborn down the Shore this year.
We've specifically excluded the Doo Wop attractions of Wildwood because we know that you know they're there. (For a map and a schedule of guided tours, visit the Doo Wop Preservation League Web site at doowopusa.org and click on "2009 Tours & Events.")
We have included Storybook Land, even though it never went away. Almost eerily the same as it ever was, the Egg Harbor Township kiddie amusement park is the trippiest nostalgia trip going for anyone who has visited at any point since 1955, when it opened.
Our downashore wayback machine goes as far back as the Gilded Age and makes stops as recent as 1993 - the halcyon days of your youth if you're 20 today. Pick and choose among the entries for a do-it-yourself nostalgia trip to the era that tugs your own personal heartstrings.
If you miss . . .
Seafood with paprika at Captain Starn's
Try this. . .
Seafood with paprika at Busch's
These days, the of-the-moment seafood restaurant in Atlantic City is Seablue at the Borgata (609-317-1000), with trendy offerings like Ahi tuna tartare with ancho chili and sesame oil.
If your taste runs more toward moments past, try Busch's Seafood Restaurant in Sea Isle City, a graciously retro establishment in the manner of AC's dear, departed Hackney's and Captain Starn's. Busch's is so devoted to keeping things just the way they were that the management photographs the arrangement of pictures on the restaurant walls so they can be rehung precisely after paint jobs.
"It's a time capsule," said chef-owner Al Schettig.
Yes, Busch's still serves deviled clams, shrimp Lamaze and she-crab soup. (Traditionally the soup has been served on Sundays and Tuesdays only, expanding this summer to the Saturday lunch menu.) No, for goodness sake, it is not a BYO.
Busch's Seafood Restaurant, 8700 Anna Phillips Lane, Sea Isle City, 609-263-8626. Open weekends only until June 16.
If you miss . . .
Wibbage on AM 990
Try this . . .
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