All we Philadelphia-based Global Traveler employees blog about now that we’re in the dog days of summer is the Jersey shore… and I am no exception. I’ve already recounted the fun I had on a daytrip to Ocean City, but last weekend we extended the shore time for a weekend co-ed bachelor trip (planned by the bachelor’s fiancée) to Wildwood!

As a Philadelphia-area native, you’d think I’d have been to every shore town in South Jersey, but Wildwood was one I had yet to experience. As I arrived at the address we were given with my girlfriend, Brena, and our friend Heather, we were charmed to find a historical plaque next to the front door! We found out the house has been in the family of our friend Alex (the bachelor himself) since the 1940s, and before that was the first house to be built on the block back in the 1880s. While it’s really cool to stay in a house that’s been there for so long, we had to hope none of his ancestors wanted to make any ghostly appearances!

For the first night we had an escape room reservation booked — an activity I’ve never done before. Our room was archaeology/Aztec-themed, and we had to recover the missing Jade Skull. I can’t say I contributed much to our success, but I’m nonetheless proud to say we triumphed over the “Level 9 difficulty” escape room.

After that, it was time to enjoy the Boardwalk. We went on rides, played carnival games, got ice cream and had a generally good time! Brena won a big plush cow by beating children at a water gun shooting game (I was so proud), and Alex won a plush pig by landing a quarter on a plate — much harder than it looks!

The next day was a beach day, and we hit the sand bright and early (by that I mean we barely made it to the beach by 1 p.m. because we were playing Mario Party on the Nintendo Switch all morning). We packed Wawa hoagies for lunch, a ton of snacks, and were luckily well-armed with umbrellas to support the shade needs of our large group. The ocean looked a bit too rough for me, so I stayed in my chair, reading. A few hours on the sand was enough for me, and I headed back to the house to shower, along with a few others who had also had enough sun. We were going to the Boardwalk again that night, so I needed to conserve my energy.

Our last night in Wildwood had us returning to the Boardwalk, this time for arcade games, pizza and lots of walking for no reason. I am woefully bad at arcade games, but some of my friends proved they have hidden talents I had no idea about — Kira got an arcade worker to give her a Pusheen plush from the claw machine through pure powers of persuasion.

Sam’s Pizza for dinner was absolutely delicious, and the fried Oreos for dessert truly completed the perfect Jersey Boardwalk meal. Until the next bachelor, Wildwood!

— Hannah Gruen, advertising & events coordinator