Why does my heart go on beating, why do these eyes of mine cry

[austin_dern]

Hurricanes destroy piers and boardwalks, in much the way fire destroys grasslands; it has always and ever will. The Boardwalk in Atlantic City has been destroyed by storm many times, and ever rebuilt, because they become something too important to who a city is to be done without. Hurricane Sandy smashed Seaside Heights, crushing the Funtown Pier and the Casino Pier which gave bunny_hugger and I our first perfect day together, and so many other happy and wonderful times after. A part of ourselves has been there always, and ever shall be. This has not relieved our grief.

Casino Pier as we knew it that first day was, in some ways, lost even before this. Part of an amusement pier's nature is to change, in eternal rotation, until one runs across a photograph of the place from decades before and realizes it's full of what used to be. Part of the nature of a delight like that --- amusement park, carnival, World's Fair, fan convention --- is that it does recede into memory and legend, with a few chance relics to hold onto.

I last visited the piers with bunny_hugger on New Year's Day of this year. We came back from it that day affianced, as a freak early-winter thunderstorm rolled in this odyssey year, to find that our diner, where we first ate together, had changed its identity in matching ours. If that time must be our last visit to the old Seaside Heights, then the old boardwalk and piers can recede into the untouchable perfection of our shared memory in tearful joy.

In personal business, my family is all well, to all reports. They've been without power more than 24 hours, but everyone's safe and sound.

Comments

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Thankx for the update!

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Welcome.

A picture of the remains of Casino Pier from above (http://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/media/global/assets/images/20121031/20121030_8083763520121031000557.jpg) suggests that good parts of the pier and the rides on it might have survived. The yellow track in the middle was the first roller coaster BunnyHugger and I shared. The dark roller coaster dropped into the sea was the second.

Reported lost (but not shown in this picture) are the log flume, and I assume lost are Centrifuge and Stillwalk Manor. That's a really horrid loss since the Stillwalk Manor ride was an outstanding haunted house ride.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Seeing parts of memories and legacies wash away is very somber indeed... :/

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

It's awful. We've been in morning.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

Reuters shows a picture from today (the 31st) of a log flume on a pier marked as 'Seaside Park' (http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR39SI6#a=5). That looks to me from pictures like the Casino Pier flume. Part of it is missing, but two braking zones and the boarding shed (which I would assume also houses the lifting machinery) are still there. The missing troughing is probably the cheapest and most easily replaced part of it. That might be salvageable.

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

I don't know how up Reuters is on the borders of New Jersey towns, but Seaside Park is where Funtown Pier is. Seaside Heights is where Casino Pier is. This took me a while to get used to when the piers are in sight and walking distance from each other. That may well be Funtown's log flume. I can't swear I'd be able to tell the difference on sight at this point, given how wrecked everything is.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

The appearance of that log flume, with the double loops and bright blue track, makes me think it's the one from Casino Pier after all --- FunTown Pier had a smaller, child-model one (our ``Twig Flume'' joke) --- unless it's one added over the summer.

The Seaside Heights/Seaside Park division is ... one of those minor wonders of New Jersey municipalities. I believe the technical term was boro-itis, when every town did its best to subdivide into many, many more towns, as a way of avoiding paying for having schools.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

every town did its best to subdivide into many, many more towns, as a way of avoiding paying for having schools

I'd wondered about that, actually.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/hurricane-sandy-damage-seaside-heights-nj#slide=54830651 shows a picture of the whole pier, that confirms it is the Casino Pier log flume.

Also, the accompanying article (from this afternoon, Nov 1) reports:
The roller coaster is now resting on the ocean floor - much of it still intact. That's because as NJ.com reports today (Thursday) the hurricane's powerful winds nor the surge of water toppled the ride. Instead, Sandy knocked the pillars out from under the pier essentially pulling the boards straight out from under the massive roller coaster like a "tablecloth trick."

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

Intact and ever usable again are two different things -- it's clear from the photos that it's at peculiar angles to itself (clear if you know the ride as I do)... someone has already moved it to 'Defunct' at RCDB. >:/ The log flume is also clearly toast. No one is going to bother rebuilding a partial log flume; it'd probably be as cheap to buy a new used one.

I hope the Wild Mouse is usable.

[moxie_man]

I'm glad your family is safe.

As for Seaside Heights, they can rebuild if they choose to.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I know the can rebuild, and hope they do. It's difficult to imagine the piers being gone for good. But the feeling of losing the ability to touch what was so precious to us is painful.

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

Time and tide... our coastline took a big hit as well.

Glad all is well for your families.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm glad you're doing all right.