Seward Johnson - Best Seller Art Sculpture in Wildwood

Have you noticed all of the outdoor art sculptures as you drive around the Wildwood island? For the past few years bronze art sculptures by Seward Johnson have been on display in various parks and tourist attractions throughout Wildwood. Over the past 2 years we've been admiring their beauty and documenting them on the travel blog. 

In Bright Park (dedicated to the memory of William H. Bright) you'll find the Best Seller Art Sculpture by Seward Johnson. This happens to be one of my favorites on the island. Bright Park is very small with no dedicated parking area. You can park on a side street nearby.

There's a marker identifying it in the grass. It says BEST SELLER by Seward Johnshon copyright 1990 The Seward Johnson  Atelier, Inc. You can learn more about the artist and his sculptures by visiting the official website HERE. You can check out our previous post on the Seward Johnson Arts in the Park Bike Tour to see more sculptures and to learn more about the tour.

Dissent is Patriotic Wall Mural in Atlantic City

 Atlantic City in New Jersey is home to over 70 beautiful outdoor wall murals. The majority of the murals were created under the Atlantic City Arts Foundation's flagship program called 48 Blocks AC. There's a map on the Atlantic City Arts Foundation website that you can follow if you want to check them out while visiting A.C. 

We enjoy seeing outdoor street art and while spending a weekend in Atlantic City we stumbled upon the Dissent is Patriotic wall mural by Sarh Painter and Cosby Hayes. You'll find it located at 164 St. James Pl. in Atlantic City, N.J. 08401. It's next to the Irish Pub.

It was painted in 2019 on the side of a brick building. You can learn about this particular mural and it's meaning by clicking HERE. It's colorful and quite something to see. I really liked that she's holding a large seashell with the Atlantic City boardwalk depicted inside it (the amusement rides on the pier). 

Look in the bottom right corner of the wall mural you see four artists names. In the top left corner you'll see that the mural was created under the 48 Blocks AC program. It's beautifully painted with bold colors that all work nicely together. You can stand across the street to get a full view and photograph of it.

Enjoy outdoor street art and wall murals? Check out all of the ones we've documented here on the PA Travel Blog over the past 13 years. 

Castle Dracula Wall Mural on the Wildwood Boardwalk

Castle Dracula was a popular attraction on the Wildwood Boardwalk for many years . It was torn down several years ago. Visitors to the boardwalk attractions looked forward to it during every summer vaction. Well, it's kind of been brought back to life with a new wall mural on the Wildwood Boardwalk.

October 2022 the Castle Dracula wall mural made its appearance on the side of a building at the Boardwalk Mall. Completed in just a few days by Russell Simmons. It's a nice sized mural and can't be missed when strolling down the boardwalk. 

If you want to get a nice photograph of it...go down the ramp and stand on the sidewalk. You'll get a nice straight-on shot of it instead of an angled shot from standing up on the boards. Very cool mural. Glad that we got to see it.

* Double-click on the image to get it to open up in a new window and in an enlarged size. That will allow you to see all of the cool details.

Outdoor Wall Mural of the Thomas Covered Bridge in Indiana County

We were taking the covered bridge tourist trail through Indiana County to visit the historic Thomas Covered Bridge. Right before you get to the bridge we passed through an old underpass on a country back road. To my surprise that underpass had a pretty outdoor wall mural painted on both sides of it.

We're big fans of outdoor street art, hand-painted barn murals, wall murals on buildings, etc. We couldn't stop to photograph it properly due to the oncoming traffic and narrow areas to pull over. We slowed down and tried to get the best photos of it that we could.

According to the signature it was painted in 2012 by four different people (check out the bottom right corner) to see the signatures. It's pretty worn in areas, so it was difficult to read. 

The art mural features a hand-painted design of the historic Thomas Covered Bridge. The right side of the underpass has the covered bridge depiction along with lush green trees and foliage. It says Thomas Bridge 1879 at the top and a hand-painted "Walk Your Horse" description.

If you wanted to get better photographs of it I would suggest parking at the Thomas Covered Bridge and walking up to it...alongside the road. It's not a heavily traveled road, but was busy on the day we were visiting. 

Beautiful Cape May County Wall Mural by Artist David Macomber

David Macomber is a well-known ocean and sealife artist from Cape May in New Jersey. You can visit his website to shop for his artwork and to learn more about him. His work is popular with locals and with travelers who visit the area. 

Last month we were down in North Wildwood on vacation. We're big fans of outdoor street art and wall murals...you can find hundreds of them featured on the Pennsylvania and Beyond Travel Blog. We were driving around on the mainland (Rio Grande) and behind the shopping strip plaza we found a beautiful wall mural painted on the back side of the building. Totally stumbled on it!

The wall mural features iconic scenes in Cape May County. You'll see the Big Wheel from Morey's Piers, the Roller Coaster, a Water Tank, Fishing Boat, Fish, a Whale, a Sailboat in the background, the Cape May Lighthouse and more. Brightly colored and not washed out (yet) like most wall murals in the area. 

We looked closely at the wall mural and couldn't find a date...so we have no idea when it was done. We did find DavidMacomber.com signature in the bottom right corner. It's a beautiful representation of Cape May County and we're so glad that we stumbled upon it.

Colorful Eye-Catching Street Art in Wildwood

We're big fans of outdoor street art, wall murals, sculptures, statues, etc. that we see when we're traveling. It's a fun way for a business to advertise while adding beauty to a particular area, plus it gives local artists a way to advertise their talents. 

A few months ago we were down in Wildwood, New Jersey and spotted a few that really caught our eye. For example, down Rio Grande Ave. the main avenue onto and off of the island you'll find eletrical boxes painted in different Wildwood beach themes. They're bright and colorful, definitely better than seeing a standard metal box sitting alongside the road. 

We photographed three of our favorites featuring the Wildwood Sightseer Boardwalk Tram Car, Love by the Moon, and the Live By The Sun artworks. Aren't they beautiful? Yes, they are!

While driving down Atlantic Ave. We spotted a colorful wall mural on one side of Roxy's building and then on the other side (the front side) we spotted the Tiki Tom's flamingo pink camping trailer. They sell frozen treats out of it during the summer tourist season. Very unique and colorful. Definitely grabs your attention when passing by.

If you're interested in seeing more street art and wall murals on the Wildwood island you can check out our previous blog posts. There are over 100+ beautiful wall murals, sculptures, statues, memorial markers, etc. that you can see. A haven for those like us who enjoy seeing outdoor street art.

The Joe Stamile Amphitheater Wall Mural in Wildwood

We enjoy checking out outdoor street art, wall murals, and sculptures when we travel. It's always fun to discover new artists (most are local to the particular area) and to see something new. More and more towns and cities across America are getting into this form of artistic expression to beautiful otherwise drab outdoor spaces. 

While on a trip down to Wildwood in New Jersey we stumbled upon the Joe Stamile Amphitheater Wall Mural by MG Signs (one of our favorite mural companies) on the back of the Doo Wop Museum building. The back of the building has a little performance stage and is attached to a park...hence the Joe Stamile Amphitheater name. 

The wall mural depicts the names of various old retail establishments that were part of the Wildwood scene. You'll see the Penalty Box, Hotel Hofbrau, Club Esquire, Lincoln, Blue Heaven, Shamrock, Stardust, Riptide, Hurrican, Martinique, Gingham Club, Lucky Club Cafe, Savoy, Emerald, Elmira Cafe, Surf Club, etc. 

It's quite large in size with the majority of it done in beautiful bright colors and a small portion done in black and white. The MG Signs signature is on the bottom right of the wall mural. You can find a ton of MG Signs Wall Murals depicted and documented on our travel blog.

On the day that we were there...the weather was terrible! Downpouring rain, winds clocking in at 30-40 mph...so our photographs aren't the best. We'll be getting new ones when we're back down for vacation later this year. It's a must-see muralif you're going to be in the area. 

Seward Johnson Arts in the Parks Bike Tour in Wildwood

Arts in the Parks Bike Tour was a new art feature on the Wildwood island in 2022. Even though they call it a "bike tour" you could certainly do a "walking tour" if you split it up over the course of 2 days. The tour features beautiful sculptures by the artist Seward Johnson spread out across several open-to-the-public parks in Wildwood.

We're big fans of outdoor wall murals and street art, so we checked it out on a recent trip down to the Jersey Shore. We happened to be down there for the Hurricane Ian storm that hit Florida and South Carolina, so we had heavy rain and winds for 5 out of 7 days that we were there. Hence, the not fantastic photographs. 

In total there are 7 scultpures for you to check out. Each one has a plaque that gives you the name of the sculpture, the artist's name, and the copyright date. There's a website you can visit to learn more called SewardJohnsonAltelier.org. Until this event, we had never heard of the artist, so it was nice to discover someone new (although he's deceased, March 10th, 2020). You can connect with the foundation on Facebook for more information.

Each scultpure that we viewed was incredible! You need to walk the entire way around it to see alll 360 degrees of it. We loved that they each featured a different theme...like a Mother reading a book to a child, a gentleman playing a violin during a street concert, a navy sailor embracing his lady, a gentleman playing fetch with his dog, and a father (soldier) being welcomed home by his child. All are beautifully interpreted. 

We found some additional information about the Arts in the Parks Bike Tour on the Wildwoods by the Sea website that you can check out for a map of each scultpure's location. Some of them had a sign up beside them that you could scan the QR Code for additional information on the exhibit. (some were completely missing). 

During our trip and the horrible weather we were able to see 5 of the 7 sculptures which I'm featuring in my post today. Please allow all of the photographs to load. We're not sure if this is just a one-time summer thing or if they'll be there again next year. If so, we'll get better photographs weather-permitting. 

Island Breeze Motel Dog Friendly Wall Mural by MG Signs

If you've been following the Pennsylvania and Beyond Travel Blog for the past 12+ years you'll already know that we're HUGE fans of outdoor street art and wall murals. Every time we travel we seek them out in every location that we're visiting. It's a great way to see the artwork of local artists and companies.

One of our favorite wall mural companies is MG Signs. Over the past decade we've featured numerous murals painted by them on our blog. Back in June we were on a road trip down to Wildwood in New Jersey and stumbled upon a new work of art being painted. 

The wall mural is for Island Breeze Motel announcing that they're Dog Friendly. It features a handsome dog wearing red sunglasses propped up on a colorful beach ball. How cute is that? Too cute! The artist from MG Signs was gracious enough to let me photograph him as he was painting it.

From the first photograph in the post to the third photograph in the post about 2 hours had passed. The artist first started out by outlining the design onto the wall. Then he got busy painting it. I was really surprised to see that he only had a couple of cans of paint along with him. They do a lot of blending of colors together to get the perfect shades.

We've always admired outdoor street art like this and were excited to see one being painted while we were down there. These artists are really talented! On the day he was painting it temperatures were over 90 degrees F with high humidity. I can't imagine standing there for hours and hand painting a wall mural in that kind of heat. He did it! Something to be admired for sure!

When traveling take the time to check out some outdoor street art while you're in the area. It's always ncie to discover these pieces and admire them. 

Ocean Wall Mural at the Dauphin Swimming Pool

We're huge fans of street art and wall murals that we spot while traveling around. We try to highlight these works of art as often as possible on the travel blog. The most recent one that we spotted was painted on the side of the wall of the Dauphin Swimming Pool building in Dauphin, Pennsylvania. 

The wall mural takes up the entire side of the building. It was hard to get it all in one photograph due to the cars parked in the parking lot. On top of that, we had just rained making things slippery and wet. I was looking for an artist's signature or company who had painted it, but couldn't find one. I'll have to do a little research to obtain that information. 

Artistically it depicts and underwater ocean them with sea turtles, jellyfish, dolphins, clam shells, coral, seaweed, and a small school of fish in the top left corner. Very colorful, so it looks like it was painted recently, within the past 1-2 years or they take really good care of it! If you look close you can spot the door to the building in the center of the mural underneath the welcome.

To the right of the building you'll find the fenced-in inground swimming pool that is used by the local residents in Dauphin. You have to pay for a yearly membership or pay by the day (according to a local resident who spoke with us). 

Other than this one wall mural, we spotted no other murals or fun street art while driving around the borough of Dauphin in Pennsylvania. With that said, we really enjoyed seeing it.

Capt'n Jack's Island Grill Home of the Fish Bowl Wall Mural

Capt'n Jack's Island Grill is located in Wildwood, New Jersey. You'll find the restaurant - bar located right up on the Wildwoods Boardwalk. They're open 7 days a week. When dining there you can enjoy your food and beverages downstairs or upstairs where you'll have nicer beach views. If you prefer being outside, you can grab drinks at their outdoor tiki bar which sits right on the beach.

Open for lunch and dinner you'll find French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken wings, shrimp, nachos, egg rolls, hot and cold sandwhiches, paninis, fish tacos, crab cakes, steaks, fish, bbq ribs, pulled pork, quesadillas, mac 'n cheese, and more!

Thirsty? They have that covered too! They have 40+ beers on tap, cocktails, mocktails, and frozen cocktails ready for you to enjoy. Soft drinks, lemonade, and iced tea too! You can find a partial menu on the Capt'n Jack's Island Grill website. 

We're big fans of outdoor street art and wall murals. You'll find a really cool outdoor wall mural on the side of the Capt'n Jack's building. It features the HOME OF THE FISH BOWL cocktail. I couldn't find an artist's signature on it, but wanted to share the photo with our fans who enjoy street art.

Roadside Barn Art - Patriotic US Flag on Barn in Halifax

A few weeks ago we were on a road trip up to Halifax, Pennsylvania to visit the Lake Tobias Wildlife Park with our grandchildren when we spotted a beautiful piece of roadside art. We're big fans of handpainted wall murals, painted barns, and street art. This barn really caught our eye.

You'll find the 100+ year old barn located on Route 225, a few miles away from Lake Tobias Wildlife Park and from the Halifax borough. To get a good look at it you need to be traveling southbound on Route 225. It's a very busy road, so they recommend that you use the Keiffer Road connector off of Armstrong Valley Road if you want to pull off and photograph it.

The patriotic US Flag design was painted by Ohio Barn Artist, Scott Hagan after the design was picked out by the family who owns the barn. It's a one-of-a-kind design. If you would like to learn more about the barn, the family who own's it and the artist who painted the design, check out the video on abc27.com and the artist's website The Barn Artist. 

Note: You can double-click on the photograph to open it up in a new browsing window and in an enlarged size. We're a mobile-reader friendly travel blog. Thanks for your support.

The Beautiful Statue of Liberty in Dauphin County

Central Pennsylvania has its very own Statue of Liberty sitting out in the middle of the Susqhueanna River along route 322 at the Dauphin Narrows. This replica stands 25 feet tall and was built on an old railroad bridge piling that used to span across the Susquehanna River. As you can see, that bridge is long gone. 

The replica State of Liberty was built by a local resident, Gene Stilp, who constructed it in 1986 to commemorate the original statue's centennial. It was originally constructed out of ventian blinds and fiberglass. It stood proud until 1992 when a series of storms damaged it and it was removed. A few years later a new statue was rebuilt and helicoptered out onto the old stone piling where it stands today.

How to find Lady Liberty?

If you're traveling down route 322 towards the city of Harrisburg, the river will be to your right. If you're traveling northound towards State College it will be to your left. To get the best view of Lady Liberty you'll want to be traveling south towards Harrisburg. As soon as you go through Dauphin you'll come to a railroad underpass...the statue is a short distance past the underpass to your right. You have to be looking for it and look quick...you only get a few seconds to see it. 

Looking for a better, close-up view? You'll have to rent a boat and paddle out to the Dauphin Narrows area in the Susquehanna River. You can find boat rentals in Marysville and at other places. The area is a popular fishing spot with locals, so you'll often see boats out in the water. 

Note: You can double-click on the photograph to get it to open up in a new window and in an enlarged size which will give you a more close up view.

Beautiful Street Art at 18th Street Canal in North Wildwood

North Wildwood in New Jersey is one of the prettiest areas at the Jersey Shore. The atmosphere is totally different than Wildwood which has the boardwalk, amusement rides and gift shops. In North Wildwood you'll find more residential areas than commercial areas. It's laid back and more quiet.

One area that we particular enjoy visiting is 18th Street Canal which is on the opposite side of the island (facing the canal and the mainland). Over the years they've really cleaned up this area and recently added colorful street art. 

You can park along the street and get out for a stroll. There are a few nearby restaurants that you can visit. You won't find tourist gift shops which is really nice. 

While out for a walk we snapped a few photographs of the street art that you'll see painted on the 18th Street Canal wall. They're bright and colorful (still), and depict a coastal-beach theme. We're big fans of coastal street art and look for it every time we travel. 

Behind the cement wall you'll see the 18th Street Canal, various docks, fishing boats and residential homes. There are a few park benches that you can sit on if you want to sit and relax. I wish those benches faced the water instead of looking at the other side of the street.

You'll find all kinds of beautiful coastal street art on the Wildwood island! We've been documenting a lot of it on our blog, so make sure you check out the rest HERE. 

Harrisburg Mural Fest - Beautiful Things Can Happen Wall Mural on Paxtang Ave

We enjoy outdoor street art and wall murals and have been documenting the ones that we find on our travel blog. These pieces of artwork often go unnoticed and unappreciated by locals and travelers alike. We're hoping to bring more attention to them by highlighting them on our blog and social media channels.

Part of the 2019 Harrisburg Mural Fest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was this new addition located on 99 S. Paxtang Avenue near Derry Street. It was painted on the cement wall of an underpass. It's really hard to get a nice photograph of it due to all of the traffic in the area. It's inscribed with a beautiful saying "When you rethink waste, beautiful things can happen." So true!!! 

Artist: Nathaniel
Sponsored By: LCSWMA

We couldn't find any place to park and get out to walk to the wall mural, so we went out the following day early in the morning to photograph it (several times) while driving by. We would pass by and go down a bit, turn around and come back through. It was the only way to get decent photographs of the 200 foot wall that the artist painted.

A few months ago we had the opportunity to photograph another wall mural that was part of the 2019 Mural Fest that was located at 416 Forester Street in Harrisburg that was painted on the side of the Capital Joe's Coffee. You can check out our previous blog post to learn more about that one.

Sprocket Mural Works will be sponsoring another mural fest in 2021 and is looking for artists, sponsors and volunteers. You can check out their website to learn more about it and how you can help.

Beautiful Barn Wall Mural in Elizabethtown

A few weeks ago we were passing through Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania and came across a huge wall mural painted on the side of a barn. This mural immediately caught our attention so we turned around and went back. You can pull into the parking lot of an apartment building that sits across the street and walk over to see it.

The barn mural is titled Elizabethtown and was sponsored by White Family Dental according to the information in the bottom left corner of the mural. I couldn't get close enough to see if there was an artist signature or who actually painted it.

While looking at the barn mural you'll see a collage of different images: an old locomotive train, stone arch bridge with trolley car, a  women dressed in Victorian style dress petting the head of a cow, an old covered wagon being pulled by a large team of horses, an Amish farmer plowing his field and a few others. It's really something to see!

You'll find the beautiful barn wall mural located on 680 Cloverleaf Road in Elizabethtown. Make sure you check out the other sides of the barn for a few mural surprises too! This was a nice find while on our countryside drive through E-town. (note) you can double-click on the image in the post to have it open up in a new window and in an enlarged size. 

The Thomas Francis Cozy Morley Statue in North Wildwood

Thomas Francis "Cozy" Morley was an American club owner, comedian, and singer. He was born in Philadelphia in 1926 and passed away in 2013 in Camden, New Jersey. The entertainer was most noted for his version of the song "On the way to Cape May". He was popular with south Jersey residents and tourists.

While on a trip to Wildwood we stumbled upon the Cozy Morley statue sitting in front of a local bar and restaurant in North Wildwood. It's along the oceanfront and not far from the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse. To be honest with you, we had no idea who he was until we got home and looked up information on the internet. 

You can learn more about him by checking out Wikipedia. the obituary in the Atlantic City Weekly,  and the obituary in the Philadelphia National Inquirer. 

The Wildwood Water Towers Get A New Look in 2020

We travel down to North Wildwood in New Jersey several times every year. In our honest opinion, it's the prettiest and BEST coastal town in South Jersey! You'll find clean and FREE beaches that are family-friendly. If we had to choose our favorite spot it would be in North Wildwood on the beach hind the historic Hereford Inlet Lighthouse.

While driving around the island we noticed that the Wildwood Water Towers got a new face lift in 2020. You can see many of them from blocks away and all of them can be easily photographed for your waymarking records. We love the new updated look. Fun and colorful!

One common theme on advertising and messaging in the Wildwoods is the colorful beach ball. You'll see that image on all kinds of things! You'll find beautiful beach ball street art in front of the Convention Center, at Byrne Plaza and at the entrance to the boardwalk in Wildwood Crest.

The Wildwood Crest.org water tower is an exception to the rule. It just has their logo painted on it in primary colors of orange, red and blue. It would be nice if they would add the beach ball motif to it, so that all of them coordinated together. Just my two cents on that!

The Wildwoods By The Sea Living Postcard

The Wildwoods by the Sea Living Postcard was added in the spring of 2020. You'll find it in North Wildwood on the back wall of the stand alone public restroom building along JFK Boulevard. The other three sides of the building feature hand-painted wall murals by the artist David Dunleavy. You can check out our previous street art and wall mural's post to learn more about them.

We visit the island several times every year and are always on the lookout for new street art or wall murals to see. We were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon this one while walking along the oceanfront in North Wildwood. You can't see it from the street, so you'll have to walk around the build to see it on the outside back wall.

The sign on the wall states the following information:

Every picture tells a story. Listen to some stories at TheLivingPostcard.com or scan the barcode. Made of 100% laser engraved genuine Wildwood Boardwalk. Estimated completion date is May 27th, 2020.

When you visit the listed website it will redirect you to the YouTube channel where you can select which Wildwood stories you would like to listen to. At the time of this posting there were 49 for you to choose from. I recommend you listen to them all...fascinating stories that are brought to life.

We had a great time checking it out and glad that we photographed it while we were there. Once we got home we were able to look up all of the information about it. A nice find on our most recent trip to the south Jersey Shore.

Pasta Pesto Bar & Grill for Authentic Italian Cuisine

Pasta Pesto Bar & Grill offers guests freshly-prepared Italian Cuisine in the heart of Wildwood. You'll find all of your favorite Italian dishes along with some unique menu offerings. Even though they're a combination bar & grill (restaurant) they're very family-friendly. Bring the kids along too!

Sample of Menu Offerings

Appetizers: Calamari Fritti, Mozzarella Mezzaluna, BBQ and Buffalo Wings, Macellaio, Fried Ravioli, Grilled Octopus, Carbonara Fries, Clams or Mussels, Posillipo, and Fomagi. Focaccia Flat Breads, a wide variety of American and Italian Pizzas, and Salads.

Pasta Dishes: Marsala, Francese, Picatta, Scallopini, Parmigiana, Lasagna, Baked Penne with Meatballs, Ravioli with Meatballs, Buffalo Mac & Cheese, Penne Marinara, Penne Alfredo, Penne Portofino, Spaghetti Portofino, Creamy Pesto Penne, Lobster Ravioli, Fettuccine Alfredo, Tortellini Romana, Penne Ala Vodka, Pasta Greco, and more!

If steaks are your thing you'll find a variety of steak and seafood dishes too! You can try their NY Strip Steak, Lamb Shank, The Baby Rib, Pan Seared Salmon, Pan Seared Baramundi, or the Salmon Markella.

The restaurant has a bar where you can grab a drink, kick back and relax. Their bartenders are very knowledgeable and can recommend to you a new cocktail drink to try. Be adventurous and try something new while on vacation at the Jersey Shore.

If you're a fan of wall murals and street art you'll want to check out the murals that wrap around their building. The mural was painted by one of our favorite east coast mural companies called MG Signs. We've featured many of their artistic wall murals on the travel blog.

You'll find the Pasta Pesto Bar & Grill located at 3810 Atlantic Avenue in Wildwood, New Jersey. You can check out their website to see a list of menu offerings or give them a call at (609) 522-6272 for more information.