Swan Motel (Demolished)
Wildwood Crest, NJ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The Wildwoods really come alive after dark, and the Swan Motel was once part of that neon show in Wildwood Crest. Its glowing script sign had a simple, classy look compared with some of the wilder space-age marquees around town, but it fit right in along Ocean Avenue.

Built in the late 1950s, the Swan was one of the early beachfront motels from the Wildwoods' big Doo Wop era. The place even carried the swan theme right down to the guest room doors, each decorated with its own little yellow swan. That's some serious motel branding.

The Swan also had an early swimming pool right out by the beach. Local stories say the Great March Storm of 1962 was so powerful that the pool actually popped up out of the sand. Now that's a rough weekend at the shore.

UPDATE: The Swan Motel was demolished in 2005 during the Wildwoods condo boom. The motel is gone, but its neon sign was saved and restored for display at the Doo Wop Experience's Neon Garden. 08-26

The Wildwoods area of the New Jersey shore lights up the neon sky at night. See them here at Roadside Peek's Wildwood Neon Motels.

Hollywood Motel
New Castle, DE
Photo courtesy Moon Mullins OX-76

Now here's a motel name with a little built-in glamour. The Hollywood Motel sits along old Route 13 in New Castle, Delaware, complete with a big vintage roadside sign that looks even better after dark. And yes, the neon was still working when this shot was taken. OX-76

The Hollywood dates back to around 1950, when DuPont Highway was one of the main north-south routes through Delaware. Before I-95 came along, plenty of travelers would have passed right by this stretch looking for a room, a meal, or maybe just the next glowing VACANCY sign.

The motel also has a smaller neon OFFICE sign on the building, giving the place a nice double dose of old roadside lighting. With a name like Hollywood, anything less probably wouldn't do.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Motel remains open on Route 13, and the old roadside sign is still standing. 08-26

Alamo Court (Gone)
Ocean City, MD
Photo courtesy Mark Hackett

Here’s one that was hard to miss after dark. The Alamo Court in West Ocean City had a giant neon sombrero perched above its Route 50 sign, complete with animated tubing that made the hat look like it was walking toward you. Not every night your weary eyes run into a sombrero coming down the highway.

The Alamo opened in 1946 and was reportedly the first true motor court in Worcester County. Founder Bill Weaver, a decorated World War II fighter pilot, gave the place its Southwestern look after spending time training in San Antonio, Texas. White stucco, Spanish mission touches and that oversized sombrero brought a little bit of the desert to the Maryland shore.

For beachbound motorists heading toward Ocean City, though, the neon hat was the real attraction. It became one of those Route 50 landmarks you could spot long before reaching the motel itself.

UPDATE: The Alamo Court was sold in 2021 and later remodeled into a boutique resort and pool bar. The old animated sombrero sign was removed from the highway frontage. 08-26

Motel De Soto (Gone)
Bradford, PA
Photo courtesy Jay Lin

Wow, the glow from the Motel De Soto in Bradford is a serious eyeful. The big neon sign was hard enough to miss, but once the red neon outlining the motel kicked in, the whole place seemed to light up. Weary traveler or not, this one definitely got your attention.

The motel sat along East Main Street on the way into Bradford, right in old Zippo country. Long before the motel arrived, the property had been home to the Foster Brook Picnic Grounds, where Bradford held its big Old Home Week celebration back in 1925. Quite a change from picnic grounds to glowing red motel.

For years the De Soto was one of those classic independent roadside stops where the sign and the building worked together after dark. The red neon tracing the rooflines gave the whole place an almost unreal look, especially when everything was glowing at once.

UPDATE: The motel still stands and operates today as the Relax Inn - Bradford. The old De Soto name and its great neon roadside sign are gone. 08-26

Sifting Sands Motel
Ocean City, NJ
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

Located just off the boardwalk in Ocean City, the Sifting Sands Motel is hard to miss once the sun goes down. Check out that big rooftop neon marquee all lit up over Ocean Avenue. It has been catching the eye of beachgoers and passing motorists since the motel opened in 1964.

The two-story motel sits at 9th and Ocean, only a short walk from the beach, with the rooms wrapped around a swimming pool in classic Jersey Shore motel fashion. But the sign is really the roadside attraction here. The big Sifting Sands script sits high above the building where just about everyone coming through this part of town can see it. Better yet, the old sign survived. It was grandfathered under Ocean City's newer sign rules and received a major restoration in 2017, including sandblasting and new neon tubing. Nice to see one of these old Jersey Shore beacons still glowing.

UPDATE: The Sifting Sands remains open today, operating as a condo-style motel with individually owned units and a central rental operation. The vintage rooftop neon sign is still there. 08-26

Jersey Cape Motel
Cape May, NJ
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

After a long drive down Route 9, the Jersey Cape Motel is a welcome sight near the end of the road in Cape May. Sitting along Route 109, this old-school motor court is one of the last motel stops before heading toward the Cape May-Lewes Ferry and Delaware.

The Ewing family has been renting rooms on this property since 1931, when eight summer cottages were built here. The present motel came along in 1974, and in a neat little roadside quirk, the room numbers start at #9 because those original eight cottages came first.

The motel still has the classic one-story setup with parking right outside the rooms, a pool, and a big freestanding roadside sign out front. Nothing too fancy here, just the kind of family motel that fits right in at the end of a Jersey Shore road trip.

UPDATE: The Jersey Cape Motel remains open and family operated, and the familiar roadside marquee still stands along Route 109. 08-26