Let's see if I can make a long story short. A traveling ferris wheel came to the Ocean City boardwalk for 40 days. It visited all summer last year during the pandemic since all carnivals and fairs around the country were canceled and it had nowhere to go. It's huge and the seats are enclosed gondolas. Last year it sat a lot further back to the left and you couldn't see it from the boardwalk. (I didn't ride it last summer since I stayed away for that area of OC last summer because of the virus ). This year they wanted it to be seen and asked for a variance in its placement. Well they didn't get their variance and thought let's ask for forgiveness after we put it up. That didn't go well since the placement put it overhanging the boardwalk by 10 feet. Nothing is to encroach onto the boardwalk ever. As I watched the drama unfold the last seven days or so via facebook the Town Of OC started imposing a thousand dollar a day fine till it was moved. The company decided it would just come down Monday and leave. That was announced Thursday. I planned on a quick trip there Friday to get a once in a lifetime picture of it but with rain all day Friday I postponed my visit to Saturday morning. Left my house at 6am and arrived at 9:30am to drizzle and the gondolas were already off the ferris wheel. Not the picture I envisioned but by mid day half the wheel was also gone. It was a very expensive gamble on their part and I had really been looking forward to riding it.
While photography teaches us to see things we most often pass by, there's another thing it has taught me. When I see something that might not last, get the shot because it'll be gone before you know it. There was a silo left behind on some state land here. The barn was gone and it looked so forlorn as vines and other natural elements took their toll on it. I would ride by and think "I've got to get a shot of that someday." The day I finally decided to get in the car and get the shot was so disappointing- it was gone! Totally gone- not a stone left behind. At least you got the skeleton of the wheel and it makes for a great black and white shot too.
I have come to this shot after seeing the later one. This is very interesting in it's own right. The ferris wheel without the gondolas makes it look like Dolle's Taffy has a halo of sorts around it.
June 27th, 2021
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
