Photo TR: Ocean City, Maryland

Playland opened in 1965, the same year as Jolly Roger, and closed in 1987. It opened as Ocean Playland and for awhile was called 65th Street Playland before it became just Playland (I have postcards and newspaper clippings with all three names from various years).

It was on 65th Street where Slide 'n' Ride is now. In fact, somewhere I have a photo of one of the old Playland signs that was converted into a Slide 'n' Ride sign. I'm not sure if that particular sign is still there or not; it wasn't looking so hot when I got my photo about five years ago, and I've never thought to check in the summers since.

^^Any luck with the interior shots, esvadj?

No luck at all, I forgot the no open shoes rule and since I was wearing flip-flops I was turned away at the gate

I also had no idea a fire had taken out part of the boardwalk back in March, was quite the suprise when I got there.

I did get a new avatar out of the trip

Since you saw it, what is the Inverter? I mean, what kind of ride is it?

Did you ride Looping Star at Jolly Roger's?

Most of the great old dark rides seem to be near the coasts. Sometimes it really sucks to be stuck in the middle.....

^^^Yeah, the fire was pretty bad and happened just a few weeks before the season started. The day after it happened, on the website for one of the local TV stations, they had a picture of a bulldozer pushing down the last of the charred remains with a headline that read "Historic Boradwalk Businesses May Not Open for 2008 Season."

You think?

For the record, The Dough Roller at that location may have been quasi-historic. The other burned business was a T-shirt shop identical to the other 500 or so on the boards. The apartments at Marty's Playland and the skee-ball machines suffered some smoke damage, but nothing too serious. The skee-ball machines were cleaned and placed back in action a couple weeks ago. I stopped in and played them Monday night.

Great avatar, by the way! That was probably the first sign I learned to read when I was a kid. Well... either that or "McDonald's."

^^I was having trouble figuring out a way to explain the Inverter, so I did a web search. I think this blurb from Knight-Ridder News Service says it best:

"The 24-passenger Inverter, which lifts riders 50 feet into the air before flipping them 360 degrees -- is one of four products being introduced this year by Wichita-based Chance Rides Inc., the nation's largest manufacturer of amusement park rides."

Obviously the article was a couple years old.

And no, no Looping Star for me. Got that credit some time ago.