Bayville Dinosaur Signaled Signs of Summer

New Jersey is known for its wide variety of architecture and roadside landmarks.
The stately Victorian homes in Island Heights and Cape May, the retro '50s motels and hotels of Wildwood and Lucy the Elephant in Margate all boast considerable charms.

But for me, and I'm sure for many other Ocean County folks now old enough to receive Social Security, the huge green dinosaur at Korman's Corner in the Bayville section of Berkeley Township was no less than a modern wonder of the world.

My dad, his uncle and his grandfather built a summer home in Ocean Gate before I was born, so the ritual of driving between dual residences was a rite of passage for me as long as I can remember.

We lived in Newark, so the drive “down the shore” was a long one, especially back in the days before the Garden State Parkway was even a gleam in an engineer's eye. We traveled along routes 1 and 9 to get to the shore, through Newark and Elizabeth, with the main benefit being a lack of traffic and traffic lights once we were out of the cities.

I was lucky. I got to sleep on the shelf  in front of the rear window in my grandparents' huge Hudson sedan for most of the ride. But I always woke up before we got to Ocean Gate, because missing the sight of the dinosaur would have been a catastrophe.

There it stood sentinel in all its majesty, overlooking every traveler who ventured through that section of Bayville. Its dark green body was emphasized by a long line of impressive triangles from its head to its tail. Even better, the center of each each triangle was accented with a huge, brightly colored “gem.” As a little girl, I had no doubt they were real rubies, sapphires and emeralds worth millions.

Yes, the dinosaur looked fierce and aggressive, with its large eyes and teeth, but it also felt strangely welcoming. The bared teeth could be construed as a smile instead of a sneer. The tail seemed as capable of a friendly wag as a deadly slap.

To me the massive landmark signaled the first of many summer days to come – three months of swimming all day, playing checkers or Canasta at night and eating vegetables from the garden instead of the supermarket.

These days electronics demand so much of our time that it's hard to imagine how I felt so content during summers without a telephone or a television. And now, just as time has taken its toll on me, it also has taken its toll on the dinosaur, now in another location and no longer a dark green, jewel-encrusted masterpiece.

But I'll always remember the exhilaration I felt when it greeted us on  the first day of our annual summer stay at the shore. And it will always remain a real gem in my mind.