The Thrill is Gone, but it's coming back...

The Thrill is Gone, my photo of the roller coaster in the ocean stops people as they walk by my booth at art festivals. Questions soon follow. "Is that Seaside?" "Are you from Jersey?" "Is that real?"

Next are stories. "Our family went there every season." I worked at the pier on summer breaks from college." "On one turn, you felt like you were going to fly into the ocean."  

This weekend at the Cape Coral Festival of the Arts we heard something different, "That's my roller coaster," said Frank Storino, whose family has owned the Casino Pier since 2002. Frank showed us pictures on his iPhone of what's happening now. The pier has been rebuilt and a new coaster should be completed by summer.

Exciting new memories will continue to be made on the Jersey Shore. The thrill is coming back.

Meeting Frank Storino, right, whose family owns the Jet Star roller coaster and Casino Pier, was a special treat on Sunday at the Cape Coral Festival of the Arts.

On the second day after Sandy hit the Jersey shore, I photographed this aerial view of Casino Pier showing the damaged structure and roller coaster in the ocean.