Atlantic City Parks – Outdoor Pleasures

admin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:20:50 +0000

Leamings Run Gardens, Atlantic City - Courtesy /www.leamingsrungardens.com/

Besides other more prominent attractions that make Atlantic City better known you do have here some sedate outdoor pleasures that are especially charming for children and older people. Tired of sauntering on the promenade or being glued to the slot machines many people love to visit the few parks around here.

For one Atlantic City is not really lush with green areas. So the few places offering the outdoors are well loved. The beautiful Cape May is where you could head for to enjoy a jaunt in spacious parks and gardens. Cape May nestles in the backdrop of the beautiful scenery of Point Straight Park.

The Nature Center of Cape May features prime beach and marshland. The Park harbors the natural habitat for migrating sea and shore birds thats brings tourists and enthusiasts in thousands to observe these avian creatures. The Leaming’s Run Gardens located here recreate life as it used to be in the 18th century.

Close to Atlantic City the park covers 200 acres of diverse landscape featuring shoreline, dunes, marshland, islands and forests. You can even enjoy fishing that is quite good here. Also at hand are plenty of walking trails and of course the Cape May Lighthouse with a museum and a visitors’ center.

The Oscar E. McClinton, Jr Waterfront Park is also a great place after being cloistered in the gaming halls. This waterfront park features 4 acres of manicured lawn areas surrounded by colonnades and walkways. With a children’s play area, a boardwalk promenade and a central pavilion for sitting and viewing the sea it makes for an attractive detour.

These parks and gardens are open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, daily from dawn to dusk. Admission is free.

Atlantic City – From Spa Town to Casino Dens

admin — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:45:51 +0000

Bathing Pavilions. Beach, Atlantic City, NJ. Library of Congress, ca. 1904 - Courtesy http://www.nps.gov

It was the engineer Richard Osborne who named and designed Atlantic City. Realizing the potential of the location In early 1850s, Dr. Jonathan Pitney visualized it as a health resort spa. In 1852, along with a group of business investors he obtained the railroad charter. This brought the Camden & Atlantic Railroad to Atlantic City.

The City has never looked back since that memorable undertaking. Situated on the site of Absecon village it was duly incorporated in 1854 as Atlantic City. The resort/spa town succeeded beyond anyone’s imagination! Wealthy families from Philadelphia and other places on the East Coast flocked to the new resort.

The beaches of the town were reinvented by the creation of the first boardwalk in 1870. Townsmen laid wooden planks upon the beach so that it could be enjoyed even during hot summer days. Along with the boardwalk came eateries and amusement stands to make Atlantic City a major tourist attraction.

Vacationers and invalids coexisted happily in the Victorian-era town, living in ornate wooden boarding houses and enjoying the boardwalk in the rolling chairs that were invented in the city in 1884. The first of a half-dozen amusement piers was built in 1882, contributing to the city’s carnival-like atmosphere.

By 1887, heavy tourist traffic got a second rail line for the city. In 1895 a visitor returning from Europe introduced to local merchants German-style picture postcards which instantly became popular on Atlantic City souvenir stands.

With the first Miss America Pageant held here in 1921, every one had heard of Atlantic City. The Atlantic City Auditorium Hall on the boardwalk opened in 1929. It was in 1929 that Charles Darrow introduced Monopoly, the board game that made Atlantic City’s streets – household names throughout America!

Atlantic City Hotel Blog » Parks-Outdoors

Atlantic City Parks – Outdoor Pleasures

Atlantic City – From Spa Town to Casino Dens