Thursday, October 02, 2008 Atlantic City: The world's playground By Henrylito D. Tacio
ATLANTIC City was cited as the Sundance Kid's birthplace in the 1969 classic western film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was the home of the Miss America pageant from 1921 to 2005. It was also a place frequented by New Jersey-based mob drama The Sopranos.
I came to know of Atlantic City only through the 1980 movie directed by Louis Malle, which starred the award-winning performers Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon. So, when my sister Marilou told me that we would visit the city, I was excited.
True enough, after we did our one-day walk tour at the Washington, D.C., we went to "the Queen of Resorts," as the city is known. There were three of us? Marilou and her husband, David Eplite (who drove us), and myself. We left Newark, Delaware at around six in the morning and by nine we were already in Atlantic City.
Now, I was ready to walk in the red carpet. But, hey, let's get to know the city first and foremost. The first recorded owner of Absecon Island, on which Atlantic City rests, was Thomas Budd, an Englishman, who arrived in Atlantic County in late 1670's.
Budd was given the island and other acreage as settlement of a claim he had against the holders of the royal grant. His mainland property was then valued at $0.40 an acre, while the beach land a mere $0.04 an acre. (That same piece of beach front property today would be worth millions of dollars per acre).
Atlantic City has always been a resort town, even to its first visitors, the Lenni-Lenape Indians, who spent the summer months by the ocean. The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year that the Camden-Atlantic City Railroad opened, which linked the beach town to Philadelphia.
The city is known for its Boardwalk. The first boardwalk was built in 1870, along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. The idea caught on, and the boardwalk was expanded and modified several times in the following years. The historic length of the boardwalk was about 11.2 kilometers. Today, it is about 6.63 kilometers long and 18 meters wide, reinforced with steel and concrete.
By the way, the sticky confection salt water taffy is closely associated with the Boardwalk, and some have claimed that it was invented here after a flood. If there's truth to this, I can only guess.
On February 27, 1987, the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, now commonly referred to as the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall, was listed on the United State Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.
While walking through the Boardwalk, take a few steps down and visit the Brighton Park to see the New Jersey War Memorial. It consists of a wall engraved with the names of 822 New Jerseyans who died or are missing in action and a 12-foot high statue of "The Mourning Soldier."
The city experienced a major boom period beginning in the late 1800s. However, tourism began to decline following World War II, but that changed when New Jersey voters approved casino gambling in 1976.
Today, Atlantic City is host to 11 casino resorts, eight of which are located on the Boardwalk: Caesars, Bally's, Showboat, Atlantic City Hilton, Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, and Tropicana. Open 24 hours a day, these casinos offer slot machines, poker, black jack, roulette, craps, baccarat, keno, race books, especially table games and more. The minimum age for gambling is 21 and the law is strictly enforced.
Each casino has its own promotional program for providing freebies, or "comps," as they are called. Comps can be in the form of free show tickets, hotel rooms, dinners and more. Visit the promotions booth in the casinos to find out how you can qualify.
Entertainment abounds in the city. In fact, the Boardwalk was considered the premier tryout for theatrical productions. The rise of Mike Tyson in boxing, having most of his fights in the city helped the city's popularity in the 1980s. When we were there, slated to perform were Chris Rock, Jeff Dunham, America, Backstreet Boys, and Bob Dylan.
Another major attraction is the oldest remaining Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Auditorium in the world. This is a franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that people might question the claims. More than 400 exhibits in 13 themed galleries.
