Chapter 15, Atlantic City Beach Boardwalk, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Our next destination—the boardwalk in Atlantic City New Jersey. We found an RV park, Atlantic Shore Pines, about 30 minutes from Atlantic City, which was a last-minute choice because the Thousand Trails campground we were due to stay at messed up our reservation. It was better anyway, despite the fact that we had to pay when we weren’t going to need to, because the RV sites at Atlantic Shore Pines were so much better.

We’d only given ourselves one day on the boardwalk, which as it turns out was more than we needed. We took the dogs with us (they’re allowed on the boardwalk until Memorial Day) because we couldn’t find affordable daycare in the area. Again, as it turns out, it’s a good thing we didn’t pay for daycare because the boardwalk was kind of a letdown, and we spent less than three hours there. I’d had memories from a childhood trip with my family of a much different place, one that was vibrant and alive with activity, but that was not what we found on this trip. Granted, it’s been 52 years, but still...

Boardwalk in Atlantic City NJ

The place had a worn rundown feel and some of the hotels and casinos had been abandoned. There were several vacant lots that I can only assume were once the home of thriving shops, casinos, and restaurants. We wanted to get ice cream cones, but we had a difficult time finding ice cream (quite surprising to me considering the amusement park theme) and when we did they wanted exorbitant prices for it--$8-$10 depending on if you got one scoop or two. Too rich for our blood!

Pier at Atlantic City Boardwalk

It was very windy, which turned out to be a good thing because it was warm and the sun seemed to bake down on us. There was little to no shade anywhere, but we managed to find some tables with umbrellas outside a takeout food joint, so we got cokes and slices of “New York style” pizza (not the best we’ve ever had) for lunch. Originally, we thought we’d go and walk the dogs on the boardwalk then drop them off at the trailer and return without them to go to the pier (you can’t have dogs any time of year on the pier) and maybe go inside of some shops etc. but after seeing the place, we decided it wasn’t worth coming back. I’d been fighting a bad cold before this, and my only thought was of getting back to the truck and heading “home” to our trailer. So much for childhood memories!

At least for me, the Boardwalk at Atlantic City was a big fat disappointment.