Post by spriskeptic on Jul 18, 2006 14:02:30 GMT -5
If you're looking to get away for a while and you want to see a ghost but your family wants to go to the beach, you no longer have to give in. Just head on down to Sunny Ocean City, New Jersey!
From The Daily Journal.com, your online resource for Vineland, Millville and Greater Cumberland County.
Ocean City's boardwalk: It has pizza, rides and a ghost
By ERIK LARSEN
Gannett New Jersey
Ocean City is a place in love with its past.
The old-time feel is evident the moment one crosses over the narrow bridge that links the barrier island to Exit 30 on the Garden State Parkway.
Once in town, the illusion continues past its elegant city hall at 9th Street and Asbury Avenue, past the houses that line its well-kept neighborhoods and are home to its year-round 1,500 inhabitants, and finally to the oceanfront, home to its soul.
Everything here is referred to as "an institution." From the amusement parks to the Strand movie theater to the pizza parlors to the Flanders, a hotel that proudly advertises that it's "happily haunted" by a "Lady in White" who apparently likes Ocean City so much that she's intent on spending eternity here.
Cheryl Ferrara, 30, made the one-hour-37-minute drive from her home in Monmouth County with her two young sons to come here. There are plenty of beaches less than an hour from Ferrara's home in Hazlet, but this is the one she prefers best.
"Yeah, an hour and a half," Ferrara acknowledged about the drive. "But this is just a more family-oriented atmosphere. It's worth it."
More wholesome carnival
Ocean City clings to its 19th century Methodist beginnings as a retreat, said Fred Miller, president of the Ocean City Historical Society. It's a dry town that up until 1986 didn't even permit businesses to open on Sundays.
Bicycling on the boardwalk is not just permitted until noon -- the 10 businesses that offer bike rentals in town encourage it. Just after dawn, bicyclists are speeding along the 2.5-mile stretch of designated lanes on the boardwalk.
Ocean City bears similarities to the carnival atmosphere so identified with other Jersey Shore boardwalks like Wildwood and Seaside Heights, but without their bar scenes and honky-tonk character.
The ambient music that emanates from the multitude of miniature golf courses includes, for example, Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" and The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk." But the music is a subtle background score, never too loud, never taking away from the inherent experience of the Shore.
Surreys are also commonplace on the boardwalk, which has lanes posted for surreys, bicyclists, runners and walkers.
Don Ruarukstalis of Lewisburg, Pa., brought his wife and two daughters to the boardwalk on a recent Sunday afternoon. He was golfing at Tee Time Golf.
Like all miniature golf places, great care has been taken in its design and artwork. Flintstones characters sit in their human-powered car, and the proverbial pink elephant is real here at Tee Time.
Ruarukstalis said he fell in love with Ocean City when he was a Jones Beach, N.Y., lifeguard "a million years ago," and came here for lifesaving competitions.
"I like to watch the people," said Harold Tilton, the attendant at Tee Time, who has been working here every summer for five years, after he retired from Texaco as a refinery worker.
"It's a good seashore here. Good place. Nice ocean."
'More friendlier beach'
The first thing you see at the boardwalk are the blue signs lining it that say: "Shore Nice To See You." They include cartoon characters serving as the city's unofficial greeters.
There are two major amusement parks along the boardwalk, Gillian's Wonderland Pier at 6th Street and Playland Park at 10th Street. Both have Ferris wheels that offer stunning views of the ocean and the skyline of Atlantic City, about a 30-minute drive north.
The rides at Playland have names like Hurricane, High Seas and Riptide. There are all the classic attractions of such a park like the bumper cars and tilt-a-wheel. And there are similar attractions at Gillian's.
The boardwalk was built around 1890 and was greatly expanded in 1905. A fire in October 1927 destroyed much of it, including the famed, elegant Hippodrome, a lavish pier that extended into the ocean.
Dan Bertonazzi, 20, of Vineland comes to Ocean City about three times a month with college friends to play volleyball on a slither of beach next to Gillian's Wonderland Pier. After playing on one recent day, they ran into the ocean to cool off.
"It's a more friendlier beach. You see more families," Bertonazzi said. "There are other boardwalks where you can find trouble, where everyone's there to party."
You won't leave hungry
Any regular to Ocean City is familiar with the boardwalk cuisine which mixes its own flavors with institutional Shore delights, like fresh fudge or salthingyer taffy with the pizza of Mack and Manco's. And no trip to Ocean City is complete without Johnson's Popcorn and the caramel popcorn.
There also is a culture to eating on the Ocean City boardwalk. At Johnson's Popcorn, which has been on the boardwalk since 1940, one has the choice of popcorn in various sizes of tubs.
Never ask for a lid, a local says, noting you get a bit more popcorn without it.
"It should be against the law to ask for the top of the tub on," said Kevin Geremia, 33, of Ormond Beach, Fla., who went to high school in Vineland.
He was waiting behind Sam Pipitone, 19, and Meghan Yamasaki, 17, both of Bridgeton, who had just purchased a tub of peanut crunch popcorn -- and, yes, they wanted the lid off.
Want ice cream? There's a Kohr Bros. ice cream stand, it seems, every other block along the boardwalk.
At the Original Fudge Kitchen at 8th Street and the boardwalk, visitors can watch fudge beaters in the storefront window, whipping the cream and other ingredients in barrels that will later become fudge.
Originally published July 8, 2006
Read more of this artcile and see pictures of the area at: www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060708/NEWS01/607080308
From The Daily Journal.com, your online resource for Vineland, Millville and Greater Cumberland County.
Ocean City's boardwalk: It has pizza, rides and a ghost
By ERIK LARSEN
Gannett New Jersey
Ocean City is a place in love with its past.
The old-time feel is evident the moment one crosses over the narrow bridge that links the barrier island to Exit 30 on the Garden State Parkway.
Once in town, the illusion continues past its elegant city hall at 9th Street and Asbury Avenue, past the houses that line its well-kept neighborhoods and are home to its year-round 1,500 inhabitants, and finally to the oceanfront, home to its soul.
Everything here is referred to as "an institution." From the amusement parks to the Strand movie theater to the pizza parlors to the Flanders, a hotel that proudly advertises that it's "happily haunted" by a "Lady in White" who apparently likes Ocean City so much that she's intent on spending eternity here.
Cheryl Ferrara, 30, made the one-hour-37-minute drive from her home in Monmouth County with her two young sons to come here. There are plenty of beaches less than an hour from Ferrara's home in Hazlet, but this is the one she prefers best.
"Yeah, an hour and a half," Ferrara acknowledged about the drive. "But this is just a more family-oriented atmosphere. It's worth it."
More wholesome carnival
Ocean City clings to its 19th century Methodist beginnings as a retreat, said Fred Miller, president of the Ocean City Historical Society. It's a dry town that up until 1986 didn't even permit businesses to open on Sundays.
Bicycling on the boardwalk is not just permitted until noon -- the 10 businesses that offer bike rentals in town encourage it. Just after dawn, bicyclists are speeding along the 2.5-mile stretch of designated lanes on the boardwalk.
Ocean City bears similarities to the carnival atmosphere so identified with other Jersey Shore boardwalks like Wildwood and Seaside Heights, but without their bar scenes and honky-tonk character.
The ambient music that emanates from the multitude of miniature golf courses includes, for example, Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" and The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk." But the music is a subtle background score, never too loud, never taking away from the inherent experience of the Shore.
Surreys are also commonplace on the boardwalk, which has lanes posted for surreys, bicyclists, runners and walkers.
Don Ruarukstalis of Lewisburg, Pa., brought his wife and two daughters to the boardwalk on a recent Sunday afternoon. He was golfing at Tee Time Golf.
Like all miniature golf places, great care has been taken in its design and artwork. Flintstones characters sit in their human-powered car, and the proverbial pink elephant is real here at Tee Time.
Ruarukstalis said he fell in love with Ocean City when he was a Jones Beach, N.Y., lifeguard "a million years ago," and came here for lifesaving competitions.
"I like to watch the people," said Harold Tilton, the attendant at Tee Time, who has been working here every summer for five years, after he retired from Texaco as a refinery worker.
"It's a good seashore here. Good place. Nice ocean."
'More friendlier beach'
The first thing you see at the boardwalk are the blue signs lining it that say: "Shore Nice To See You." They include cartoon characters serving as the city's unofficial greeters.
There are two major amusement parks along the boardwalk, Gillian's Wonderland Pier at 6th Street and Playland Park at 10th Street. Both have Ferris wheels that offer stunning views of the ocean and the skyline of Atlantic City, about a 30-minute drive north.
The rides at Playland have names like Hurricane, High Seas and Riptide. There are all the classic attractions of such a park like the bumper cars and tilt-a-wheel. And there are similar attractions at Gillian's.
The boardwalk was built around 1890 and was greatly expanded in 1905. A fire in October 1927 destroyed much of it, including the famed, elegant Hippodrome, a lavish pier that extended into the ocean.
Dan Bertonazzi, 20, of Vineland comes to Ocean City about three times a month with college friends to play volleyball on a slither of beach next to Gillian's Wonderland Pier. After playing on one recent day, they ran into the ocean to cool off.
"It's a more friendlier beach. You see more families," Bertonazzi said. "There are other boardwalks where you can find trouble, where everyone's there to party."
You won't leave hungry
Any regular to Ocean City is familiar with the boardwalk cuisine which mixes its own flavors with institutional Shore delights, like fresh fudge or salthingyer taffy with the pizza of Mack and Manco's. And no trip to Ocean City is complete without Johnson's Popcorn and the caramel popcorn.
There also is a culture to eating on the Ocean City boardwalk. At Johnson's Popcorn, which has been on the boardwalk since 1940, one has the choice of popcorn in various sizes of tubs.
Never ask for a lid, a local says, noting you get a bit more popcorn without it.
"It should be against the law to ask for the top of the tub on," said Kevin Geremia, 33, of Ormond Beach, Fla., who went to high school in Vineland.
He was waiting behind Sam Pipitone, 19, and Meghan Yamasaki, 17, both of Bridgeton, who had just purchased a tub of peanut crunch popcorn -- and, yes, they wanted the lid off.
Want ice cream? There's a Kohr Bros. ice cream stand, it seems, every other block along the boardwalk.
At the Original Fudge Kitchen at 8th Street and the boardwalk, visitors can watch fudge beaters in the storefront window, whipping the cream and other ingredients in barrels that will later become fudge.
Originally published July 8, 2006
Read more of this artcile and see pictures of the area at: www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060708/NEWS01/607080308