Atlantic City Boardwalk Named One Of The Best In The Nation
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (CBS) - A national magazine just released a list of the top ten boardwalks in the country and two along the Jersey Shore were honored.
Atlantic City and Wildwood were given top ten honors by National Geographic as having two of the nation's most popular boardwalks (see the full list here).
Margaret Loftus, contributing editor at the magazine, put the list together. She calls Atlantic City's the "grandfather of boardwalks": "The first wooden planks were laid in Atlantic City in 1870 to curb the amount of sand beachcombers tracked into the train and hotel lobbies."
Loftus says there is plenty to do on Wildwood's boardwalk and it is truly unique, "It was interesting because of its architecture, known as "doo-wop" architecture. And we just also thought it was pretty much one of the kitschiest boardwalks in the country."
Ben Rose, with Wildwoods Tourism Department, is happy to see the boardwalk get its recognition, "A lot of organizations do come to the Wildwoods and look at our boardwalk as an example of what a true Jersey Shore boardwalk is all about." He says he's glad word has spread, "The national audience will now know exactly what our nine million visitors a year experience."
News of the honor had Maureen Siman, with Atlantic City Tourism, very excited, "(I'm) absolutely thrilled for one of our biggest assets and a historic asset. Other cities around the country have modeled their boardwalks off of Atlantic City's original boardwalk. Because, as you know, we were the first in the country to build a boardwalk."
Reported by Tim Jimenez, KYW Newsradio 1060
