A walk on the Boardwalk

The Atlantic City blackjack games may not be the best in the country and the weekends might not see $10 players get many comps, but one thing always remains -- the Boardwalk. We would call it the Atlantic City Boardwalk but in truth the Boardwalk extends from Atlantic City through Ventnor, Margate and Longport, which is the tail end on the South.

These three non-Atlantic City areas are dominated by ocean waves, not hotels, mostly beautiful private homes, plenty of white sand and some areas where the ocean goes right under the Boardwalk itself. Here you will see swimmers and fishermen, in lazy recline, along with summer people enjoying the sun and fun; bicyclists, roller skaters, joggers, walkers and people who are just gazing at the waters that stretch all the way out there.

The non-Atlantic City towns have a slow-paced lifestyle, unlike the feverish pitch of Atlantic City's section of the Boardwalk. There are very few pigeons and the seagulls content themselves with real seagull food like clams and fish, as opposed to the Atlantic City gulls who will eat your lunch, your popcorn and part of your arm if you let them. We wonder if the Atlantic City seagulls have ever seen the sea.

Even during the most populous time of the summer, the Ventnor, Margate and Longport areas are quiet.

On the Atlantic City Boardwalk, human life abounds -- the quiet-stepping elderly, the loud youth, the steely-eyed criminals, the bums and all those Boardwalk performers. There's the lady gospel singer between Resorts and Claridge; the drummer some steps from her often drowning her out; a saxophonist who is outside Bally's; a strange-looking dancer who can't dance outside Caesars (where a late performer used to play her keyboard with her monstrously long tongue).

There are some occasional bums who see themselves as brilliant preachers mouthing incoherencies as they ask for your money. There are other bums urinating into the sands. These you'll find early in the morning before the cops scoot them away.

You also have a shipload of feral cats that live under the Boardwalk near Resorts and Taj Mahal. Most of these cats have been neutered, but they still love the sand, which is a comforting place to relieve themselves. The cops, the crowds, the vicious gulls -- nothing can shoo these cats away.

The restaurants on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City range from OK to quite good, but the crowds make Boardwalk dining overly hectic and those gulls make it dangerous. If you like New York-style pizza, the Boardwalk has several really great pizza parlors. You can buy touristy items that range from the awfully awful to the awfully expensive. Some of them are even good.

If you are looking to take your mind off your problems or your losses, Ripley's Believe It or Not can show you many people with far greater problems than most of us will ever have.

The summer months see the casinos using the beach for their outdoor bars. The young flock to these to hunt for mates while the old stand near them to watch these rituals. And even if you are tired, you can always go up and down the Boardwalk on those chair rides pushed by men who are indestructible.

The Boardwalk. There's a reason why people flock to walk it. Give it a try next time you are visiting AC.