We had a few quiet days in Ocean City on the Jersey Shore. Clouds rolled through, the boardwalk more or less closed up, and restaurants in town were nonexistent. After the hectic pace in New York, this was just about right. Then the sun came back out.
“Yeah, yeah, beach, ocean, whatever. First let me catch this little Pokemon dude.”
I’d never heard of Lucy the Elephant before. Right up the road from us, there she was, 135 years old and still going strong.
A little further along the road is Atlantic City. We went down there and climbed the Absecon Lighthouse, which looks out over what I imagine was once a thriving community. It’s a weird place—they’ve razed most of the houses, built a few parks and planted some grass, but a few homes remain, standing all off on their own. We had thought we’d walk along the boardwalk, and maybe grab some lunch, but after driving down the road that parallels the beach we thought better of it. The place is like a ghost town—a ghost town with thousands of hotel rooms.
We went back to Ocean City instead. It’s hard not to enjoy a day at the beach there.
10 Comments on “Lucy the Elephant”
This reminded me of the summer after 8th grade when I got to visit my east coast cousins who lived in Haddonfield, N. J. and would always rent a home for the summer at Stone Harbor. Lots of fun for a Seattle girl who had never seen the ocean!
Seattle and never seen the ocean..REALLY???
PS if you still hanging arouidn the area go up to Toms river and so some crabbing..One just wanders aroudn in the swallows and when you see a crab or one nibs your foot you grab it..great fun and good eating..
Is the interior of Lucy the Elephant just the gift shop?
No, interior is basically just a big open room. Feels like the interior of an old wooden ship. I guess they have weddings in there. The ceiling is painted a pinkish color to match the inside of an actual elephant’s stomach.
I think a lot of those houses were wipped out by hurricane Sandy. Cool place though. We haven’t taken a road trip to the east coast in years. We like Mystic Seaport, Glouster, and Salem. Enjoy.
Nope — those houses were wiped out by wrecking balls. Back when AC was going to be reborn from gaming revenues. Never happened.
Glad to see that Lucy is “alive” and well. Looks like you’re still carrying around that Presidente beer case — doesn’t that go back to sailing in the Dominican Republic? And your quote about AC — “a ghost town with a thousand hotel rooms” — is all too true. Enjoy the remainder of your time here in the Garden State!
If there wasn’t the scale of the kids and houses, I’d swear that elephant is made out of post-it notes.
The houses were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.