From East Coast classics to West Coast promenades
For nostalgic Americans, boardwalks are the stuff of summer dreams, mixing memories of salt water taffy at sunset, white-knuckled wooden rollercoaster rides and kids with dogs racing along weathered walkways.
James Lilliefors, author of “America’s Boardwalks, From Coney Island to California,” says boardwalks have always been “bright, alluring, loud, lucrative and very American.”
Still, as Park World magazine reported in 2007, “In the 1920s there were more than 1,500 authentic seaside amusement parks in the United States, today there are less than two dozen.” Despite these dwindling numbers, those that remain are flourishing: Where once boardwalks were merely the venue for the world's greatest oddities, now they have a civic purpose, acting as a nexus for local business and a spur to nostalgia-based urban renewal.
GO HERE to read more.
5 comments:
Funny Ocean Chity didn't make the list. Delaware had two.
Rehobeth is my favorite boardwalk on the shore. I find that the retail on that boardwalk is of higher quality - not just a bunch of stores selling the same kind of junk. I also wish that Grotto Pizza would open up something in Worcester County - awesome pizza!!!
Is that as in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang we love you?
Too bad so few locals can AFFORD to enjoy the Rehoboth boardwalk.
No difference in that & the Ocean City one.
Must be an entry fee, you know like the one for "best little town".
Post a Comment