Michael had a call around lunchtime, so we had a relaxed morning, with Lisette and Sheila getting a chance to go for a trek and explore Turkey Swamp Park. We'd parked there overnight, so the next day we walked along some of the trails by the water, seeing ducks swimming on the surface, and a row of colorful canoes lined up on the banks, likely finished its use for the season. Fallen leaves from the trees around us were littered on the ground, and cool gusts of wind permeated the park, making it abundantly clear that autumn, and soon, winter would arrive.
Asbury Park and The Four Seasons
When we'd talked to Lisette's cousins the other day they'd suggested to visit Asbury Park and continue to make our way down the Jersey shore, so we went to Asbury Park, a cute seaside town, which had an auditorium from 1894 and a row of lovely Victorian houses lined up on the street leading to the beach.
There was a boardwalk that snaked alongside the beach with shops and arcades, although the busy area was in one spot along the beach, where there were a filming crew (we saw lights, trucks, and other associated equipment), who it turns out were there to film the second season of The Four Seasons, a Netflix comedy-drama starring Steve Carrell and Tina Fey (we could see the filming in action, but no sign of the stars while we were there)!
We kept walking along the boardwalk, which had a lot of little shops lined along it. All the food stalls were boarded up for the season, although there were a handful of buildings with restaurants and shops still open, and we passed a few folks walking along who were also tolerating the cooler ocean gusts. At the end of the boardwalk on one side we arrived at the Paramount Theatre, a live performance venue. We were still able to go inside, where there were a handful of souvenir shops still open. Heading back to the RV, we also passed the Silverball Retro Arcade (an arcade starring pinball machines from the 1930s to the present), and the remants of Asbury Park Casino, an abandoned casino from the 1920s.
That evening, we stopped overnight at Celia Cruz Service Area, a nice and clean travel stop operated by Applegreen (the same company we'd stayed at previously north of Manhattan). Seems like they are rather prevalent in this part of the US, and they've been pretty good to stay at! Inside the travel stop was some memorabilia dedicated to Celia Cruz, a Cuban singer known as the "Queen of Salsa", who was a central figure in New York's salsa scene.
An Accidental, Scenic Stop
The next morning we planned to explore more of the Jersey Shore, but some confusing road signs led us first to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, where there were a bunch of folks spending the weekday fishing, and we saw a boat or two on the water. We took Sheila out for a bit to enjoy the weather and our surroundings, and ended up chatting to a local, Cosmo, who picked up on Michael's accent immediately since his wife is originally from Perth! He mentioned that his son also got into the engineering program at the University of New South Wales, so we got to chat about Australia for a bit. Turns out he was sitting here for his lunch break (a lovely view!), and he also gave us some recommendations on places to visit, including Assateague Island, an island that's within the borders of Maryland and Virginia, where people can see wild horses in the national park, by the beach or near the marshes.
Arriving in Atlantic City
We arrived in Atlantic City, finding an open plot of land to park right near the boardwalk. Since it's not peak season, we were able to get on our bikes and cruise around, first stopping at a dog park so Sheila could run around--she was happy to do so, but was less inclined to go on any of the doggy obstacle course, which we thought looked really fun but she had absolutely no interest in trying! Oh well, fortunately there are no plans for her to compete in dog shows! Near this was the Absecon Lighthouse, the third-tallest masonry lighthouse in the country and the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey, standing at 171 feet (over 52 meters).
One of the highlights of our visit to Atlantic City was definitely cycling on the boardwalk, which was pretty, quiet and flat, with only the occasional thud from the bike wheel hitting a wooden plank. We passed big casino resorts like Ocean Casino Resort, an all-glass skyscraper standing out along the boardwalk, and briefly got off the boardwalk to see Atlantic City's first slot machine at the Resort Casino.
Getting back on the boardwalk, another historic spot was Missouri Avenue Beach (also known as Chicken Bone Beach), a historically segregated beach for African Americans from around 1900 until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Its name came from families who brought fried chicken for picnics and buried the bones in the sand afterwards.
As we biked along the boardwalk, it was fun to see all of the different casinos, kitschy souvenir shops, and other touristy sights along the way! We had the beach on the other side with wild reeds in front of the sand, and we passed other bikers, folks walking, and little tourist buses transporting folks from one side of Atlantic City to the other. We got as far down the boardwalk to see the Greek Temple Monument, a circular, memorial with 16 columns, built in 1922 to honor New Jersey's World War I veterans. In the center of the monument there's a bronze sculpture called "Liberty in Distress" of a nude Lady Liberty with a dying soldier, but we were initially confused because we'd looked at it from the wrong angle, and thought that the sculpture had melted! But oh, we just needed to see it from a different side, whoops.
Heading back along the boardwalk from where we came, we passed the Miss America Pageant Monument, a bronze statue of Miss America holding out a crown for visitors to pose under--and yes, of course we fell for this photo opportunity with Lisette pretending that she was being crowned the winner! It turns out that the first Miss America pageant was held there in 1921--wow, it's over a century old!
We got back to the RV, and Michael decided he'd ride back to Ocean Casino Resort to try his gambling luck, as this could very well be his last opportunity to do so on this trip (spoiler alert: he lost a bit of money, rather than lining his pockets with a bit more dough). While he was away, Lisette and Sheila went for a walk in the neighborhood. The streets felt quiet and suburban, with a couple of parks nearby and a boat dock. Since we were in an open plot of land near the water, it was rather windy, and the gusts continued to blow throughout the night. Not too strong and scary, but the wind definitely had an icy chill to it!