Atlantic City Historical Museum, The Boardwalk & Absecon Lighthouse

Next we headed back into Atlantic City to see the Atlantic City Historical Museum and its exhibit "Atlantic City, Playground of the Nation". The Museum is located on The Garden Pier.

A statue of Mr. Peanut greets guests as a reminder of the Mr. Peanut who strolled The Boardwalk entertaining visitors in years past.

Long before 1978, when the casino industry was born in Atlantic City, the resort city's 500 Club was known for its entertainment. Frequent performer Dean Martin first paired up there with Jerry Lewis.

Monopoly, the game which features the streets of Atlantic City, began being mass-produced in 1934 but its history actually dates back to the turn of the century. Charles Darrow has historically been credited with creating the game, but modern historians consider Darrow one of the game's final "developers".

One of Atlantic City's even earlier claims to fame started with the 1921 Miss America Pageant. The pageant was an annual occurrence until it moved to Las Vegas nearly 85 years later in 2006.

The ever-popular rolling chairs of Atlantic City, human-powered taxis, have an even earlier origin than the Miss America Pageant. The rolling chairs began rolling down The Boardwalk in the 1800's.

Next it was time to take a brief gander down The Boardwalk.

The Steel Pier is basically an amusement park built on a pier and dates back to 1898! Unfortunately, like many such attractions around the country, The Steel Pier has been continually in danger of closing in favor of other development projects in recent years. We'll get a closer look a little later.

The Steel Pier sits in front of the Trump Taj Mahal.

The Boardwalk of Atlantic City is about 3 miles long and connects to the Ventnor/Margate boardwalk creating the world's longest boardwalk at 5.75 miles.

Next, we climbed these stairs to the top of the Absecon Lighthouse, just a few blocks from The Boardwalk.

The view from the top of the Absecon Light (as it is also known) takes in most of Atlantic City's skyline.

The Atlantic Ocean is just a stone's throw away.

The lighthouse first lit in 1857 and then deactivated in 1933, a few years prior to Marlon's birth.

Although the light DOES still shine every night, it is no longer an active navigational aid.

Here's a view looking up into the light.

The Absecon holds the claim as the most-visited lighthouse in America.

Doug waves to everyone who wondered if he would be able to climb the 228 steps of New Jersey's tallest lighthouse.

In 1878, a life boat station was located at the base of the Absecon Lighthouse.

See a view from the top in the second half of this video.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/june/atlantic-city-nj/ pictures 104-180.

To be continued...