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...

Peterson's Garage, Milk Jug Flag & Lucy the Elephant, New Jersey

This morning we headed to a few offbeat places.

First, we visited Peterson's Garage in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey.

Here we browsed through Owner Tom Peterson's collection of sculptures fabricated from scrap metal and auto parts.

We found The Statue of Liberty in all her glory in anticipation of seeing the real deal soon.

The sculptures are fun to examine to figure out what exactly they are made out of.

There's even abundant wildlife here, such as dinosaurs and alligators.

A family of tin men stands guard at the front door of the business.

Photo albums inside the garage highlight many of Tom's sculptures, which he sells to collectors from near and far.

Here's a dog sculpture which doubles as a barbecue grill.

In the garage's waiting room, the chairs are made from old automobile seats.

As you drive around Egg Harbor City, you may some of Tom's creations in his neighbors' yards. We spotted an indian...

Captain Jack from Pirates of the Caribbean... and this couple waved as we drove by.

Next we headed out US 40 to Mays Landing and found this house which displays a flag made of over 1,000 milk jugs.

Then we headed to Margate where we found Lucy the Elephant, who has to be the world's oldest elephant.

Oldest and largest currently standing building shaped like an elephant, that is...

You enter Lucy the Elephant's legs to climb the stairs into what has served as a restaurant, a business office, a cottage and a tavern during various periods since Lucy's completion in 1882.

The interior of Lucy features high ceilings and ornate woodwork.

A group of concerned citizens saved Lucy from a scheduled demolition in 1970 and Lucy was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

See Lucy's interior in the first half of this video.

Margate Beach can now be seen from one of Lucy's eyes.

Visitors can learn all about Lucy's history by viewing photographs and newspaper articles on her main level. A video of her history is also played for everyone's viewing.

Visitors can then climb to the top of Lucy and look down on the surrounding community of Margate.

Lucy's garden even grows in the form of her name.

The stairs leading back down to the main level...

Lucy recently went to the beauty parlor and got her toes painted.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/june/atlantic-city-nj/ pictures 1-103.

To be continued...

Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Our final destination for the day was Independence National Historical Park, also in Downtown Philadelphia.

Independence National Historical Park encompasses dozens of historical buildings directly relating to the founding of the United States.

One such building pictured here, Independence Hall, was the site of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

The most famous ringing of the Liberty Bell occurred on July 8, 1776, summoning Philadelphia citizens for the reading of the Declaration.

The Liberty Bell first cracked during its initial testing outside the Pennsylvania State House.

A second crack appeared some time later and was repaired in 1846. That same repaired crack grew on February 22, 1846 when the bell tolled for several hours in honor of George Washington's birthday.

Following the growth of the crack in 1846, the bell was no longer usable.

The Liberty Bell hung in this bell tower for its first 100 years.

In 1852, it was removed from the bell tower and placed on display in the "Declaration Chamber" of Independence Hall.

The American Flag flies high above Independence National Historical Park.

In the 1770s, Independence Hall was known as the Pennsylvania State House and housed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chamber.

Prisoners stood in the dock pictured here throughout the course of their court proceedings. Thus, the expression "standing trial" originated.

Across the hall from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chamber sits the Pennsylvania Assembly Room. The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were both signed here.

A famous guy and a not-so-famous guy pose in front of Independence Hall.

Watch a short carriage ride down the cobble-stoned street in front of Independence Hall in the last part of this video.

The U.S. flag Lincoln raised on this spot in 1861 had 34 stars. At the time, Kansas was the newest state to be admitted into the Union.

A short walk down the street we came across the Ben Franklin House.

Originally opened in 1925 as the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, Doug and his family stayed here during the Bicentennial celebration of 1976.

During the mid-1980s the hotel was converted to an apartment building.

Carpenters' Hall is a showcase for 18th century building trades and design. The buildings were closed by this time, but this courtyard view was kind of neat.
Here stands the First Bank of the United States restored to its 1790s appearance. It functioned much like a modern Federal Reserve Bank.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/june/philadelphia/ pictures 109-158.

To be continued...

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

From Valley Forge, we headed toward the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Our first stop was at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.

Poe lived in several houses in Philadelphia from 1837 to 1844, but this house is the only surviving one. It was Poe's final home in the city before moving to New York.

The house has NOT been restored to look as it did during Poe's time.

Ascend these stairs at your own risk.

Poe lived here with his wife, Virginia, who suffered from tuberculosis, and his mother-in-law, Maria Clemm.

Edgar and Virginia were also first cousins as Maria was also Edgar's aunt.

A view from the side yard of the house.

A view from the bad side of Doug reveals that this was not a good picture pose.

The National Historic Site consists of Poe's former residence and two adjoining residences which were built after Poe lived here.

An avid fan of Poe, Richard Gimbel (son of the founder of Gimbel's Department Store) purchased the home, refurbished it, opened it as a museum, and left the property to the city of Philadelphia upon his death.

The National Park Service took over the site in 1978 and opened it to the public in 1980.

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Doug appears to have lost some weight since his last photo.

Did you know that Edgar Allan Poe lived to the ripe old age of 40?

The scary basement of the house reminds us of one of Poe's stories...

particularly of "The Cask of Amontillado" in which a living man is entombed in a stone wall.

The reading room is not part of the original home but has been furnished based on Poe's theories in "The Philosophy of Furniture".

Here you can read Poe's works or listen to many of them on CD.

Poe's works are featured on compact disc in a volume of Smithsonian Legendary Performers.

This mural of Edgar Allan Poe can be found on a nearby building.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/june/philadelphia/ pictures 63-108.

To be continued...