Anyone been there?

It's disgusting. Don't even bother with Atlantic City, it's really ugly, nothing compared to Vegas. But I've lived in Jersey, and I'd have to say parts of the Jersey Shore are beautiful and defiantely worth checking out. But avoid Atlantic City at all costs, people on this forum will say "well there is great architecture and history!" and what not, well if you want great architecture and history than just go to NYC or Philly.

Don't you think starting out that post with "it's disgusting" is a little harsh? First off, yeah, Atlantic City is what it is. Casinos + ghetto + beach. 2 out of those 3 things are sleazy anywhere.

But don't just tell someone asking that its "disgusting". I live in south Jersey and the beaches/shore towns here are great places. Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Cape May, Longport, Margate. These are family resorts and people keep building on those islands, I see it in Sea Isle every time I'm there. There're boardwalks in a lot of towns with shops and things like that. The shores in central Jersey pull in a crowd too. The NJ barrier islands are awesome shores, it's not just the end-of-land shores of other places.

So hopefully you'll disregard the other person's complete negativity and give them a try.

My girlfriend's family has a getaway home in Margate, and it's a very nice town. Very close-knit and very Jewish. The vast majority of Margate weekenders come from the Philly metro, but I met a good number of Baltimore and New York people too. Everyone leaves their doors open and people come and go, kind of like a Seinfeld episode. I really like the Jersey shore. That said, there are plenty of dumpy parts as well.

Don't you think starting out that post with "it's disgusting" is a little harsh? First off, yeah, Atlantic City is what it is. Casinos + ghetto + beach. 2 out of those 3 things are sleazy anywhere.

But don't just tell someone asking that its "disgusting". I live in south Jersey and the beaches/shore towns here are great places. Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Cape May, Longport, Margate. These are family resorts and people keep building on those islands, I see it in Sea Isle every time I'm there. There're boardwalks in a lot of towns with shops and things like that. The shores in central Jersey pull in a crowd too. The NJ barrier islands are awesome shores, it's not just the end-of-land shores of other places.

So hopefully you'll disregard the other person's complete negativity and give them a try.

It's disgusting. Don't even bother with Atlantic City, it's really ugly, nothing compared to Vegas. But I've lived in Jersey, and I'd have to say parts of the Jersey Shore are beautiful and defiantely worth checking out. But avoid Atlantic City at all costs, people on this forum will say "well there is great architecture and history!" and what not, well if you want great architecture and history than just go to NYC or Philly.

hey look at that.

My family has a house in Cape May, and Cape May is not disgusting it is a very nice place to live and or visit...most houses in Cape May go for over 1,000,000 dollars...and the city is very green and pretty

North of Cape May, Middle Township is not that great, like towns like Rio Grande, The Villas, etc...but along the shoreline, even places like Wildwood and building up nicely...Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbour, are all amazingly posh and ritzy places that are great for families and tourists...Long Beach Island is amazing, my brother has a house tehre in beach haven and I love it, absolutely amazing place, only about .25 mile wide if that but over 40 miles long

I would visit:

Cape May
Stone Harbour
Beach Haven
Wildwood

but avoid:

Atlantic City
Middle Township/Rio Grande, Cape May Courthouse
Ocean City
and even Sea Isle City (although it is not that bad)

ppffft. avoid sea isle? why? i havent seen anything bad there in the 13 years we've been going.

Why should we avoid AC and OC? I don't understand the violent hate for any place with dingy buildings on this board... I think AC's pretty damn interesting, if mainly because of this very reason. It was once the grandest vacation destination in the country, and its slow decline into a debauched working class immigrant haven because of the introduction of gambling is a harbringer of what Las Vegas has in store for itself in sixty years. The Downbeach communities on AC's island (Margate and Ventnor) are nice places to stay that are more focused on the beach, and good places to eat.

OC also has some nice houses. It's nothing like AC so I guess I wonder why it was tossed into this list... it's a dry town, no bars, so the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed and the historical structures have less drunks to deal with. Its boardwalk is mostly aimed at teenagers and families.

Wildwood has the biggest and most interesting boardwalk of any South Jersey shore point, including Moreys Piers (amusement and water park) and a lot of other old relics. The beach in Wildwood is free too, which is a definite plus when compared to the other towns' beach tag prices.

Cape May is great for a day trip, but too expensive to stay in unless you're pretty wealthy.

I was really disapointed at AC, I didn't really like it, the boardwalk was interesting, but still dirty, and at night when you go to the beach, it's full of cats, I don't know where they came from.
And back at the shore, I was pretty amazed but the water wasn't cold, but the beach is not the best around. If I had to compare it, I would say Atlantic City is Coney Island with Casinos and Hotels, nothing special about it.

Well, the Jersey Shore is mainly a standard, crowded, NE beach area. There are a few exceptions, but if you want to stay away from crowds, travel further south to the southern Delmarva pennisula or the Outer Banks. If you want a large boardwalk, many places on the Jersey Shore will make you happy.

The Jersey Shore is ugly in comparison to any beach in Florida. That being said, it's a beach. Better to have an ugly beach than no beach at all. ;)

minus constant hurricanes.

I went to Sandy Hook recently. The beach was pretty nice (national recreation area) and there's views of the distant Manhattan skyline!

Also Long Beach Island has some nice beaches and a state park.

Atlantic City, thumbs down
Jershey Shore, thumbs up

Atlantic City is a disappointment. Stone Harbor, Sea Isle City, Wildwood. AVALON. These are hot places on the Jersey Shore.

Atlantic City is all right but don't go to the far north part of the boardwalk.
I'm not into the whole casino thing, but I still found the south area around the Hilton and towards Vetnor to be very nice. Beaches are good.

Wildwood is hectic, crazy, and I love it. Usually I stick to Wildwood Crest though; the boardwalk is fun and the "....Wwwwwat....wwww...wwwatcch..the train car...plea..se....wwwww...watch the train...car.....please.." that's some sweet memories right there. (Anybody whose been to Wildwood knows what I'm talking about :D )

Cape May is real nice, I didn't like having to pay for the beaches though.

The zoo in Cape May Courthouse is worth a stop.

Ocean City is alright. I'd visit it again.

Does anyone know if that huge powerplant that you can see on that bridge on the Garden State Parkway going down past the Atlantic City exits is nuclear?
I could even see it from my hotel room in the Tropicana.... :eek:

...
that tramcar. i'll kill it.
every time i go there i get the urge to make a rap out of that lady's voice.

while i don't know if that power plant is nuclear, here's a neat picture of it my gf took:

http://www.sushipopsicle.com/foto/misc/DSC02700.JPG

that's a nice pisture, but diagonal just doesn't work. it's disorienting.

atlantic city isn't the most upscale place, but it is basically the las vegas of the east, and the gambling is pretty good. i've been to both places. atlantic city is a better place to go on a day trip, though, whereas las vegas is more of a week trip. of course, i also live near atlantic city.

cape may is a very nice town. it has the highest conecntration of victorian homes of any town in the united states. and these victorian homes are not just any old homes. they are the best of the best, and they all look like elaborate dollhouses. there are also carriage rides and other things. going to cape may is almost like stepping back into time 100 years. cape may is one town that everyone should visit if they are in the area.
i would say that other towns are generally the same, i haven't been to that many other, but i don't know how they can separate themselves from one another. i've been to sea isle city, and it's pretty much like rehoboth beach, delaware, or ocean city, maryland. these towns have their differences, but it is not like comparing sea isle city to cape may. i think any town along the jersey shor or in delaware or maryland would satisfy any basic urge to go to the beach, get some salt water taffy, etc.

The Jersey Shore for the most part is nice. AC isn't that nice, but you can a lot of fun there if it's your type. I don't know what you're looking for. There are a lot of places like the prior mentioned, Cape May, Avalon and Sea Isle City are really nice. There are some other nice places in the north. It's def not like FL beach or even a NC beach, but it's nice to chill and relatively good in the summer.

Atlantic city is adding more shopping. They are trying to be a little more like Las Vegas. In the Philly Inquierer today the had an article in the business section. There is a big outlet mall in downtown and the Borgota casino looks nice.

I heard the Borgata is adding a new building to satisfy demand. And isn't the Quarter there now? I haven't been to AC in forever.. really need to check these things out.

Here's an interesting article from last Sunday's Inquirer:

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/10773823.htm

Las Vegas: Wish we were you

It's not just about gambling anymore. So Atlantic City is following the leader in offering a total experience.

By Suzette Parmley

Inquirer Staff Writer


ATLANTIC CITY - Avi Toledo, 48, walked past the gambling hall at Tropicana Hotel & Casino recently and headed straight for the new retail stores.

Instead of testing his luck on the slot machines or table games, Toledo is wagering on Atlantic City; he spent his entire visit trying to find a location on the Boardwalk for his upscale Manhattan-based women's couture shop.

"I like what they did in the city with all the stores," said Toledo, as he peered inside a Brooks Bros. men's store inside the Quarter, a new $285 million, Havana-themed non-gambling expansion at the Tropicana.

A combination of new competition and changing consumer preferences have forced a sea change in the gambling industry, and Atlantic City is in the midst of a major transformation: It's becoming "Vegas East."

Like Las Vegas, Atlantic City has added luxury casino hotels, golf courses, high-end spas, and upscale retailers and restaurants over the last year and a half - and is marketing them as all part of the casino experience.

There is a new urgency for Atlantic City. With Pennsylvania poised to add as many as 61,000 slot machines starting in 2007, gaming analysts predict slot parlors there could siphon as much as 10 percent of Atlantic City's total annual revenue. Last year, New Jersey casinos racked up $4.8 billion, with 74 percent coming from slots. So the city is reinventing itself to offer more than just gambling. It wants to shed its image as a day-trip market.

"All of the new attractions will better position Atlantic City to compete in the future as neighboring states expand the kinds of gambling that they offer," said Linda Kassekert, chairwoman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which regulates gaming in Atlantic City.

The opening of the $1.1 billion Borgata in July 2003 altered Atlantic City's landscape, much as the $650 million Mirage did in Vegas when it opened in 1989. For Vegas, the Mirage was the first mega-casino with luxurious hotel rooms, a crowd-pleasing volcanic display at its entrance, and a large array of non-gambling attractions under one roof.

Tim Wilmott, chief operating officer of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which is poised to acquire Caesars Entertainment Inc. this year to become Atlantic City's largest casino operator with four properties, said Atlantic City was drawing a new type of customer.

"It's attracting a new clientele - younger, not as gaming-centric as Atlantic City has traditionally seen, and that's very encouraging," Wilmott said. "That's really the story for the past five or seven years in Las Vegas, so hopefully, Atlantic City can catch up."



Just how far Atlantic City has to go is reflected in who Vegas brings in. Lara Colagrosa and Isabella Verdi, both from Rome, felt at home inside the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas recently.

"We don't gamble," said Colagrosa on a balmy afternoon in the resort long known for extravagance, as she and Verdi strolled past the Fountain of the Gods piazza. "We come here for the shopping and dining." As the duo shopped, their husbands played blackjack at the Bellagio.

More than 2,000 miles away in Atlantic City, Marion Ferguson and her cousin, Susan Hardiman, were awed by the architectural ceiling patterns throughout the Quarter.

Despite frigid conditions outside on the Boardwalk, it was sunny and festive inside the Quarter. Its imitation palm trees, live Latin band and bright tropical colors evoke Old Havana in its 1950s, pre-communist resplendence.

The Forum Shops and the Quarter are strikingly similar. Both have large water fountains in center courtyards. Both feature a variety of restaurants and retail stores. Both look as if they are somewhere they are not.

"It's fantastic," Hardiman said, staring up at the skyscape in the Quarter and watching the projected clouds drift by.

Ferguson and Hardiman had something else in common with their compatriots in Las Vegas. "The boys are in there, and we're shopping," Ferguson said, pointing to the gaming floor where their husbands played craps and slots.

Hardiman, 34, from Dublin, Ireland, said she last visited Atlantic City in July 2003, for the opening of the Borgata. On her return trip, she said she was astonished by the city's physical transformation.

In the heart of downtown, where there were once large vacant lots, now stands an eight-block giant outlet mall called the Walk, with stores like Bass, Liz Claiborne and Tommy Hilfiger.

Scott Gordon is developing the Pier at Caesars, a $170 million, multidimensional, mega-complex with giant video screens throughout that will resemble Times Square on a luxury cruise liner with retail, dining and entertainment. The 320,000-square-foot Pier, which will be connected to Caesars' casino on the Boardwalk by an enclosed, glass skybridge, is set to open in late fall.

"This is the first time that I've seen, in years, a concentration of nongaming and gaming improvements . . ." in Atlantic City, said Gordon, whose father, Sheldon Gordon, co-built the Forum Shops. "For 15 years, nothing was happening."



Since the Mirage debuted in 1989, Las Vegas has undergone a near constant metamorphosis. Long seen as Hollywood's playground or the place for a quick, no-frills wedding, Las Vegas began attracting more families and non-gamblers after the Mirage opened. The city's other casino owners took note and responded with their own bigger and pricier attractions.

"As the destination grew, we expanded our market," said Terry Jicinsky, head of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "First regionally, then nationally. And now worldwide."

Celebrity chefs, such as Bradley Ogden and Wolfgang Puck, and trendy nightclubs, such as ghostbar at the Palms Casino Resort, are attracting a younger clientele - the same demographic that Atlantic City is heavily targeting with similar venues such as the mixx nightclub at the Borgata.

"They all speak to the diversity of our offerings," Jicinsky said. "Now that we're attracting 37 million visitors, you can't work within one market segment."

On a recent evening in Las Vegas, Celine Dion performed at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and the circus-inspired "O" by Cirque du Soleil headlined at the Bellagio. As it neared midnight, Mike Rizk, 27, of New Brunswick, N.J., paid the bouncer $200 to get to the front of a line that stretched for three blocks for ghostbar, located on the 55th floor of the Palms overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.

Ghostbar is an ultra lounge - a hybrid of a traditional discotheque and nightclub. Inside, it resembles an ultra-hip, intergalactic space lounge with art-deco furniture in silver, white and blue.

"This is the place to be," said Rizk, as a Linkin Park song blared through speakers, and wall-to-wall of young bodies mingled or gyrated to the rhythm. "It's the whole environment - the sights, the sounds. Everything."

Atlantic City is hoping a little bit of Vegas will go a long way toward shoring up its future. The Showboat Hotel Casino announced in early January that it is adding a $65 million House of Blues restaurant and music hall - like the one at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

"One feeds off the other," said Jeffrey Chodorow, principal owner of Red Square, a Russian-themed restaurant operating at Mandalay Bay since 1999 - and which opened last month at the Quarter. "The more you put there, the more reason to go there."

Toledo, the New York businessman, will open the sixth store of his Parisian women's couture chain, Montmartre, at the Pier at Caesars - his first shop outside of New York City.

"We like the feeling of new, and getting into a new place," he said. "It's an opportunity you could really do well with."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Suzette Parmley at 856-779-3818 or sparmley@phillynews.com.

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What Happens in Vegas Isn't Staying in Vegas
Key developments in the evolution of two gambling resorts.

1931: Gambling legalized in Nevada. 1978:

New Jersey legalizes gambling in Atlantic City.

1989:

The $650 million Mirage opens in Las Vegas.

1990:

The $1 billion Trump Taj Mahal opens in Atlantic City.

1992:

The Forum Shops, a shopping mall at Caesars Palace, opens in Las Vegas.

1993:

The $1 billion MGM Grand Hotel & Theme Park opens in Las Vegas.

1998:

The $1.7 billion Bellagio Hotel & Casino opens in Las Vegas.

1999:

The $1 billion Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino opens in Las Vegas.

2003:

The $1.1 billion Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa opens in Atlantic City.

2004:

An $80 million outlet mall, called the Walk, and the $285 million Quarter, a retail, dining and entertainment complex, at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City open.

2005:

The $170 million Pier at Caesars, a third shopping venture, is scheduled to open in Atlantic City.

Atlantic City is good as a quick side trip. And that is all.

But the Borgata is quite nice though.

Atlantic City is a casino city. And you can't expect more. If you take away casinos there will no AC at all. If you wanna go to the beach there are better places for that (all mentioned in previous posts).
Cape May is oldest city in the area, historical place, very nice.
All the other cities along The Shore are resort towns. But all is changing nowadays with a lot of motels being demolished and condos built instead.
So the only good thing about The Shore itself is beach (in the summer?)

We've been going to the shore every year for the past 15 years and we haven't been to the beach in like the last 2. Obviously the beach is huge. But we go other places too, Pleasantville to the north has some unique stores, and we go to other shore towns (Stone Harbor, Cape May, Atlantic City, Ocean City) for the afternoon or something. Boardwalks and stuff. There's shopping like everywhere. Or miniature golf, or dining, or whatever else is around. It's a resort area, there's usually something to do. But I mean the beach *is* big for a lot of people. And there's boating and all that stuff too.

I've gone to Wildwood for almost every year of my life and I can't say I was ever disappointed. I think it's great.

http://img209.exs.cx/img209/8417/prheader0wn.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img76.exs.cx/img76/5580/acskyline29sk.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img81.exs.cx/img81/752/atlanticcityskyline0gl.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img19.exs.cx/img19/2750/atlanticcitymap2sw.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://img219.exs.cx/img219/9273/ac19hk.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

www.agentm.com/ pics/2003-08-23_ACY/

Atlantic City skyline from Ocean City

http://www.globalphotos.org/philadelphia/20040822/RIMG8091.jpg

The beaches were OK.

http://www.globalphotos.org/philadelphia/20040822/RIMG8089.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/philadelphia/20040822/RIMG8059.jpg

NOT reading the previous posts (hence my 100% honest opinion) - Atlantic city really isn't all the bad. The beaches are covered in shells and shell fragments so parts of the beach you can hurt youself really easily on. But overall, the atmosphere of the boardwalk isn't all that bad, I kind of like it. The homes near Atlantic City are on the shady side of things, a girl from Newark said some of the homes around AC are low income and can be dangerous in some parts. Just like OC in MD.

Although, I would enjoy it more if it was more "European" :cheers:

I enjoyed the Jersey Shore. Seaside Hts. is a nice beach area with a boardwalk and lots of good looking women.

Jersey shore rocks my socks. It's not Florida It's not New England . The Jersey shore has a unique kind of feeling that you can't find anwhere else o utter coolness. We are gonna rent a summer home in Wildwood this summer which is gonna be awsome. (If youare gonna gosomewhere on the JHersey shore I recomend Wildwood because it has a huge beach that does not get overcrowded alot)

Im going to Ocean City in June for a week. ohhhhhhhhhh baby :cheers:

:D :D :D :D Hell yeah! I've been going down to the Jersey shore every summer since birth! Avalon/Stone Harbor are the nicest, but Wildwood, Cape May, and Sea Isle are also great places to chill. I like how there is a lot of diversity and differentiation between areas: Avalon is really high class and pristine, Cape May Courthouse is an historic Victorian town, and Wildwood is more "dirty Jerz" but has a great boardwalk and attractions. Definitely the best shoreline North of South Beach!

my family's been going to sea isle for like 14 years now.. smaller than neighboring ocean city, but a pretty cozy+cute place. townsend's inlet (above about 80th st.) is pretty cool, it has its own charm. We love it.

You know what my favorite part of wildwood is? That you can get married on the boardwalk, by the end that's near the convention center or whatever it is ;)

jersey shore rawks

so what's your favorite town to have fun on the jersey shore?

I actually visited last summer, shortly after starting this thread. I went to Atlantic City, Wildwood, Cape May and Long Beach Island. I wanted to see Seaside heights, avalon, ocean city and margate.

It was a pretty nice area, although i think that Atlantic City could use a boost in its nightlife.

btw, long beach island had very nice beaches.

Jay Z and Beyonce are opening a club