I've been to Phillies Spring Training in Clearwater a couple of times (that's what happens when you go to college in Florida).
But the Phillies didn't always travel so far. In 1898, they got ready for the baseball season in Cape May.
Read all about it here.
I'm going to cheat a little on this fact of the day - I'm off from my full time job today but have a long list of things to do for freelance and the book.
Last night, I worked late to finish up a dining piece for Edible Jersey magazine, and went to the website of the Knife & Fork to fact check that portion of the story. And came across this.
I'd known this, but haven't read it written so well before. Enjoy.
So what we we think of this series? I've enjoyed writing it, from the real facts to the silly ones. Worth continuing?
The first version of skee-ball is not what you see today. Invented by J.D. Estes of Philadelphia in 1909, the first version of this classic game had 36-foot ramps. It was also an outdoor game, and was invented as a much cheaper version of bowling.
"The real estate on a beachfront boardwalk is so expensive in terms of rent that no business could afford a full-scale bowling alley," said Angus Kress Gillepsie, professor of American Studies at Rutgers University and co-author of Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike. "What you have in effect is miniature bowling, same as miniature golf."
The alleys were cut down to 14 feet in 1929, and today they're between 10 and 13 feet. The benefit of shorter ramps is that you can fit more into one space, and it's a game more people can play, from the adults gunning for high scores, or kids whose parents help them along.
Atlantic City hosted the first skee-ball tournament in 1932. You'll find skee-ball in just about every shore town, and around the country. It's made appearances in the Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants, too.
This tip is drawn from a sidebar in the second edition, FYI. Yes, it's a travel guide, but I stuffed a lot of cool history facts in as well.
If you listen to NPR's Marketplace Money show, you'd have heard Saturday's edition, which was all about the history of healthcare and its roots in Philadelphia (if you don't listen, subscribe to the podcast. It's free and invaluable).
One of the reports, which you can hear here, is about Philip Physick, a Philadelphia doctor who is called the "Father of American Surgery" (click on the "Surgical Ampitheatre icon).
Name sound familiar? It should. His grandson, Emlen Physick, built the Emlen Physick Estate in Cape May. Emlen was also a doctor but, after graduating with his medical degree, promptly moved down the shore for good. If I remember correctly from my Physick Estate tour, he didn't practice medicine in town.
Atlantic City also got a shout out in this report about the history of annual physical, which took a stop at an AMA conference in Atlantic City in 1900.
This picture was snapped by Steve "PodcastSteve" Lubetkin. I laughed, of course -- I've been hearing about shoobies all summer.
So what's a shoobie? I say it's someone who comes down the shore during the summer but runs away after Labor Day. Local, year-round residents would probably disagree. To them, I am a shoobie, even though I come down in the fall, winter and spring (and I accept that -- as long as you buy my book!).
So where do you think the term "shoobie" came from? And don't just copy and paste what it says in Urban Dictionary. I heard that it came about because a post man would gather up flyers from local businesses, put them in shoe boxes, and give them to people coming down the shore on vacation, hence shoobies.
What's your version of the story?
On another note, shoobies apparently don't go to North Jersey beaches. They're Bennies up that way. I'll leave that explaination to Steve Chernoski of New Jersey: The Movie.
I'm going to admit it in public: I cheated. On the South Jersey shore, that is. And had a blast doing it.
On Sunday, I drove from Cape May up to Union Beach, NJ, which is near the top of New Jersey's coast (most people would call that area Central Jersey, though these guys are the experts on that). From there, I proceeded to Sandy Hook, which is the most northern shore spot in New Jersey. I'd never been there before, and was amazed by everything there was to do.
Sandy Hook is undeveloped -- well, at least recently. It was an army base and still home to some military, but most of the area is dedicated to birding, surfing, swiming, and what I did, albeit it in the rain: kite flying.
I also checked out the History House, which is a restored 1898 lieutenant's residence along "Officers Row" re-done to reflect the World War II era. Here's a few shots:
After that, it was off to dinner at Moonstruck in Asbury Park. I couldn't tell you much about the moon that night, but there was a beautiful complete rainbow we could see from the restaurant's deck.
I had fun. That area of the shore is very new to me, so I'm still exploring, but I think I'll go back again.
Thanks to everyone who came out to Pop Shop quizzo last night. I had a blast! Hope the questions weren't too hard ;-)
Today's a Cape May day in the offices of Jen A. Miller. No, I'm not there (yet) but editing the Cape May chapter.
It's such a cute town, one I didn't appreciate when I was a kid. I thought it was boring, and that the shopping along Washington Street was nothing compared to what any boardwalk had to offer, except for Whale's Tale (312 Washington Street Mall, Cape May, 609-884-4808), which has a fantastic room of kids stuff, including a tower of hand puppets.
Now that I've been digging into the history of this town, can enjoy restaurants where my placemat cannot be drawn on with crayon, and can afford to stay at some of the B&Bs, I love it. And it has such a colorful past. For example: the Cape May we know today -- that mecca of romance and Victorian archteicture -- wouldn't be here today if it hadn't been for a manmade disaster.
Early on the morning of
Of course the fire was devastating (though no one was killed). But something had to be built once the ashes were cleared away, which is when most of Cape May's gorgeous Victorian B&Bs were built. I've found most clock into existence around the 1880s.
I'll be in Cape May this weekend, too, finishing up research, noshing at the Lobster House (Fisherman's Wharf, Cape May Harbor, Cape May, 609-884-8296) and strolling down Washington Street to see the town at is vacation height.
If you're headed to Cape May this weekend -- or any shore town -- make sure you bring a jacket or someone to snuggle with. Highs are only hitting the 70s during the day, and dropping into the low 60s at night. It's the kind of weather I like best, but only if I'm not chilly.
What I'm Listening to: Dulcinea by Toad the Wet Sprocket
What I'm Reading: Gilded Lilli: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique by Kelly Dinardo
I hit a nice mark today: the Ocean City chapter is done and ready to be handed over to my assistant. Assistant? I've hired another area freelancer to call all the places I'm planning on writing about to make sure I got the phone, address, website, and hours of operation right. It's a blessing to have someone take that weight off my shoulders, even if it's going to cost me. This way, I can get back to the writing and hopefully produce a better book (which will lead to better sales, thus paying for the cost of hiring an assistant).
I learned a lot about why Ocean City is the way it is today e.g. no liquor. At all. You can't even BYO to any of Ocean City's restaurants. That's because the town was founded by four Methodist ministers, and the Christian mentality stuck. You couldn't even shop in Ocean City on Sundays until the late 1980s. I don't mind that this particular blue laws fell -- and I'm sure the shop owners appreciate the extra day of tourists those weeks during the high shore season.
Even if the no-liquor law might keep some people away from Ocean City, the town's never lacking in families that vacation there for that reason, and I think it's helped the town stay family friend whereas you've got bars bumping until the wee hours of the morning in Avalon, Stone Harbor, Sea Isle and Wildwood. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not exactly what you want to wake your kids up at night.
Housekeeping note: writer extraordinaire Matt Katz has started a blog called "The Engaged Guy." Read it here. And if you're wondering how he "proposed in a magazine article," click here. It's one of the coolest things I've been able to do as a freelancer. Good luck, you two crazy kids.
What I'm Listening To: Felicity, Music from the Hit Television Series. And stop laughing. I bought it for $1 at a yard sale, and it has songs from Aretha Franklin, Remy Zero and Peter Gabriel.
Last week, I toured Renault Winery (
During the 'dark ages,' Renault got itself a permit to keep making wine for religious and medicinal purposes. This wine went to the churches -- after all, how else were they going to drink the blood of Christ on Sundays if they didn't have wine? Renault also started making a medicinal product called Renault Wine Tonic. It was supposed to sooth an ailing stomach. But it also had an alcohol content of 22 percent -- that's not bad compared to today's wines, which clock in at about nine to 14 percent alcohol. The tonic's label warned that if the tonic was chilled, it would turn into wine. You can imagine what that did for sales.
They don't make Renault Tonic today (though you can see a poster on the tour), but they do make wine, and the grounds also include a golf course, two restaurants and the Tuscany House, which is a gorgeous and romantic spot tucked away from the general noise that is the Jersey shore, but close enough for it to be a vacation spot, which is why I'm writing about it here. That, and because the story of Renault Tonic makes me giggle."Can't you find that online?"
I'm not blaming the family member who posed this question. He was only trying to help.
Here's what happened: I told said family member that I was headed to the library to research the history of the shore towns, and he figured I should be able to find that information online. True, I could find bits and pieces, and I could plunder Wikipedia. But the journalist in me (which I'm sure my editor appreciates) knows that those summaries aren't enough, and that Wikipedia can be very wrong.
So I went about things the old fashioned way -- I went to the library, specifically the Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers University-Camden (RUC).
Me and Paul have a history. My graduate degree is from RUC. At the time, I was working part time, going to school full time and freelancing, so I spent a lot of time with Paul, reading, writing, killing time and sometimes napping between classes at one of his many desks and tables. It's not a pretty library, but that's part of the charm. There's nothing to distract you except for what's on the page in front of you. I like the basement level. It's quiet and chilly enough to call for long sleeves (why I work better in chilly temperatures, I'll never know -- I went to school in Florida, for Pete's sake). The windows are too high to look out from. Throw in my iPod to block out noise of other library patrons, and you have the perfect environment in which to read about the history of South Jersey shore towns. Plus, it's a Rutgers Library -- you can't get much better than that, especially when it comes to information about New Jersey.
And I certainly learned a lot:
The Summer City by the Sea by Emil R. Salvinti
It's an illustrated history of the rise and fall and rise of Cape May. Salvinti includes a chapter about the fire of 1878, which destroyed more than 35 acres of the city, from how it started to how much it destroyed. He even included a fold out map of the ruined area -- I've strolled those acres many times and can't even imaging how devistating it was to lose it all of that at one time.
Stone Harbor by T. Mark Cole and Cheryl Glasgow
Stone Harbor's been on the leading edge of wildlife preservation for quite some time. The town established a bird sanctuary in 1947, and the Wetlands Institute in 1972. They even ran a "Save the Point" campaign in 1970, long before Al Gore was cool. Or hot and bothered about the earth being hot and bothered.
Sea Isle City by Michael T. Stafford
Sea Isle City was founded by Charles K. Landis, who wanted to create a resort town much like the ones he'd seen on vacation in Italy. I doubt anyone thinks "Italy" as they're cruising Landis Avenue in Sea Isle City, but, hey, at least it was a start.
Ocean City by Frank J. and Robert J. Esposito
This family friendly resort was founded in 1879 as a Christian resort, which is the initial link to the town still being dry -- very dry. You can't even BYO to Ocean City restaurants. And, as of publication of this book at least, acclaimed author Gay Talese vacations here.
America's Boardwalks: From Coney Island to California by James Lilliefors.
This was my favorite of the bunch. Lilliefors is a long-time newspaper man and wraps the history of each boardwalk town into character studies of the people who make them unique. He writes in detail about how the Morey family established amusement piers on the Wildwood boardwalk, then took over and renovated their competition. I also like Lilliefors account of what architect Steven Izenour said about Wildwood: "Tacky with a capital T...what you need to do is take Tacky to new heights. In an increasingly homogenized commercial world, it's the perfect counterpunch strategy, and given the years of ad hoc evolution it took to make it what it is, nobody, not even Disney, could beat you at your game." Izenour was a huge champion for savoring and promoting Wildwood's Doo Wop architecture, which you can read about here.
I might have been able to find a lot of this information online, but it was much easier to flip through these books and jot down my notes. Sometimes the old fashioned way works just fine.
By the way, my master's degree isn't in writing or journalism. It's in literature. Do I use the degree in my current profession? Of course. I review books, and the only difference between yesterday's morning of research and any research I did for a graduate class paper is that, this time, I'm the one being paid for the work, instead of paying someone else for allowing me that privilege.
What I'm Listening to: Sounds of Sinatra.
Shermanstravel.com just announced their list of top 10 boardwalks in the United States. Sitting on top of that list is Atlantic City, and Ocean City is number six. Am I surprised? Not really, though why they picked the Ocean City Maryland boardwalk over the one in New Jersey, I'll never know.
Atlantic City's Boardwalk is the first in the country, and the longest. It's the only boardwalk that merits being spelled with a capital B because it's the original, and it started because Alexander Boardman, a conductor of the Camden & Atlantic Railroad, was fed up with tourists bringing the beach with them into his railcars. So he made a collapsible footpath of wooden paths. It was so popular with hotel owners, who also hated sand in their lobbies, that the city built a 10-foot wide boardwalk in 1870. It wasn’t a permanent fixture. The Boardwalk was made of 12-foot long sections that could be picked up and moved during high tide and storms, and in the winter.
Today, Atlantic City's Boardwalk is 5.75 miles of casinos, shops, restaurants and spectacle. I'd say it's the most diverse Boardwalk in southern New Jersey. You can step into luxury shops, pizza parlors and play the slots within feet of each other. Atlantic City also has bars on the beach, accessible via the Boardwalk, which you can't say for most other boardwalks in the area (Sorry, Carousel [43rd Street and the Beach, Sea Isle City, 609-263-4951] You don't have ocean views).(609) 263-4951
Like I've said before, I'm not a big Atlantic City fan, but a walk down the Boardwalk is great for people watching. I'm happier on the Ocean City boardwalk, which is 2.5 miles long and pure fun. I've been coming here since I was a newborn, literally (I'm a July baby), and while the names of some of the establishments have changed, and a few favorites have gone the way of Strawbridge & Clothier, the Ocean City boardwalk is still a destination for families. Jilly's (
