By Denise W., February 18, 2021 —[When I was] a child, my mother would travel all of the time.
The one place we really enjoyed is Atlantic City, but we enjoyed Atlantic City back in the ’60s. It was completely different from what you see now. There certainly weren’t any casinos there. It was a very family-oriented environment. We would stroll along the boardwalk, buy saltwater taffies. I would get on rides at the Steel Pier. And of course, the beach was a big part of the excitement and enjoyment.
We would go to a bathhouse, it was called Irene’s Bathhouse. We would go to Irene’s, you’d pay something, you get to change into your bathing suit. You would leave your clothes in the locker, go out to the beach and have fun. Then when you came from the beach you’d be sandy and grimy and you would be starving to death. So the good news, at Irene’s you could always take a nice shower, put on your new clothes, and then go back out to the boardwalk.
At that point, we would find wonderful things to eat. If you wanted a snack it would be everything you could imagine — [from] popcorn to cotton candy, anything you can imagine was there to eat. The french fries were the best. Dinnertime was especially the best because we would go to this place at the very end of the pier, it was called Captain Starn’s. Captain Starn’s was a seafood restaurant extravaganza. It had every type of fresh seafood there, it came right out of the ocean, of course right there was the Atlantic Ocean. So you could get clams or you could get fried shrimp. Also at Captain Starn’s, it was great that after eating—remember we’re all clean and fresh, we don’t have that nasty, yuck sand on us— we would go get a boat ride. Captain Starn’s was on a pier [so] they would have fast boat rides, and then they would have the slow cruises. So when it was hot we would love the speed boat rides because you feel the waves, the wind, and the breeze from off the ocean while you’re moving quickly on the boat. So, it was just wonderful. Or when we wanted to relax we’d get on the sightseeing boat that was about an hour and a half but it was more of a cruise, a slower pace. Either way, it was fun.
Then of course we’d go to Fralinger’s. Fralinger’s was a place that had saltwater taffy and fudge. The fudge was delicious. We would always want to take back souvenirs of water taffy.
We [would] stroll on the boardwalk and would stop at various shops and concession stands but going to Atlantic City was perhaps one of the best. And there was an Apollo Theater there [so there] was entertainment also, and the Planters’ Peanut House and the Easter parades. Going to Atlantic City in the ’60s / early ’70s before the casinos came was perhaps one of the happiest experiences of my life. Sometimes when I go now, and even though I’ve enjoyed some days in the casinos, I don’t enjoy what is. I go all the way back to what was.