Mile 1351 - Atlantic City

As of June 3, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 3,264,916
Miles: 1364.21


Dorothy Hamill, born July 26, 1956, won the Gold Medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics, and captivated the world, not only with her figure skating but ... with her hairstyle (which became a fad) and pleasing personality. She was an inductee of the U.S., Olympic, and World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and headlined the Ice Capades for seven years and even briefly owned the show for a couple years. She has more recently performed as a guest star with Champions on Ice.

So what does this have to do with Atlantic City, the home of a number of casinos, boardwalks, beaches, amusements galore, the Miss America Pagent, the Steel Pier with the diving horse and Captains Starns?

Well, my paternal Grandmother had three close friends, in addition to the cleaning lady - one of them was Florence, whom my brothers and I called Grandmom Florence, and Hazel and Henry who were "honorary Aunt and Uncle". Uncle Henry, Aunt Hazel, and Grandmom Florence would go to the beach on Long Beach Island, and stayed in a cottage about 10 blocks from where my brother, parents, and grandparents stayed. Uncle Henry had a sense of humor most would call "groaners", he enjoyed jokes like "Hey! wait up! - that's what broke the wagon down", and "What time is it? It's two-thirty - ouch! time to see the dentist!" to no end (and repeatedly).

Each summer - when the Ice Capades came to Atlantic City, the bunch of us would go to the Atlantic City Convention Center to watch, year after year.

1976 was the Bicentennial - and the winter Olympics were held in Innsbruck Austria. You may remember, if old enough, 25–year-old West German skier Rosi Mittermaier winning two golds and Franz Klammer "flying" down the hill to take the gold in the men's downhill. But my younger brother was enamored with Dorothy and we saw and heard little else.

So what could be more perfect than a trip to Atlantic City with the "summer gang", teasing my brother about "her", and seeing the Ice Capades with "her" headlining the show? - Well, how about someone's brother getting her autograph?**

I think I've been back to Atlantic City only twice since then. Once to see a boat show, and the other time just to ride the train there from Philadelphia and back.

A nice bunch of pictures of Atlantic City

**The picture shown is not the actual autograph my brother got.

More Photos from the Attic

My Dad's Mom's Father (his Maternal Grandfather) William McClurken Sr. had a vacation cottage in Ewansville, NJ. The house was right along side of some railroad tracks.

I think this railroad was the "Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad" and it was later absorbed into the Pennsylvania Railroad. My dad remembers seeing and hearing steam locomotives pulling trains carrying raw troops from Philadelphia and points beyond to the Army's Camp Dix (now called Fort Dix) during WWII while staying at the cottage as a young boy during the war years.

My only memories of the cottage are the dirt/gravel road that ran along side of the tracks, the shade trees that sheltered the cottage porch, and falling through the rotted floor when we last went there to remove the contents of the house shortly before is was sold in the 1960s(?)


Ewansville, NJ lies on the Rancocas Creek, about 25 miles east of Philadelphia and is marked with the red star.


My great-grandfather and a passenger were killed in a car-train accident not far from the cottage back in the mid-1920. I have four pictures taken after the accident - presumably taken for insurance purposes.


The remains of the car

They are amazingly clear - there are bits and pieces of the car scattered around the grade crossing at which the car had gotten stuck. This accident turned my grandmother's life upside down - the family was left without a bread winner and suffered some hard times that continued into the depression years.

There are no railroad tracks there now, and the area is now home to Mobile Estates trailer home park.

Official Signs

Worker productivity is influenced by a number of factors. For a lot of people, Monday mornings are a time of dread - compound a Monday morning with a gloomy rainy ride to work - in the back of a pickup truck - and you never quite know what you might get.


Three Day Workers Riding to Work on a Dreary Monday Morning

Somehow, I don't think they are singing Eddie Money's "I love a Rainy Night". In fact, the one that is heavily leaning is probably saying "Jefe! por favor la huelga intermitente alrededor de las curvas, allí sea ningunos cinturones de seguridad traseros aquí!"**

- Photograph supplied by Photojournalist LadyStyx

** Boss! please go more slow around curves, there ain't no seatbelts back here!


Trail Marker Sign in Conshohocken, PA

I can understand how low bidder firms employing non-English speaking workers might have trouble with spelling Conshohoken and Schuylkill, but I was amazed to see this sign and its spelling of Philadelphia. I guess that rainy Monday morning - at the sign factory was not the best of days for someone...

Footnote: Recently this sign has been removed after being in place for months and months.

Mile 1348 - Margate City, NJ

As of June 1, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 3,228,128
Miles: 1348.55


Margate City is located on 8.1-mile long Absecon Island, along with Atlantic City, Ventnor City, and Longport. The city stretches approximately eight blocks from the Atlantic Ocean to the bay at most points in town. Marven Gardens, of Monopoly board game fame, is located in Margate City.

Marven Gardens is famous as a Yellow property on the original Atlantic City version of the Monopoly game board, although the game misspelled the name as Marvin Gardens. It is the only property on the game board that is not located within Atlantic City. The name Marven Gardens is said to be derived from MARgate City and VENtnor City, because it lies on the border of Margate City and Ventnor City. Most of the homes were built in the 1920s and 1930s.


Margate City is also the home of Lucy the Elephant, a large wooden elephant 65 ft (19.7 m) tall.

Lucy the Elephant is a six-story elephant-shaped architectural folly constructed of wood and tin sheeting in 1882 by James V. Lafferty, in an effort to sell real estate and attract tourism. The idea of an animal-shaped building was innovative, and in 1882 the U.S. Patent Office granted Lafferty a patent giving him the exclusive right to make, use or sell animal-shaped buildings for seventeen years. Lucy is the oldest example of zoomorphic architecture, and the largest elephant in the world.

Lucy's head shape identifies her as an Asian Elephant. She has tusks, which is a feature found only in male Asian elephants. In the first few years following her construction she was referred to as a male, however she is now generally considered to be female.