CITY SPOTLIGHT
ATLANTIC CITY
A town to tour
After our hotel inspections, we embarked on a drive-about; Heather had lots more
to show off in her hometown:
• Atlantic City offers tax-free shopping
on clothing and shoes, and at the
100-plus stores in Tanger Outlets, you
can say, “Let. There. Be. Clothes and
shoes.” Situated on three streets, the
NTA-member retail center includes
Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Chico’s, H&M,
DKNY and Bass Pro Shops. Tour oper-
ators can get coupons for their groups
and vouchers for group leaders and
coach drivers.
Wine, please
• Gardner’s Basin is a maritime park
located in the city’s back-bay area.
“This place is hopping during the
spring and summer, and we enjoy
what we call ‘local summer’ during
the fall,” Heather said. In addition to
shopping and dining, sightseeing boats
and fishing excursions, there’s the
three-story Atlantic City Aquarium.
I’m no oenologist, but I loved visit-
ing Sharrott Winery in Hammonton,
a 45-minute drive from AC. Upon our
arrival, Heather discussed with owner
Larry Sharrott Jr. the tasting party she
hosted using only his wines. And then
we had our own party. I sampled a dry
Riesling, an unoaked Chardonnay, a cou-
ple of reds and Wicked, a port-style red
that makes you sit up and pay attention.
The winery is adding a tasting room
that will seat 80 and include two bars
and several seating configurations.
Scheduled to be completed by early
April, the new space will have glass
garage doors opening onto a patio
and a wall of windows overlooking
the vineyard.
Sharrot is formally educated, with
a wine degree from University of
California at Davis. “I like to think
of myself as a jazz musician who is
grounded in classical music—and then
goes out and creates,” he said.
• The Sheraton Atlantic City is adjacent
to the convention center, and it also
houses the unofficial Miss America
museum, which features gowns,
crowns and other memorabilia.
• Boardwalk Hall is a multipurpose
arena that hosts concerts, events
and meetings. It has quite a history,
including in August 1964, when the
Democratic National Convention nom-
inated Lyndon Johnson there. And a
week later, with “All the Way with LBJ”
banners still hanging from the rafters,
The Beatles performed to a sold-out
crowd of 18,000, including President
Johnson’s two daughters, who stayed
in town to catch The Fab Four.
• A tunnel connects the Boardwalk to
the back bay and several large hotels,
including Golden Nugget, Borgata
and Harrah’s. “A lot of people like
that vibe,” Heather said, “and they
can connect to the rest of the city
with 24-hour jitneys as well as Uber
and Lyft.”
Lucy the elephant has been an Atlantic
City resident since the 1880s. Built as a
65-foot-tall eye-catcher for selling real
estate in South Atlantic City, Lucy has
served through the decades as a tea room,
bar, private residence and, now, a museum.
There are guided tours, and visitors can
get a good view from the howdah.
32
April/May 2018
At 171 feet,
Absecon
Lighthouse
is New Jer-
sey’s tallest
lighthouse.
Visitors can
climb 228 of
its 240 steps
for a nice view
of the city. (I
could not have
mounted those
final 12 steps.)
Decommis-
sioned in 1933,
the light still
comes on at
sundown—but
for tourists, not ships. Open every day, July
and August; Thursday through Monday the
rest of the year.
Answer: An elephant, a lighthouse and the world’s loudest organ.
The Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ is
the largest organ in the world—with 33,112
pipes. It’s also the world’s loudest: One
of the stops blows out 138 decibels. (A
jet fighter engine registers 120 decibels.)
From May through September, there’s a
free 30-minute concert every day at noon.
And on Wednesdays at 10 a.m., take a
two-hour walking tour of the building and
the organ, currently being restored.