Atlantic City boardwalk – 50 years later

Margate City is the second town south of Atlantic City. I am currently staying in Marven Gardens – a piece on the Monopoly Board. It is in the very north part of Margate. The Atlantic City boardwalk extends just beyond Ventor into Margate. Today I cycled from here to the north end of the boardwalk in Atlantic City – round trip was 13 miles. The south end of the boardwalk had limited pedestrians or cyclists and was very pleasant. The boardwalk in Atlantic City had a reasonable number of people – enough where I had to pay careful attention. They apparently restrict cyclists on the boardwalk at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend which I think makes sense. With too many more people, a cyclist can simply not keep tract of all of the possible random motions of the pedestrians so everyone can be safe.

The only other time I was on the boardwalk was after my freshman year of high school when our high school band took a trip to the East Coast – Atlantic City and Washington DC. I don’t have strong memories of the experience except I remember feeling claustrophobic as we drove across Pennsylvania – I was used to seeing the horizon in the distance and there were low mountains in Pennsylvania. I remember “swimming” in the Atlantic Ocean in Atlantic City with vague recollections of the boardwalk. In DC, I remember the humidity and that I had a hard time understanding people when they spoke. The boardwalk was easy riding There was a significant headwind heading south. As I was in the midst of Atlantic City, I couldn’t help singing the tune Under the Boardwalk by the Drifters.

I quit high school band early in my sophomore year (1971) when I felt uncomfortable in one of my private lessons. The band leader started commenting about how I dressed and about my nylons. Believe me I did not dress provocatively in any stretch of the imagination. I was did not have great self confidence but knew this was not appropriate and decided to report it to the Principal. I spoke with the Vice Principal, a youngish man, and was told that I must have misunderstood. I quit band and didn’t think much about it. I knew his comments were NOT appropriate.

After my sophomore year of college, I was contacted by the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation asking for an interview. They visited me on campus. Apparently the Vice Principal had made record of my complaint and the same teacher had been caught crossing state lines with a underage student. It was very odd. To some degree I felt validated and on the other hand I was angry that I had not been believed.

I had not thought about this in years but it came back to me today while riding on the boardwalk.