Boardwalk

VERNON TOWNSHIP, N.J. - For those who trek from peak to peak along the Appalachian Trail, this is a definite low point. Aptly called the Pochuck Quagmire, a broad valley of empty meadow and soggy marshland here has long forced hikers to detour and dodge traffic along 2 1/2 miles of shoulderless highway. But now, thanks to years of hard work by a small army of volunteers, the quagmire has been turned into a scenic panorama that is attracting even casual strollers. State officials recently dedicated the new mile-long elevated boardwalk and a handsome 144-foot timber suspension bridge that traverse the meadow and the marsh.

Buy a tub of Thrasher's french fries, settle into a comfortable bench on Ocean City's boardwalk and watch. On a recent day, empty-nesters walked their designer golden-doodle; a family pedaled a canopied quadricycle; a teenage boy sweated through his T-shirt during a game of Dance Dance Revolution; bikers in mean shades and leather chaps shared a jumbo bucket of Thrasher's; and grandma and grandpa took a post-lunch power walk. Remember that when it seems as if there's nothing to do -- or that you've done it all year after year -- there are always people to watch.

For the swarms of teen-agers hitting the Ocean City boardwalk this month, getting a nose, navel or tongue pierced has never been easier. As other East Coast resorts have restricted body-piercing businesses over the past few years, many operations have moved into this beach town, driving up the number from a handful to more than 20. The explosive growth is raising concerns among authorities about the industry, from underage piercing to sanitary conditions and...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The beach here is a wide-open secret. Clean and pretty, it is neither too broad nor too narrow, complemented by an ocean that plays frisky but not rough. Yet it is never crowded, even when the boardwalk becomes so thick with tourists that they look like one giant organism.For the people who live under the boardwalk, such a roomy beach is quite a blessing. It lets them poke in and out of their niches without attracting much notice. Alice B. and her two sons, for instance, had a whole chunk of surf and sand to themselves the other day when they left their encampment under the Million Dollar Pier.

OCEAN CITY - Location, location, location. Location: 25th Street and the boardwalk. In the late 1960s, Taylor's parents, Barbara and Sidney Taylor, sat on a wooden bench and watched their seven children play in front of what is now the Crystal Beach Hotel. By the 1980s, they watched their grandchildren play there. At sundown throughout those years, Taylor's father might sit on the family bench with his Bud Light, while his mother might have her martini. "Yes, illegal drinking in public," Taylor says, chuckling.

OCEAN CITY -- This oceanfront resort town -- in the midst of a campaign to polish its sometimes rowdy image -- suffered its first shooting in two years yesterday when a young Pennsylvania man was shot on the boardwalk.Justin Hymon, 18, of Reading, Pa., suffered a minor injury to his buttocks after he and two teen-age friends got into an argument with five young people at 5: 15 a.m., police said."An incident like this is a matter of great concern for Ocean City, because over the last two years we think we've been successful in creating a calmer, quieter more family-friendly environment," said Ocean City Police Department spokesman Jay Hancock.

Most families have their own beach traditions. For some, it is a trek to Ocean City every summer. For others, it is North Carolina's Outer Banks. But for many, Rehoboth Beach, Del., is the place to go to swim in the salty Atlantic and consume the many incarnations of greasy beach food. Just a short drive north from sprawling Ocean City, Rehoboth Beach offers a different experience than its Maryland neighbor. While Ocean City's main oceanside avenue is more than 100 blocks, Rehoboth is smaller with a boardwalk only about a mile long.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- When dawn broke yesterday over this jilted city in South Jersey, even the sea gulls shrieked their indignation. Locals en route to work and longtime tourists strolling the boardwalk muttered over that strumpet, Miss America, who after 84 good years was leaving them for God knows where. "It's unjust, it's unfair, and it's a horrible thing to do to Atlantic City," said Sondra Mitchell, a retiree who lives in town. "I know we put out money and money, millions -- millions!

OCEAN CITY -- You know summer has arrived in this seaside resort town when disembodied heads start appearing in the sand. It happened yesterday, right on schedule, on the beach at Fifth Street by the boardwalk. Six-year-old Taylor Robinson of Baltimore pushed down her friend Derek Gilliam, 5, then quickly covered him up. "He loves it," she giggled, piling it on. Derek seemed to agree, though he wisely kept his mouth shut as he was reduced to a heaving pile of sand. The water, he said later, was a little cold, but the sand felt just right.

Maybe you met your true love on it, or perhaps a false one. Maybe you rode your first Ferris wheel, drank your first beer or whacked your first mole. Likely, you've paused on its benches to gnaw on taffy, gobble fries by the bucketful or simply rest your feet. And quite possibly, you left with memories that - boosterish as it sounds - really have lasted a lifetime. Even so, no one has taken more away from Ocean City's boardwalk than Yolanda Griffin. She's been cleaning it for 17 years, sweeping up and disposing of the cigarette butts, plastic spoons, straws, french fries, caramel corn, half-eaten hot dogs and abandoned flip flops that end up fluttering across it, or wedged in the pencil-thin gaps between its boards.