Nestled between Atlantic City and Ocean City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport are the other beach towns. Each with their own personalities and miles of beautiful uncrowded beaches. These towns have always been populated with year round residents making them more of communities with beaches rather than just vacation destinations with beaches. There’s history and generations of families that have lived in these towns and know they’re so much more than a suburb of Atlantic City.
While Ventnor, Margate and Longport aren’t exactly tourist destinations, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t great places to vacation in or at the very least visit to enjoy their tranquil beaches and restaurants. It’s where the locals go to beach and the not so local, but nearby county residents can be found. These beaches have been the best kept secrets since my high school days.
Let’s start with Ventnor, the only one of the three that has a boardwalk. Ventnor was named back in 1893 by an English couple after Ventnor England, but didn’t receive its official incorporation until 1903
The boardwalk runs 1.7 miles in Ventnor continuing for another 3.5 miles in Atlantic City. Although there are no casinos, restaurants, or shops its my favorite boardwalk for peaceful walks or bike rides.
The Ventnor Beach is delightfully uncrowded and a great place to go if you want the boardwalk but not all the sounds and smells.
Ventnor is also the home of Marven Gardens for all of you Monopoly aficionados, although the name is spelled different than on Monopoly. I can’t believe I lived here all those years and never visited this beautiful area on the border of Margate and Ventnor.
The Margate beach is another lovely area get to work on your tan.
What is now Margate City was once a borough of South Atlantic City. In 1897, South Atlantic City became a free standing city. The name was changed in 1909 to Margate City after the English resort of Margate.
And there’s a beautiful back bay area in Margate where you can grab a drink or a bite to eat.
We had a delicious relaxing lunch at Luciano Lamberti’s Sunset Marina overlooking the bay.
And then headed over to see Lucy the Elephant and pay our respects to this Iconic Landmark.
If you’d rather grab a little boardwalk food and sit on the beach, Lucy’s (the Elephant) Restaurant can provide you with something tasty to enjoy while you sit overlooking the ocean.
If you have time to do a little shopping head on over to Ventnor Avenue, where you’ll find trendy women’s fashions, children’s wear, card shops, restaurants and of course Casel’s Marketplace. One of Lisa’s favorite stores is Knit Wit.
To finish this leg of our trip off we headed over to Longport which is just north of Ocean City. There are some amazing homes in this area and this architectural marvel has statues of the Blues Brothers as well as a few others, just for fun the owner says. Of course it doesn’t hurt that he has a spectacular view.
This is the back bay area you can see from that house. It winds around to meet the ocean.
A little further up from that house is the point of longport complete with a jetty. This is a view of the secluded Longport Beach. Its a great place to enjoy the ocean in solitude.
It’s also a nice quiet area where you can ride your bikes and stop off to enjoy the beauty of the island.
The landscaping in this part of town is amazing, there are colorful plants and flowers everywhere you look.
Lisa took this picture of me taking pictures of these beautiful flowers so you could see the chef hard at work.
It was another great day trip with at the Jersey Shore, sharing a look at the Other Beach Towns – Ventnor, Margate and Longport.
Art Friedman says
Hi,
Great article.
Marven Gardens is actually located in Margate.
The name comes from MARgate and VENtnor. It was misspelled on the Monopoly board as Marvin Gardens.
So many great memories “down the shore” over all these years.
Carol A McGann says
My father and I, in the 1950’s would rent a bike for two, and pedal all the way up past
Lucy. Back then,before the hurricanes that tore A.C. apart the boardwalk went all the way up to there…they never rebuilt it; I always felt it was to keep the “riff raff” out. I was 5 then and I’m 65 now and have wonderful memories of the old A.C.It was my father’s best two weeks of his life at the end of every August. I continued to go until my 20’s! I have even gone back with my husband, who worked in the Dennis in 1969.
Jenn says
This a a wonderful article, lots of memories and more to make… My connection is to N. Tallahassee Ave. … Thank you
Chef Dennis Littley says
you’re very welcome Jenn, there are lots of great memories there!
Lisa says
You brought back so many summer memories in Longport. My aunt had a home on the beach, near the jetty. We lived in Philadelphia but grew up on that beach every summer. While I live in MA now and spend alot of time on the beach at Cape Cod, I still compare it all to Jersey beaches. Hadn’t thought about it for a while. Thanks for bringing it back.
Chef Dennis Littley says
You’re very welcome Lisa and I’m happy to hear that it brought back good memories for you.
Patty says
What a great picture and word tour of the area that many don’t think of as “Jersey”.
New Jersey sometimes gets a bad rap, and the reality show Jersey Shore didn’t help! Glad to see how you showcased these areas of beauty, fun and nostalgia for some of us.
I say, “git your Jersey on!” 😉
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m glad you liked my post Patty, those are indeed wonderful shore towns that are often overlooked. It is the Jersey Shore!!
sandra axelrod says
Hi Chef! You brought back so many wonderful memories of my summer life before moving to Florida 33 years ago. Until then I spent every summer of my life in Ventnor. I even took my very first steps as a toddler at my grandparents summer home at 2 N. Cambridge Avenue! Growing up I never went to summer camp and never wanted to. Ventnor beach was the place to be. Thanks for sharing this beautiful post.
Chef Dennis Littley says
hi Sandy
I thrilled to hear that you enjoyed my post and it brought back memories! I too spent a lot of time in that area when I was younger, as did my wife. It was nice visiting and sharing my adventures.
cheers
Dennis