and vacation over as he -- we headed home to our regular beds, our daily lives of school and homework and ordinary things. maybe my little brother, maybe i would wake up and look out the window at the night sky and suddenly it would fill with stars and golden mist, and we'd pretend for a second we were somehow deep inside the milky way, a million winking lights,

but we knew where we really were. we were almost home. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha, la, la, la, la ♪ sha, la, la, la, la, la, ♪ sha, la, la, la, la ♪ sha, la, la, la, la, la, la o enchanted land of my

childhood, a cultural petry dish from which regularly issues forth greatness. new jersey, in case you didn't know it, has got beaches, beautiful beaches, and they're not all crawling with raging trolls with reality shows. i grew up summering on those beaches and they're awesome. jersey's got farmland, beautiful bedroom communities. even the refineries, the endless clover leaves of turnpikes and expressways somehow beautiful. to know jersey is to love her. ft. lee, you may have heard of it. some of governor christie's

minions allegedly conspired to jam up traffic a few days. it's a town with a joky history of corruption, it's also where my beloved hiram's is. opened since 1932 and unchanged since, my dad started bringing me and my younger brother here in the 50s and they still honor tradition. >> sometimes i just the need that old flavor. it seems like a chew food. basically my dad would take me here. it is a great point of pride and satisfaction and i've convinced my daughter this is the finest hot dogs in the land. she gets very excited to come out here, which makes me happy. thank you. thank you. this is heat. the toothpicks are just like 1958. some things just shouldn't change. my dad used to love relishing that i loved this stuff.

look at that beauty. oh, yeah. i come here to feed my soul, the cultural wellspring that's new jersey. it's the antidote to every other place. the place is perfect. the dogs are amazing. there are not a lot of people in this world courageous enough to not change. down the shore, yeah, we actually talk like that. it was what we did, go down the shore. not just our family from bergen

county near the bridge, but families and working-class families from all over who packed up the kids in the station wagon for the intermable trip to long island. >> there was always drama. >> once we were over the bridge, the excitement would ratchet up. ship bottom, then surf city, love ladies, ticking off the town names until finally, finally, barnegat light. >> new. these are all new. that's original. >> yeah, definitely. >> i think i know who lived there at one point. >> that's definitely old school. >> let's face it. it's been how many years? 40 -- >> 400, i think. >> jesus, we're old. the lighthouse. >> definitely remember going to that lighthouse a lot. >> definitely the good old days.

i want some fried clam strips. >> absolutely. >> our options are limited, shall we say, but holy crap. this place is filling up. >> i think it's because it's the only place. >> who lives out here year round? >> we're about to see every single one of them. >> let's be honest. when we came here in the summ s summers, i was the bad one. >> yes, yes. >> your recollection is correct. i didn't smoke dope for the first time here. i was looking for dope, but as a 12-year-old it was hard to come by. >> i remember you vaguely walking off with some sort of cute girl. >> first kiss. this is good. >> it is good. >> i realize now i hitchhiked regularly. >> yeah. >> mom, dad, i'm going to go to ship bottom tonight with some friends.

how are you getting there? hitchhiking. okay. have fun. >> that's how you got places here. >> summertime. you know that sound? just out of the water, eared pressed up against the beach blanket, the squeak of bare feet on sand nearby, classics illustrated comics waited for me back at the house. i'd play with my little plastic army men in the dunes and there's a smell of beach grass in the dunes. you remember it? >> i still crave it. i love it. >> and on special occasions clams in drawn butter. >> i remember this place with nothing but fondness. i can't remember a single bad memory here. >> people you knew from last year we were here. the parents didn't need to be with you. have a campfire on the beach at night. all this stuff they wouldn't let

you do at home. >> the beach would look different. for a couple of days, the beach would be this weird foamy surf. now we're talking. >> or there would be the jelly fish delivery sometimes. >> infestation of jelly fish, right. i try to block that out. love the clam strips. >> these are great. >> these are awesome. so far, so great. i'm happy. battered piece of fish with some good tartar sauce. what were your favorite activities? >> building a campfire on the beach. firecrackers on the beach. i have some firecrackers in your car, by the way. just saying. >> set them off at the casino. >> perfect.

♪ >> it was paradise. america's first dream vacation. the beach as far as america was concerned, meaning bathing suits and swimming in the surf, was pretty much invented here. atlantic city, rich or working class, it was here for you. back then you dressed up to walk the boardwalk. it was capitalism at its purist and most assertive. it was a democratic dream designed from the beginning for everybody. flashy, utilitarian, upright, deeply, unapologetically, corrupt. in many ways its story a perfect reflection of changing times. established in 1912, the second

floor had curtained alcoves and a separate lady's lounge. vicky's dad was the chief photographer for atlantic city from the 1930s to the 1960s. he saw it all and by extension so did vicky. >> what was it like here as a kid? >> it was fantastic. walking down the boardwalk in the summertime was like walking a carnival at midway. >> there was still remnants of the 20s. >> yeah. >> handle bar mustaches, victorian graphic art and illustration was still very much in evidence, even in my time here in the early 60s. the boardwalk was over six miles of amusements, entertainments, parades, and pageants. a never-ending carnival. >> every place you went down the boardwalk was something else to see and all the stores were mom

and pop stores, all very unique. >> yes. >> the world famous steel pier, amusement arcades, salt water taffy. >> i loved the joke shops. >> the joke shops. >> it was a wonderland of juvenile delinquency. it was just something very sinister and forbidden. >> the menu has changed somewhat since the original. for me, a very tasty pretzel crusted swordfish over lump crab meat. for vicky, pan-seared scallops. >> times were not good. it was largely empty, but it was a magnificent structure. >> you and i like the nostalgia. the people who like coney island like it, but i don't know about the young people. >> beautiful buildings are

beautiful buildings. a beautiful view is a beautiful view forever. there's no other place with this kind of history and legitimacy. this place has deep romantic allure. >> i agree with you. i believe in the transition that's coming. i really, really do with all my heart. >> hundreds of businesses used to be here. it's not a matter of, gee, that would be great if that happened again. it is inevitable that it will happen again. atlantic city can be chic easy because the bones of the city are beautiful. >> i'm glad you feel that way. >> a beautiful old restaurant with really great food is much more interesting than a glass box with good food.

i am rich. on the grounds of my estate, i hob nob with the glitterati and play equestrian sports. out on the veranda, we enjoy finger sandwiches and other assorted dainties. i wear nothing less than the finest designer footwear. wherever i go, the paparazzi capture my every move. yes, i am rich. that's why i drink the champagne of beers. when you're not confident you have complete visibility into your business, it can quickly become the only thing you think about. that's where at&t can help. with innovative solutions that connect machines and people... to keep your internet of things in-sync, in real-time.

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the names of atlantic city streets were imprinted on generations of americas who grew up playing monopoly. you see history, the ebb and flow of america's hopes and dreams played out in the buildings and homes you see as you pass by. cheap takeout, the footprints of a lost world. the riviera of the northeast still there if you look in between. with jet travel in miami and an expanded highway system, things declined as they do. but a few visionary geniuses presented a solution, a cure that would overnight make everybody well, make atlantic city shiny and new and prosperous again. men like donald trump. >> i think it's going to be really very beneficial to

everybody. we look forward to operating the taj mahal for many years to come. >> they rushed to atlantic city eager to tap into what was assured to be a never-ending gusher of prosperity, casino gambling. >> when casino gambling was sold to new jersey and to atlantic city as the cure-all, did it change anything? >> do you think it helped? >> no, i don't. >> brian donohue is with 20 years experience focusing on south jersey. dock's oyster house, an establishment that survived prohibition, two world wars, numerous declines, and rebirths. still here, still great, a symbol of what atlantic city was, shouwould be, and should b

again. >> it was seen as an easy answer. >> it sure sounded like a good idea. >> they were going to bring 12 casinos here and bring everybody up from the top down. it hasn't worked. when you're left with just 12 casinos -- >> if you're looking for an example of lemming like lurch of cliff face from which to tumble, look no further than this $2.4 million goat rodeo. it opened in 2012 and closed less than two years later. the most expensive casino in engi engine history. >> what were they thinking? >> short-term money at a time when other casinos were opening all over the east coast. >> it's nuts. it's economics 101. >> casinos, by design, neglect the city's assets, salt air, a

walk by the glorious north atlantic, the classic attractions, the restaurants. >> this is what it is going to take for atlantic city to come back. it's going to be places like this. celebrate the ghosts. >> some nice crab cakes at dock's, a big freaking lobster stuffed with crab imperial, plum souff souffle. those things are bad for business, the business of taking your money. >> thank you so much. that'll work. that's good. i don't want to sound like i'm down on atlantic city, because i see it as an incredibly almost ludicrously hopeful place. whatever is left should be hung onto because it is going to come around. >> there's nothing funny about losing all your money, yet

casinos are steady employers of that most hard-working entertainer. >> it's so much money to live here. i drove three exits on the jersey turnpike. it was $7. if you drive a whole new jersey turnpike, when you get to the end you have to give them your car. >> i'm going to tell you something that i don't tell people right away. i'm vegan. i do cheat a little. i eat veal. it's so tender. how do they get it like that? >> i'm very sentimental about jersey italian, particularly spaghetti and meatballs. >> i've eaten here at least five to ten times and i've never had

a bad meal. i wouldn't get the meatballs. >> proud long-time residents of new jersey. >> i've lived here for nine years, but have only been proud for the last two. >> one was the first time you played atlantic city? >> there was a club at the sands. many times i would get paid on thursday and then i would lose it all and then i'd have to work for free. there's no worse feeling. >> oh, i know that feeling. >> have you ever watched a couple in atlantic city? hold this money. don't give it back to me no matter what i do. an hour later, give me my god damn money. you better give me my money. you're the reason i'm losing, touching my arm when i'm shooting craps. >> is there a specifically jersey sense of humor? >> yes, i love jersey audiences now so much. i have never one time said anything where people in the

audience have said, ahhh. they never get offended. >> i have my trigger words. as a white woman, the word i don't like is no. i don't hear it that often, but when i do huh-uh. >> here's the deal with jersey. people land up north and they drive up the turnpike. >> refineries. >> that's new jersey. >> how sick is it that i think it's beautiful? >> more horses per kcapita than any other state. >> i worked for an embroidery company. i swear to god. i'll call her right now. >> will people ever come across the bridge and the tunnel in the other direction? >> no. >> no? okay. >> i did not have to think about that. >> let's go out to a club in jersey. >> it's all relative. a 6-year-old person is going i'm

getting the [ muted ] out of this city. >> there's your answer. never going to be you. >> where does hipness stop? >> hipness is overrated. >> yeah, it is overrated. i love living here. pine valley, the best golf course in the country. trump -- >> trump, i'm not a fan. >> who is? >> every minute that he walks, the man has a certain -- it's like if you have a disfigurement. that's too much to ask of me in trump's case. i want to screen. >> do you know why he puts his names on the building? so the banks know which ones to take back. at least he's a humble guy. >> jesus. control pad that can read your handwriting,

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just sign into my account to pay bills, manage service appointments and find answers to your questions. you can even check your connection status on your phone. now it's easier than ever to manage your account. get started at xfinity.com/myaccount there are few american cities, places where things have gone as disastrously wrong as camden, new jersey. it's like a poster child for

everything a city can screw up. once a manufacturing power house, home to the new york shipbuilding company, a company town. about 80,000 people live here today. that's the same number of people employed in its heyday. the entire police force replaced by the state. more than 1/3 of city residents live below the poverty line. voter turnout not good. if there's any place one can be forgiven for just throwing your hands up in the air and giving up, it's here, but no. cities with serious problems need extraordinary people and tawanda jones is clearly an extraordinary person. >> when you give, especially to someone who is really in need,

you know, i feel -- it makes me feel complete. >> her late grandfather walter green jr. was a former military man. >> he was just like the protector. if you need anything, you go to mr. dynamite. that was his nickname. >> when tawanda was 15, she was asked to lead a local drill team. unfortunately, it soon lost his funding. walter purchased uniforms and drums to get it its start. today css, the camden sophisticated sisters drill team, which includes the distinguished brothers in taps, the almighty percussion sound, have over 320 participants. >> good job, babies. good job. clap it up for yourself.

clap it up. >> we meet at stalwart tony and ruth steaks. >> what was camden like back in the good ole days? >> oh, my god. it was so different when -- coming up when i was younger. that sense of community was strong back then. >> you were talking about your childhood as if it was a real long time ago. what the hell went wrong? >> people can blame it on the politics, but i think that's too easy. know what your child is doing. >> you're putting it principally on the parents. >> absolutely. >> this is tasty. >> this is delicious. >> so the conventional wisdom seems to be get out of camden. why are you still here? >> because the need is still in camden.

if every decent person leaves camden, then we never a chance. in order to be a part of the program, they have to maintain a c average or better. it's all about the academics. it's all about nurturing these kids. what's right, what's wrong. they believe this. they say it so much until it is embedded. >> tawanda has helped support it with financial assistance. surprisingly with a group of a national profile no lasting support from official organizations public or private. yet she perseveres. >> we've been under bridges, everything. over 28 years, we've been outside. their safety is the most important to me, but it's been a blessing and a curse.

you'll have the corner boys come up and ask you are you having practice outside today, today is not a good day. okay. all right. thank you very much. >> that's nice. >> i appreciate it. trust me. >> how do you keep the kids off the corner? >> i'm quite aware that times are hard, but i just try to show them an alternative route. there's so much more out there than this. some call me major pain, but it's all out of love. they need to discipline in life to go to work, to go to school. >> they're doing it because it's fun. >> right. >> but it's hard. >> yeah. >> you're asking people to do a hard thing and they're doing it. >> yeah. >> and i got to ask, i'm going to guess in the years that you've been doing this you've had to have had your heartbroken many times. you've had to see kids that you've really believed in fall by the wayside and i'm guessing a lot. how do you go on? >> we have a lot of sad stories,

but our good outweighs the bad. i keep going just for that reason. you know, before i was a little hard on myself and i used to think that i could save all the kids, i know that's not the case. i just do the best that i can do. and i just pray the next kid doesn't fall by the wayside. >> how do you not become cynical? do you harden your heart? >> no, actually i have to replenish myself or i'm not going to be good to them or my own family. these kids are precious cargo to me. some of them have the responsibility of a 30-something-year-old. they're holding down their homes. >> 25 years down the road, what do you think camden is going to be like? >> i'm praying that it turns into the camden that i remember,

and i know that i'm helping our future leaders to become a part of that change. there's no doubt in my mind that there's going to be a positive camden. no doubt. >> you're going to say? >> i'm not going anywhere. my pop-pop didn't leave. i'm not leaving. >> yeah, i know. philadelphia is right over there. right across the ben franklin bridge. the center of the cheesesteak universe, but what if it isn't? they're better than that. they're bigger than that. and the best cheesesteak in the area might well come from new jersey. donkey's opened by leon lucas 71 years ago. a heavyweight contender in the olympics in boxing he was known in his time of the calvary as

the donkey. this is what they do here. behold the jersey cheesesteak. >> pleasure to meet you. >> so this is the best cheesesteak in south jersey, unless i'm mistaken? >> new jersey. >> new jersey, period? >> yeah. >> is there a difference? >> we do ours on a round poppy seed roll. >> it's round. it's got steak, spices, browned onions, real american cheese, such as it is, and a poppy seed roll. >> fantastic. thank you, sir. >> and it is sublime. >> relish, what do you think? >> hot pepper. >> a little bit? i drove a long way for this. thinking about it the whole way. man, this should be like national landmark right away. this sandwich is unbelievably

good. >> thanks. >> really a thing of beauty. >> that's a good thing to here. >> we get a lot of people from philly. >> wow? that's treason. do they change their plates on their car or wear a disguise? >> it's delicious. jersey cheesesteaks, i'm not saying they're better than philadelphia -- yeah, i am actually. this is great. >> glad you enjoyed it.

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the forests and empty spaces of new jersey are vast and often empty of everything but legend. you live here if you like a quieter life of not being messed with. 1.2 million acres of atlantic cedar, swampland, forests. it goes on and on, seemingly at times forever. it's easy to get lost. ♪ in the back water marshes where the cranberries grow ♪

>> we'd joke about pineys. the strange, possible inbred tribes of people who lived out there, somewhere between the trees. that's what we believed anyway. paul evans peterson, jeweler, musician, author, and proud piney. we meet at the lucille's in warren grove for a delicious breakfast. >> the legend of the new jersey devil was mother leeds had 12 kids. found herself pregnant with a 13 and said may this child be a devil. it morphed into this creature and went up the chimney in the night. it's supposed to have the head of a horse, wings of a bat, hooves. people have seen horns on it. it breathes fire. it has a real long tail with a triangle on it.

>> it sounds like my little pony with a fork tail. it doesn't sound frightening to me. >> head of a goat. >> goat is a little bit scarier. ♪ ♪ they say you still hear him screaming when the conditions are right ♪ ♪ yeah i swear it's true >> what's out there? who are pineys? do the roam the forests at night searching for souls to capture?

>> pineys are people who live in the pine barrens. people like to be thought of as living off the land. >> how do you make your living? >> it is good to farm blueberries and cranberries. a lot of fishing, a lot of clamming. hopefully the oystering is coming back in the delaware bay. >> the pine barrens have settled it for a long time. >> some of the people who came here with the glass makers. it is perfect for making glass to the point where it didn't have to be washed or processed. there was hundreds of glass workers. they're just ruins now. >> thank you. all right. thank you. >> so, it's not like the rest of jersey here. >> no, and i hope it stays like

that. it's like a jersey unto itself. it's a long drive to get anywhere. >> that's good, by the way. that's really good. >> ain't it great? part adventure. it's part geek and part chic. it's part relaxation and part exhilaration. it's part sports car and part suv. and the best part? the 2015 gla. it's 100% mercedes-benz.

♪ ♪ attendant: welcome back. man: thank you. it's not home. but with every well considered detail . . . it becomes one step closer. no wonder more people. . . choose delta than any other airline. no wonder more people. . . when i booked this trip, my friends said i was crazy. why would i stay in someone else's house? but this morning, a city i've never been to felt like one i already knew.

i just wanted to thank you for sharing your world with me. it felt like home. airbnb. belong anywhere.

you want to talk mythic, epic, storied, that sort of thing? welcome to asbury park. wellspring of american music of a certain kind. home to, yes, the boss. and the jersey national anthem "born to run." ♪ $9 for driving to haiti >> springsteen, bon jovi, little stephen, but before them there was this man, southside johnny, who pretty much created the template for the jersey sound and it could have only been this place that changed music and lyrics forever. ♪ >> asbury park, it's had a reputation as being a happy

hunting ground for musicians because what? a lot of bars? >> the town was started not to have alcohol and not that kind of music, but after awhile the pressure was too much for entertainment for people to come here and it morphed into an rb rock and roll history. this is the jersey shore. the jersey shore means people want entertainment. >> atlantic city didn't have that reputation? >> well, we're not atlantic city. we're asbury park. >> as i always like to say, good is good forever. great music, great songs, and a classic jersey saint leech. sliced ham, provolone and your oil and vinegar that marries it

all together into a glory vehicle of deliciousness. >> thank you. it's such a beautiful that they shred the lettuce and everything. you used to come here as a kid? >> yeah. my father would order a pastrami so we had to order what he liked. he could really eat. >> asbury park, like its close cousin, atlantic city, who it had so much in common suffered the same problems. 14 yoears ago, last time i came it was a shell of itself, a sad and forlorn place. unlike atlantic city, asbury park sought to fix itself to become the kind of place that anybody would want to live in. they didn't look for a magic bullet like casino gambling. to a great extent, they succeeded by keeping alive what made asbury park special. they hung on to what was important.

like this place, where any overgrown child still wants to play. >> thank god. what? tilt. oh. no, way. that's delicate. come on, hit, baby. hit. oh, man. oh. this is important for children. i think so. your first exposure to racy images of women are all set in some sort of 20s universe and it teaches you shame and humility when you lose. >> exactly. the limits of how much you can break the rules before it tilts. >> i think they should have tilt for all sorts of things. >> i think so too. step over the line in a bar talking to a young lady, tilt.

that way you know you got to start again. >> i tilted it already. i barely touched it. what are you talking about. >> that's what they all say. >> let me play! >> oh!

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as i like to say, good is good forever. the atlantic ocean will always be magnificent. looking at it always a humbling, even educational experience. it teaches us that men come and go. but no matter how foolish or outsized their dreams, how badly they screw up, what we do here at the ocean's edge, the sea will outlast us. we'll always draw us to her edges, when necessary it will crush us.

>> we look at the taj, completely oblivious to everything going on around her. and that has got to be the most butt ugly building ever. >> i noticed last night that some of the lights on the sign of the building are out. >> like truck. >> something like that. >> or tump. or rump. it is perfect, actually, if you think of trump as carnival ba barker, and empty, a perfect metaphor here. i hate sweets. but i'm a sucker for nostalgia. you can't go back. i can't go back. how i wouldn't, even if i could. i sure don't want to ever have to be a teenager again. but those tastes and smells of

childhood, they work still. you're telling me you were not a big saltwater taffy fan. >> i remember it was hard to chew. >> you had braces, remember? this was probably problematic for it. >> i can't remember having braces at that point. >> these have a mystical hold on me. even the color of the wrapper has this weird, you know, like there should be music playing in the background. molasses, i remember that. getting a bunch of those. i don't know why. certain flavors really resonate. the peanut, i know exactly what that tastes like. i remember the vanilla really powerfully. i'm not even a vanilla guy. i'm more of a chocolate guy. >> i think i remember pink ones. they must have had strawberry. >> winter green i remember. >> licorice sounds good. >> peppermints.

keep these in the car. >> cookies and creme. does it melt? >> that's a lot of taffy. >> yeah. >> this stuff isn't bad for you. eat as much as you want. >> is it gluten free? >> it's all natural. >> that's what i thought. >> atlantic city will never die. good is indeed good forever. and atlantic city will be great again. asbury park, camden, all of my home state. i'm convinced when the tide has come and washed all the greed heads away, we'll once again be

magic. i hope i'm there to see it. i'm doing all the work myself now. we're not making enough money to pay our bills right now. there is live wires behind me and some insulation and concrete. got to hang some drywall and second grossest bathroom in america. it's lunch time. here i am eating processed meat and american cheese. and it tastes like i'm in