walk through time

There are two reasons that this path of boards caught my attention.

First of all, it's one of several private boardwalks in Sea Girt [+photos] (not to be confused with Sea Bright [+ photos], which is north), leading from seaside mansions across some dunes directly to the public boardwalk. A low gate discourages the public from trespassing.

I hadn't seen this phenomenon before.

The second thing is that it reminds me of the original boardwalks.

The boardwalk pictured above was in Asbury Park, c. 1877. (Photograph is from Images of America: Asbury Park, by Helen-Chantal Pike, Arcadia Publishing, 1997, p. 100) The caption reads:

"In 1877 the first boardwalk was laid out on the beachfront. It... was just wide enough for two side-by-side strollers, and was rolled up at the end of each season. Seven years earlier New Jersey's first boardwalk had been laid in Atlantic City."

Shockingly, most boardwalks don't look like that anymore.