One of the many boardwalk games in Seaside Heights, New Jersey
Spending time at the boardwalk in Seaside Heights today was an interesting experience. The stands, rides and arcades are open for the weekend. When I was a child I was enthralled by the carnival barkers that stood behind the counter that separated their booth, filled with prizes that were promised for being lucky enough to get the requisite result. You bet a quarter or fifty cents on a number or letter on the wheel and if you picked right, you could have one of the prizes. There were also races with different goofy games. One was water pistols that shot into the mouth of a pirate, which would blow up a balloon and you needed to be the first to pop your balloon to win. Other stands had seemingly endless variations on these types of games.
Today I did not need a box of candy, a stuffed animal or a mirror with a painting of one of today’s stars on it. Instead I was just able to watch the buskers behind their counters trying to call people in to their stand. Some were creative and others were not, but it was fun to hear all of what they had to say to the stream of people that was flowing up and down the boardwalk.
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