In 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed legislation that led to the creation of the Atlantic City Alliance, an organization whose sole job is to broaden the city's appeal and fix its broken reputation. Recently in April, the ACA launched a $20 million tourism marketing campaign - the largest in the city's history - to promote the non-gambling side of town.

One featured selling point is its location along the coast. Forget about the slot machines downstairs - how about the hundreds of ocean-view rooms? Or the chance to stretch out on the sand when you want to give your wallet a rest? In my eyes, it makes the town more desirable to those traveling on a budget. Everyone in Atlantic City, whether in the cheapest or the most expensive hotel, can enjoy the same public beach.

When I was in town over the Fourth of July, I took a boat ride off the coast and was able to get some pretty good shots of the boardwalk/beach/casino combo:

I love holidays at the beach, despite the crowds. The sun and the sand, the breeze and the smell of the salt air, the water and the sound of the boats - there's just something about the energy. I was in town to investigate the non-gambling side of Atlantic City - which the beach culture is a large part of - but we'll get into all that in the next post.

On the night of the 4th, I sat on the beach beside the Atlantic City boardwalk and watched fireworks. They were big and bright and beautiful, but the real show was to follow: The debut of Duality, a three dimensional light show developed by Moment Factory - the same group that created the effects for Madonna's Super Bowl Halftime performance. It's by no means your run of the mill light show - the city certainly ponied up for it.

Projected onto the historic Boardwalk Hall and running every half hour, Duality starts at sundown, is free to the public, and is eight and a half minutes in duration. I was impressed - they did a really nice job with it - and I think my favorite part was when they made it seem like the building was crashing down.

Check out the video to get a sense of the special effects.