New Jersey is among the nation's smallest states, but it packs a lot of vacationing potential into its modest geographical area. One of the most widely visited parts of the state is the Jersey Shore. This may sound like a single community or perhaps county, but in fact the term refers to the entire Atlantic sea shore of the state, comprising some 127 miles stretching from Cape May in the south to Sandy Hook in the north. Four separate counties have shoreline along the Jersey Shore, which means that vacation rentals in New Jersey in Monmouth, Cape May, Atlantic, and Ocean counties may well be seaside retreats.
There are more than 50 separate communities; some of them incorporated cities, some of them unincorporated towns, in the Jersey Shore region. These include such diverse vacation getaways as Wildwood Crest, Point Pleasant Beach, Seaside Heights, and Ocean Grove. By far the most famous city on the Jersey Shore, however, is Atlantic City, which has long been famed for its high-rise casinos.
Americans in the western areas of the United States are quite accustomed to seeing gambling venues on Native American reservations and across the state of Nevada, but opportunities to gamble are very much more limited in the eastern part of the nation. Atlantic City is one of the few cities that allows table games as well as slot machines and sports and race betting.