Lucy The Elephant

One of the most striking buildings you’ll ever see is located just off the beach in Margate. You can’t miss it unless you regularly see six story buildings in the shape of an elephant. A fixture of the area since 1881, Lucy the Elephant is the world's largest wooden elephant and a National Historic Landmark. You know it’s famous because a postcard of Lucy flashes across the screen during the opening credits of the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie. Too bad the Griswalds didn’t visit Lucy instead of Wally World.

Anyway, today Lucy serves as a museum exhibiting historical artifacts and documents about southern New Jersey. Lucy was originally constructed to serve as a hotel intended to attract attention to the burgeoning area of South Atlantic City, known today as Margate. Lucy sees about 30,000 visitors a year who come to explore the museum and check out this unusual site.