Something like the old Atlantic City Board Walk, Coney Island, etc? Similar stuff in California. Another possibility, although I like "ports" better. Translation is such an inexact art. Very difficult to do by machine for instantance (check out Babelfish translations of AFP articles for example). Even harder if the context is unknown or ambiguous. Or if the speakers/writers are trying to "talk around" something.
Even harder when the "writer" can't spell/type for Shiite. :) Arabic is a language of such long standing, I would imagine it's spelling is more regular than English, which is an evolving hybrid language, although it's pronounciation might vary considerably. That is there might be a "Casablanca" accent or dialet that would sound strange to "Baghdad" ears.