Atlantic City, NJ

Guess what’s it’s doing in Atlantic City?  That’s right, it’s raining!  Had a nice drive down through Vermont and New York yesterday to Atlantic City.  One of the few days when we’ve taken Interstate routes for the entire day (except for the last five miles on US 30 into Atlantic City).

It’s always neat to drive down through Vermont – quaint villages, beautiful scenery, forested hills, etc.  Vermont if famous for not having billboards and it extends to the exit signs off the interstate.  No indication of what’s there, just “Food” “Lodging”, etc.  We finally got off at the exit for Windsor to find some place to get a bite to eat.  Just for information sake, Windsor is billed as the birthplace of Vermont – 1777 and I think that’s when the diner was built J.  It’s got to be the spot in Windsor to get all the latest gossip and find out what’s happening in the town (if there’s a difference between the two). 

Came across the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee Bridge – the Hudson is a little wider down here than it was in upstate New York.  Looks like they are building a new bridge alongside the Tappan Zee – quite an undertaking.  Finally hit the toll roads when we got to New Jersey – tolls used to be .35, now they’re 1.50.  Times do change.  Thought about getting an EZ Pass, but decided it wasn’t worth it.  I was concerned that we would hit at rush hour, but it moved pretty well.

Arrived at the shore to a drizzle and fog.  Easy city to negotiate and we had no problems checking in at Bally’s.  We’re right on the ocean; however, our room has a beautiful sea view – if you call a sea of aluminum a view.  Oh well, guess someone has to be on the backside.

Went to the Diamond Lounge for a drink and found a really nice buffet, so guess where we had dinner.  Tried our luck on the floor and didn’t do too badly, but it was an early night.

In the morning we explored Bally’s.  A lot has changed since we were last here – there’s a lot of renovation going on, especially in the Wild West segment of the casino.  The old bagel shop is now a pizza kitchen and they’ve taken out a lot of the machines on the Wild West floor – it’s now more of a band and bar area.  The security gal we talked to said that on the weekends, it really gets crowded.  Took a walk down Atlantic Avenue and there’s been a lot of changes there also.  Changes in shops, closed shops, etc.  As you can expect, Atlantic City is experiencing a big downturn because of the loss of casino business.  Over half of the casinos no longer exist from when we were here before.

Walked the boardwalk on our way back home and it wasn’t very crowded, but there were still some tourists wandering around – no one on the beach, I wonder why?

Tomorrow (Saturday) we’re headed back home – probably take I-76 over to Harrisburg and then follow I-70 across the country.  Not sure whether we’ll express it or take our time.  A lot depends on the weather (which has not been too cooperative so far).