Weekend Trip to the City

Greetings any and all readers from the fabulous Taj Mahal in New Jersey!


Atlantic City became our destination for the weekend when we opened our "junk mail" and to our surprise found that a casino had invited us for two free nights stay. The room was comped to us, that is to say, in exchange for playing card games at their poker room.

It takes us about 9 hours to drive each way, which we broke up by making a stop in DC to visit Mike, who kindly put us up on his fancy couch. He also invited me to a party across town, and even lent me the bike to get there! Mike's neighborhood is thriving and attractive, known as Mt Pleasant, and we frequently visit and Mike always accomodates us with gracious generosity.


Compare with the below picture of some row houses abandoned and boarded up (the Borgata Casino is behind them) in Atlantic City :




The view from the room of Absecon Inlet at the north end of the island includes the Lighthouse and a giant new casino under construction.

We brought a good bit of our own supplies to the hotel, since room service and drinks and what-not are often overpriced. But the modern room was very nicely appointed with a fridge. We brought fresh baked brownies, fancy beer and sodas, and garden grown flowers from NC to ensure proper decor and diet while there.





I approached the weekend from a wilderness camping perspective, since as soon as you walk out of your room, you begin to run into ways to spend money. But there are simple bargains, too, such as valet parking ($7 including tip), coffee (free in the room, around $1.25 by the thermos-full at service stations), and food at the poker table ($7 plus $2 tip for a large salad and order of onion rings).

Among the few recreational activities in Atlantic City are beachcombing, which is surprisingly interesting. Jennifer and I strolled up to Absecon Inlet and back, and easily could see significant erosion from the summer hurricane named Bill. Along the beach are numerous piers, jetties, groins, bulkheads, pilings, and all manner of failed construction. But at the NE tip of the island is a jetty which the locals fish from. It was very pretty fall weather, and we saw others strolling and biking, as well as fishing and surfing.






The drive back to NC was a long one, but I would definitely repeat the trip, and I felt good about keeping the trip simple and affordable, as well as the nice touches that made the trip more homey and low-key.