Atlantic City Triptych

The centerpiece of the three-day summer vacation that I set up with my oldest sister this year was a bus trip to the beach in Atlantic City and back. The charter bus dropped us off at the Resorts casino along the boardwalk shortly after noon and picked us up there a bit after 6 p.m. There is so much to see and do in Atlantic City that it is daunting to try to do it all in six hours, but we did the best we could!

We started with a nice, hot lunch at the Irish Pub at Boardwalk and St. James Place (a fish sandwich for me, a toasted ham and cheese with fries for her), and walked from there down to the Pier Shops at Caesar's. We enjoyed the colorful It's Sugar candy store, but didn't buy anything. We also spent a few minutes shopping for bargains at the gift shop in the Rainforest Cafe.

I bought a delightful hand-painted-from-the-inside, oh-so-delicate bottle decorated with tigers from one of the many fancy stores along the boardwalk that feature objects of art, jewelry, fancy rugs, and crystal chandeliers. And of course, we spent plenty of time at our favorite 99-cent-store on one of the piers; that's where we usually buy lots of stuff!

We walked under the boardwalk and down by the sand and I took many photos, as I am wont to do. See the beach triptych above - what a glorious day, but also the beach was quite crowded! (For the curious: the sign to the right in the distance says Make Last Weekend Jealous.) And I watched my miracle sister stroll down the beach, wading in the ocean in her bare feet, a sight I once thought I would never see again.

And I knew, again, that I was well blessed to get to keep her; and I thought how amazing it was that we should once again get the gift of time at the beach together: sun, sand, and sisters.

Part of the casino package was $30 in slot change and $10 in food credits at Resorts. I turned my $30 into more than $60 at the slots, and at the end of the day, just before boarding the bus, applied my $10 toward a surprisingly good cup of lobster bisque (next time I'm getting a whole bowl) at the Soupman restaurant in Resorts.

We walked out on the Steel Pier and, I must admit, were a bit disappointed to see that my favorite ride, the ferris wheel - which provides the most amazing views - had been removed. It is being replaced by some other newer, not-as-fun-looking ride. I've included a shot in the extras of the Steel Pier; in it, you may see the fancy little merry-go-round to the left and the new ride under construction to the right.

Just before our bus picked us up, I took one long, last stroll up the boardwalk past the Taj Mahal, Showboat, and Revel, casinos that closed in the past few years. I hear that Showboat has become something else now, and there are plans afoot to reopen Revel under a new name, TEN.

A photo of the awesome reflections at Revel was the very first blip I ever posted on these pages to represent Atlantic City. And on this day, closed and abandoned, it still shone like a beacon in the afternoon sun. You may see a photo of great big shiny Revel in the extras.

The song to accompany this posting has to be a beachy tune, and who to sing it but the Beach Boys? So here they are with Wouldn't It Be Nice. Wouldn't it be nice to go back to the beach? I am missing it already! :-)