Sunrise Over the Taj Mahal, Atlantic City

One of our most treasured traditions when my sister and I go to the ocean is our sunrise stroll on the beach, looking for seashells while sipping steaming-hot cups of Starbucks coffee. Our beach trips are usually Sunday/Monday overnights, and so on Monday morning while everybody else is starting off to work, my sister and I are thoroughly enjoying the fact that we are NOT. And that our Monday morning meetings involve only the ocean, the sun, the sand, and the birds.

We stayed overnight at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino, and it has an awesome balcony overlooking the boardwalk, just perfect for watching both moonrises and sunrises.

And the sun came up quite spectacularly, throwing long shadows down the boardwalk and lighting up our whole world with a rosy glow. We enjoyed yet a second day of perfect weather at the beach! For the rising sun gave way to blue skies and even warmer weather than the day before.

And the delights of our vacation featured not just outdoor adventures but some pretty special indoor ones as well. Before we left for our trip, I checked out the schedule for the IMAX theatre at the Tropicana, and discovered that a renovated and enhanced 3-D version of The Wizard of Oz would be playing for one week in North America. Guess which week it was. YES! It had opened at the Tropicana on Friday, and would be playing during our visit.

So our first major goal of the day was to hoof it on down the boardwalk from Bally's, where our bus dropped us off late that morning (and where the attendant gave us each $30 in slot play for Bally's), all the way to the Tropicana, which is near the bottom of the boardwalk. We strolled into the Quarter in the Tropicana about fifteen minutes before the show started and took our seats. And what a delight it was! If you are a fan of the Wizard of Oz at all (which is, by the way, a story I can relate to, as I see it primarily as the tale of two women fighting over a gorgeous pair of shoes), THIS is the way to see it! Wow!

We had just enough time after the movie to shop at a wonderful little candy store called LICK in the Quarter, and then we left the Tropicana to have a lovely late lunch at Evo, a restaurant - grill on the boardwalk. My 12-inch wood-fired pizza was delectable and I polished off every single bite!

With just about an hour left before we had to catch our bus, we shopped in a few little shops along the boardwalk, then headed for Bally's to try our hand at the slot machines, each of us armed with our $30 in slot play. I turned around at one point to see my sister standing behind me: she'd won $35 and cashed out. Just as she put her hand on my shoulder, I played a hand that won ME $32.50, and so I cashed out as well. (Gambler's rule: always cash out right away if you win!) And so we both made a little bit of money at the slots - not quite enough to retire on, but a little something just the same.

One last walk down to the ocean to say farewell to the beach and to the birds, and we were headed back to the bus, where we boarded and were bound for home. What a full day we had had, and what a wonderful trip! Just packed with adventures and fun, and beach and sister time. In some ways, this may have been our best visit ever to Atlantic City!

And so we returned to Harrisburg on the bus, and from there went to my sister's house. I got in my car and headed for home, with the moon in my rear view mirror, singing me his sweet silvery song to keep me company.

The song to accompany this photo of sunrise at the beach is Katrina and the Waves, with Walking on Sunshine! For not only was the seagull in this photo walking on sunshine on this day; but my sister and I felt like we were walking on sunshine too!