It's been almost two years since we last visited Atlantic City. In that time a couple of casinos and many jobs have been lost. As I was heading up to Brooklyn, I thought I would see if there were any discounted rooms available. I was able to get a room at Bally's for $41 a night, which after resort fees and taxes really comes out to $75 a night! It was the cheapest I could find so figured why not. This was the view from our room...
If you decide to stay at Bally's, be forewarned the elevators are being repaired in the Tower which means only two are working and lengthy wait times around peak hours. And no way are you walking up to the 35th floor. You're actually better staying on a higher floor like 35-40 because you're guaranteed to get on the elevator going down. If you're on say, the 20th, good luck with that! Last time we stayed in the marina area at the Golden Nugget. That was a beautiful room, but they had a lousy casino. I would have booked the Borgata, but since I'm not a high roller I couldn't get a cheap room. This trip I wanted to stay on the boardwalk so we could take advantage of the beautiful weather.
Just a couple of quick observations regarding Atlantic City...maybe because it was not "in-season" yet, we had a hard time finding an open restaurant Sunday night. We tried to get into the empty Gordon Ramsey joint at Caesar's, but was told it was an hour wait. I call bullshit! They just want you to think it was busy, but based on the number of empty tables we saw, it wasn't. We ended up eating at the Rainforest Cafe, which was okay, but better if you have kids who will enjoy the roaring of the elephants and pretend thunderstorm more than you will. The following night we went to the Borgata as the Japanese restaurant there had a Monday special...half-priced appetizers, rolls, and sake. I wasn't impressed with the portion size, nor the quality of food. And it was way too loud in there. The sake was the highlight of that meal. I will recommend highly Harry's Oyster Bar between Bally's and Caesar's. Fresh seafood, delicious drinks, and fair prices. The raw clams tasted as if the chef went out to the ocean and dug them out right before our lunch. Yum!
Atlantic City seemed deserted. At least the boardwalks were. Didn't bother going into the city itself. Every casino was pretty empty too. Now, you would think they would lower the minimum amount for table games to attract people like me, but they didn't. I lost my limit at roulette in about five minutes. None of the slots in any casino paid off. My favorite slot, Wheel of Fortune, was particularly irksome; every time I'd get the free spin, it would only land on 40, and that's many different machines in many different casinos. Since I had spoken "Rabbit, Rabbit" up the chimney the moment I awoke on the first of May, I thought perhaps the good luck I was hoping to receive would mean I would hit the $388,809 progressive jackpot. Nope, nothing even close!
What would I do if I did hit such a windfall? That's easy...buy a beach house. I love, love, love the shore, and my dream of dreams is to one day wake up, and fall asleep, to the sounds of surf and seagulls. For now I'll have to take what I can which is putting my feet in the frigid surf, which was by far, the highlight of visiting Atlantic City.
My moment of zen...I recorded this on my phone so whenever I get stressed I can listen to it...
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