Atlantic City Angel

I was supposed to spend last week up in Brooklyn after spending two days in Atlantic City. Every once in a while I'll get an email from a casino offering me a free room...well, "free" is subjective as by the time you add up all the fees associated with said "free" room the least it will run you is $32 a night, which is still way cheaper than the what could be hundreds of dollars a night.

So we accepted Caesar's gracious offer and booked two nights in their Centurion Tower. I highly recommend that tower as the room was beautiful, spacious, all new, comfy, and most importantly quiet! Nothing irks me more than to be in a hotel room near the elevator, ice machine, maid's room or to have noisy neighbors who constantly slam the door closed. Luckily we had none of that. We would have had a view as well if only some dang hurricane wasn't making us live in fog for two days.

It's easy to forget that there's a hurricane out there when you're in the casino or dining or drinking or whatever. Of course once you get outdoors and see the choppy Atlantic Ocean through the thick fog, or turn on the news in the room, or check text messages from a daughter who works at a local news station and is giving us hourly updates, reality sets back in.

But, before that happened we were just enjoying ourselves, so here's a couple of tips for your next Atlantic City excursion. Caesar's Palace is a really nice hotel to stay, especially if they're offering free or discounted rooms. They offer free parking pass for guests so you can self park and will benefit from the lengthy walk from the garage to the room. Do yourself a favor and note in your phone which garage, level and row you park. Trust me, or you may find yourself trying hard to remember. King size rooms are always nicer than two queen or double bed sized rooms. The little cafe in the lobby is great for a quick bite or late dessert.

We were highly unimpressed with Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. We've tried to go in the past and every time they always told us we would have a long wait even though we could see empty tables. We didn't realize they were doing us a favor then until we were seated this time and had dinner. Totally over-priced, tiny portions, bland and in a nutshell underwhelming. The escargot was okay but I've had better. I ordered the Shepherd's pie as I figure a Brit should have a good recipe. Nope, so salty, looked like canned peas and carrots in it, watery, and even though it was tiny I left most of it so you know it stunk. My husband had three half (not three whole eggs) "deviled" eggs and a hamburger. I had one cocktail, he had a coke. Dinner was $100! Luckily I hit $100 on my first try on a slot at Bally's so I felt better than I did the half hour before that happened. Even Steven!

Bally's was my favorite place to play slots, followed by Resorts as they still have the quarter Wheel of Fortune old reel ones. Most of the casinos now have penny slots, but you have to put in like 500 pennies in order to hit a big jackpot. I stay away from those as I have no idea what all those video screens and things are. I only play machines that have a pull handle as well, and that is a dying breed. I figure eventually I'll just give up slots because I'm not a fan of the push button, huge celebrity featured, video, techno looking things. Old school, baby, old school.

If you like table games, Bally's Wild West Casino was the only one where I was able to play Blackjack and Roulette at a $5 minimum. Even then I was betting $10 a hand and spin so I don't know why a $10 table scares me so much. I played for a while, but my best luck was on the slots. We walked to the new Hard Rock Casino. Didn't eat there because I'm not a fan of chain restaurants and the menu was not anything special. Walked through the casino and they did not have one quarter machine! Everything was those modern ones that I hate so didn't drop a dime in there. We walked back towards our hotel and had lunch at Harry's Oyster Bar. They have a nice pitcher of Sangria and I got my usual, raw little necks on a half shell and a shrimp cerviche...yum. We were staying away from Italian food because we were going to be getting plenty of that in Brooklyn over the next couple of days.

By the time we got back to the room on our last night we were exhausted. When I checked my phone there were a slew of messages about Hurricane Florence and how now Roanoke was in its bullseye. We watched the weather channel which forecast nothing but gloom and doom for us and then our daughter who pretty much reiterated that. We hadn't really taken any sort of precautions before we left so now we were faced with a dilemma...do we stay, or do we go? After checking future radar from the Weather Channel it looked like our best window of opportunity for driving was the following day.  If not, we would be stuck for a while. I do not like driving in the rain, never mind torrential storms especially in the cursed car.

Ah yes, the cursed car for those of you who don't know is the 1999 Olds Intrigue that was my dad's. When he died in 2007 we took it over as it only had 17,000 miles on it. My husband has always said to never take a dead person's car because it will give you nothing but trouble, and oh my God was he ever right about this one. Every single time we've taken it anywhere for a long distance something happens. I said after last year when the power steering pump went out when we were in New York, that was the last time. But then when this trip came up once again we think about the horrible parking situation in Brooklyn, the crazy drivers, do I really want to subject my Hyundai to that? And after all, the Olds still only has 70,000 miles on it. I reminded my husband of what we said last time, but was vetoed. So instead we spent yet another couple of hundred dollars fixing it up and getting it ready to roll.

On the way up there the check engine light came on. Frank: "Don't worry it's nothing." Then the radiator light came on. Frank: "It does that some times." Then the anti-lock brake lights. Frank: "Son of a bitch." I'm like wtf?! Is that why we're sliding every time you hit the brakes when the road is wet? Apparently so. He assured me it was nothing he couldn't handle so we left the cursed car in the lot for the two days and it was nice to just walk everywhere.

Anyway, back to our last night. We made the decision the smart move was to come back to Roanoke. I thought that maybe I could eke one more night out of our trip and make a quick run to Brooklyn. It was only 2 1/2 hours away...I could almost taste those baked clams and pastries. I could see my friends and family for a night of laughs and then we could bring back provisions to fill the two coolers we brought. Nope, wasn't going to happen after we called home to tell my son we were heading back. He informed us that we were going to be hosting a family from North Carolina with a baby and dog at our house for a couple of days. Say what? Without asking? Total strangers in my home who have a dog? Does he not know how our dog reacts to not only strangers, but other dogs??? That's all well and fine being a good samaritan and all, but yeah, no, I'm a little less trusting than he is, especially if I only know the people from playing video on-line games. So yeah we were heading back the next day. I needed to be there for Bella.

So there we were in the room looking at each other, cursing ourselves for not eating in a good Italian restaurant and me scratching my head wondering why is it every time I'm in Brooklyn I get called back because of an emergency. This time I didn't even freaking make it to Brooklyn! I swear the last six times something has happened and it's getting to the point I'm afraid to even go up there any more.

On Wednesday we checked out and trekked the mile to the car packing it all in, buckling myself in and I said out loud, "Ok bitch, get us home! No, that was to the car, not you Frank." He puts the key in, turns it and click, click, click. Nothing. He turns to me, tries it again. Click, click, click. Nothing. Are you freaking kidding me?! The cursed car is dead, dead, dead. All the lights are working in the car. My husband, who is a mechanic, starts cursing after I ask hopefully,  is it the battery? He doesn't think so and fears it might be the starter. He pops the hood open and could barely stand in front of it as we are pulled up all the way to the concrete wall. He can't get to the starter to try and hit it with a wrench. This really sucks. Now what are we supposed to do? We got to get it freaking towed to a repair shop. This really sucks.

I call AAA and after holding for about 15:00 with the message repeating over and wait times are more than usual, a person finally comes on. I'm told a tow truck will be at least an hour, maybe two then they could tow it to a repair shop but it will be up to the shop to say when they could work on it. This really, really sucks. This mother f*&ng cursed car!!!! To think I was so happy I was leaving Atlantic City up a whole forty bucks too! God knows what this is going to cost us, and worse, I GOTTA GET HOME TO MY DOG!!!

I felt like I was going to cry so I took ahold of my emotions by breathing deep and channeling "my people." I shut myself out from the world and asked them to please come and help us. I said I was leaving our situation in their hands and just letting go. It calmed me down. I got out of the car and leaned against the trunk.

Not five minutes pass when I see a guy in a white shirt walking through the parking garage down the ramp towards us. I nod as he passes and he looks at me and asks me if everything is all right. I say, "Not really, the car is dead." He asks me if I need help. I laugh and point to the white SUV next to us and say, "Sure, this wouldn't happen to be yours, would it?" He says, "Yes." What???? Are you kidding???? I ask him if he wouldn't mind trying to give us a boost. He says sure. I tell my husband let's give it a shot, we got nothing to lose.

We unload everything from the trunk and dig out the battery cables. The fellow has no idea how to open his hood so Frank does it for him. He also has no idea how to use the stick to keep the hood up so Frank does it for him. He has no idea how to put the cables on so Frank does that too. Frank tells him to turn the ignition over, brrr, brrrr, brrrrr, vroom!!!! The car starts!!!! Oh my God, I can't believe it!!! Frank quickly removes the cables and then it dies. Oh no, let's try again this time keep it on a little longer. It works!!!! I keep my foot on the gas pedal giving it a shot every so often as Frank unhooks all the cables and puts the guys hood down. As he's doing that and thanking him, Frank tells him we are trying to get back to Roanoke  before the hurricane hits. This fellow says, "Yeah, you guys need to go back home."

Frank comes back into the driver's seat and I get out wanting to thank this guy. Funny thing, he's already gone! He's not in the SUV. I look down the ramp to see if he was walking and don't see anyone. He like just disappeared. There were thousands of cars in this garage. What were the odds of us having the car next to us, the only car that could have reached us with jumper cables, come to our rescue. Where did this guy come from? Why would he be walking in the garage down from an upper level if the SUV was his? He didn't seem familiar at all with the workings of it either. It was just the strangest thing. I think it was my guardian angel, and when your guardian angel tells you you have to go home, you listen. We did. Smart move.

The Outer Banks

My dream is to one day own a house at the beach. Lounging on the shore,  reading a book while hearing the waves as they crash, feeling the surf spray on my sun-burned body, smelling the brine of the ocean and hearing birds caw in the background is my idea of bliss.

If I had a job that provided a  pension and health insurance that I could retire from I would have a long time ago. Unfortunately, I didn't think ahead when I was younger, or, in reality, I felt I was "too creative" to work "for the man" at some city/state/federal agency -- how boring! -- and opted to own businesses instead, where it was me alone (80's & 90's) or my husband and I alone (90's until now) paying ourselves, with no retirement plan nor  group health insurance.  Silly me. However my dream is still attainable as my "retirement plan" is the Brooklyn house when we sell it. Lucky me.

Our Roanoke home is located in a beautiful part of the country, but mountains and valleys are not where I want to spend my golden years. We will keep it, not only because my son will be living in it, but the location is a good one in case of tragedy, whether that "tragedy" be man-made or nature made.  Ideally, my plan would be to locate somewhere that is within one day driving distance to Roanoke, and near a beach. Even after selling my Brooklyn home, I would not be able to afford a place anywhere along the beaches of Brooklyn, Queens, or Long Island so New York is out. Same goes for New Jersey...besides, other than a couple of days spent in Atlantic City, I'm just not a fan of that state. I'd consider Maine, but my husband thinks it's too cold...same with all the other New England states.

Next up are the Mid Atlantic states. I have not been to any beaches in Maryland or Delaware so can't weigh in on them. The only beach I've been to in Virginia is Virginia Beach and that's a no-go. Beach is nice, but the area is too crowded, too commercial, too military, too touristy, just too-too.

Now we get to the state that I am most leaning to...North Carolina. The furthest away from our home to a beach there is less than 7 hours. We've been to Ocean Isle Beach and Wrightsville Beach. Love them both, but went to them before I decided that one day I wanted to live near a beach, so I will have to visit the surrounding area again before making a Zillow account on those areas. I tried to book a hotel for last week at both places but couldn't find anything available so I opted to check out another North Carolina beach possibility, and one we'd never been to before, the Outer Banks.

I knew nothing about the Outer Banks other than most people rent houses there.

I am not into renting a house as that means I will have to perform all the same duties in that house as I do in this house. That is not what I consider a vacation. Instead I searched high and low for a room that was either ocean front or had ocean view. No point going to the beach if you don't have that. I was surprised at how booked everything was there too, and how expensive the rooms were, but not as expensive as Wrightsville Beach is. I finally found something that looked decent in Kill Devil Hills. What a weird name for a city! Unfortunately, the pictures were deceptive, and I blame myself for not calling and asking if ocean view meant I had a balcony to sit on to view the ocean. We didn't. So, we paid more for ocean view, which is all it was, a view of the ocean from the inside of our room but too far from the shore.  Although I could probably spend a lot more on it, this post is not going to be a bash on the hotel. It's really about what I thought of the Outer Banks. Let's just say, it only took a couple of days to realize it's not a retirement contender.

Like I stated earlier, I love the beach. Not only do I love lounging on the beach, I enjoy going in the ocean. My husband, who once thought he would one day be a marine biologist, does not feel the same way. When I go to the beach, it brings me back to my childhood -- where we spent most days -- either at Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, or Coney Island. When we weren't baking grilled cheese and bologna sandwiches wrapped in tin foil under the hot sun, or chasing down the fudgie wudgie man, we were jumping in, under, and over the waves. I can't swim, probably because I didn't spend much time in a pool, but I can float on my back, for a little bit, in salt water. The rest of the time I'm usually neck deep bobbing like a cork that fell in a punch bowl.

The first thing I noticed about the OBX (quickly learned OBX on those oval stickers on a lot of car windows was the abbreviation for Outer Banks) was the color and temperature of the water. It was grayish,  darker than I thought it would be, and much much colder than I thought as well. The water up north at Brooklyn beaches and Emerald Coast NC ones are way warmer. On my first day I only went up to my ankles because it was so frigid and was disappointed to find how horrible the sand in the surf felt under my feet. It wasn't smooth at all. It felt like shards of broken shells and hurt to even walk on it. I wondered how far out it went, but didn't explore because the water was so cold. There were hardly any shells on the beach, none unbroken, and if we had gone with the kids when they were young other than them probably chasing all the little crabs peeking out from under the sand, they would have been disappointed too. The ocean was so calm that it didn't make sense to me why there would be so many broken shards.

Even if I didn't go in the water I still enjoyed just being on the beach. I did take a dip in the unheated hotel pool which felt good as it was warmer than the ocean.

Paddle boarding on the Atlantic Ocean

The next day it rained so no beach for us. Instead we visited Manteo which is where that other Roanoke is, the Lost Colony of Roanoke. The town itself is cute, but there really wasn't much to see where the actual colony was. We had planned on attending the play that night but since it was outdoors, and still raining, we didn't bother. Here's a couple of shots of the settlement.

Spanish moss

When we next went to the beach it was like we were at a different beach than we were two days prior. The waves were crazy strong and now it made sense as to why the ocean floor was like a sharp dump of broken shells.

The sounds of the crashing waves were amazing, but the pull of them, even as I stood only ankle deep, was scary. I couldn't imagine even going up to my calves as the undertow was so strong.

Those waves were so high and powerful I was scared for the parents who were letting their children go near them. I was on watch the whole time. Any child that was even near the surf I worried about. One guy had one of those sand chairs wedged in right by the shore and I watched as a crazy wave came in and tumbled him out of it! I couldn't imagine letting my child go into that ocean. I heard someone say in the breakfast room that morning that there were riptides. A riptide can pull you out overwhelm you in mere seconds. When I asked the front desk person if she had heard any idea what the weather was going to be that day she said, "You're on the Outer Banks, it changes from minute to minute." Yeah, no, the Outer Banks will not be on my short list.

Always wanted to surf...those days are over!

There were two things I really liked about OBX...the fresh seafood and the thrift stores. I have to say every restaurant we went to was really good and I have had my fill of sea scallops and shrimp to last a while. Some of my recommendations are: Slice, a pizzeria where as the name implies, you can just grab a slice of pizza if that's all you want. There are many varieties, all looked yummy. And their pizza was so delicious I went back to have another fresh mozzarella, Roma tomato, garlic & basil slice twice. You can also get a glass of wine while you wait.

Trio was the exact restaurant I have wanted to open in Roanoke for the last 20+ years...a place where you can get wine, cheese, beer and live acoustic music. They also had a store in the front where you can take out goodies. Delicious! Click here for my Trip Advisor Trio review.  Josephine's Sicilian Kitchen was another favorite. Real Italian food, in an intimate setting where the menu changes weekly. They do not take reservations so if you want to get in without a long wait I recommend going when it first opens at 5:00pm. Click here for my Trip Advisor review of Josephine's. If you want something a little more fancier, for that special occasion, I recommend the Colington Cafe, a French restaurant in what was once a home in Collington which is right near Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills.

I loved going to all the thrift stores. My favorite was Class and Trash which was like an affordable Black Dog Salvage yard. We got some neat things and had I had room we probably would have brought back a lot more "stuff."

Besides the ocean water, the most disappointing event we experienced was a wine tasting event which took us 45 minutes to get to as it was at the end of the OBX in Cutterick. There were only two vineyards sampling, and three beer breweries. I don't drink beer so for $15 it was a waste as the pour was literally a thimble size pour of five different wines. Altogether it would not have filled the glass. I  now know I hate North Carolina grapes, way too sweet with a musky aftertaste. At least there was some nice scenery. There was no way I was climbing the lighthouse and paying $10 to be out of breath and in pain, but it was pretty to look at.

There was no way I was leaving without getting in that ocean so on our last day I braved the cold, waves, and rough bottom and did a quick run in. I was stopped about knee high by a powerful wave which knocked me down. By the time I got up Frank was already at the shore in case he had to rescue me. I got out quickly.

All in all it was good to get away, but with the temperatures soaring into the high nineties in Roanoke, this week at the beach would probably have been a better call.

My husband is pushing for us to consider Florida as a possibility, but I'm not too keen on it. He thinks Maine is too cold. I think Florida is too hot. I'm sure there are other beaches between Maine and Florida we could consider. If you know of any please drop a comment!

Atlantic City, May 2015

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...

Brighton Beach

With winter breathing down my neck I thought I would warm up the day with a couple of shots from Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.

On the Brighton Beach Boardwalk looking towards Coney Island. The parachute and ferris wheel  loom ahead.

From Bay Ridge it's a quick jump (if there's no traffic) on the Belt Parkway, a nice drive along the shore, just a couple of exits down. Be warned when exiting the Belt to immediately slow down as NYC has put speed cameras on many of the exits, and if you do go above 25mph, in a couple of weeks you may find yourself the recipient of an expensive love letter...

And just like that...the seasons change...the shore, sun, sky, and sand stay the same, yet, as the sun changes its mood, so does the shore, sun, sky, and sand.

At the top of the shot there are two seagulls standing sentry...one on each side.

That's the elevated train, now called the B from the D which takes you to Brighton Beach.  I can't figure out why they switched the B & D line names and it drives me crazy,

This used to be the lobby to an old movie theatre, now it's the entrance to an expensive food forum of sorts.

Acadia -- Sand Beach

Our disappointment at the lack of parking near Jordan Pond House was quickly forgotten once we arrived at Sand Beach.

It was a beach unlike any I've seen before, and I've seen many beaches.

I regret I did not dip my toes in the water. At the time it seemed too much trouble to remove my socks and sneakers. Foolish me.

There are showers, changing rooms and I believe lockers. If I lived in the area, this would be my beach.

In my fantasy, I'm alone on the shore with my lounge chair, water, camera, Kindle and note book. No cell phones, no computers, no people. Just me, listening to the sounds of the surf and the cry of a gull. This is my new goal. My husband doesn't know it yet...