Why does the fine weather appear AFTER we arrive in Atlantic City??

Murphy's Law??

We can excuse it all we like, but the reality is that weather is fickle, and we just have to do the best we can when choosing when to move! sigh!!!! So many factors come into making these choices.

We couldn't have asked for better company for our trip up the coast, and indeed, in Atlantic City itself.

Linda and Bryan are docked in the Golden Nugget Casino Marina...very convenient! They are relative newbies when it comes to boating, but are doing famously. Poor Linda 'Fed the Fish' (was very sick) on the trip up the coast on Thursday, and is not looking forward to our trip up the coast to New York, tomorrow. Understandable.!

We dinghied across the main canal to the Golden Nugget Marina where we dropped our gear at their boat on Saturday around noon, and after a short visit, Waz and I went up to the Casino to the bathroom, but stayed for lunch, on a whim, and had a very nice, but HUGE meal there at one of the Brasseries. We caught a Jitney down to the Atlantic City Boardwalk following the meal....I think this is a Chicken BLT (Bacon Lettuce, Tomato) Burger with fries. He said it was good, but not memorable!

 I ordered the Asian Chichen Salad which was supposed to have had noodles on it... I don't know what these things are...wonton strips? Anyway, I demolished the lot, being mostly lettuce, cucumber and tomato with a bit of grilled chicken on the side, and it was otherwise excellent...and quite pretty too!:)

 

Our first stop, when we alighted from the wild Jitney ride...I think all the drivers are on a suicide mission!!!...was at REVEL, the Casino...we didn't go inside, on Saturday, but chose to walk the Boardwalk instead...vowing to go back to see the inside of this remarkable building.

The outside of REVEL, on the right. There are new plantings everywhere, and many vacant lots, which we have seen ever since leaving Houston, (one year ago) all along the Hurricane Coast  of the Gulf of Mexico. Sandy was only two years ago, but there are still homes boarded up, and much damaged real estate for sale. Not sure who would purchase it since it is so close to the Atlantic Coast.

The Oldest Light House on the North East coast of the USA, is right in the middle of Atlantic City Boardwalk territory.

 Casino are everywhere, but this Boardwalk is so much different to the Virginia Beach one which was just lines with flat faced and uninteresting Condos. At least this Boardwalk has character! and different architecture to make it interesting.

 REVEL is fascinating on so many levels. First, the question is ....WHO dreams these incredible building up? We know who dreamt the TRUMP TAJ MAHAL Casino up...Donald must have been having nightmares at the time!!!

 We both remarked that we wouldn't have wanted to have been in the tall tower which is at least 30 stories high at the time of Hurricane Sandy...

 Standing on the boardwalk looking out at an almost FLAT calm sea, on Saturday. Hmmm...why couldn't it have been like that the day we came up???

 In front of REVEL, looking left towards the breakwater... See the new plantings of Dune grass?

 OK, so I got a bit carried away with the outside of REVEL:)

The Boardwalk, then a line of sand, and then paths through the regenerating Dunes to the beach,.

SHOWBOAT Casino.

...and Donald Trumps nightmare...TRUMP TAJ MAHAL Casino.

You go in the front doors there on the bottom right, and the smell of smoke hits you in the face. HORRID!!! It actually says...NO SMOKING on the doors, but that doesn't deter people smoking in the casino at the slot machines on the bottom floor.

 Looking across at the Steel Pier, from the boardwalk.

 The entrance to the Taj Mahal is opposite the entry to the Steel Pier. This is the oldest pier on the Atlantic Shore, apparently.

These wicker roller seats are an institution, apparently. They are all over the boardwalk, and tired folks sit in them and get pushed down the Boardwalk.:) I didn't ask how much they cost, but we walked till my feet didn't want to move anymore...but of course we did!

Please forgive the horrid photos...my cell phone was not doing that well, yesterday!

 This is just inside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino, as we were going up the escalator.

Some general photos taken inside the Trump Casino...

 

 The Chandelier were stunning!

We went into the Casino in search of their Starbucks...and eventually found it on Restaurant Row...wow...there must have been 12 different restaurants up there!

Having had our cold fix, we ventured onto the Steel Pier...

 It was pretty busy, this being Father's Day Weekend in the USA.

Side shows we had not seen the likes of anywhere else :)

:Looking back towards the other Casinos from the Steel Pier.

It was difficult to get a good shot of the beach from the pier...too many fences in the way! This is looking south.

 This is what is known as the Jersey Shore. People 'Go to the Shore' for whatever reason...we saw a few Bachelorette Parties! which is common, we are told. It is also common for the whole crowd to go to Vegas for the weekend for the same kind of celebration...cost?? about $500!

 Looking back to the casinos. This end of the Boardwalk had the older hotels, which looked pretty tires...or just Hurricaned out?? The piles of sand are for a sandcastle competition, apparently.

 Very little wave action out on the Atlantic...

 This ride is a huge bungy ride...it was amazing! I didn't try it tho...just enjoyed watching. The rides were mostly about $10 each. We didn't understand how whole families were doing all the rides, at these prices!

 Finally, I found a seat to stand on so that I could see over the fence on the Pier. This is looking north to the REVEL casino...she is HUGE.

The dark line in the background, on the water, is the Breakwater that we went alongside to get into the Harbor. It was a bit of a washing machine, on Thursday, and it is hard to believe, looking at the sea here, that we had thick sea fog and turbulent conditions, that day.

 

 One of my favorite rides...but we didn't! Cost being the factor, here.

We walked further down the boardwalk and then back to the main street to  catch the Jitney back to the Marina. We had to walk many more stops to catch a Jitney that wasn't full, it being after 4pm. I guess people were going back to wherever they came from, to get ready for dinner??

We had a date with Linda and Bryan, for dinner, before returning to our boat. They were excellent hosts and we enjoyed our time with them, and the dinner they provided. We look forward to spending more time in their company as we head north.

We arrived back at the boat as the sun was going down, and it was a little bumpy getting across the current and boat wakes, back to Rum Point, where we are anchored.

We had met up with Howard and Jackie, and Robert and Catherine, our other boating companions, at the Marina. Robert and Catherine are returning to their home port near Annapolis, and we will miss their company. Robert has been with the FBI in different countries, so they have many good stories to tell.:)
Howard and Jackie arranged to spend some time with us tomorrow...Sunday.

We met all of the above people on the way back to the boat, and joined them all for coffee and dessert on Howard and Jackie's boat, where we made the acquaintances of their two little dogs...Sailor and Harley (girls)...the former an apricot toy poodle and the latter a black (blue) Chihuahua with big ears and mean intelligence:) Sweethearts, both of them. They fell for Waz and he pampered them both...especially Sailor!

We took Robert and Catherine back to their yacht, and said our Farewells, as they were leaving around 8am, Sunday.

We don't think we will be leaving to go anywhere (meaning north to NY) .until Monday!