We headed to the check-in desk where the single guy manning it was agonisingly slow getting people checked in. Patience wearing thin, we got to the front of the queue and started the check-in process. We were told that there was a new security policy whereby your room could be entered by staff even if the Do Not Disturb sign was on your door handle. Strange that they give you a sign at all, I thought.
"What happens if I am naked?", I asked.
"Oh, they will knock before entering", Slow-Coach replied.
"Oh good - I'll definitely be naked then!", I beamed.
[Blank expression from Slow-Coach].
So that went down like a lead balloon. Sam then asked for a map of the area. We had deliberately chosen a location right on the beach-side boardwalk, but were after a map so we could get our bearings. After confusing SC who though we were asking for a map of the Aquarium, he proceeded to give us a poor photocopy of an even worse map. Things hadn't got off to a great start.
Heading up to the room, which was very pleasant despite the delightful view of concrete and air conditioning units from our window, we subsequently found that we were only allowed to connect two devices to the internet, which caused a problem when we wanted to get our phones connected (to augment the Worst Map of Atlantic City) along with the laptop to try to catch up on blogging.
The whole arrival experience was very much the exception rather than the norm on this road trip. Usually staff are friendly and helpful and - cheaper motels aside - we usually get as many devices connected to the internet as we wish.
Undeterred, we headed down into the lobby, casino and shopping areas. Despite not being on the same scale as Vegas, it was still pretty impressive. We couldn't wait to get on the machines, and given we were nearing the end of the trip :( I had a good handle on our projected finances and decided that we could splash out on $100 of gambling money each.
After a couple of hours of mooching and gambling, we were both well up, so decided to grab some food at Gordon Ramsay's Pub & Grill which felt like just being back home (not at all) before a final flutter, a nightcap, and then bed.
The next day we decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and take a stroll down the boardwalk. We were here out of season, so everywhere seemed pretty quiet. Added to that, a lot of the boardwalk bars, restaurants and hotels seemed to be permanently closed down. It was a little sad to think that this once-bustling city was heading downhill. Let's hope it's a cyclical thing and it will at some stage regain some of its former glory.
It still does host the Miss America pageant, however, and it was lucky that we weren't there a month earlier as I fully expect my wife to have stolen the show, much to the disgust of the 51 other contestants. This was the first ever Miss America pageant without a swimsuit competition, so maybe moving with the times will help Atlantic City back on its feet too.
This was possibly our last opportunity on this trip to visit the great American institution of Hooters - so we did. Now that I was nearing completion in my transmogrification into a 5'10" bearded chicken, I thought I should get another large portion of chicken wings in. Yum. Cluuuuuck!
We walked back towards our hotel along the sandy beach, stopping to chat to a couple of seagulls, before heading onto the pier which too was quite deserted. After an epic failure in taking Sam on in the Bubblgum Challenge, we headed into the adjacent hotel, Bally's, to see how that compared. After losing some dollars from our now-dwindling gambling purse, we headed back out of the air conditioning into the warm sunshine. We found a beach-side tiki bar where I proceeded to reintroduce my nipples to sunshine; Sam, sadly, did not follow suit.
We headed back to the hotel to get changed for the evening. Our plan was to win big in Bally's and extend our road trip indefinitely. Sadly the machines had other ideas, so after having some dinner in one of the restaurants on the pier, we headed back to Caesars and reluctantly spent our last couple of bucks. All gambled out, we retired to our room and decided that we would win big next time.
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