Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Atlantic City, NJ

Click here for our location in Atlantic City, NJ

We had changed our plans from being in New York over the July 4th weekend to being in Atlantic City.  We just thought that all of the places we wanted to go in NY would be crowded.  Neither of us had been to Atlantic City so we decided it would be a good place to stop. 

We had been warned that there is nothing much to do in Atlantic City if you don’t gamble and that the gambling casinos had not really brought much opportunity (in the form of higher wages) to the rest of Atlantic City.  We also were told not to walk too far from the casinos or the boardwalk as they have a problem with crime. 

We stayed at the Trump Marina for two nights, arriving on Saturday July 3rd and leaving on Monday July 5th.  They assigned Rickshaw to a slip at the end of a very long dock, which was great.  They had live music on the ‘Deck’ of the marina and we were far enough away not to hear them all night.

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                                             Day and night views of the Trump Marina Tower

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We enjoyed sitting on the aft deck of Rickshaw and watching the comings and goings.  Because it was a holiday weekend the boat traffic was particularly busy.  We saw several near boat collisions with the strong current in the marina.  Here are some shots we took from Rickshaw.

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      Two mega-yachts docked behind us                Cute Atlantic City Water Tower

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There were at least 5 cigarette boats.  Rick called them T (testosterone) boats, that buzzed through the marina for the 2 days we were there.  They are loud and annoying … which, of couse, is their purpose …!!

DSC03629                                                               A Paddle Wheel party boat

On Sunday we wanted to stretch our legs and go for a walk but soon found that you can’t walk outside of the marina casino because it is all just highway.  So, never having been to the Atlantic City boardwalk, we decided to take the Jitney bus over and see what it was all about.  It was about a 1/2 mile walk to the boardwalk from where we were dropped off and decided to have lunch when we got there.  We were seated at a table that was next to floor-to-ceiling windows.  They were mirror-tinted on the outside but we could clearly see the boardwalk traffic going by.  We felt like we were looking at a ‘people’ aquarium!

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With the weather being as hot as it was, these folks really earned their pay.  They are “Push Rickshaws” and they charged $5 to go 0-5 blocks!!  The guys on the right must not need the money.

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Typical Board Walk Activities…it was fun to see it all … amazing people watching …!!

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The Donald’s ‘other’ casino in Atlantic City.  We don’t know how many he has.

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                                                   Walking the Boardwalk

Lots of people on the docks told us that we were in a great position to see the fireworks.  So, we had the all-American July 4th dinner (delivery pizza!) and waited on the aft deck for the show to begin.  While waiting we took some pictures of the surrounding casinos…all decked out with lights that ran continuously each night.

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                                                         Harrah’s

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                       Borgata                                             The Water Club

The fireworks started at 9 pm and it really was a great show.  It went on for about an hour with the boats all honking their horns in appreciation.  Here are a couple of shots.  

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                          Happy Faces??                                                              Hearts

We left Atlantic City early Monday morning, July 5, for a 10 hour cruise up the Atlantic coast of New Jersey and into an anchorage for the night behind Sandy Hook, south of NY Harbor.  Next blog will talk about our cruise yesterday, July 6, New York City.  Exciting!