Vacation Part 1

The first part of our vacation involved a trip down to the Jersey Shore, specifically Atlantic City. The reason for the selection of Atlantic City was not because it was a perfect beach community, however it was somewhere on the coast where we could get a hotel room for a reasonable rate at short notice...and it also has some casinos!

Our trip was a joint effort between us and the Howell family, who have 4 girls in the same age range as our kids. We arrived down at our hotel around noon on Sunday, enjoying the drive up Atlantic Ave past the liquor stores, check cashing places and adult movie peep shows - Atlantic City is nothing if not classy. The Flagstaff "resort" was located at the "top of the boardwalk" and was also right near the beach, so we figured it would suit our needs. We decided that a walk on the boardwalk in the direction of the casinos would be a good option for lunch. Taking a right out of our hotel, we began the delightful stroll down the boardwalk, stepping over the rotting and 'not nailed down' deck boards, jumping over a barrier blocking off a section which was under repair, enjoying the view of a particularly delightful green building which was rusting and pretty much falling apart and avoiding the quite rundown streets heading back from the boardwalk.

We all ate lunch at some street stalls, quite good, and enjoyed a parade celebrating something to do with Puerto Rico. Lots of people shouting things in Spanish over loud speakers and some cars with people waving at us. After this, we headed back to our rooms and hit the beach for a brief visit. The walk in the other direction was quite nice - new housing developments and certainly a much nicer and cleaner feel to it. The kids enjoyed themselves and so I guess that was the main thing. Sunday evening was quite tame - I was actually quite tired - so no hitting the casinos.

Monday took us to the "Atlantic City Aquarium", which was really an overly grand term for what should have been named the "Atlantic City Couple of Fishtanks". It was really quite poor, even the kids were a little bored with it, although the "touch tank" where they could touch some rays was nice I guess. A quick lunch and then a trip to the beach for the afternoon. We headed back the other way as the beaches around there were open to the ocean rather than an inlet. The waves were quite nice and the kids had a lot of fun, although all of them slipped at some point and got a face full of the Atlantic for their trouble. We headed back to the hotel and got the shuttle bus to the main casino strip to find somewhere to eat. The bus was horrible inadequate - 18 seats and there were always about 25 people waiting for it. We managed to get on and ate at a foodcourt in Caesar's Palace. Another crowded ride back and then Gary and I hit the poker tables. It was a successful evening, finishing $225 up. Always good to make a profit.

Tuesday began with another trip to the beach where Fiona started to not feel well. We headed back to the room where I volunteered to make the "sacrifice" of not attending the Imax cinema in the afternoon, instead napping with Fiona in the room. The rest of the afternoon involved Gary and I watching the kids while Holly and Mindy enjoyed some shopping time. The evening brought another trip to the poker room, a lot of fun, but due to some bad luck and a few silly decision, I finished $75 down. Still, positive for the weekend, so not too disappointed.

Wednesday was supposed to be another beach day but with Fiona still not 100%, we simply headed home a little early to rest up for the 2nd leg of our trip.