Day 38 - Atlantic City - Where Sturgis meets Harry Hines

Well...
...everyday can't be like the last. While today was a great day to be alive, it wasn't the day yesterday was by a long stretch. But...it had its moments.

How's this for a GPS? OMG - we're talking Samsung Smart TV here!

The bright sun glare and my 70 year old eyes got the better of me. So...at one of our favorite points of interest on every travel adventure, Love's Travel Stops, we sprang for a Dezl 770. Yep! That's right. This is the model them truckers use. This baby's got a screen so big you can watch Star Wars in IMax. Plus, it has so many cool features you can't imagine. I suppose it would make better sense if we were serious travelers, but who cares?

Today was tough. No matter how enchanting and romantic we try to make it, traveling the Atlantic Seaboard is brutal. I must admit there were some extenuating circumstances, however. As you can see in the GPS photo above, there's the reflection of a large, blue object. That's a guitar box (48x24x12) that's carrying...well...a guitar, two pairs of shoes, clothes, condiments, you name it! It's wrapped in a blue, waterproof tarp. The sound of wind turbulence sonically slapping the square surface of the...well...you can just imagine. It overpowered the music we thought might drown out the noise, but...nooo!

Next add together all the traffic signals you've ever encountered in your lifetime. Place them back to back to back for miles on end. So, here's the scene. You see an approaching traffic signal and begin to gauge your speed so as to time it perfectly. Then you realize that every yahoo on the east coast is jockeying for prime position at the intersection. Since humanity naturally seeks it lowest level when sitting anonymously behind the wheel of a modern, overpowered Nascar beast, each driver begins swerving as though warming up their tires to accelerate from the pack of traffic to an awaiting checkered flag. Multiply this occurrence infinitesimally. There, I knew you could understand.

To break the monotony of the insidious Gran Prix scene, fortunately we occasionally had to react to certain biological needs, Here's one such stop:

Liz did a WeeWee at the WaWa

Can you believe someone would actually name a convenience store, "WaWa?" I guess some kids never wanna grow up. Beats me!

We traveled through four states and 300 miles in only 8.5 hours. Beginning in Virginia, we traversed Chesapeake Bay by bridge and tunnel into Maryland. From there it was Delaware and on to New Jersey. In all, that spells approximately $20 in tolls. Understandably, $13 of those were for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Judging by its size, they'll still be paying for it in the 22nd century at 13 bucks a trip.

The New Jersey Turnpike was reasonable and actually quite a timesaver. We added some 20 miles to our trip just to avoid traffic signals and 55 MPH speed limits. That said, all the east coast Jeff Gordon's were honing their driving skills on the NJ Turnpike as well.

Exhausted, we pulled into Atlantic City. It was Lizzy's first visit and my second in almost 40 years. First impressions; a ghost town. No wonder Trump lost millions here! We checked into our hotel and decided to take a stroll along the boardwalk.

Beside the Boardwalk

Boardwalk, Beach and Ballys

Beach Birds

Under the boardwalk...down by the sea...♬ ♪♩

The beach was beautiful, but deserted as you can see. Are we the only ones traveling in May? Also, we had several other observations as we traversed the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

Our hotel is located between the Taj Mahal and Caesars Palace. That said, they are separated by several blocks, perhaps, even a mile. Along this stretch and on the boardwalk itself we got several chuckles. The following is a picture of a wooden walkway that leads to the ocean entitled Kentucky Avenue. Guffaw, chortle, guffaw...Kentucky and Atlantic City may as well be on two entirely separate continents. This reference to Kentucky is as humorous as naming a city in Texas, Paris!

Kentucky Ave...NOT!!

Walking a bit further, we were bombarded by every kind of low-rent, arcade-like curio shop and junk food eatery know to mankind. Suddenly it dawned upon us this is what you would get if you cross bred Sturgis, SD and Harry Hines Blvd. in Dallas. See for yourself:

Sturgis meets Harry Hines

Not to be totally cynical, as we walked further we came to Caesars Palace. It, of course, looked like Caesars Palace; in a sorta Vegas meets Shreveport/Bossier City kinda way. 

Caesars

I guess, in the final analysis, it seemed rather obvious why Trump and others lost tons on their investments in Atlantic City.

I'm not sure if yesterday was that good; or today was that challenging, but Atlantic City has been relegated to a box checked. Perhaps, If Liz and I were to hit the casinos tonight and strike it rich, all our opinions might change. But that's another story...

Alas, we're resting up for our journey tomorrow through New Jersey, into New York and on to Connecticut. Your prayers are appreciated!