September's Little Getaway and Some Half-Baked Notions

Home again, home again...taking the train to Atlantic City to get a peek at the ocean was relaxing, and we did have nice weather...

My pictures tend to look like Monets...good for an overall impression. Since we don't gamble at all, this was all about walking up and down the boardwalk and eating. Drinking. And since this was the off season, it wasn't at all crowded.

One thing I must say that perturbed me a little was the constant noise coming from the casinos along the ocean front. In some areas, the music videos and advertisements completely drown out the noise of the surf. That seems to violate the beauty of being at the shore. If listening to the sound of the waves is the point, it's necessary to either walk all the way down to the beach, or walk more to the end of the boardwalk. Both are quite expansive.

It's a lovely beach, such a juxtaposition with so much tackiness. But then, casinos are tacky. There's simply no way around it.

On Tuesday night, we walked quite a ways, over a mile, to reach The Tun Tavern, but unfortunately, it was closed for a private party.  Fortunately, we found another charming place--

I took a picture of the back wall, so as not to forget this place. Wingcraft Kitchen & Beer Bar has a stunning microbrew menu. The food is good, too. Yes, they have wings, but we had some very good pizza.

Two smiling people who arrived very hungry and relieved to find this place! 

On Wednesday, we visited The Havana Tower, where we had dinner at an Italian place called Il Verde. It was wonderful. I ate too much, something I find myself doing lately...

This section is referred to as The Quarter, and the fake sky overhead is reminiscent of something I remember from Vegas (at The Venetian? Not sure). Another impressionist picture, no? The Tropicana is lovely.

The next morning, I rented a bike and rode up and down the long boardwalk for an entire hour, but did not see all of it! I was surprised that there is a very long, very quiet residential section. Who knew? 

On taking the train: honestly, the only hassle is finding a parking space, and we agreed that we wouldn't be parking again--we'll get a ride. And I was thinking that someday, if we have more time, this might be an alternative to flying to Florida before cruising. I was noticing that both these train stations do have escalators or elevators for people who are schlepping more than a carry-on, but if that is a problem, Amtrak will ship stuff from one station to another. Of course, there is a fee for this. I don't expect it's prohibitive.  Just a thought, if air travel gets more expensive and/or onerous...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, for the weekend...whatchaupto?