My friend and I will be heading off to Atlantic City next month to catch Tears For Fears at the Taj. Woo hoo! We plan to leave as early as possible to stave off the possibility of unforeseen delays causing us to miss the concert. Provided that the trip goes without a significant hitch, this will leave us with six hours or so to kill in AC before the event. For two normal people, this would not present a problem.
My friend and I, however, are hardly normal people. Neither of us drinks, and we’re not terribly into gambling. If we happen to set foot into a casino other than the Taj, which may or may not happen, I’ll play $50 worth of low-limit poker and call it a day. I doubt if my friend even knows how to play blackjack. So, for those who’ve been in the area: what else is there for a couple of goody-two-shoeses (?) to do?
Now, Ben and I are the ultimate masters of walking around, looking at cool stuff, talking to each other, and doing essentially nothing for long periods of time. We spent a week-long vacation in New York this summer doing precisely that. Total money spent on things other than food and gas that week: $8. I bought a book. Walking around looking at stuff and talking is definitely our forte. Left to our own devices, we’ll just wind up doing that until the concert. But if the opportunity to do anything especially cool presents itself, we’ll certainly take it. I’d like to be able to say I got at least a bit of the Atlantic City experience.
Huh…I live fairly close to A.C., and have been there dozens of times, but I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about the town that doesn’t involve the casinos.
I understand they have a very nice boardwalk, possibly with a large mall of some sort. I’d not recommend venturing too far from the casino area though. The town is basically like Palanthas…it has gorgeous, billion-dollar properties surrounded by somereal horrorshow slums.
Of course, you could always try seeing what the local tourism web site has to offer.
Other than that, all I can offer you is “never split 10’s, and never hit when the dealer shows a six”.
See, this is exactly the problem. I might as well say, “I’m going to Venice, but I’m not terribly fond of canals. What alternatives do I have?”. Not many responses to that.
We do plan to see if there’s a mall, or an arcade, or something of that nature on the boardwalk, but we’re kinda skittish about venturing too far out of neon-lit territory, for precisely the reasons you mention. Anybody know of anything more specific?
There is a wonderful national wildlife refuge about 10 miles from Atlantic City, known as Brigantine. It is a major stopping point for migrating birds on the Atlantic coast. Sometimes it is home to over 100,000 migrating birds. In September you might have seen Herons, Wood Ducks, Ibises, Plovers, Sandpipers, Terns, Peregrine Falcons, Merlins, and Kingfishers, for example.
If you like this kind of outdoor thing, and if you’ll have a car, it might work out for you. There is a drive you can take through Brigantine of maybe 5 miles that is worthwhile: map of wildlife drive. The refuge is open seven days a week from dawn to dusk.
Hmmm…an idea just struck me…if you’re looking for non-casino stuff to do, you might be better served by spending your weekend in Wildwood. It’s about 40 miles south of A.C., and you should find many, many more things to do there.
We’ve just entered the off-season, but many things are still open, even in October. You could spend the bulk of your time there, and then zip up the Parkway when it’s time for the concert.
You must go to the White House for cheesesteaks. Best damn cheesesteaks on the planet. My grandparents don’t live 10 minutes from Atlantic City like they did when I was growing up, so I haven’t had an excuse to go to the White House in years. The place has been around since the 40s, IIRC, and there’s a reason. Link:
(Of course, there is also the beach. God, I miss the Jersey shore. If you have some time and want to see what the Atlantic City boardwalk looked like before the casinos ruined it, rent a car and drive to Ocean City.)
