Weekend of Weekends...

Being that we are on baby countdown with just a little over a month to go, we are trying to fit in "the last time before the baby comes" for every activity we enjoy. Now everyone knows that we are Atlantic City "Heads". So, it should be now surprise that this weekend we enjoyed our 2nd "last time before the baby comes" Atlantic City trip. Our adventure began around 12:30pm on Friday afternoon. I "worked" (emailed Janie, Casey & Michele while looking busy) a 1/2 day & Maggie took the day off to prepair for our journey. After making a cooler of food, gathering everything & packing Wanda McBetty (yes we name our vehicles) we hit the road around 2:00. Traffic moved fairly well & we arrived in Atlantic City around 4:30. Usually we stay at one of the casinos on the boardwalk. You see, Atlantic City is located on the south side of Absecon Inlet, where the bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean beach is where the boardwalk is, & most of the casino resorts are located there. However, there are 3 casino resorts situated across town on Absecon Inlet in an area known as "The Marina". We choose to stay at Harrahs casino, partially because we've never stayed in the marina area & partially because Harrahs Entertainment owns Ballys, Caesers & the Showboat where we usually stay & we can use any comps we've gotten from those places at Harrahs. Our room was in the new Bayview Tower, on the 6th floor. It was modern, stylish & had a wonderful bathroom with seperate tub & glass shower enclosure. I really enjoy it when the hotel rooms have new, clean & spacious bathrooms. I rate the bathroom on the top of the list when & stay in a hotel. Followed by the Bed, TV (10 points for a flat screen) & couch/chairs, of course.... After relaxing in our room for a while, we ventured into the casino, taking the standard first warm-up lap around the floor to get the lay of the land. We decided that we'd be better off riding the free shuttle to Bally's in order to cash in a free money offer that can only be redeemed over there, & lets face it, we're Ballys people... After waiting 45 min for the shuttle advertised to pick-up/drop-off every 15 min (not complaining) & talking to a drunken lady from NYC (we meet the darndest people!) who was disapointed that the Julio Iglesias show was sold out we made it across town to our familiar stomping grounds. After an hour of action, it was time for another 45 min, 15 min ride (still not complainin) back to Harrahs .. You see, we are young old people & by 9:00 we're shot! So, off to enjoy our comfy bed we went. We like to lay low & relax the night we arrive in AC & hit the floor in the morning when everyone else is passed out or hung over. So we hit the floor at 6:30 in the morning! After a bagel & coffee we explored the Harrahs casino. It's nice, but smaller that the massive expanse that makes up the Bally's/Caesers complex. So we decided around 9:00 it get cleaned up, check out & hit Ballys for the remainder of the day. Pennyville... Thats where we like to play... Located in the "Claridge" section of Ballys. The whole area has 1 cent machines of every variety. I know it sounds silly, a penny machine... but actually a penny = a credit & some of the machines have a max bet of 180 credits. My babuh did exeptionally well, & even hit it for $200 once! We played there until 6:00 at night!! We had to make sure we got it out of our system, cuz we can't make a 3rd "last time before the baby comes" trip!!!!

Sunday we went into NYC with our friend Bekkah to see Michael Pollen get interviewed at the NYTimesCenter "Centerstage". Pollen is a writer for the NYTimes who is known for his informative writings about our food & where it comes from. It was real interesting to be surounded by intellectuals & not the sports/concert crowd I'm accustomed to. I had seen this guy on CSPAN once, & my Babuh & Bekkah have read his book. It was amazing to learn about the process & processing that our food goes through on its journey from the farm to out plate. It's an eye opener & I recommend seeking out Pollen if you'd like to get enlightened on this subject. He's a funny guy too, so you'll get a kick out of his wit... After the "show" we went uptown to "The Hummus Place" for a delish middle-eastern lunch. Grapeleaves w/ mint sauce, "Health Salad", Hummus, Falafel, lemonaid & the most amazing fresh baked pita ever. Amy recommended this place to us, & now I'm recommending it to yous!!