2016 Vacation Part 3 - Atlantic City

Our vacation ended on the Jersey Shore.  We stayed in Caesar's on the Atlantic City boardwalk (I wasn't going to stay in the Trump Taj Mahal!).  The kids were blown away by the look of the resort - the huge statues and fountains, the casino's lights and noises, and the overall atmosphere.  They were very careful to stay on the designated walkway around the casino, and were on their best behavior after I pointed out all of the casino managers and security cameras.  The main downside to Caesars is that the kids were not allowed to swim in their pool - only people aged 18 and older.  It seems to me that they should have allowed all ages until maybe 5pm, and then limit it to 18 and older.  We arrived in Atlantic City around 4pm, so we spent the rest of the day exploring the boardwalk and eating dinner at the Continental (they had a fun astronaut cocktail made from Tang).

Olivia and Ethan on the iconic boardwalk.  It was HOT on the boardwalk - the sun really reflected off of it.  We arrived in Atlantic City the day that it was announced the Trump Taj Mahal would close after Labor Day, so there were a lot of news vans around the boardwalk, and a large group of protesters outside of the Taj.  There were also two tents with info about the protest outside of the Taj, and a person on a bullhorn shouting "Shame on You" to anyone who entered the Taj (so we decided we were not interested enough to go through that chaos just to see the inside of the Taj).  

The Heart of the Boardwalk - made from planks salvaged from a boardwalk destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.  It was supposed to glow red at night.

Park Place on the Boardwalk. 

A view of the Steel Pier Amusement Park from the boardwalk.

We sampled three types of salt water taffy on this trip - Fralinger's and James' from Atlantic City were good, but the Shriver taffy in Ocean City was by far the best taffy we ate.

ATLANTIC CITY DAY ONE

Breakfast at Tazza = Morning walk on the Boardwalk = Miss America Statue = Ocean City NJ road trip = Curly's Fries = Beach = Manco & Manco's pizza lunch = Kohr Bros custard with sprinkles = Cherry water ice with Coke = Shriver's Taffy and view factory = Ethan got lost on the beach and the lifeguards called the fire and police departments = Kids build a sandcastle = Olivia buried Ethan in the sand = Travel back to Atlantic City = Harry's Oyster Bar for dinner = Central Pier Arcade and Speedway

Our view of the boardwalk and beach from our hotel room.

Olivia with the Miss America statue on the Boardwalk.

We took a day trip to the Ocean City, NJ, boardwalk, and we are glad that we did!  It was a short 30 minute drive from our hotel.  Ocean City was a beautiful beach and boardwalk - very family friendly, very clean, full of fun food stands and nice souvenir stores.  Atlantic City, on the other hand, while it has a nice beach, just seems to be dying.  Many closed stores and hotels on the boardwalk, the souvenir shops are pretty much just junky tshirts, and not as family friendly (we were turned away at a restaurant because you had to be 18 and older to eat there - and no, it wasn't a bar).  

The Ocean City boardwalk.  We had to pay to use the beach here ($5 per person), but the Atlantic City beach was free.  The lifeguards were very good at both places - very vigilant, there were guards on both the beach and in a boat (both watching the swimmers and watching for sharks), and we saw a guard race into the ocean to save a swimmer.

The best salt water taffy I have ever eaten - Shrivers.  Plus, we were able to watch their factory make the taffy and we were given a sample just as it finished being made (we tried vanilla).

Yummy soft serve custard, and so many flavors to pick from.  We highly recommend getting your cone covered in sprinkles.  Joe went for the cherry water ice with coke added to it.  This was our treat after lunch at Manco & Manco's for New York style pizza (of course we folded the slice and didn't use utensils!).  For our beach snack we ate Curly's Fries and they were delicious!  At first we couldn't figure out why toothpicks were stuck into the fries, but after spending about five minutes on the beach with sandy and wet hands, we realized that the toothpicks to pick up your fries was genius!  The other thing we had to learn about the fries was to hide them under the towel when we were on the beach.  The seagulls were relentless - we watched one take half of a sandwich right out of a child's grip!

The kids on the Ocean City beach, with the Gillian's Wonderland Pier in the background.

The kids found a safe spot on the beach to create a large sand castle.  Took Ethan an hour to make it!

Ethan got grounded the the towel for 15 minutes because he wandered off, resulting in us contacting the lifeguards about a missing child and they in turn radioed the police and fire departments to be on the look out!  Joe found him about 3 lifeguard stands away from our umbrella and chairs (which were totally worth the $20 to rent them for the day).  Being typical Ethan, he took this grounding and made it into something fun by talking Olivia into burying him in the sand. 

We traveled back to Atlantic City around 5pm.  After dinner at Harry's Oyster Bar (in Bally's Casino), we spent the rest of the evening at the Central Pier Arcade and Speedway.  We all drove (except Ethan had to be just a passenger due to height) the go-karts - this was a lot of fun since the speedway went out over the ocean.  We then played the arcade games (think Chuck E Cheese type games plus slot machines) and skee ball.

Ethan hit the 150 ticket jackpot on one of his games.

Ready for go-kart driving! 

ATLANTIC CITY DAY TWO
Breakfast at Tazza = Luke and Beth arrive = Joe, Luke, and Beth go to The National Sports Collectors convention = Ripley's Believe It or Not = Lunch at Nathan's = Beach = Explore under the Boardwalk = Bury Ethan in the sand = Rita's Italian Ice = Olivia gets sick (stomach bug) = Dinner at The Continental = Joe and Olivia stay in hotel room = Kate, Ethan, Luke, Beth explore Steel Pier Amusement Park and Central Pier Arcade

Our final day was spent in Atlantic City.  Joe attended The National Sports Collectors event in the Atlantic City convention center, while I went to the beach with the kids.  But first we started at Ripley's Believe It or Not on the boardwalk.

Lunch at Nathan's before beach time - chili cheese dog and cheese fries.  We loved the little fork that came with the fries!

Beach time!  The waves in Atlantic City were a bit calmer, but it surprised us that there were almost no shells anywhere (broken or intact).  We are used to Florida beaches.

The kids under the boardwalk.  They didn't get why I had to take this picture, but they did enjoy exploring under the boardwalk.  The waves were a lot of fun to watch under here!  Unfortunately, it was about here that Olivia began to feel pretty sick, and ultimately ended up with a fast moving stomach bug.  She spent the rest of her afternoon/evening vomitting and sleeping.  Luckily, this seemed to stop at about 9:30 p.m. and we were able to make our flight home the next day with no concern.

Ethan really enjoyed being buried in the sand.  After this we went back to the hotel room to get ready for another dinner at The Continental (we wanted someplace close since Olivia stayed behind in the room).  Ethan and Kate did walk down to the Steel Pier Amusement park and back to the Arcade and Speedway for awhile at night, before returning to the room to pack for the trip back home.

One picture for the reason of our vacation - the National Sports Collectors convention.