Tuesday morning (23^rd) we woke up at 8:00 since there was no intention to go anywhere. I looked at the weather and discovered the forecast had changed enough to maybe go. The wind was now to be SE 90 degrees off the NE direction of the 3 – 4’ waves instead of opposed, which would make the waves steeper and hit harder. It was only 4 hours to Atlantic city, so if it did turn out bad we could take it for that long. We went out before on a 3’ prediction and had a bit of a time, but we decided to go and were underway just after 8:30 and out on the Atlantic by 9:00.

The wind was NE although the waves were more from the east, closer to the same direction. It’s hard for me to judge the wave height by looking. They seem smaller from up top and larger when I’m looking from down below. The ride was not motionless, but much less movement than expected.

We wound up at our usual Atlantic City stop, Frank S Farley State Marina which is managed by the Golden Nugget casino. Frank was a longtime NJ state senator and Republican party boss. Yet another facility like most bridges and locks named after a politician. I suppose that incentivized them to bring home the pork to get it built, but I still don’t like it.

Now wave predictions are 4-6’ and more until Saturday so we have time to burn. With our full disclosure agreement I had to tell Sue that there was a large discount mall a few minutes away downtown near Caesar’s Palace casino. We spent the rest of Tuesday shopping for our two grandsons who will arrive June 2 along with youngest son Jordan.

Wednesday we went back downtown to see the famous boardwalk. It was interesting and even the weather became agreeable during our walk. The Steel Pier amusement park at the other end had rides more like those at a portable carnival than a theme park. We have passed more impressive amusement parks along the New Jersey coast. We returned to the “Playground” shopping mall which is three floors on a pier extending off the boardwalk into the Atlantic. It should be an upscale mall since it has an Apple store, and on the 3^rd floor has the Atlantic surf showing through big windows all the way out to the end. It must have seen better days but now half the spaces are empty. Maybe the discount malls should be more than a block away?

Caesar’s Palace had low ceilings in its hallways, restaurants and slot machine areas. Nothing like the impressive “Roman” great halls and open spaces in the Las Vegas version.

We decided to eat at Rain Forest café on the boardwalk. The food was just OK, but I was shocked to see all the aquariums, large columns of water at the entrance and extending under the entire length of the bar, etc. without a single fish in them! They tried to make up for it with a lot of bubbles. I remember dinosaurs and other threatening robotic animals the last time we were in one of these, but this time it was a couple of giant dragon flies up in the trees and an ape off in the distance.

It all seemed like Atlantic City’s day may have passed. Granted the continued cold rainy weather is keeping people away and things are supposed to pick up by Memorial day. Still, if you’re looking to invest in casinos or business properties I’m not sure this is the place to do it.