Thurs June 3 - Fri June 4: An Atlantic City Hiatus

 In which Rick insults a 'cat lady' ...

On our dock was a nice boat with at least 4 cats!  Sometimes we think it would be fun to have pets on the boat, and the cute sight drew many admirers...but then we think of the logistics, and the smell of cat litter on a boat that is already sporting various strong scents, and we think 'hard pass'.  Rick said to the woman on the boat 'oh - you are like a cat lady, only on a boat!'.  Which, go figure, she did not seem to find hilarious...

The cat-lady said at least one spends most of his time trying to figure out how to get off the boat and she has to watch him the whole time the cats are outside.  Who needs that extra stress?!

 

Not to be outdone, this boat doesn't have cats, but it does have it's own pet.  Another baby boat.  You know how it's all the thing now to get dogs their own puppies - this is like that.

After the rain abated on Thursday morning we took the “Jitney” bus shuttle down to the boardwalk and strolled along with our friends from 2 other boats - Legacy and KayDee (our other friends on Meander had decided to anchor but they don’t have a dinghy so they were just stuck on the boat).  The AC boardwalk is the oldest in the US, and the longest, at 5.5 miles, in the world.  

The upper part of the buildings remained in the clouds/fog most of the day.

We walked for about an hour and then stopped for lunch at Harry’s Bar in the Showboat casino. In between the glitz of the casinos, one can see that AC is really run down.  Lots of trash on the streets, empty lots, and abundant panhandlers.  Unlike Vegas, which owns its tackiness, AC embodies seedy - at least the AC that we saw.  I wonder if it is due to COVID, or just a boom-bust economy that appears to be in the bust phase.

Don't be fooled - it was NOT a nice sunny day.  I just tweaked the photo so it looked better then reality.  Like how I tweak the facts when I tell stories.

 

After lunch the group split up and we continued to walk down the boardwalk looking for a Philly-Cheesesteak restaurant to buy a sandwich for dinner (why, you ask, did he not get one in....I don't know... maybe, PHILLY?? You would not be the only one asking).  We didn’t find one,but we did find a Bass Proshops/Outdoor World to get YET ANOTHER boat part that was needed. 

Back at the boat Rick kindly offered to trim my mop of hair. It went well until he said “oops” - there are a couple of times in life when you just really don't want to hear "oops", and getting a hair cut is one of those.  I thought for a moment it might be a table-to-coffeetable scenario, where in order to get things even he would overcompensate on the other side, and on and on until I was bald.  But it turned out great, and I'm so happy to have less hair.

Evening brought numerous large thunderstorms that brought strong winds and lighting, but we were snug and safe in our slip.

At least we are not in this slip!

 

The next day, as we waited for the weather to change, Rick fixed the broken sump pump (it turned out it was a faulty switch), washed windows and the boat deck, and generally cleaned.   I clocked in on what was officially my last day working for Kim- what an emotional day.  We have been a team for 5+ years, but she has sold her practice and I now have a new boss.  But no one will ever replace Kim!

 

He's always crawling around in some small space, fixing something stinky.  I'm so glad I didn't quit my day job!

Later that day our friends on KayDee placed a Walmart delivery order, and we piggy backed to get some important things - like more random boat parts and stain remover.

Groceries!  Delivered right to the marina!! Thank goodness we are doing this trip in the 21st century.

There was just enough time before docktails to hit the casino.  Rick and I remembered a long-ago trip to Vegas where we had hours of fun at the slots, using only $20 - so we planned to do the same in AC. Sadly the machines are now electronic, with no handles, and we couldn't figure out how to use them!

We did hit the jackpot at the dinner restaurant, tho!  We don't have enough space for ketchup/catsup in the refrig, so we are always on the lookout for 'free' packets.

After dinner we went over to the fancy boat, at the invitation of our friends on Legacy, and had a nice evening.   As always, though, loopers get tired early, so by 8 pm many of us were yawning and the party broke up to get us to bed for our 5:30 am departure....