Weekday trips

In the midst of the winter dolldrums, when the temperature is below the freezing mark and skiing is just not your cup of tea, what better way to have a weekday jaunt the to head to Atlantic City. As we all know, following the all of the New Year's celebrations, there is a stretch of time with no holidays but the need for a break from the ordinary is as strong as ever.

If you don't have the means or time to hop on a flight to Orlando and hit the Disney highlights, there is probably no better value than a weekday trip to Atlantic City. As is standard in the "off season", there are less crowds, lower prices for rooms, and there are still shows going on (though maybe not the largest selection).

One of some kind

As a general rule, a hotel is a hotel . . . The only thing that really distinguishes one hotel from another is the location. OK, I know what you are thinking, there are big differences between hotels, and no doubt there are, but when boiled down to its basic components, a hotel is a bedroom with a bathroom (sometimes a little more). Some are newer, nicer, bigger, cleaner, provide more amenities, and any number of additional features distinguish one hotel from another. But the only real reason you use a hotel room is because of the location.

Atlantic City is a location unlike almost any other. It isn't Las Vegas or New York, and it certainly isn't New Orleans. It is however, the only casino city to date that has a beach, and boasts the longest boardwalk on the eastern seaboard. This unique combination of beaches and casinos, and of course past memories of diving horses and the Miss America Pageant, draw visitors the world over. Atlantic City is at once a city of growth and change, while still holding on to the memories of the past.

As time goes on, the memories of the old Atlantic City where tourists would flock yearly from Philadelphia and New York to spend a relaxing summer day on the beach with their shoeboxes packed with lunch, will fade over time for some, but the legend of Atlantic City will indeed live on. Still today Memory Lane is bustling with active posts from visitors to the Jersey Shore, both new and old. But this is a true online record of memories of this unique and sometimes wonderful city that has seen both its good and bad times.

Today, Atlantic City is like any other growing city, too much ambition, too little room, but in the end, it is an island, and only so much growth and change is really possible. The recent additions of the new Atlantic City Convention Center and the Borgata are the City's current claim to fame. Every year larger and larger conventions are held at the convention center and the Borgata brings in high profile acts to adorn its golden facade. These new directions are a reflection of the current styles, attitudes and persona of Atlantic City. It is not however the way that I want to see or remember the city of my birth.