Who Wants To Buy a Casino?

My first full day in Atlantic City started with an interesting ride over to the boardwalk area. The free shuttles from Harrah’s don’t operate until 10am so I opted to take a Jitney for $2.25. The Jitney is an interesting service – it’s sort of a hybrid between a bus and a taxi. It’s bus-like in that it’s actually a small bus (duh) and makes several stops along predefined routes within the touristy area. But each bus is individually owned and operated much like that of a taxi. So, when business is slow the drivers don’t make much money. And apparently business is incredibly slow these days. The Jitneys are used by both tourists and casino employees so, even during slower tourism periods, the casino employees can keep the Jitneys full. However, the driver told me that there are now only about 12,000 casino employees – compared to over 50,000 a few years ago. Hard times have definitely hit Atlantic City.

Having been to Atlantic City several times over the years – starting back in 1999, and most recently in 2012 – I was more than a little surprised to see the state of things along the boardwalk. This is the first time I’ve been here in the off-season but things have definitely changed. The lack of people wasn’t just because it’s off-peak season. There were so many shops and restaurants that are now closed and boarded up. And more surprisingly is the number of casinos that have shut down. Apparently the house doesn’t win all the time (well, unless I’m playing). Showboat, Trump Plaza, and Revel have all shut their doors. And Revel is only a couple of years old. I saw a headline today that the auction for Revel is actually taking place this week. Last time I was here, the billion dollar Revel was getting ready for their grand opening. Two years later, they’re closed.

After wandering up and down the boardwalk for much of the morning and early afternoon, I really needed to get some food. I meant to eat earlier but, well … you know how it goes sometimes. And this was one of those times.

With no compelling reason to stay on the boardwalk, I used my Total Rewards card to board the free shuttle back to Harrah’s. From there I wandered over to the Golden Nugget to feast on their buffet. It was “only” $17 compared to Harrah’s which was $20 – and at this point I was more interested in quantity over quality. That said, I don’t know if Harrah’s buffet is actually better or just more expensive. The buffet at the Golden Nugget was somewhat hit and miss on quality, but generally good.

My first course included rice, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, beans and carrots, italian sausage and a slice of pizza – all of which were quite good. My second course consisted of potato skins, chicken quesadillas, chicken tenders, and mac & cheese. The mac & cheese was definitely the best part of the second course. The chicken tenders were the worst – dry and a bit chewy. Ok, a lot chewy. I still ate it, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it.

I was tempted to go back for round three but instead opted to check out the desserts. Not surprisingly, that was a good decision. A quick survey of the dessert offerings made the decision to move on to dessert very easy.

My dessert consisted of some chocolate cake, some chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup, chocolate pudding (in a shot glass), a slice of apple pie, some pineapple with whipped cream and some M&Ms. I can’t think of a much better way to finish a meal – well, other than going back for more dessert. So, that’s what I did. Round two of dessert was soft serve ice cream (chocolate, of course) with chocolate chips on top, another chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup, some more pineapple with whipped cream, and of course, some more M&Ms. I’m not going to lie, I probably didn’t need the second serving of dessert but opportunities like this don’t come along every day and I wasn’t going to leave anything (ie. chocolate) behind. As a bonus, I managed to smuggle some M&Ms out of the buffet area which I’m enjoying as I type this. Well, I WAS enjoying them as I type this. Sadly, they’re all gone now. Sigh.

With my stomach more than a little full I headed back to Harrah’s to relax (ie. recover) in my room. I’m not proud of this but my stomach was so full I couldn’t even take a deep breath. I’m not kidding. I’m no doctor but I’m pretty sure not being able to breathe deeply is not a good thing.

By 6:00 I had digested enough of my meal that breathing was again comfortable so I made my way back to the Golden Nugget to look into some gambling options. I mean, I couldn’t come to Atlantic City and not gamble at least a little bit. The rules at Harrah’s blackjack tables are less than favourable (ex. 6 to 5 payout for blackjack – it should be 3 to 2) which is why I went back to Golden Nugget. With my budget being more than a little tight on this ever-expanding adventure I set a pretty low loss-limit for myself. As you might have guessed, I hit said limit. If it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. But at least I managed to play for a little over an hour.

With my money gone and the evening getting late, I returned to Harrah’s to write up my daily update. As the forecast had indicated, it was raining on the walk back which is a bit of a precursor as to what tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be like. My plan for tomorrow is to get back on the bike to return to Philadelphia, so I could be in for a wet ride. On the upside, the winds are supposed to be from the east which would be somewhat helpful. We’ll see what the morning brings.