This is the year that winter did not go away. Easter is this Sunday and the temperature is in the 30s. I am still wearing my winter jacket. It snowed overnight yesterday. But we can't let the low temperatures get in the way of doing fun things. So this past Sunday being Palm Sunday, I decided to celebrate by taking my Mom to Atlantic City!
We got a great rate at The Showboat Hotel Casino through Hotels.com and a $20 food and beverage credit was included. We took the Greyhound at the Port Authority. There seems to be a bus every half hour. We took the one that dropped us off at the Showboat. For $38, we got a round-trip ticket and a $25 voucher to spend at the slot machines. Yippee!
The Showboat
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| Orleans Tower room 1685 |
It's a huge hotel casino and its theme is New Orleans Mardi Gras, so it's a lot of fun colors, fleur de lis, beads, iron-rail balconies, masks, etc. Our room was spacious and gave a view of the Taj Mahal which is the hotel casino next door. What's great about this place is it has a Starbucks, Johnny Rockets, and Earl of Sandwich; affordable places to eat.
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| Bathroom |
We got in around 7:30pm and by the time we got to the buffet, it had already closed. We didn't want to eat at the Earl of Sandwich so we ended up at Johnny Rockets. So did everyone else, but it was worth the wait. Once we got in, we ordered a couple of Philly steak sandwiches and they were delicious. It was a nice balance of firm but soft bread, nicely chopped steak, onion and cheese, and it came with fries. We left satisfied.
The Boardwalk
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| The Trump Taj Mahal Hotel Casino decor is over the top! |
The next day was sunny but chilly. After a coffee and croissant from Starbuck's, we started our stroll on the famous Boardwalk, a must-do activity, with our jackets on. I have to say, I didn't expect the place to recover so quickly from Hurricane Sandy, but it's like nothing happened. Everything looked like normal. We took our time at a candy shop called, of course, It's Sugar. It's fun inside with all the different sweets, the giant-size candy bars are amazing to see. I almost couldn't resist the giant red gummy bear -- the only thing that stopped me was the thought of having to eat it for a whole month.
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| The original Boardwalk |
We went inside Ceasar's Casino to walk through and reach the Tanger Outlets. It's a favorite activity for practically every one. Our first stop, Banana Republic. Everything was at least 50% off that day. In fact we shopped at several other places and before we knew it, the afternoon was gone. We haven't even hit the slots to spend our voucher! But we were tired and went to the buffet for dinner.
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| The Bally's Hotel Casino |
The French Quarter Buffet
So did everyone else, it seemed. But once we got in, we had our choice of five different cuisines: American, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, and Seafood, not to mention a salad bar. There were so many types of food to choose from. I started off with southern fried chicken (really good and very popular), mac 'n cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, breaded shrimp, pulled pork, pork au jus, and another fried chicken. For dessert there was cheesecake, ice cream, brownies, creme brule, and so much other stuff that I'm forgetting. Our soda and coffees were included for a reasonable price of $19.99. And since we had a $20 food and beverage credit, we really only paid for one person instead of two. Ka-ching!
The place is pretty, the ceiling was painted like an evening sky, there were giant beads as hangings, the service was prompt, and although the place was huge and busy it didn't feel like there were a ton of people all over the place.
We waddled out of the buffet. I ate so much that I quickly went to sleep.
The Casino
My Mom and I decided to hit the slots right after breakfast and then, finally take the bus home. I'm not much of a gambler so I let her choose the machine. We won, would you believe it? Not a lot, I won a little over $18 and she won a little over $12. That was breakfast paid for, right there.
To pay, we had to get Total Rewards cards. We slide our card into the slot, then we put in our voucher. We saw our credit for $25 and to maximize my chances of winning, I basically bet a quarter. It's fun to win but I don't see it as very interesting after awhile.
Going home was harder. Most of the Greyhound buses were leaving from Bally's. so we took a shuttle to get there. That shuttle reeked of alcohol and we were afraid to sit down, nevertheless, it was a full van. At Bally's we looked for the bus stop. There was a bus each hour, and it was pretty full. Everyone lined up early so that they can get a good seat, so we waited half an hour on line. Once we were in, it was an easy 2 1/2 hour drive home.
We plan to do it again next year.
