Monday, August 31, 2026

Atlantic City Day 3 January 4 2026

A Tiny Superhero Collection
 


Since we had to face being thrown out of the hotel this day, we awakened earlier…
Ish.
 
We packed up and then read until checkout, getting the maximum value from the room.
 
Down in the Quarter, the fountain was uncovered, and, sadly, the Christmas Tree was gone. No wonder it wasn’t playing music the day before.

Less sadly, the Bar Grinch was gone too. 
 
Before our walk we spent some time with Anabelle’s left over voucher in a penny machine that actually allowed a penny bet for each spin.
“This is stupid.”
That’s my girl.
 
She hit for 16 cents.
“OPEN THE VAULT”
By the time she had won 31 cents she was bored.
 

We met an older guard who had a lot of history there. We asked him about Rosa’s fish machine, and he told us that it was gone. However, the frog machine Barbara Streisand liked to play when she visited was similar. He agreed with us that he liked the older machines, saying the new ones were “like Atari games,” cementing that he was around my age.
 
Anabelle tried one spin on the complicated mermaid machine before putting her remaining 11 cents in Cleopatra. She won a dollar.
“Will this never end?”
 
There was a Diamond machine she spent two spins on. She then cashed in her dollar and got a voucher for one cent she kept as a memento.
 
While we started our last day Boardwalk stroll, she asked if we could rewatch Star Trek the Original Series.
I’M SO PROUD!!!!!
 
Mid-week in January, the Boardwalk set a record for a new level of emptiness. There were a few more folks down the other end, but it was quiet enough to hear the animal noises coming from the Rainforest Café from way far off.
 
Down that end there were also a few more shops open, but even the “Bar Than Never Closes” was closed.
 
There were SO MANY SQUIRRELS!!! I wonder if the abundance of marauding bands of gulls going for the greater availability of food chases them away in the summer?
 
We reached Resorts, where our early Atlantic City adventures took place. Hey cool, besides still having the very first Atlantic City slot machine inside the entrance, they saved a bunch of the hand and footprints in cement from the old outdoor area.

While there, we made our triumphant return to Breadsticks. It has become WAY swankier. We did get an ocean view table, which was very nice to see without having to experience the winter winds yet again.
 
They both had breakfast. Rosa, given the normal levels of Atlantic City not caring about celiac, had Anabelle’s old favorite, Dippin’ Yellows. Anabelle had a breakfast burrito.
 
I had a turkey burger, which I believe they needed to go to upstate New York and kill a turkey for first before bringing it to the table.
 
Through the window, we could see the Boardwalk. There was a guy feeding squirrels that were familiar enough with him that they climbed up his leg. Nothing weird about that.
 
Speaking of weird, Anabelle discovered dipping French Fries in jelly wasn’t half bad.
 
After eating, we did find Rosa’s old Fish slot machine!!!  Well, sort of. There were two strikes against it.
A) You had to bet a minimum of thirty-five cents at a time.
B) The woman at one of the other fish machines next to it was talking to it continually.
 
Rosa left pretty quickly but found an old school “Hot Shots” progressive machine that did let her bet one penny at a time. She likes those because she can “Do math and have fun.”
In case anyone thought I was the only nerdly parent in our family.
 
She had a lot of ups and downs and flashing lights for a long run. Eventually she took out four of the five bucks she put in.
 
Anabelle put a dollar on the “Wonder Woman Wild” machine to see the different Wonder Woman pictures than she saw on the other machine. She had some hits before getting bored and putting the last 44 cents into Rosa’s Hot Shots machine.
 
She almost got a jackpot and said “Thank God” when she didn’t.
 
Next door was the Showboat and Anabelle went straight to the DC coin drop section of the arcade again.
“I only gamble on Wonder Woman things.”
 
She spent the whole time on the DC game with the Batman themed case. (They all had a mix of cards.) This choice was made because she correctly claimed it was the best way to get tickets. She also mocked me mercilessly for when I said they were a terrible way to get tickets. (Because when she was wee, and they only gave out extra tokens, they were.)
She scored a Wonder Woman card in short order, as it looking precarious near the edge was what drew here here to begin with. 
“This is the type of gambling I like.”
 
A bit later a card with the Flash dropped out. But that one she traded in for a bunch of tickets as there was a plan.
 
When done, she cashed everything in for four tiny superheroes for her collection!!! WOO!
Also, a Tiny Llama! woo!
 
On our way back, passing them for the sixth time, we noticed the Boards on the Boardwalk outside Caesar’s were new. That would explain the construction we were constantly walking around. Perhaps we relaxed too much.
 
Inside Caesars, we cashed in my lottery ticket and got more of Rosa’s nuts. It was still Christmas in there, which was nice.
 
Anabelle decided that the Resorts restaurant was a far preferable mediocre and questionable lunch on the final Atlantic City day than our previous choice of the Rainforest Café was.
 
Back at the Tropicana before leaving, we hit the multi-purpose counter serve place in the basement again. Anabelle got some Strawberry yogurt pretzels. I debated with myself for far longer than this kind of decision should take before ordering a large soft pretzel.
 
It was stale.
 
In the candy store where I pick up the taffy I traditionally bring in to work (and possibly eat a bit of on the commute) they shopped a bit as well. Rosa got some strawberry candies, and Anabelle added a Paddington to her “Basket of Care Bears.”
 
We passed the new arcade near the Crepes place for the last time. I pointed out I would have liked to try the Godzilla machine, but I suck at Pinball. Anabelle confirmed the same feelings for the 2009 Star Trek machine in the Showboat.

There was some accident traffic on the Parkway, but that and a brief pause in the Bon Jovi rest stop cleared out the usual backups on both 24 and 287 “In a Blaze of Glo-ory!”  The drive home was dark and a bit tiring but mostly clear and easy.
 
13523 steps, 4.8 miles.
 
Totals-
50,288 steps
17.5 miles.
Nowhere near Disney but enough to allow a few dietary excursions of both the solid and liquid varieties.

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