Atlantic City Day 1 January 4 2026

 A Tiny Dinosaur Encounter

 

To set the tone for our relaxing couple of days, we completely ignored the initially planned early wake up time and all alarms associated with it.
 
This did not delay leaving too much as the car was already packed. Adequately rested, we headed south on an uneventful journey towards one of many Boardwalk based cities by the sea. They really have improved the Rest Stops on the Parkway. The one named after Judy Blume, like the others, now has a mini museum covering one wall to celebrate who the place is named after.
 
Because Atlantic City check in times are insanely late, and insanely high priced to slide the time back, we left most of the stuff in the car and exited the garage into the Havana tower. The fountain in the center of “The Quarter” plaza was completely covered with a Christmas tree that was in the process of blinking along with “Let It Go,” which apparently has transformed into a Christmas song via the same path as “Let it Snow” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” That song transitioned directly into “Run Run Rudolph” making the entire area overstimulating.
 
Anabelle was convinced she wanted to go to the Tropicana Casa Taco and Tequila Bar for dinner the first night. This led to the issue of where we would have lunch. After discussing multiple options and wandering around aimlessly for a while, we decided to have lunch there before we got any hungrier or crankier. We can be taught.
 

After the drive down (and the chaos of previous year) I was quite happy with my Dos Equis Amber. Anabelle had enchiladas, I had tacos, and Rosa had the Gluten Free meal of choice in the city that refuses to cater to that allergy- rice and beans. We learned you really had to be bold with the glass water bottle on the table, or it went everywhere… oops.
But otherwise had an excellent, filling, and fun lunch time.
 
There were SO MANY human trafficking signs around. The world is a really sad place.
 
Also, smoking is returning to prominence. Great. The smoking area had gone from the edge of one downstairs section of slot machines to the center of the main floor… meaning we could all enjoy a puff. There was even a discarded butt in the bathroom that wasn’t in the smoking area. Can we have nostalgia for good things instead?
 

Our rare decisiveness about meal time still did not let us reach check in time; therefore, we had our first of multiple Boardwalk strolls.
 
A guy was feeding lettuce to pigeons… as one does.
 

The mall, which had been dead on our last summer visits was INCREDIBLY dead. Almost every store was closed except the Jewelry one upstairs near the connection to Caesars, and ItSugar. Naturally, some Swedish fish and other essentials were grabbed. We took a moment of silence for Anabelle’s rings at the shell of B-Iconic. Upstairs was also the sun on the floor- the final remnant of the peaceful and groovy outer space theme abandoned decades ago.
 

Sadly, the “closed stores” phenomenon continued on the Boardwalk itself. The original James’s Taffy location shut down operations after 103 years. Sigh.
 
As we fairly quickly reached the other end of the Boardwalk, Anabelle mused that these jaunts across the entire wooden walkway were far more exciting when she was younger and had much shorter legs.
 
Next to the Showboat, at the far end of the Boardwalk for those of us who stay at the Tropicana, were dinosaurs! WOOO! They’re building a dinosaur mini golf course. Now we really never have to go back to Niagara Falls.

Speaking of that trip, we were naturally talking about it, having seen the dinosaurs, and remembered finding Anabelle’s glove in a puddle when we didn’t know she’d lost it. At just that moment, we spotted a child’s glove in a puddle. *Cue Twilight Zone music. *
 
Inside the Showboat still cracks me up, because they left a lot of the old Casino imagery and signage in the “Family Fun Arcade.” Seeing a bunch of kiddie decorations around the sign for the Poker Room was a highlight.
 
They had a massive collection of the newest Pinball Machines, which was very cool. We didn’t play any because Anabelle hates pinball and I am terrible at it. Alas.
 
Anabelle tried her luck with the Claw Machines, to no avail. She then got sixth place on the giant Pac Man machine. Impressive work for someone not raised in the Eighties.

 
We played the Giant Space Invaders together, which was reimagined with more variable aliens and as a side by side first person shooter.
To say we were both overstimulated once more on this day would be a massive understatement.
 

There were multiple of those “coin drop” games that were DC Comics related. These became the focus of the trip. Anabelle played a Superman machine for a bit before trying other games. She returned to her old source of many tickets, the ball drop. While she did score on it, the ticket output settings were minimal. She spent a bit on the Doodle Jump platformer before cashing in.

She grabbed a ring, and a tiny Axolotl. An additional acquisition was a green, winking, penguin pencil topper. A small flat Supergirl was the first… NOT THE LAAAST… edition to that specific collection.
 
On the walk back we discussed the online debate about the “Mount Rushmore” of superheroes. Everyone agrees on Batman and Superman. Spidey (as his popularity has frequently eclipsed the other two) was the clear third spot. We three agreed the final place should be Wonder Woman. As the only other character who’s own title continued from the Golden to Silver Ages, and as the iconic female super hero, there really is no other choice.
 
Back at our hotel, because Atlantic City is insane about room timing, we hadn’t checked in yet. There was some extended foolishness with two kiosks and our phones, but eventually we had enough keys and the location of our room.
 
The only drawers in the whole place were in the night table. Modern Design. Feh.
 
In the room, Disney Planning for the Y countdown continued. Anabelle did some nail brainstorming and worked on the T-shirt Grid and her giant “Fit” spreadsheet.
 
Because of the big lunch, we only needed a small dinner. Because of “me,” skipping dinner was not an option. Sadly, the Crepes place Anabelle targeted was closed. Talk of a quick sandwich or salad was kicked around. Since preferred a hot sandwich to a cold one and since I was the one who most needed to eat, we chose the old reliable Adam Good Sports Bar instead of the downstairs Adam Good Deli. The Christmas tree was blasting “Let It Go” once more.
 
Anabelle had a salad and many of my fries that came with the buffalo sauce on a grilled chicken sandwich. That hasn’t been on the menu in years, but I know how to modify orders to get one. There was, yet again, nothing there Gluten Free, but Rosa wasn’t hungry and told the server she’d eaten there before.
 
I took advantage of going there not on the final day for a change with a second vacation beer. Do not judge me.
 
On their extensive and weird beer list, they were out of the Elysium Space Dust I had in Disneyland. The Juicy Voodoo something or other had a blend of guava and mango in it. I don’t know when I transitioned into being a fan of beers with weird fruit flavors in them, but here we are.
 
The Ravens / Steelers game started while we ate and appeared to be going the way my Steeler hating family would approve of. Reports the next day indicated this was not the case.
 
For reasons that are unlikely to ever be clear, the Casino side bar that often features excellent live music had a life-sized Grinch in it.

I used the coupon for the cookie place our Kiosk arguments had yielded, to order a double sized one. As always when I order food, my social awkwardness ratcheted up to an epic scale. “What is wrong with you?”- Anabelle
 
Returning to the room, “Let it Go” was blaring once again. This performance was enhanced by a random guy singing along at the top of his lungs.
 
In the room, Rosa tucked into her stored Gluten Free snacks. We both shared a bit with Anabelle while I enjoyed the cookie. The “Deluxe” cookie was two chocolate chip ones, stuck together with some M&M’s on top. Uncreative but still good.
 
While I caught up on a bit of reading, they both continued their Duolingo streaks.
 
Whenever we had a moment to sit still, there was more Disney planning as we can’t help ourselves, and these nights were no exception. There were also some other phone games, and we split an orange.
 
Hey, Atlantic City is always our “rest vacation.” These tales will not be riveting.
 
As we drifted off, Anabelle came up with more crazy questions of the “Would you rather…”  variety. They were all Disney based and became more and more Haggis themed as the night wore on… for reasons.
 
All washed up we settled in for sleep in one of the rare places where I normally reach epic depths of relaxation.
 
Then at Two in the morning, I awoke to a pain as one of several problematic toenails fell off. (See, this kind of stuff doesn’t only happen to me at Disney.)
So much for those depths.
 
16,370 steps, 6.2 miles
 
For reference, the total distance (one way) from the Tropicana to the Showboat was two miles.

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