Went | Atlantic City, NJ

A couple weekends ago we went to Atlantic City with Mike's parents. I'd never been, but we can't turn down a free hotel room (all to ourselves!) and free drinks in the Chairmen's Lounge. Our friends Nicole and Jay came on Saturday and we all pretended to be high rollers. 

We went for a late night stroll on Friday and saw one of these push taxis with a disco ball and a boombox. 

Of course we were drawn to the $.99 store on the boardwalk, where we found cheating chopsticks, little wooden umbrellas for pina coladas, and mugs that look like old school desktop computers. I got one for everybody.

We'd seen this place the night before, but they had just closed up, so I went on a mission the next day to win something out of these grab machines. Cyndi and I used to spend all of our allowances on the grab machines at Kroger (and anywhere else we saw them), so I felt like I was making adolescent me proud by winning an Annoying Orange for Mike's sister and stopping after only $2. 

This is Mike being serenaded by the "singing lady" on the boardwalk singing, "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore." Hallelujah.

Saturday was the sunniest most promising weather day we'd seen in a while, so I braved the ocean gusts without tights. It was wonderful! Until I realized that I had to hold my dress down against the wind and standing anywhere not in direct sunlight was freezing. Then I changed into jeans.

The ride home was chock full of This American Life episodes, naps for me, and vanilla shakes to soothe my sore throat. Atlantic City is a loooong six hour drive from home, so we were glad to be back in the land where people don't smoke indoors (the only gripe I had about the weekend).