On Thursday night Dale's fast work on the computer resulted in a free room for us at Showboat in stormy Atlantic City. Therefore, Friday after a number of errands and a visit to the very interesting Arshile Gorky retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I picked Dale up from work around 4:30 and we ventured down the AC Expressway into the wind and driving rain. A nor'easter that had formed from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida was locked in over the Mid-Atlantic regions, and the winds, rains and waves were battering the Jersey Shore at unprecedented levels. It was something we had to see plus Friday the 13th has the potential to be lucky or unlucky, and where better to test that theory than in Atlantic City.
I drove east through some of the worst rain and wind I have personally experienced, but upon arrival all was dry and comfy within our first stop, Caesar's. I decided upon the Time Machine, a fun new penny slot, as my first game, and a mere two bids in I hit five WILDS with the eventual payout of $1011.50 on my $1 bid. How excited was I!!?!? Hmmmm, how will I spend that money? I am always speculating on what to do if I hit it big, and I do have a few ideas up my sleeve :-) We continued to have small wins throughout the evening, and at least this year, Friday the 13th was a lucky day for us.
Outside the surf was raging just beyond the Boardwalk, and the tides were bringing the water under the boards. The wide beach and dunes of the summer were totally gone as were all of the wooden walkways from the Boardwalk to the beach. Fortunately the Boardwalk has a concrete base and it did not sustain any real damage. The wind was incredible, and just walking from the car in the parking garage to the building was difficult. Later the wind howling around our 8th floor hotel window added a very spooky element to falling asleep.
Saturday morning the rain and wind had almost stopped although the ocean was still wild. We were up very early and, thanks to Ashley and Jason, on the road by 8 for the trip to College Park and the Maryland-Virginia Tech game. I have been brokering their seasons tickets for the last couple of years, and a perk of that duty is the opportunity to attend a couple of home games. This big game was one that we did not want to miss for four good reasons, our Terp grads and our VT grads :-). After a stop at Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen for tailgate fare and the liquor store for Wild Goose IPA and Winter Ale, brewed in Frederick, MD, we were in Lot 1 to tailgate before the game. The number of VT fans attending this game was at first astonishing, but then when we realized just how many VT alumni and families live in NOVA, it did not seem so strange after all. Unfortunately this has not been Maryland's best year on the gridiron and lots of their fans obviously had sold their tickets to the Hokie faithful. The sell-out crowd was probably 50-50 Terps and Hokies. While all predicted the Maryland loss, there were some moments that foreshadow a rosier future for the Terps. We enjoyed the afternoon very much, and we represented Ashley and Jason well once again :-).
As we headed northward toward home, research on the Blackberry and a plug-in to Penelope the GPS led us to friendly little family-owned Price's Seafood in Havre de Grace, MD where we enjoyed a really delicious crab feast preceeded by a half-dozen steamed oysters. Price's is one spot that we will definitely put on our permanent 95 corridor radar.
No comments:
Post a Comment