Atlantic City

We spent two nights in the Las Vegas of the East Coast.... less flashy than her bigger sister but tatty none the less. The tragic question is that which I moan often in these blogettes...why not build on the beauty that was rather than demolish and put up Disneytrash?  The latest horror you will see at the end of the blog.....the ghastly "Revel" whose walls of glass throw the sun back into your eyes and have you crash into everyone coming in the opposite direction. But I rave too soon.

This was the fabulous Hotel Dennis.

Here it is depicted by a muralist.

This hangs in the lobby of Bally's which has swallowed it and a number of other buildings, demolishing some and linking the rest of them with walkways reeking of old cigarettes and Lysol. Our room was labelled Non Smoking but years of old tar and filter poison have eaten into the very fibres of the edifice and continue to ooze brown air into the lungs of all.
Here is the sight that greets you on opening the lift door from our sour ( not suite )

That thin grey line is the horizon of the Atlantic . Nobody was looking out to sea.
Once we had dodged the speeding scooters laden with polyestered nicotine bags of lard we went out into the grey morning to find that our section of Ballys was the old Hotel Dennis - sort of dressed in tarty pastel but happily still grand in her corset

Throughout this journey along the boardwalk I will throw in reminders of the glory days of A C. The monuments may not be in the exact locations but they will continue to jolt you back into a quieter time of wealth, taste and privilege......all of which the current visitors have in varying degrees.

After some random glamour......

........Sheldon had a very interesting plan which I thought was genius.

 "Why don't we walk from one end of the promenade to the other?"

But first we had to petit dejeune.  Bryan West, who has been Felicia-ing lately while poor Nick Adams recovers from an injury, had planned our nosh schedule so we headed for the Chelsea Hotel

 and a wonderful retro diner.

There we poured over the publications to see what cultural attractions were available that night.

There was a toss up between 'The Wit of Dorothy Parker" and "Divas in Drag". We were as yet undecided.
By the time we had eaten the sun was out.

The local artisans of Atlantic City were open for business and spared no expense in window display. I coveted this towel

 and this

The Hilton was the epitome of style

 We think it is closed.

Sheldon looked up and said, "Look, Taylor, your favourite thing. Rot."

How many jolly nights spent in here?

Maybe this once graced the Hilton site

Maybe this

was once this

Their bones are being warmed elsewhere

 

Maybe this lady went to Dr Jack for her neuralgia

The sea was behind her and she was facing this

These

 were facing this

There were pretties

The spirit of the season captured by a local artist

and by a passing breeze

This 

had been this

Seems they have learned. This was having a major reno

Sheldon saw me in this

This eventually got the bird

One of these women screamed in delight when she saw this

"I love the pink pig!!!!!!"

Hope this guy didn't hear

There's an ugly blank wall ..that's a stupid statement..and some bright spark came up with the idea of erecting a facsimile of the streetscape from "Boardwalk Empire". the smash HBO series set in A C, which centres round gang warfare during Prohibition.

These are all giant photos

Sheldon marches into Babettes

Here's the Incubator Exhibit which  actually went from oddity to medical acceptance

Here's where Kelly McDonald had to earn a crust

And here is where Steve Buscemi parks his frame

And this little shop is still trading up the walk and we'll end up buying them out

They had these scammers there then too

Here's a classic auditorium from the twenties that still functions as an arts venue

In its heyday

And today taken from the pier

Across the walk is a bandstand

And next to that a mini golf course with all sorts of bizzarity

Trump's fine establishment was next

Maybe this is what Mr Trump knocked down

Caesars owns this

 It's a temple of consumerism with the usual suspects from Apple to Tiffanys and Gucci to Lucci

Here is the entrance way

Sheldon found a little boutique and found a present which as yet is a secret

She knows what it was

This atrium rose from the centre and went three floors

At the end of the complex there's a fancy pool that does a show on the hour. We missed it by a minute but there was this

Sheldon showing how an escalator should be slithered from

Outside we take in the views up and down the shore.

Looking north to the Steel Pier and the other Trump horror, the Taj

locals bathe solarly

A man was handfeeding the gulls. I had the camera focused for the moment one would take his offering, Shot after shot I made. The best one was this

 Back inside we walked along the southern side. Littel alcoves of sand, plants (probably plastic) and chairs form mini beaches.

Sheldon contemplates opening a casino

And what the pier was like once when it was called Youngs

and the hotel Youngs had on the boardwalk

The view from the glass bridge to Caesars Hotel

This is the facade of the Western section of Ballys. It's ugliness is helped by the constant booming voices that advertise the woeful events happening inside. Almost all are Frontierland except for I think one. I might do some more research but til now I am going to make believe,

And this is the facade I'm hoping is real

Sheldon contemplates going into the hell.

Another contemplates going into the heaven

And here we are inside the Western Hades

It took me a long time to get the name Coyote Kate.

No expense spared or historical detail ignored

Thelma and Louise

But who  looks at decor? It could look like the Louvre and nobody would notice

It was at this point one of the female goons cautioned me that a heavy fine results from illegal photography. I was going to stop anyway cos the camera was close to a vomit.    

We continued up the boardwalk after a tea and a rest.

One of the oldest and most charming of the hotel/casinos is The Claridge

It was super quiet in the old foyer but then Sheldon reminded me that the main access is from Ballys who now own it.

For reasons I cannot explain yet Sheldon was doing acting

Just down the hall from here Sheldon found a dispensing machine that spewed out Canon cameras, IPods and phones!!!

Some people can get away with anything

Now we are on the Midway section between casini. Everything is even more earthy. 

Here are some souvenirs of yesteryear

And yesterday

There is indeed an Under the Boardwalk but my baby and me decline these days because of the odour of cat urine

The cats are a protected controlled community

 You can have them

I must apologise for the lack of photos of the famous rolling chairs. They are a permanent fixture and run down the centre section of the boardwalk. Here are some from long ago.

At least half a dozen lifeguard stations line the walk.

This business was for sale!

This had been quite splendid.

and popular

The old Central

 Believe it or Not the snake had red lippy too

This had been a bank

A Circus was in town

What an offer

The grisly Taj Mahal began a tradition of cement hands with those of ....

Here are a couple more

The Taj Mahal is a Trump casino complex. Looking at it up close you are amazed at the destructive potency of salt air and bird shit.

Obviously influenced by the famous Indian monument there are bits of The Brighton Pavilion and a Barnum circus too

And could this have been on the site?

This is what's left of the legendary Steel Pier

 It's currently a Trump property but apparently he is  trying to unload it

These places make kids of everyone

She almost got out of the chair

A left over from a left over

Sheldon as a tot had a dream about one of these before he had even seen one. He leapt off and woke up when he hit the water. Lamond probably had to change the sheets.

We went on this and Sheldon told me the plot of the musical of the same name while we whizzed around.

Join us as we sail above the hoi polloi

That's the grotesque "Revel" casino which is as yet unfinished. Maybe there'll be a tidal wave.

Our charming engineer had an eye for me I could feel it

This is the original Steel Pier. This would have been full of theatres, ballrooms, restaurants and amusement parlours. And we were whizzing through their ghosts.

This is currently the last of the horrors on the strip

This is the old Garden Pier which houses the A C Historical Museum. And it closed at the superbly convenient time of 4 o'clock

 It really is gorgeous

Noses pressed up against the railings we got a peek of the deco trumf.

And here she is back then

One last look at the Revel. I can only imagine its fate in a hundred years.

Look! One of the lamps is smashed! Get the idea?

Some pics of the way back to the hotel.

The new "Priscilla" poster

This is  should fit right into the revels.

These ladies grace the walls of the ground floor rear

We went out for our last meal on the Caesar's Pier

And here is the fabbo 

We did get to see the water show at 8 o'clock

 And we went out and saw the piers and the buildings again as twilight fell

The shops inside were doing pretty quiet business but you can't blame the window dressers. Here are a couple of simple Tiffany treasures.

Thanks AC and Sheldon for a great time

AN AD NAUSEUM

The following are a celebration of the juice of  the cane and the cob.

This says it all

Please forgive the above.  My sugar free diet has caused temporary manic obsession with desserts, pies, ice cream, chocolate, gumballs, bagels, cake, biscuits and toffee.... and pop tarts, cheerios, croissants, danish.... and.....and.....