Sunday, August 03, 2008

A.C. 2

Atlantic City is a weird ass place.

You've got the beach and the ocean. mmmm. Nice. Then you've got the boardwalk. Lots of tourists, walking, jogging, cycling, having fun. And also along the boardwalk is the evidence of the rest of the Atlantic City, a substantial number of homeless and mentally ill people wandering about, throwing the "vacation experience" slightly off kilter.

Then you've got the resorts and their casinos. Bright lights, big noise, endless ding ding ding of the slot machines. Flashing, flashing, flashing lights. Like Vegas, it's Disneyland for adults.

Then there are the high-end shopping outlet stores. Tourists have endless amounts of money to spend in these stores. I watched a woman buy six $200 purses in one shot. It was surreal.

Then there's the rest of Atlantic City. Drab, rundown, dingy, recessiony, and scary, scary, scary. Nobody's carrying a $200 purse in the the rest of Atlantic City. You just want to drive fast through the town and get on the highway as quickly as possible.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I went to AC once (with Mr. Anonymous)...and that was my reaction, as well. Inside the casinos, glitzy and ritzy. On the surrounding boardwalk and in town, shabby and drabby. I'm sure local kids wait for people to come out of the casinos and mug them of their winnings!...Have never had the slightest desire to return there.

JAW fan