With a marriage on the way, I swore that I would be reducing my trips to Atlantic City. But then the Beerfest lured me. Shortly after, there was the comic con. And, of course, I had to have my bachelor party there. But that’s it. I was done. No more silly drunken nights….
Then OB got free tickets to see Norm MacDonald at Harrah’s.
I have seen many, many stand-up comedy legends at Atlantic City over the years, but not Norm. However, with the impending marriage, money is tight, and my luck has grown cold in Atlantic City over the last few trips (see the aforementioned Beerfest post for the bloody details). So I set a few ground rules for myself before going down:
1. Stick to “voucher gambling”. Getting shellacked at the tables does come with some benefits now and then, as I had a couple free bets to redeem. Taking these vouchers, as well as the $25 credit you get when taking the bus, and I had small bankroll. Enough to soothe the gambling beast, but not enough to spend the whole night. So what else to do?
2. Drink. It’s the cheapest way to kill time in Atlantic City. Believe it or not, I felt somewhat “in control” my last few trips down (the wildest time being last summer). This trip, I’d be testing my limits.
3. Go for the all-nighter. As youngsters, OB and I would go down without a hotel room booked, and would stay up all night in Atlantic City. However, as we progressed throughout our 20s, hotel rooms went from optional to necessary. The last true all-nighter I pulled was way way back in Chapter 3. Could I do it again?
So with the stage set, let’s see how I did sticking to the rules.
11:00AM – My goodness, the bus line. Word of advice, folks – if you are taking the bus from Port Authority to Atlantic City, make sure to get there very early and know what gate you need to stand at. During the busiest times, which seem to be Friday after work and Saturday morning, it will be mass pandamoneum. Being the experienced bus veterans that we are, OB and I were promptly in line and had first row seats to the fracas as people who couldn’t make it on the 11 AM bus tried to cut into the 11:30 line. There was mass screaming, and threats to call the “line police.” I just put on my sunglasses to avoid making eye contact with anyone. OB and I grabbed seats in the back, and let the drinking commence (I started with cheap-o whiskey, OB preferred Captain Morgan).
Rainman Suite 