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Thursday, October 10, 2019

Atlantic City Boardwalk, New Jersey

Fond memories of our trips with friends to the Atlantic City Boardwalk, New Jersey!
With husband Pieter on a sunny day in July of 1987...
There are 4 miles, 6 km of wooden board walk!
Fun feeding the pigeons!
To the right is Aron Kinrus, Pieter's colleague from Campbell Soup at that time.
Perfect outdoor day...
With Aron's wife Shyfra I'd been there previously, by bus from Wilmington, Delaware.
Never forget my FIRST attempt to swim in the Atlantic Ocean there.
Walking briskly into the ocean, together with some Russian ladies that were with us, I made a quick return to my beach towel. SO COLD in July! 
Guess I am spoiled by living in the South and being used to the warmth...
Here Pieter and I were standing in front of OCEAN ONE the mall built in the shape of a ship!
Ending a perfect Sunday with friends at the Golden Nugget restaurant in Atlantic City...
Blissful Relationship with Friends together.
GOLDEN NUGET, Atlantic City, N.J.
In the previous year, I'd visited on my own together with Shyfra, while Pieter was several days away for Campbell Soup.
That was my FIRST ever encounter with a Casino...
A couple of days later, I did write about that experience in our local newspaper's section: OPINIONS
We met a retired FBI agent who was a columnist and writer, Bo Whaley was his name.
He became my 'Uncle Bo'...
Left column, bottom I wrote:
Any man (or woman) who pops chewing gum. Last week I spent a whole day in Atlantic City. On the boardwalk, in the ship-like built shopping mall called Ocean-One, there is a nice restaurant with a view of the beach and of course inside some of the famous casinos. Though I didn't play, I had more fun watching all the fanatic playing people. I'm not sure how it's related to gambling or to loosing or winning (but) it was a fact that the beautiful carpet looked alright in the alleyway, but along the automats it was covered with sticky grey spots, a flat remainder of chewing gum. How does it get there, I wondered, and I watched people win and lose their quarters and dollars, anxious to see when they drop it... It's still a big question mark. How human beings can behave... Nobody said hello or asked, "How are you doing?" I suppose I even could walk topless and still go unnoticed! Now after watching those dirty-handed (from all the coins) crowds, I was certainly glad to return back to Dublin... because I was leery of them!
The entire OPINIONS was a reply to "Uncle Bo's" column on his being leery of...
Oxford English has a different meaning for it as meaning "just"; knowing, sharp, smart, alert.
In American it means suspicious of.

Have any of you ever observed people at a casino, gambling?

Thanks for your visit and comment!

23 comments:

  1. Liebe Mariette,
    herzlichen Dank für deinen schönen Post.
    Alles Liebe
    Elisabeth

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    Replies
    1. Liebe Elisabeth,
      Danke es war eine Freude!
      Liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

      Delete
  2. Un bel post pieno d'amore.
    Buon venerdi.

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    Replies
    1. Grazie Giancarlo ed è ancora pieno d'amore! Bellissimi ricordi...
      Buon fine settimana e abbracci,
      Mariette

      Delete
  3. I've never been to Atlantic City. The wooden boardwalk looks lovely. It must be very pleasant to spend time there checking out stores and enjoying the view...and making friends with pigeons :-) It's very cool you wrote about your experience for newspaper. Though, it's too bad you had to find chewing gums not in a trash can.

    Oh yes, we are spoiled by living in the south :-)
    Have a great weekend, Mariette!

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    Replies
    1. Dearest Tamago,
      Well, I just ended up joining my friend from Delaware and some other women.
      It was fun but would be boring to go there again and again; not for me!
      The pigeons that weekend were fun, that was different.
      Thinking about the speckless clean streets and everywhere else in Singapore e.g. made me wonder. Guess they should fine them like in Singapore for being in the possession of chewing gum!
      Nothing can beat the warmth of the south, you are right about that... 🌞
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  4. Wauw, dat je dat echt allemaal nog weet,het jaar en ook bijna de maand, dat Niek onze zoon geboren is.
    De foto met het strand ziet er echt "Amerikaans" uit vind ik, en eigenlijk niet zo mooi...
    En nee, ik heb nog nooit mensen in het Casino bestudeerd. Ben trouwens ook ooit nog maar 1 keer in een Casino geweest, en heb er een hekel aan. Wat ik/we wel regelmatig doen is mensen bestuderen vanaf een terrasje..dat is ook leuk..
    Ook een erg leuke trui, zelf gebreid?

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    Replies
    1. Beste Marian,
      Ja, Pieter was de dagboek schrijver van dat jaar en hij deed het ook vanwege zijn werk. Altijd goed om dingen op te schrijven! Kan later nooit iemand zeggen het was toen en toen...
      Qua strand moet je in het noorden ook niet komen, dan is Florida en zelfs de kust van Georgia, veel beter. Maar dit is puur om de Casino business en dat is ook echt niks voor ons beiden!
      Wel interessant om eens rond te kijken en te observeren, je leert er veel van.
      Samen hebben we ook jaren in Connecticut consulting werk gedaan en in het hotel waar wij zaten, kwamen hele bussen met 'verse' weduwen aan. Die gingen dan naar de grote Casino's om het geld van de levensverzekering er door te jagen kennelijk... Triest is zoiets en ook een zekere verslaving, net als overigens kienen.
      Ja, wij hebben ooit in Manchester, Engeland het tuig gemist naar Dublin/Ierland vanwege het moeten doorstarten van de piloot omdat er een ander tuig op de landingsbaan was... Uren hebben we mensen kunnen kijken; soms wel boring en vaak is er niet veel leuks bij.
      Nee, die trui had ik in Kevelaer, Duitsland gekocht en die is helaas in Indonesië gejat...
      Liefs,
      Mariette

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  5. Replies
    1. Dearest Anne,
      Yes, obviously very tame indeed and fun for seeing this.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  6. I had to laugh about the cold water. I had the same reaction the first time I splashed out into the North Sea. I have been to Atlantic City once and was not too fond of it. I also do not like to gamble. You sure looked cute in those shorts...Have a lovely weekend..Janey

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    Replies
    1. Dearest Janey,
      Haha, I've never ever swam in the North Sea myself and after living in the tropics and now here in Georgia, no interest in doing so. Another very cold water was Santa Cruz, California as the Pacific Ocean is very cold! Got disappointed there as well.
      No, gambling is not for both of us... Thank you for your compliment!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  7. Dearest Agnes,
    Thank you, they are living memories of our best times.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Mariette, I have never been one for casinos--I don't enjoy gambling and those areas don't seem to feature attraction that I do like. Atlantic City was supposed to get a lot of money from the casinos, but a block away from them it was pretty scary.

    Your Opinions commentary illustrates how it is possible to be humorous and sensible at the same time. About the chewing gum, a long time ago the Cleveland airport was recarpeted, and the mayor banned all use of gum, for which he was widely ridiculed, although your article shows he had a point!
    --Jim

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    1. Dearest Jim,
      About casinos in general, I'm with you as they cannot captivate my full attention either. Have never been back to Atlantic City.
      It was fun to reply via the Opinions commentary and I loved doing it the way I did.
      Both of us have always admired the law makers in Singapore, where even the possession of chewing gum was unlawful. It works and they have the cleanest walkway! Recently when my car stalled in front of a traffic light, in Atlanta, coming off the parking area, I stepped into such a pink blob of mess. Hate that, and usually human feet would not step where I was, getting out of my car... but even getting it on car tires is bad.
      Kudos for that reason to the mayor from Cleveland who banned all use of gum at the airport!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  9. I don't nor have I gambled...so no, I haven't observed these folks who do. I would have no entertainment in such an atmosphere. I've always found it not something I wanted to do...all my life. But being around a sea of people is not my ideal situation. Guess I am an old stick...even in my 20's and upwards. :-)

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    1. Dearest Katie Isabella,
      Well, for me it was more than enough for having been there once! It sure was an eye opener... Don't regret it that I've never had any urge for doing so.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  10. Hello Mariette,
    These are great memories with the pigeons ;-)
    You are really beautiful: -)))
    It was nice to read you back on my blog.
    Hugs

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    1. Dearest Nathalie,
      Yes, those pigeons that was an amazing experience!
      Thank you for your words and I found you back yes...
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  11. never visited Atlantic City. Tried a little gambling in Cripple Creek Co. when my daughter and her husband were stationed at Fort Carson. little stuff and didn't win anything.
    Fun seeing the feeding of the pigeons. Great pictures.

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    1. Dearest Betsy,
      Without having friends in Delaware, we would never have gone to Atlantic City either...
      One does not miss anything for not gambling.
      Yes, the pigeons were fun.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Mariette...