Day 128 -- August 6, 2003 -- Wednesday

Today was Red Day. A $100 bill was poised and ready for action.

After the weekly radio show with DJ Dan McGrath this morning, I drove straight to Atlantic City's newest resort hotel and casino, the Borgata. I marched to the first roulette table that I saw, plunked down my $100 bill, and requested one $100 chip. I placed the black ($100) chip on red. The dealer gave the wheel a big spin. Round and round the little white ball went. And it performed beautifully -- setting down in a red slot on the wheel. I was awarded a second black chip. I picked up both chips, walked to the cashier, and received two crisp $100 bills. It felt mighty good.

I believe this made us essentially even on gambling. We won $100 on our patented red roulette bet in Biloxi, Mississippi. I lost $100 on two ill-advised $50 blackjack bets in Cherokee, North Carolina. We lost $100 betting on red on roulette at the Belaggio in Las Vegas. And now this win. I'm not counting the few dollars I donated via the slots to the Kickapoo Indians in Eagle Pass, Texas or the few dollars Bozzie Jane lost on the slots at New York, New York in Vegas. This concludes our gambling for Round America. Nice to go out with a win.

The Borgata is nice -- brand new -- just opened in June. It isn't nearly as fancy as the hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, but it is very nice for Atlantic City. Atlantic City just isn't anything like Vegas in terms of size, scope, or quality.

Atlantic City's casinos are really spread out in different parts of town. A number of the casino hotels are connected by the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk. So after my thrilling win at the Borgata, I drove around Atlantic City a bit, saw the Absecon Lighthouse, stopped at a beach for some ocean photos, and grabbed some lunch before taking a walk the full length of the Boardwalk.

Atlantic City has interesting history. The Atlantic City Boardwalk was the first boardwalk in the world -- opened in 1870. The first Ferris Wheel was on the Boardwalk here. Salt Water Taffy was originated on the Atlantic City Boardwalk in 1883 after a storm flooded a candy store. The first-ever color postcards were color views of Atlantic City. The game of Monopoly was developed by Charles Darrow in 1929 using Atlantic City's streets on the game board. The Miss America Pageant was established in Atlantic City, and the first Miss America was crowned here in 1929.

Lunch was special. White House Submarines changed the name of its Hoagies to Submarines in 1956 -- since the long 24-inch rolls used for their sandwiches resemble a submarine. So, White House Submarines invented the submarine sandwich! The place was absolutely packed. Every seat was filled; there was a line waiting for tables; and I was #27 in the wait line for take-out. There were a bunch of old guys behind the counter taking orders and making sandwiches as fast as they can. They were a crusty lot -- mainly talked to each other and complained about a variety of things. It added to the ambiance! None of these guys appeared to have ever taken a class on sanitary food preparation procedures, as they make the sandwiches with their bare hands, and I saw all kinds of things behind the counter that would have given the health department inspectors a fit in most states. I hoped for the best, and I'm pleased to report that I and my sensitive stomach enjoyed the House Special Submarine Sandwich with no bad side-effects. There really wasn't anything special to my sandwich, other than the fact that I got it at the place that named submarine sandwiches, and that was the whole reason I went, so it was special. (The best submarine sandwich in America is at Dave's Famous Subs in Chagrin Falls, Ohio; the secret is their sauce.)

From lunch, I drove near to the Boardwalk, parked, and began my long walk up and down the wooden walkway. I stopped at the Atlantic City Tourist Information Office where I met two really nice ladies, Maria and Paula, and one stinker (apparently the manager). It's a mystery to me how some folks with terrible people skills find their way into jobs dealing with people. This woman was really stinky -- and for absolutely no reason that I could tell -- just seems to be her demeanor. (But the worst was a young man in the "I Love New York Tourist Information Office" at Grand Central Station yesterday. I'd call him surly. Sat on his butt and offered no one any real help, and he acted like it was a major intrusion when anyone asked him for information.) Back to the Boardwalk, I liked Maria and Paula, and I was able to pick up some good brochures. Visiting these Visitor Information Offices is absolutely one of the most important things we have done on the trip. Grabbing brochures from the hotel racks is good, but these offices always have a lot more, and they usually have helpful people who can provide answers, ideas, and directions. A quick look at the available brochures always provides new sights to see as well as important information on sights we had already planned to see.

I picked up a great brochure that helped me enjoy a self-paced Walking Tour of the Boardwalk. It provided some excellent history, and I was able to get photos of most of the important spots along the Boardwalk. I'd have missed many of these without the brochure.

The Boardwalk is special. It is the main "street" in Atlantic City. The Boardwalk wasn't designed to be the famous promenade that it has been for so many years. It was developed to solve a problem in 1870 -- to keep sand off the hotel carpets. It was temporary for the first 20 years -- placed down for each summer season and then stored each winter. The first permanent Boardwalk was built in 1890. The boards wear out every 12 years or so and have to be replaced. The wood is Bethabara Hardwood from Brazil and Longleaf Yellow Southern Pine. Bicycles and rolling chairs are the only vehicles allowed on the Boardwalk. The rolling chairs debuted in 1887 and are very popular.

The Boardwalk has a number of "icons" that are symbolic of the streets that intersect with the Boardwalk, and some Atlantic City history is provided on Monopoly-style signboards. The beach and ocean are on the east side of the Boardwalk, and the casinos, hotels, and shops are on the west side. The Boardwalk is 4 miles long and as much as 60-feet wide. I just walked, saw the icons, read the signs, did a lot of people watching, and had a little of the famous salt water taffy. It was hot -- 84-degrees with 93-percent humidity. I melted.

After several hours of walking up and down (I believe I did 8 miles total), I drove to Margate to see Lucy, the World's Largest Seaside Elephant. Lucy is massive -- 65-feet tall. She was built in 1881 by James Vincent de Paul Lafferty, Jr., a landowner who wanted to draw attention to is property. The elephant is much more than a statue; it has rooms inside! It cost $38,000 to construct Lucy back in 1881. Lucy The Elephant stands in a feeding position, trunk down. Access to the interior is gained through spiral stairways in the hind legs, one being for the entrance and the other the exit. Entrance stairs lead to a reception room, which is 18 by 18 feet. Other rooms are off this main room. There are 22 windows. The construction took one million pieces of timber and 8,560 ribs or arches, 200 kegs of nails, and four tons of bolts and bars. 12,000 square feet of tin was used to cover the structure. The body is 38-feet long and 80-feet in circumference; the head is 16-feet long and 48-feet in circumference. Lucy's neck is six feet long and 48-feet in circumference; legs are 22-feet long and 10-feet in diameter. The ears are 17-feet long and 10-feet wide. It is estimated that each ear weighs 2,000 pounds. Lucy's tusks are 22-feet long; her tail is 26-feet and eyes are 18-inches in diameter. It is estimated that Lucy can be seen (without use of binoculars) up to eight miles. Lucy is registered as a National Historic Place. For more information, see www.lucytheelephant.org.

After beating them so badly at roulette, I decided to stay at the Borgata tonight. See www.theborgata.com. Kimberly was especially enjoyable to speak with as I got checked in. She fixed me up with an extremely nice room on the 32nd floor so I would have a great view of the ocean and the buildings lining the Boardwalk.

I considered getting my hair cut at a place I saw in Atlantic City called Mr. Lucky's Barber Shop, but I wasn't totally comfortable with it. So, I was relieved to learn that the Borgata had a barber shop. I called, and they were able to take me right away. I'm at least six weeks overdue for a haircut, and it's been driving me crazy for the last two weeks. I met a really nice group of people at "Shaving Grace," the Borgata barber shop. Celeste cut my hair, and I met and spoke with Rich, Cindy, Dina, and Ann. Celeste did a great job. I HATE to change "hairstylists." It has been traumatic for me with so many moves over the years. I've been known to go back to the town where we used to live just to get my hair cut. So, I was absolutely delighted to find such a nice group and to have Celeste do such a great job.

Celeste is a competitive drag racer. At least she was. She was recently seriously injured. Not in a dragster, but while leaving a bar. A fight started in a bar, and she was knocked to the floor by two bar room brawlers who broke her hip and her leg. She now has a metal plate in her hip and a metal rod in her leg. She had to close her salon, and I'd guess she is out of the racing business. It has to be rough on her standing all day cutting hair, but she has to work. The two young boys who injured her had no insurance and lived at home with their parents. It's a shame the U.S. doesn't have laws like they have in England; those boys would be paying her for the rest of their lives. Celeste is really nice, and I hope the beads bring her some good luck.

I enjoyed my luxurious hotel room (far nicer than the budget hotels/motels that we've been using for the last five months) while catching up on some of the web site work. I ordered a BLT and "Fire Roasted Rustic Apple Pie -- with Brown Sugar Streusel, Calvados Brandy Caramel Sauce, and Vanilla Ice Cream." Sounded yummy. The BLT wasn't as good as those Bozzie Jane makes. The pie was good, but not an award winner.

Today I learned that if you bet on red enough, you will eventually win. And Celeste told me that when a fight breaks out in a bar, move away as quickly as possible to try to stay out of harm's way.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we've been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we've seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of "vital statistics" on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you'd like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.