Monday, today we have a day off at the hotel. I have to be at The Establishment (that's the interesting name of my restaurant) by 6:00. Generally, there are few customers at the restaurant on weekdays, and sometimes Andrew lets us go home much earlier. I hope that doesn't happen today! My days off at my two jobs have never coincided yet. That would be great, but I'd like to know about it in advance so I can boldly head to another city. As it is, I can only go as far as Atlantic City. (Cape May and Rio Grande aren't that far away).
Sonya and I have long had the idea of visiting Atlantic City (AC) – a city of brand-name stores and casinos. When I was traveling from the airport to WW, I noticed the beauty and cleanliness of this small town. Its main difference from our place is that AC exists and lives all year round. As for WW, it's a purely resort place; it's empty here in winter! AC is larger, and the beaches there are paid!
To manage to visit all the stores and walk around the city to our heart's content, we decided to leave on the first bus. At 5:47, the "Cape May – Atlantic City" shuttle signaled the start of its movement, while we were just "flying" toward the bus station. I rode first, hoping to manage to buy a ticket. Without thinking about anything, I threw my bike by the parking lot and ran out onto the road to flag down the bus. I shouted to Sonya to lock my bike. Everything was somehow fast, on autopilot. My 4 years of practice chasing commuter trains and buses in Moscow are paying off. Having jumped "on board" and without catching my breath, I blurted out "tu tu Atlantic City." Which in normal people's language means "Two to Atlantic City." The driver waved something like "not now," and we calmly walked through and sat down. Sonya noticed the surprised faces of the Americans who were watching us from the bus windows. It must not be common for them.
We caught a route that goes into the northern part of the city before heading to the final destination. Therefore, we had to ride around Wildwood for another 20 minutes. It turned out stupidly; we could have caught the same bus at the same place just a quarter of an hour later. Next time we'll know. It's marked in the schedule.
An hour later, we were already breathing the fresh air of the bus terminal in Atlantic City. In general, the plan was: walk around the city in the morning, and from 10:00 AM, go shopping. Sonya hasn't received a single paycheck yet, but she kindly agreed to accompany me. The goal of the trip was a T-shirt, and also to see what's where and how much it costs.
On the advice of the CMO and acquaintances, I flew to the States "light." Just one T-shirt and a couple of shirts. The shirts didn't really come in handy, and the only T-shirt quickly turned into a work one. Our hotel is small (they call them motels here), and they don't provide uniforms. Same in the restaurant, but there are stricter rules there. On my first trip to Rio Grande, I had to buy a black T-shirt and shoes.
We walked around the bus terminal, went one way, then the other. We noted where each store was located and suddenly realized: "Why did we come so early????" There is nothing in AC except stores, casinos, the boardwalk, and the ocean. The last two points don't differ much from WW. The stores open at 10. So we were left to enjoy the huge gaming center. We were amazed by the number of slot machines and their variety! They say that Atlantic City is the eastern Las Vegas, its small copy. We haven't been to Las Vegas; it's scary to think what it will be like there if everything is already cool here!
On the way to the ocean, there is a large beautiful building called Caesars. It's a hotel & casino. We accidentally ended up in the part where the hotel is – we were stunned! Everything is in gold, carpets, doormen – in short, a movie again. We moved to the casino. It is 2-3 stories high here, the floors and ceilings are colorful, wherever you look – slot machines. Dim light, silence – at 7 AM there were few people. Several poker tables were surrounded by players, plus individual visitors. I asked Sonya to take a picture of me by the machines, which immediately attracted the attention of a security guard. Everything was very polite, a greeting, but the first question was (as you probably already guessed) "how old are you." To my answer "20, but we are just walking and looking," the guard objected that we only have the right to pass by, through the casino. We don't have the right to stop or look. Those are the American rules.
Caesars casino is furnished in an ancient Roman style, columns, amphitheater - very cool, interesting. The ceiling is illuminated in blue, it seems as if it is an evening sky.
From the casino, you can get to "The Pier" shopping center through a closed passage. The name absolutely corresponds to reality. Starting on land, the mall goes into the ocean and stands on a pier. Accordingly, from its other end, a gorgeous view of the ocean and beach opens up. Along the transparent glass walls, sand is poured, there are sun loungers, beach chairs – everything is like on the shore.
Also, you can get to the mall from the boardwalk, where we had to enter. The entrance is through a candy store, where everything is like through rose-colored glasses. "A real children's paradise" – my first thought. As it turned out, there are very few goods specifically for children there; the main audience is young people. Cosmetics, lingerie – everything is in the corresponding pink tone. Besides this, in The Pier, I only remembered 2 stores: everything for $10 and the Apple Store. In the first one, I bought myself a watch, and in the second, we finally joined the Apple world!)))
About Apple.
Probably many have already written about this, but for me, it was a discovery. Prices for iPhones here are not lower than in Russia. The 5th is around 600-700 bucks – there is no point in bringing it from the USA. The trick here is different. When you buy a phone, you also buy the services of an American carrier. You can sign a contract for the use of communication services for a certain period (a year, two, 10 years) and then you get the phone for only $200 - the 5th, $100 - 4S, $0 - the 4th iPhone. In this case, the phone is "locked" and it won't work in Russia. BUT, there are places like Savelovsky station, Gorbushka (this is in Moscow) and many, many all over the country where they charge a certain amount for the "unlock" service. I heard (from Russian guys) that it costs 1000 rubles. But I can't guarantee it.
Also, in The Pier, there is a light show of the fountain every hour. True, we didn't catch it.
Atlantic City itself consists of outlet stores. These are branded factory shops, located one after another along the city streets. It feels like a large open-air mall, with traffic, traffic lights, and sometimes rain! (We were both lucky and unlucky with the weather: it was cloudy, which is a plus for shopping and traveling – no scorching sun, but we also managed to get caught in the rain, fortunately, I always carry a raincoat with me.)
There is a special map called Tanger Outlets. You can find it at almost any store and take it for free. The map shows the main streets and all the stores, the direction to the ocean and the bus station – it's convenient! And there is also a separate shopping center where you can find all the necessary information about a specific store!
We didn't go around everything, we were guided by familiar names. Adidas, Reebok, Nike, and Puma are an integral part for us. We didn't even try anything on, we just enjoyed the prices! I liked the Forever 21 store, both in style and prices! Lacoste also stands out here with its prices, but relative to Russia – everything is acceptable.
T-shirts from $15. But, at Converse, we hit a very decent liquidation – tank tops and T-shirts for 5 dollars.
On the way home, we got stuck in a traffic jam. The start of the season is in full swing, people are going to one of the best eastern resorts, to us. We stood for about an hour, which Sonya and I slept through together.
Andrew called me. Out of nervousness (he is the boss after all, and it's so hard to understand, and over the phone too!) I answered him in monosyllabic words, yes, yes, no, okay. He just asked if I was working today, clarified that it was at 6, and said see you in the evening.
Only in the evening at work did I realize what this conversation was about. My partner for today, Mike, didn't show up for work, and apparently, that's why Andrew was clarifying if I would definitely be there. It was a bit difficult to work, I was alone, I tried not to slow down, to manage everything. The hostess girl Arelis didn't help, and Andrew wasn't a cook today, but rather a waiter. He helped the guys bring out dishes and talked to visitors more than usual. There were many guests for a weekday, and I received 62 in tips! These were my first big tips, I am very happy! And I didn't expect so much! So, the day ended on a very positive note!
