Atlantic-City Travel Guide
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One of America's oldest seaside resorts, Atlantic City is most famous these days as a weekend gambler's mecca. It's the East Coast's answer to Las Vegas, and home to many of the same names: Caesars, Bally's, Sands, the Tropicana. Tourists come by the millions (more than 33 million of them, to be exact) to try their luck at the city's 12 casinos -- 9 of which line the world's first oceanfront boardwalk, opened in 1870. The city itself began life in 1854 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2004 with a lot of fanfare.
Despite its historic pedigree, Atlantic City went to seed in the years following World War II, abandoned in the wake of cheap and easy air travel to Florida and the Caribbean. In the 1970s, in a last-ditch effort to reinvigorate this once-proud Victorian vacation resort, the state of New Jersey instituted casino gambling -- and the unconventional urban-renewal plan has been something of a success, though not quite the bonanza that organizers might have hoped for. Still, when you consider that Atlantic City is within easy reach of most of the major Midwest and Mid-Atlantic metropolitan areas, its status as a vacation destination seems assured.
The city is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar renewal plan that has already resulted in sparkling new convention and visitor centers, new bus and train terminals, a new outlet mall complex, and a generally more cleaned-up appearance. The opening of the Borgata in the Marina District in 2003 added quite a bit of luster to the city's revitalization efforts. And improvements are still being made: In 2004, the Tropicana will open up The Quarter, an Old Havana-themed complex consisting of added hotel space, several restaurants and retail venues, and an IMAX theater. Meanwhile, Caesars is busy transforming the old Ocean One shopping pier into a multimillion-dollar retail and entertainment complex called (drum roll, please) The Pier at Caesars. And the Borgata hasn't even been open a year and it's already announced a new expansion on the retail and dining front.
Most important of all is a change in attitude. Atlantic City clearly has Vegas aspirations in trying to become a playground catering to adults. We couldn't help but notice all of the signs in the casino hotels politely but firmly telling kids who aren't guests to get lost (we also couldn't help but wonder at the irony of that given all of the kid-friendly stuff going on at the Boardwalk just outside the casino hotels' doorsteps). We doubt the Boardwalk is going to be as successful as Sin City in this regard (and, indeed, we saw plenty of families taking advantage of the beach while we were there), but we must note that we did, in fact, see few kids in the Marina District and the vacationing couples there seemed to be all the happier for it.
Still, this isn't Vegas. First of all, there's not a lot to do beyond the casino hotels, and though the neighborhood in the immediate vicinity of the Boardwalk is looking better nowadays, we still wouldn't go walking around that area after dark. If you're looking for relaxation, and you aren't a gambling fan or don't want to catch a show, then Cape May is still a better option: It's cleaner and quieter, and the beaches are much nicer. Second, while some of the casinos are on par with their desert counterparts in sophistication if not in scale (the lone exception being the Borgata, which we can imagine in Vegas if we close our eyes), the Boardwalk still has some growing up to do before it will ever compete with the Vegas Strip.
