Carole Terwilliger Meyers's Blog, page 64

Great Sleeps: Golden Nugget Hotel, Casino & Marina, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Golden Nugget Hotel, Casino &Marina   Huron Ave./Brigantine Blvd., in Marina District, (800) 777-8477.  727 rooms.  Room service.  A sort of boutique casino, this has a calmer demeanor than most.  But some will find the marina location--a five-minute shuttle ride from the Boardwalk--relatively isolated.  That said, the tranquil setting draws repeat guests.  All guest rooms feature soft, elegant colors and neutral tones, nicely upholstered chairs, desks, and baths with marble accents.  The suites are notable for their chic designer fittings and superior views as well as two oversize marble bathrooms providing the luxurious choice of a deep soaking tub or a sleek shower with duo showerheads.  Fitness facilities include a gym, year-round outdoor pool, whirlpool, tanning salon, jogging track, basketball court, recreation deck, five tennis courts, sauna, and miniature golf course.  A new spa provides Asian holistic treatments and has a sauna and steam room.  A variety of shops line a concourse, and this is also where you will find the Hand of Faith golden nugget displayed.  The story goes that in 1980 in Wedderburn, Australia, Kevin Hillier found a 61-pound golden nugget barely a foot underground.  It is the biggest golden nugget in existence, the second-biggest ever discovered, and the biggest ever found with a metal detector.  Hillier sold his golden nugget to the Golden Nugget for more than a million dollars!
            Restaurants are all owner Landry’s brands, including Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse and a Chart Houseoverlooking the marina.  The outdoor H2O bar and lounge pool area with a view of the Atlantic City skyline includes a heated pool, four hot tubs, fire pits, and affordable private cabanas.  It is a great place to hang out in the afternoon and watch the sun set.  A spa and health club are also available.  The Wine and Wifi lounge is a comfortable spot to sip and surf, and the new Haven nightclub, in a former bus terminal, offers an extraordinary nightlife experience.  And, of course, there is the 80,000-square-foot casino open round the clock.  A seasonal lounge is situated on the marina.
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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers
 

Sights to See: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa  1 Borgata Way, in Marina District, (609) 317-1000.  2,000 rooms.  Spectacular Dale Chihuly blown-glass sculptures greet guests at the entrance to this glitzy luxury casino, and more are scattered throughout.  Restaurants include Wolfgang Puck American Grille. 

Next door, with a separate entrance and different decor, Water Club tower has 800 additional rooms.  It offers a softer, quieter experience. 

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images c2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers 

Sights to See: Atlantic Club Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic Club Casino  (609) 347-7111.  801 rooms.  Indoor pool; health spa.  8 restaurants.  The city's smallest casino offers bargain rates as well as restaurants that are big on style and quality.  It is comfortable, not too noisy, and anchors one end of the casino zone. 

●Ono Chinese Bistro  The Jazz Lunch in this high-ceilinged room with super ocean views is a treat for all the senses.  A buffet with hot and cold selections includes a perfect salmon plus beautiful desserts

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image c2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers top image is of view of beach from Ono Chinese Bistro

Sights to See: Atlantic City Boardwalk, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City Boardwalk

America's first Boardwalk was created in 1870 by Mr. Boardman to keep sand out of the hotel lobbies.  It now runs for 4 miles, and nine of Atlantic City’s twelve casinos are scattered along its length.  Steel Pier is a busy amusement park, while the Garden Pier presents performing arts. 

●beach  The Boardwalk fronts the Atlantic Ocean and a magnificent beach that is wide, clean, and free.  Many paths access it.  

●Boardwalk Hall  This is the location of the famous Miss America Pageant.  A tour provides background information and introduces you to the “World’s Largest Pipe Organ.”  A well-done laser light show on the building’s exterior illuminates the night.





●James’ Salt Water Taffy  1519 Boardwalk, (609) 344-1519.  M-F 10am-3pm, on the hr., June-Aug.  $4.50.  Take a tour of this historic factory store that has been making salt water taffy and candy since 1880.  Now a combination of three long-time candy businesses—James’ Candy, Bayard’s Chocolates, and Fralinger’s Salt Water Taffy--all of which are still made from the original recipes the old-fashioned way and packed in boxes bearing charming vintage illustrations.  The most popular flavors are the same as with ice cream—chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. 

●Korean Memorial

●rolling chairs  5 blocks/$5 for 1 or 2 people; ½-hr. tour $25.  Some vintage wicker chairs are still among the fleet pushed by strong men and some women.  A ride between the well-spaced casinos permits time to take in the sights and is a must. 

●Steel Pier  This amusement park is rumored to be putting in the biggest roller coaster in the world.

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image c2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Good Eats: coffee, around the world

Drink your way around the world sipping great coffee with 20 bloggers--including me!  

More coffee.

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image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers 

Things to Do: Christmas markets, Europe

Next year I'd love to visit one of these European Christmas markets. 

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image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers  

Sights to See: Atlantic City, New Jersey

You’ve seen the post-Hurricane Sandy photos of the roller coaster sitting in the ocean.  That’s not here.  Though Atlantic City is an island, with an ocean on one side and a bay on the other, Sandy didn’t flatten it, and the city has been ready for fun-seekers and gamblers ever since things dried out. 
Atlantic City began in the mid-1800s when a few entrepreneurs imagined the seaside location as a health spa and resort town.  A 600-room hotel built here was at that time the nation’s largest.  The first city to have gambling outside of Nevada, it features 12 casinos in close proximity--providing for a pulsating nightlife and an easy casino-hopping experience.  Nine casinos front the Boardwalk, putting the Atlantic Ocean and a magnificent beach at your doorstep.  Three more are positioned about 5 minutes away in the Marina District.
It is the city that inspired the most popular board game ever—Monopoly—which uses the city’s street names, and it is where the Rat Pack first got together.  And you’ve probably seen it on episodes of “Seinfeld” and “Sex and the City.” 
Some firsts include:
●Boardwalk, which opened in 1870.
●salt water taffy, which originated in 1883 on the Boardwalk after a storm flooded a candy store.
●rolling chairs, which debuted here in1887.
And this year the Miss America pageant returned to town. 

More information on Atlantic City.

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image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Things to Do: drink kava or yaqona, Fiji

Fiji’s national drink is yaqona (pronounced yan-gon-na), or “kava” as it is known in other Pacific Islands.  In Fiji they also often refer to it by the nickname “grog.”  Made from the root of the pepper tree, which grows only in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, yaquona is bitter and potent.  I’ve heard yaqona described best as tasting like “peppery puddle water.”  It is non-alcoholic but has mild narcotic properties when taken over a prolonged period and in large quantities, and the United States F.D.A. warns of a possible link between kava and liver failure. 
Fijians consider it the drink of the Lord and start drinking it at around age 21.  In Fiji, the root is a form of  currency.  Traditionally, when visiting a village a guest brings a gift of kava roots to the chief as a sign of respect.  Sometimes villagers, visitors, and the chief sit on the bure floor while the chief conducts a blessing ceremony, and sometimes the roots are then pounded into a drink that is then distributed in one large bowl from which everyone drinks in a welcome ceremony indicating  goodwill and hospitality.  Pounding drums sometimes also accompany the ceremony.  On my visit to Fiji, I encountered this ceremony numerous times in many different ways—even in a demonstration at a resort shopping center! 
This is the etiquette of drinking yaqona:●Don’t sip it.  ●When the bowl is presented to you, cup your hands and clap them together once.●Accept the bowl and say, “Bula!,” or “Vinaka” (thanks).●If it is a large bowl meant for a group, drink one gulp down fast.  If it is a small bowl for one person, drink it all down fast.  ●Clap three more times and say, “Maca!”  ●Return the bowl to the same person.●Women sit with legs to the side only.  No one should point their feet at a chief or the kava bowl.  ●Women can ask for a smaller “low-tide” serving.  

Etiquette and customs when visiting a traditional Fijian village

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video c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers 

Sights to See: leaving Dingle town, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

Take the southern road N86 out of Dingle town east to the R561, and you’ll pass by Inch Strand.  Back-dropped by the Slieve Mish Mountains, this beautiful 4-mile stretch of sandy beach attracts surfers--a van on the sand provides lessons and rents boards--and cars can drive on the packed-sand beach (not advised if you have a rental car). 

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images c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers 

Sights to See: Ring of Dingle/Slea Head Drive, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

Ring of Dingle/Slea Head Drive
There are more than 2,000 archaeological sites on the Dingle peninsula. It is basically an open-air museum dotted with monuments in various stages of decomposition.  Many people think this route is better and easier than the Ring of Kerry, and you won’t see many tour buses on this less-traveled road.  It is 30 miles, and though it is a two-way road, most people drive it clockwise.  Allow about three hours.  Rick Steves describes the loop drive in detail:. I wish I had printed it out.
●VENTRY/Ceann Tra  In between Dingle Town and Slea Head. 
●beehive huts  Also called ring forts, these structures are the most numerous and widespread field monuments in Ireland.  Several groups are found here. Made of stone without mortar by seventh-century monks, they kept the occupants dry and are thought to have housed just one family until around 1200 A.D.  It is believed that many of these mysterious huts survived only because superstition said they were "fairy forts."  Entering one surrounds you in a dank coziness.  The first signposted site we came to was up a steep hill and had a E2/person charge.  Homemade signs made me suspicious that it was a scam, but I was told elsewhere later that the farmers do sometimes charge to visit these sites on their property.  My advice is to wait until you come to the second beehive huts site, where apparently admission is always free.  
●SLEA HEAD/Ceann Sueibhe  This is the closest point in Europe to America.  When the weather is good, you’ll have stunning views of the rugged coastline and of the Blasket Islands located 6 miles off the coast.
●Slea Head Cafe   You can enjoy a warm-up at this tea house.   
●DUNQUIN/Dun Chpoin  Stop for a brownie and latte at this pottery cafe and enjoy the gorgeous view of the Blaskett Islands.
●Reasc Monastery  This spot is hidden but worth the effort to find it. 
●Dunbeg Fort Visitor Center  At the base of Mt. Eagle.. One of Ireland's most famous prehistoric sites, this fort dates to 400 BC and was occupied in the 8th century.
     ●Stonehouse Cafe  This cafe operates within an authentic Irish stone house.  You can sit outside and enjoy the view of Dingle Bay, maybe with an open-face crabmeat brown-bread sandwich. 
●BALLYDAVID/Baile Na Ngall  This picturesque fishing village is on the western end of the peninsula.
●Scanlons Pet Farm  5 miles west of Dingle, Barr na Nard, Baile an Lochaigh, near the end of the Slea Head Drive.  Visitors can see and pet farmyard animals.  There is a playground for the children, and a nature walk to Feothanach river.  A picnic area is located beside the river.
●BALLYFERRITER
    ●Louis Mulcahy shop  This rambling pottery shop is the perfect spot to select some gifts and souvenirs.  Do allow time for lunch or tea in the cafe, where you can enjoy some delicious food and sample the wares before you buy. 
●Gallarus Oratory  This Christian church highlight comes just before you reach the crest of the hill and start back down to Dingle.  Built circa 800 A.D., it resembles an overturned boat and is probably the finest example of a watertight dry-stone building in Western Europe and it is the only one still standing. 


More things to do on the Dingle Peninsula.

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images c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers