The clue’s in the name

TravelMole’s Graham McKenzie is pleasantly surprised when he discovers another side to Atlantic City.

"I have to confess I had some preconceptions about Atlantic City New Jersey. I somewhat naively assumed it would be a sea watered down version of other gambling centres, such as those in Nevada. Sure enough, there are acres of slot machines within hotels, full of seemingly joyless people playing the same machine all day long in the hope of the ‘big one’, and no doubt a variety of other ways to gamble away your money, but – and it’s a big but – it’s also got a huge ocean next to it, and that makes somewhat of a difference.

Beach Vibe at AC

The ocean at AC influences almost everything about the place – the food, wildlife, facilities, and attractions. The first thing that struck me was the quality of the beaches, with soft pale yellow sand topped off with sea plants and grass. Personally I’m not one for lying on the beach all day but I do like to socialise (quelle surprise) and the preponderance of bars on the sand is a good thing for a professional, gregarious being such as moi. Good music, affordable drinks, lots of seating with a very amiable party buzz can be found at the bars and all the time you feel that you are somewhere special, whether you’re in one of the huge hotels a pebble’s throw away or right on the boardwalk.

The boardwalk is one of AC’s most famous assets, and although some of it was damaged during Hurricane Katrina some years ago, it is a still very special feature. Construction of the boardwalk started in 1870 and it’s not an overstatement to say it’s one of America’s iconic features. You can stroll along it for miles, with ocean on one side and hotels, restaurants, stalls and shops on the other, or indeed take a ride in a raffia/straw buggy thingy which is constructed as to be very light with wheels that run freely across the smooth surface and can be pushed manually. You can find them everywhere and, as far as I’m aware, they’re unique to AC and its boardwalk.

AC from the Steel Pier Helicopter

AC also has it very own vintage pier, the Steel, which was opened to the public in 1898 as a theatre above the water. Since then it has undergone many transformations and ownerships, the latest being when it was sold by the Trump Empire, who never realised their original plans for it, to the Catasano family who had been managing the pier for many years under a lease. Entertainment has been at the heart of Steel Pier and even the Beatles and Frank Sinatra appeared there in years gone by. The pier was rebuilt by Mayor Bader early in the 20th century, who you may have heard of if you are a fan of the TV series Boardwalk Empire. Today it has remained true to its origins with lots of rides, attractions and live performances, plus the opportunity to see AC from the air by helicopter.

If you combine the fabulous restaurants (I ate at Gordon Ramsey’s – fabulous), the hotels (I stayed at Trump TajMahal), entertainment (Madonna was performing recently), the boardwalk with a beach vibe, history, shopping (yes, there are lots of great shops too) and then top it all off with the ocean, maybe with the added bonus of seeing dolphins, I would say that AC-by-C is definitely worth a punt."

Graham flew with Delta and stayed at Trump Taj Mahal