First of all, let me apologise in advance to all our readers if you find parts of this post do not make sense or have rather a lot of spelling mistakes. Si and I have been taking advantage of the ‘Happy Hour’ at the rooftop Vue bar and lounge on top of the hotel. It was such a beautiful afternoon and as all the cocktails and small plates only cost $5 each (£4.00 a pop) it seemed very rude not to!! 😉

Si took this great picture from the rooftop of our hotel reflecting next door in Ballys exterior.

Before I forget, I meant to say yesterday that it had come to our attention that the ‘maids’ looking after our room are male! Never really thought about it before but this is the first time we haven’t had females looking after us. Guess that’s a sign of the times!! 😉

The day started sunny and hot again and after a very special FaceTime call with our dear friend Dot in Upstate New York for a catch-up, we had breakfast in the Twenties Restaurant. We were told today that the bar area is all original dating back to when the hotel was built in the late 1920s early 1930s. I had the healthy option again and Si the Western Omelette. Both excellent. So, nicely full we set out to do some of the ‘touristy’ things in Atlantic City.

First port of call was the Absecon Lighthouse. It’s a coastal lightbouse and at 171 feet (52m) is the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey and the third-tallest masonry lighthouse in the USA. Construction began in 1854, with the light first lit on January 15, 1857. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1933 and although the light still shines every night, it is no longer an active navigational aid.

It was designed by George Meade and still retains its original first-order fixed Fresnel lens. The lens is made of lead glass and weighs 12,800 pounds (5,800 kg). As the light was fixed (non-flashing), it does not have a landward segment allowing visitors to look up in the lens where the keepers entered it for maintenance.

We climbed the 228 steps to the top (after six weeks with no real exercise, my poor knees paid the price!) and there was a great view of the whole of Atlantic City.  We were greeted at the top of the stairs by a man called Bayard Moran, a very pleasant elderly gentleman who gave us a signed card in acknowledgement of our achievement. It turned out that he was an Anglophile having spent time in the UK when he was in the Service and also his son studied at Cambridge and so he had holidayed in the UK as well.

As we left the lighthouse we met Buddy. Now Buddy has been a volunteer at the lighthouse for eight years and has lived in Atlantic City since 1956. He will be 90 years old on 24th September and various events are being held to celebrate his birthday. He climbs the 228 steps to the top of the lighthouse every Friday and often on one other day as well!!! He is described as a volunteer treasure and a true keeper of the light. His aim is to reach 105 years of age as that’s the age his oldest relative reached before dying.

After the lighthouse we visited the aquarium. They had many species of fish, lizards, tortoises etc. I don’t know but keeping any wild animal in captivity doesn’t sit right with me!

Bearded Dragon

Bearded Dragon

Yesterday I mentioned that an Ironman triathlon was happening here today, well it turned out to be a half Ironman, that’s Ironman 70.3. The “70.3” refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting of a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run. Each distance of the swim, bike, and run segments is half the distance of that segment in an Ironman triathlon. Well, you learn something everyday! It was a very hot day for such activities!

Looking after everyone was the local Police in some of the strangest vehicles we’d ever seen!

Tomorrow we leave Atlantic City for Palmerton, Pennsylvania. It’s a very special day for us as we will be meeting up with our other dear friends Nat, Terry and Ty! 😀

It was Ty’s birthday today, he’s nine years old. So, “Happy Birthday Ty” hope you’ve had a great day. See you tomorrow. 🎂🎉

More from Palmerton tomorrow!