A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing

sign on the Boardwalk

Thursday 28th November - a long day of travelling. Left the house at 7:00am and got to the hotel in AC about 6:00pm EST - 16 hours.
First time at Heathrow Terminal 4 (I think) and turned out the Virgin flight I thought I was on was actually a Continental flight which was fully booked and the only seat left (apparently) was the middle one in the row marked in red on seatguru.com (which means don't sit there)... so not happy to start with. Mooched around the terminal buying magazines then went into the zone.... noone to talk to, not in any rush, just read and concentrate on not thinking about delays and how long everything is taking.
Turned out the seat wasn't so bad. Bit unusual being in Economy but hey, it was cheap and the entertainment system on Continental is pretty good - if you're used to United (but what isn't). Had to pay $6 each for 2 red wines but the food was surprisingly good too and in between reading the papers watched American Beauty again, slept for a while, then Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Landing at Newark (another first) was a bit hairy and flight an hour late overall then the joys of US Immigration. What a disorganised, deeply unpleasant soul-destrying experience that is. I don't understand why people dislike traffic wardens so much. We all know whether we're supposed to be parked somewhere or not so why's it their fault if we get a ticket. The arrogant obnoxious twats that work in US airports are far more more unpleasant.
Wandered round the airport for a while trying to find the National car rental. Had to make a phone call to get directions which involved getting on a monorail to another terminal, and from the window of the train could clearly see the Manhatten skyline - an unexpected treat. Picked up the car ok - nice Dodge Charger! - and set off vaguely in the direction of US95 South as the man at National recommended.

Then 3 hours of thinking I'm on the right road, then not sure, then stopping and checking Google Maps on my Blackberry, then turning round and going in a another direction, then just following any sign that said south, and eventually made it to Atlantic City. Beautiful sunset just as I was arriving....

Checked into a nice room at the Sheraton and went straight out to get food at the Tun Tavern http://www.tuntavern.com/ - Wasabi Tuna and the taster of 6 different beers brewed onsite. Then walked the 5 or 6 blocks down to the Boardwalk and along to Boardwalk Hall to see where all the action is going to take place.

One more beer and a wander round a casino then back to the Sheraton for sleep.