I find it humorous how such a small state like NJ could attract native residents to vacation spots. North Jerseyans act like anything below exit 100 on the parkway is a different country. In a way, it is... the whole boardwalk "culture," an abundance of CHEAP thrift shops, signs for activities like paintballing and racecar tracks, Confederate flags AS window coverings, ...
We've been down in Ocean City for the past few days...will be here until Saturday. Our rental house is literally in walking distance to the beach. I can easily imagine myself going to the beach daiy: basking in the sun for most of the time, reading a lot, and occasionally hopping into the water for refreshment. And the abundance of awesome boardwalk food... undescribeable... John and I have already made an oath to start South Beach upon our return "up north."
Tonight I went to A.C. and gambled for the first real time. I previously had done the slot machines but they provide no amusement. You lose your money fast [and you ALWAYS lose] and there's no sense of control in the game. You press buttons, the machine determines when it will stop, and if you're lucky, you win 25 cents.
We played BlackJack tonight... Floyd was our dealer... I was a bit wary of him...there were only 3 of us at the table and he was making "small talk." It just felt weird...because I knew that, inevitably, we'd be losing money to this guy.
John lost his "gambling money" within about 10 minutes... my heart was racing as fast as it ever has. I can see how people get a rush from gambling. Even when you're losing, you keep betting more chips, thinking that somehow you'll be lucky the next round, the adrenaline increasing and increasing.
When I played, there was this old man at our table. He said he was down at the tables because he couldn't sleep and had nothing else to do. He had bloodshot eyes and looked completely out of it, but looked endearing at the same time.
Ended up losing 25 of the 100 I started out with...I didn't quite "get" the us-against-dealer concept and said "hit me" when I had 13 and the dealer was showing a 5...or something like that. It all ended up okay but apparently you're supposed to play the game like you're all in it together, against the dealer. I think that's dumb--- everyone is an individual player, right? I even mentioned capitalism to the other player, the old man... every man for himself. Luckily, I think he was humored.
So...we technically came back from A.C. as losers... but it was definitely fun... makes me have bigger interest in visiting Vegas...John and I had always wanted to go to see the shows out there, but now I think I'd have a slight interest in the gambling too...
John's cousin was laughing at my "cheapness" (I like to call it frugality...)-- no matter WHAT, I would not double down during my card deals...
Next time I go to A.C., I'd like to dress like a hip, younger version of an old lady in A.C. --- flashy colors and all, a little gold lame (accent mark above the "e") here and there...
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