Atlantic City - The Big Apple

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July 16th 2015

Published: July 16th 2015

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asmilingshark

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We left Cape May with the fresh westerly breeze and had a great sail to our next destination - Atlantic City. Stayed there for two days, rented a car to visit Brigantine - a nice part of town across Absecon inlet with miles of waterfront houses bordering wide sandy beaches. Atlantic City down town, the one behind the row of water front casinos is pretty rough though and has little of interest. If you love casinos - this is your town! But don't expect the glitter and the ritz of Las Vegas. It all looks (and apparently is) a bit on a decline here. The Trump's Taj Mahal in particular is a dingy, smoky, outdated, cheap trap of a "Palace". What is actually positive about the city - an amaizing co-existence of the urban with the natural ecosystem - miles and miles of well preserved and protected marshes of the inner bays - Absecon, Grassy and Reed bays. Still, I cannot imagine living in a city that has one of the highest suicide rates in the U.S.! DO AC - is the motto of the town inscribed on the tallest water tower. Well we did not do AC - did not

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Closing in on AC

want to risk our ship too😊! From AC we sailed up the NJ coast another 40 miles to Barnegat - a picturesque though a very shallow bay for a day stay and then pressed on, rounding Sandy Hook, and spending the night at anchor there before sailing into New York harbor. Wow, entering NY by water in an unforgetable experience! Dodging the ferries, barges, contending with all kind of traffic while getting closer to the Liberty and Ellis Islands, tipping our hats to the Big Lady and proceeding along the compact Manhatten handed to us like on a plate, then up and up the Hudson to our pier 76 where we grabbed a mooring ball and I finally got to chill with a cup of tea and a shot of Jameson - that was an afternoon to remember! There in NY we arranged to meet with our relatives, a great couple who flew from Israel to join us for a fortnight of sailing together. But not before we were done with the City. We visited a few galleries, stock up on sfogliatella (Italian pastries. If you haven't tried it you are missing out a big time😊)! I call it The

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Bring me your huddled masses and their wallets !

Operation Dessert Storm which I always win ! But the highlight of our NY visit was the Broadway show "The Book of Mormon". There were no cheap tickets, actually no tickets at all for that show but we got a bit lucky at the box office and 5 min. into the show the pain of the financial impact lifted😊 We were laughing our heads off, the whole time - the whole house was brought down. If you are not easily offended and can appreciate religious satire - then you couldn't find a better show on the Broadway today! It's written by the South Park creators - Parker and Stone - as brilliant as irreverent a tandem. But back to boating. We were very surprised to find out that New York waterfront is a complete opposite and stands in a stark contrast with the New York of terra firma. In that I mean there are just a handful of marinas, almost no moorings and a lot of empty or delapidated wharves, piers and pilings. Its a far cry from any other maritime city on the U.S.' Eastern seaboard. Boston used to be like that 50 years back and has developed ever

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Atlantic City

since in a sailing paradise. NY might get an idea one day too. Of course the city has its security concerns etc., but as of today Hudson looks pretty dead from the stand point of recreational boating. It's awaiting its developer. (The pictures are coming tomorrow!)

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