Ocean City and Atlantic City

May 24, Ocean City NJ

In the morning the wind was coming from the south east at 10 to 15 miles per hour. It was perfect for what I had in mind. The channels were so shallow that even my boat got stuck from time to time. I now knew why none of the powerboats were even considering using the intracoastal in NJ. Luc and his wife had been waiting a few days for conditions that would enable them to go outside with their 40 foot trawler. Two days prior they had to turn around.

I listened to the many radio stations from Atlantic and Ocean City while navigating the very complicated channels. I was aiming for Ocean City 27 miles away.

I could have pushed on to Atlantic City but I was too tired. I used the dock of a foreclosed restaurant. A local helped me and even drove me to the hotel. This was my fourth day on the water and I was exhausted. I wanted to go to a pub but oddly, this is a dry town. I’ll have to check into the history of that.

May 25, Ocean City

I was not able to convince myself to get out of Ocean City. I ached all over and just felt generally tired. I decided to keep my room and visit Atlantic City.

The bus station was close to the hotel. I took the 209 and it cost me $3.10. I was expecting a 15 minute ride since Atlantic City is only 8 miles away. In reality it takes an hour and a half since the City does not want the buses to use the immediate bridge according to the driver of my bus. I guess they want to discourage the use of public transport; another oddity of Ocean City.

My impression of Atlantic City is that it’s run down. It compares favorably to other depressed areas like Bridgeport CT or North Hartford but not by far. The streets are filled with idle people hanging on edges of sidewalks or leaning on walls. The main street away from the board walk has dollar stores, discount stores and liquor stores. On the boardwalk where all the casinos are, paint is peeling and the billboards are empty. The empty billboards bestows quite an impression of poverty. It’s difficult to imagine that no business could use publicity the week before Memorial Day. I got out of Atlantic City quite fast. It did not feel safe and there was nothing to do unless I wanted to visit discount dollar stores.