Nice Try, Sandy!

As Hurricane Sandy was approaching, my wife and I had some decisions to make. Just at the time it was supposed to be starting to affect our area, we were planning on driving from Staten Island to Atlantic City, NJ for a scheduled 2 night stay at one of the Hotel/Casinos.

Naturally, driving through a hurricane wasn't my first choice of activities I wanted to partake of, so after a lot of thought and discussion, we decided to book an additional night and arrive a day early so as to be in the hotel well before the storm arrived.

Over the next day or two we listened to all of the storm predictions, and soon it became obvious that Hurricane Sandy was on course to make landfall in the area of Atlantic City - and if Atlantic City were any closer to the ocean, it would be under water. When we stay here we stay at the marina - in harms way if any place ever was!

As we continued to monitor the news we thought about things such as roads washed out that we might need to use on the way home, and the effect of the storm on the power system. We called the hotel to discuss it and they were very honest with us as to the possibilities. At that point they were planning on remaining open throughout the storm, but if the power went out or the governor ordered the area evacuated, they would naturally have to close. In August, 2011 when Irene hit, Atlantic City was ordered evacuated and the hotels were closed for three days. We decided to not take a chance and canceled our stay.

Good thing, as in the hour after we made the decision, New Jersey Governor Christie ordered the mandatory evacuation of Atlantic City and the towns nearby. The storm did hit and the hotels and casinos were closed for days.

Jump ahead to today (November 26) ... once again we have a scheduled two night trip to Atlantic City planned (thanks to Sandy - my wife, not the storm - for getting complimentary rooms each month) and the weather is beautiful for a month before the start of winter. So off we go!

As we arrived at the outskirts of Atlantic City we spot this sign ... which says it all.

What more is there to say? My home borough of Staten Island got the bulk of the press, but Atlantic City survived ... scarred but not beaten. Putting aside the New York/New Jersey rivalry - it was wonderful to see.

And this is the view from my window here in Atlantic City right now ...

Welcome back Atlantic City!!!