Relaxin in MonopolyLand

Okay, how many of you knew that the street names for Monopoly were taken from streets in Atlantic City? On my bike ride last Thursday, I figured this out and then verified it. I had seen Ventnor, and of course the Boardwalk, but then as I was riding down Baltic and got to Mediterranean, I started paying attention, and sure enough, I rode past all the others (except I haven't seen St Charles Place or Park Place). Adding to that how in Philly we saw the Pennsyvania and Reading RRs, that just about completes it.

Anyway, we're having a fun and relaxing three days here, as we wait for tomorrow's good weather for our 50-mile ocean trek. The one picture shows what the view is out our front window of the tall casinos along the Boardwalk. We are still tied up to Craig's private dock, lucky stiffs that we are! It's so close to everything. Each morning, and for the first two evenings, we got to watch skullers - singles, doubles, fours, and eights. In the morning, it's folks of all ages doing it for exercise (or so it appears). The two afternoons were young men and women who were obviously part of competitive teams, going back and forth with the coaches yelling from their motorized boats. I love watching them speed by gracefully and totally in sync.

Another photo shows me on the widest part of the Boardwalk. It's pretty amazing how it is about 6 miles long and is made entirely of 3-inch by about 15-ft boards. It is at mimimum two of these sections (30 ft wide) and at most in the heavily traveled areas, five sections wide (75 ft wide). On a day like today, it is jammed with strollers and shoppers and vendors and bike riders like Bruce and I were. It's part Las Vegas, part county fair, and part Hollywood.

The final photo shows the famous Absecon Lighthouse, built in 1857. The inlet from the ocean (where we are leaving tomorrow) was called Graveyard Inlet because of all the shipwrecks, so they built the lighthouse. We toured it today and it was well worth it, even if we didn't climb the 248 steps to the top.

I've taken three bike rides! It's been kind of interesting to head out and see where we came last Wednesday. I also saw Lucy. Does anyone know Lucy? She's an historic landmark. A huge elephant!! It's been there since the late 1800s. I came across a posted sign that I've never seen before: Radar-enforced bicycle speed limit of 15 mph. Radar enforced!! The drivers here aren't too nice to bike riders. One today made a right turn right in front of me, and luckily I anticipated it and slammed on my brakes. I've been honked at, and passed too closely. It's no wonder I've focused on using the Boardwalk to get 3 miles south of town before venturing onto the streets.

I guess it wasn't ALL relaxation. We finished waxing the boat. We vacuumed. Washed windows. Oh, I'm getting tired....