The Borgata

So last Friday (which was my last summer Friday off from work) Kelly, Michelle, Rebekah and I headed south on the Garden State. Destination: Atlantic City for a night at the Borgata, to celebrate Kelly's birthday.

The Borgata is pretty much the swankiest hotel in Atlantic City, and can feel a lot more like a Vegas hotel and casino than an Atlantic City one. Vegas hotels/casinos are massive, decorated like palaces, and have casinos you could get lost in. The Borgata isn't as big at the MGM Grand or anything, but it gives the Taj Mahal a big run for it's money. Anyway. Things I like about the Borgata include:

*The statues they have in the lobby. There is always a huge check in line (think Space Mountain at Disney World) so while people are waiting they sometimes lean against a white marble statue of some ancient roman man or woman dressed in the white robes and wearing a crown of leaves. But surprise! The statue isn't really a statue. It's a person, dressed in white and painted white. They show up, get up on the pedestal, and stand still for a really long time. They wait until the crowd changes, until people who didn't see him arrive stand around in the lobby and lean against the post. Then they lean down and tap the person on the shoulder and it freaks them out. Very entertaining for those of us on line.

*The fact that they have Ocean's Eleven playing in the elevator. This is one of my favorite movies, and I like seeing George Clooney and Brad Pitt wandering around in the Bellagio when I'm three floors from a casino myself.

*The shower and shampoo. This sounds silly, but at the Borgata you get one of those huge showers with a glass door and a bench inside. The shampoo is rosemary mint and it's refreshing as hell. Go ahead laugh. Take a shower in there and I guarantee it will be one of the better traveling showers you've taken.

*The Do Not Disturb sign. Instead of saying "Do Not Disturb" and "Service Please" It says "Tidy Up" for service and "Tied Up" for Do Not Disturb. Nice.

So from here I think I'll skip right to the highlights and funny comments:

All weekend we made fun of the high security at the Borgata. When you check in, they take not only the cardholder's ID, but the ID of everyone staying in the room. Then they put all of our addresses in the computer. "What if I didn't want anyone to know I was here?" Rebekah said. They also have a sercuity guard stationed at the elevators, which are behind glass windows and past a sitting area called the living room. Every person in the room has to show a key to get upstairs. "What if I wanted to bring a guy back here from the club?" Kelly asked, half joking, half serious. So a slew of comments followed all weekend, like:

"Are you planning on thinking about your friend Bob while you're here? Cause we're gonna need his ID."

"Your brother is 16? Oh, he might come here someday. We're gonna need his ID."

So throughout the weekend, I was playing craps, and winning a lot of money doing so. Funny moment at the table. I was leaning over, as people tend to do, while playing craps, and let's just say I wasn't wearing the most modest shirt in the whole world, and my chest was partially exposed. The guy across the table from me rolled ,and both dice smacked my chest, and one fell to the table and the other into the wooden row where the chips stay. Oy. He was pretty mortified, but I thought it was funny.

Kelly's rendition of "Freefalling." "LOVES HOOOOOOOORRRRSSSSESSS..."

Celebrity sighting! While sitting at breakfast on Saturday, we saw Artie Lange, of Howard Stern and lots of other movies. I am in serious trouble with Drapo and Chris for not getting an autograph, but I'm hoping if I bring them lots of liquor the next time I go up to Boston, they'll forgive me. (Or at least forget about it). :-)

Cheesequake rest stop! Inside joke.

That's all for this one folks. I'm gonna be running around quite a bit for the next month, so expect a lot more updates. :-)