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I forgot to answer the most important question. Yes! Friends checked in on Leonard while we were away but once home, he was pretty much my shadow. Must've tripped over him a half-a-dozen times as he was always at my feet.

It was a much needed quick, getaway. I was hesitant at first as hitting the casino's was something me & DW would do 4 or 5 times a year, usually split between Atlantic City and the Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun duo in CT. But DSD (Dear Step Daughter) encouraged me to go, which was no surprise as she was coming with. LOL. And once we were there, everything went fine. Dining-wise was nothing special. Plenty of snacks were packed to graze throughout the day. One night, we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe which is where I thought I was going to watch the Yankee game. It's typical of a big hotel chain restaurant. Good, but nothing special and a bit pricey for what you get. An interesting place we went to is called The Irish Pub, a 1920s style speakeasy a short stroll down the boardwalk. It's not designed to look like a 1920's speakeasy, it's an actual bar that hasn't changed since the 1920s. Check out the video on their home page. https://theirishpub.com/ Food was surprisingly good and there is a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. There is a hotel above it with an old style elevator, the kind you pull a cage door to close and pull/push a handle to go up or down. Some of the rooms don't even have a private bathroom, there is a common one at the end of the hall. Stepping into the place feels like you're stepping back in time. One of the keys to winning-by-breaking-even is to budget accordingly and take breaks when slots are not going your way. The best way to do that is taking strolls on the boardwalk & the weather on Monday & Tuesday were perfect weather for that, a bit of an early autumn chill but plenty of sun and no breeze made it comfortable. Hard Rock also has free, live music every night at one of the casino bars which also made for a nice, long break from gambling. I did spend some time by the indoor pool. It's really nothing special but I was feeling a bit fuzzy after one too many mudslides the night before. 😵

I used to be one of those guys that would wait until Nov 1st before turning on the heat, no matter the outside temperature. Then as time went on, it became anytime after Oct 15th but only at night. After a few more years, it became anytime after Oct 1st to just take the "chill out" of the house and once warmed up, would shut it off right away. And I love to drive so I'll do most, if not all, the driving. Makes the time go by faster. I'm a poor passenger, get bored easily.

Back home from my first trip to Atlantic City in almost 3 years. Was there for 3 days/2 nights at the Hard Rock Casio, with the 2 nights being "free". The reason for the quotes is they still charge a resort fee + tax on the resort fee. Still, it was only $35 per night vs $200 night it would've been. Complimentary drinks were plentiful on the casino floor so the only things I needed to pay for was food, gas & tolls. Oh, and I came home with the same amount of money I left with. Breaking even at a casino is as good as winning to me. I didn't realize yesterday Yankee game was a day game so when I went to the hotel bar early to grab a good seat, I was surprised that it was the 8th inning. At least I go to see them win at the end. Much is being made of how the long Cleveland series and rain delays will leave the Yankees "exhausted" and they will just roll over for the "well-rested" Astros. I don't get it, position players usually play 6 days a week for 6 months. Continuing to do so for another 2 weeks in October should be not be a concern. The Astro's played 3 games in the last 2 weeks. I'd be more concerned about their players being rusty. And while the Yankees won't have their best pitchers available for for the first 2 games, tonight's starting pitcher for the Yankees - Tailion - last started a game on Oct 4th, so he will be "well-rested". Yes, the Astro's have a better overall pitching staff and are the heavy favorites but if the Yanks can steal a game or two, it's anybodies series. This is the year of the upsets!

I'm pretty sure there are no restrictions on topics here so music chat to your hearts content. ♥️

Nnoooooo. Lol, sorry. I'm one of those guys that take my holidays one at a time. No thinking of Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Which is an improvement for me. Used to be no Christmas until the first week iof December. I might be in the minority with this. 🙂 However, as the song goes. We need little Christmas

Weird place to put a lighthouse. Just to the left of the glass skyscraper. Oceans casino in Atlantic City. I'm next door, 30th floor of Hard Rock casino. Zoomed in. I'm guessing when it was built, it was the only thing there & the rest of the city was built around it.

That's right, I forgot you had traveled for a wedding (niece? nephew?) and your moms funeral. Wide range of emotions, hope things went as well as they could.

I mowed the lawn. A whole 1/2 acre. Took almost an hour. And packed my bag for a 2 night stay in Atlantic City. Oh, and made a pot of coffee. So yeah, I was pretty busy too.😆

Yankees live to play another day. No 9th inning magic today from the Cleveland Indi, er, Guardians. Very routine and boring 9th inning. Considering that the Yankees were 1 strike away from winning last nights game, this series could've been over. Should be a good game tomorrow. My fearless prediction: one of the teams is going home. Also, Jets, Giants and Bills won. Good day for NY sports.

Deep down inside, everyone is a Yankee fan. Some just don't know it yet. 😂😂😂

Why ? @A&L_Ont Lenny is a Met fan. To the best of my knowledge, the only other Yankee fans here are @George C and @BonTexasNY, proudly representing the Bronx Bombers deep in the heart of Texas. Apologies if I overlooked anyone.

Maybe the admins are messing with you? 😉😇

I agree but for a different reason. One of my favorite beers - a fine Texas brew called Shiner Bock - is only available the first day, up to the 12 mile limit out, although the folks in the English pub were a bit slow to take it off the shelf so I got to enjoy it well into evening, probably a little longer than I should have.

I usually look at TripAdvisor, Expedia and Hotels dot com reviews. As you said, everyone has their own standards so I focus on the rating percentages rather than the actual written review. For example, the reviews for hotel in question are all over the map with 54% of the people saying it was good or excellent and 38% poor or terrible. While there might be exceptions, usually budget, I generally won't consider a hotel with anything less than 80% good/excellent rating or has a poor/terrible rating in the double digits.

No worries, it's all good. NY Rangers are playing tonight should the Yankee game going south quickly. 😇 It certainly seems like the year of the underdog, with the exception of the Astro's. San Diego, Cleveland & Philly are all playing exceptionally well, much better than their regular season records would indicate. Most shocking upset is the 89-win Padres beating 111-win Dodgers 3 games to 1. LA was an unbeatable machine all season long. It is great to see some new blood in the postseason but I do agree with your assessment, MLB would love to keep TV ratings high.

But you can come home with a Pirate's Booty. I'm not talking about the snack food or a girl on the side but bounty, ships treasure or what some people would call, winning tickets from Casino Royale. 🙂

For @Ocean Boy A different kind of Lighthouse. This one is in the Hudson River, just north of Hyde Park, home to FDR, the Vanderbilts and a few other Gilded Age old money millionaires, about 100 miles north of NYC. There is a state park with hiking trails, abandoned mansions, etc. Can't see it? Let me zoom in a bit. Those are the Catskill mountains in the background, not clouds. One of the mansions being restored to become a museum.

Can't say I'm shocked. The Yankee bullpen is depleted due to injuries. Allowed 3 runs before getting 3 outs. Good thing there are 2 more games to play.

Boo

I had fried alligator once when I was in Louisiana but it was more fried breading than actual alligator. It was at a chain restaurant - maybe Landrys or Saltgrass - so it probably wasn't representative of what actual fried alligator tastes like

Here in the states, the Yankee game is supposed to be on TBS but has been mover to TNT since Seattle & Houston decided to play 2 games for the price of 1. 😆

Always the kind and considerate gentleman. Seriously. Maybe a bit happier. But I won't be truly happy until the game is over with a Yankee win.

Pretty cool pics and timely considering tonight's dinner but I have a few questions. Was the baby alligator caught in the pool? And isn't Nate just a bit worried standing in the water where Momma alligator may be lurking?

@Luckynana So sorry to hear your husband needed surgery and had to cut the cruise short. Glad to hear he's back on the mend and the people of Halifax treated you kindly. Being Canadian, I think it's a law. 😁😉