Norfolk, Atlantic City, and Las Vegas, 19 Years in the Making

This is my first trip report and it is quite a trip.
Today: Fly from home in Reno to Norfolk,VA where I was born and lived until I was 8. No plane change, stops in Las Vegas and Chicago. Maybe some lottery tickets and beef wellington tonight.
Thursday: Meeting a close friend I haven’t met in 19 years.
Friday:Busch Gardens with all day dining deal.
Saturday: Sightseeing
Sunday: Drive from Norfolk to Atlantic City for a three night stay at Borgata!
Monday: Spa Day
Tuesday: Boardwalk Day
Wednesday: Fly to Vegas, two nights at Mandalay Bay
Thursday: O at Bellagio
Friday: Back home!

Lots of stuff planned and hopefully share!

 

Sounds like a fun and interesting trip, have fun! You'll probably save a fair bit of time taking 13/113 rather than 95 , particularly as 95 - even on Sundays near DC/northern MD - can be a parking lot for no reason. A six hour drive as it is can be long lol.

 

That’s the plan. I wanted to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and the Cape May ferry over to Atlantic City, avoiding DC completely.

 

Smart, I would like to avoid driving here any day and I live here lol. Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

 

Question - how do you pronounce Norfolk?

Nor-folk?
Or
Naw-fick?

It's a test

 

Maybe, it's Naw- Fik.

 

I think Nor-folk is Mid-Atantic pronounciation, Naw-fick would be upper New England.

 

That's quite a trip!

 

Good luck, take lots of pictures!

 

I pronounce it with no L sound. And it's a short U sound. And I'm not going to spell it out that way

My grandparents lived in Norfolk when I was a kid...spent lot's of time on US 301/US 17, but yeah I would definitely go up the eastern shore from tidewater. Heck, I go up the eastern shore DC->AC sometimes...it only adds 10 miles. One of these days I'll take the ferry, it's been on my todo list for awhile.

Enjoy some Doumar's while in Norfolk and win big at Borgata! Following.

 

Sounds exciting. Enjoy!

 

It’s been a busy first two days! Left at 5:40 AM eastern trip for a two-stop, no plane change flight to Norfolk. Here’s a tip, if you plan on flying Southwest for eight hours on the same plane, upgrade your boarding! I don’t know if I could survive eight hours in a regular width seat.


After meeting with my friend for the first time in 19 years, I went to a late dinner at Park Lane Tavern and finally tried the Beef Wellington! The meat was juicy, but the puff pastry was too crispy. Though, for $20, you cannot beat the price.

On to gambling, I accidentally purchased $50 in Pick 3 tickets. Here’s a tip; if you are playing both day and night drawings and do multi-draw, know that multi-draw will calculate day and night independently. I meant to do five drawings in total; three nights and two days. Instead, I got tickets for five nights and five days. Fingers crossed I win! Lastly, my coworkers and I went in together on a $50 scratcher ticket. Well… we won $300 off it. We agreed to parlay $50 in winnings on each ticket to pay for another ticket. The second ticket broke even and the third lost, so the five of us will split $250!, $50 for each player. Not a bad return I do say so myself.


Enjoy some photos I took and I will update you all about the second day tomorrow!

 

Beef Wellington dinner for $20? Are you sure it was beef?

 

It tasted like beef. I also made sure I was far from the tourist areas.

 

I’ve been so busy the past few days. Now that I’m in line for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry to take me to Atlantic City; I’ll take a minute to update you all.
Gambling- After spending the day with an old friend Thursday, I went to Rivers Casino in Portsmouth. It is really nice inside with high ceilings. It was unusual to hand over an ID and go through a metal detector to enter a casino late night on a Thursday when in Reno that only happens during big events. It was also a trip to be able to buy lottery tickets inside a casino. I lost $3 on Cash 5, $15 on some scratchers, and then $200 on “true gambling”
Most of my losses was on stadium craps. All the tables were $25, but stadium craps was $5. Had a decent 11 rolls as shooter before a seven out on the second point.
Stadium craps is a step above the Interblock individual craps, video feed of the shooter was nice. I lost $110 and was there for about an hour. I then lost the rest of my gambling stake for the day on various slots.

My honest opinion on Rivers Casino is that it is decent. No electronic blackjack was a negative, along with all $25 tables. It is beautifully done. However, the only thing that Rivers Casino is the monopoly on the location. Other words, don’t make a trip to it if you’re out of town.

 

If you went to The Park Lane Tavern in Virginia Beach, I can walk from my house to there, lol.

 

It's been many moons since I've done the ferry. Childhood memory unlocked!

 

Great weather today, but it might get overcast. I hope AC is treating you well.

 

I’ve been so busy running around in Atlantic City, but that’ll be my next post. Now, the day after I visited Rivers Portsmouth, I drove up to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. I loved the place and went there all the time when I was a kid so it meant a lot to be able to go back.

I arrived about 20 minutes prior to park opening, which allowed me to park right next to the handicapped parking at the front of the park. Ironically, when I left at park closing, I ended up roaming the wrong parking lot! Going at the start of spring break is definitely a double-edged sword when visiting Busch Gardens. On the downside, all the water rides were closed along with some others. On the upside, there was barely a wait longer than five minutes. Over the course eleven hour day, I went on eleven unique rides with some rides multiple times. While things had changed, a lot of memories came flooding back.


Funny story, whenever I go to Vegas with my mom (I’m 27 and out of college.), I will inevitably on the receiving end of “Want to buy something for your wife?” My mom enjoys it, but it sucks for me. Well, after I dipped some candles, the worker asked “Are you on spring break?” Let me tell you, I let out a big “THANK YOU!”. I was very happy for someone to assume I’m at the age where spring breaks are typical.

Also, I tried the all-day dining deal and it was worth it. My favorite meal was the first meal, it was a Smokehouse Sampler with Pork Ribs, Beef Brisket, and BBQ Chicken. If you plan on going to Busch Gardens, buy the dining deal, even if you don’t buy five meals like I did, even two meals will save you some money. All the food was great and so varied. I had BBQ, Pizza, Burgers, and German food.


Also between Rivers Portsmouth and Borgata (more on that later), it felt good to win something. Won the bushel baskets game and won a giant elephant on my third try. I have experience playing the game since I worked for four years on the Circus Circus Midway in Reno. Bushel baskets is my game! I ended up giving the elephant to a family sitting in front of me on the train. They were happy and I was happy, I didn’t need to stuff the elephant in my luggage.



My next post will be about Borgata!

 

On the plane, decided to spring for the $8 Southwest Wifi since I’m going to be on here for another three hours.

So, before I talk about Borgata, I just wanted to mention the City Experiences Signature Dinner Cruise I took on my last night in Norfolk. For roughly $120 after fees, you get a two hour cruise of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk plus buffet style dinner. There was also a DJ on board. If you are looking for a tour guide with interesting facts, this isn’t for you. However, the dinner was really tasty and the views are just simply amazing. If you are looking to party, a DJ starts up about an hour into the cruise. Though, if you would like peace and quiet, heading outside to soak in the views are an option. The service was top notch. It isn’t budget friendly, but you’ll leave satisfied. Take a look at my meal and one of the photos I’ve taken on the cruise.



Now on to Borgata, this is an amazing hotel. I was hit with the aroma of saltwater as soon as I got out of my car in the parking garage, which was quite inviting. After checking in, which was not as painful as some Vegas resorts can be, I went up to my room. I was taken a little aback about how relatively small the room is. My room was smaller than the one in Virginia. However, the bathroom in Borgata is one of the nicest bathrooms I have ever had. Though, the small size wasn’t necessarily a drawback. The Borgata uses the space well and I hardly felt cramped as a solo traveler. There is a mini-fridge in the room and surprisingly no minibar! The view is spectacular and the fact the hotel is rectangular is a nice bonus since it is a lot harder to go down the wrong hallway, unlike the Y-shaped hotels of the Strip. Sadly, there was no tubs in the room.


The bed is soft, but was kind of lumpy at times. I would have to find myself trying to slide over to the other side of the bed so I don’t feel like I’m sinking into the bed. I don’t know if it’s the bed or my weight, but I got worried when I sat on the bed. I thought I was going to launch the pillows into the TV like a catapult! Has anyone else ever had that feeling? I never did at other hotels. The blankets provided kept me warm, which is almost all you can ask for from a hotel bed.

All in all, I definitely would recommend my Classic King room to anyone traveling to Atlantic City.