New train travel between New York and Atlantic City

by Jamie Rhein on

After my summer Amtrak trip between Cleveland and New York City, I became a train fan. I couldn’t find one negative thing to say about it except that train travel is elusive to many because of the schedule and the fact there just aren’t that many train routes.

There is another train route to start on February 9 which should make some folks happy. The Atlantic City Express Service (ACES) will take people between Penn Station to Atlantic City, NJ for $50 round-trip in coach class. If you want a jazzier ride, pay $75 for first class. As a bonus aspect of the service, it also includes shuttle service to three different casinos: Bogata Hotel Casino & Spa, Caesars Atlantic City and Harrah’s Resort. These ticket prices are introductory, so if you don’t go soon, you’ll be paying more.

This rail project has been in the works for awhile, and according to the USA Today article from 2007, the casinos are footing the bill. Part of the motivation behind the new service is to entice younger New Yorkers (20 to 30 year-olds) to head to Atlantic City. For these folks, the bus wasn’t cutting it.

Depending upon your gambling habits, this could be a great day trip during the grey, sloshy months of winter when a bit of glitter and glitz could add a pick-me up to an otherwise gloomy feeling afternoon–or add a night or two for a fun weekend.

Strippers in Las Vegas Casinos? Not Yet

by Josh Lew on

Anything goes in Vegas, right? Not quite. Have you ever asked yourself why there are no strip clubs in casinos? Ok, probably not, but it seems odd that with all the adult entertainment in Sin City, there are no such options in major gaming venues. It makes almost perfect sense from a business standpoint. People throw their cash at casinos by gambling. Why not allow them to literally throw their cash at dancers employed by a casino?

Past casino/adult entertainment marriages have been nixed, mostly because of worries about lap dances and other extras that some strip club personnel are known to offer. I don’t know about the inner workings of casinos, but I assume that they don’t want to be investigated for anything like that when there are other profits to be had more easily. (By the way, contrary to popular belief, prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas, though the mayor has been vocal about legalizing it). There are still many adult entertainment venues, just none in major casinos. Until the laws change or someone decides to take a chance, it is probably going to stay that way.

West Baden Springs Hotel: A 1920s Splendor Reopens

by Jamie Rhein on

When people in West Baden Springs, Indiana do a restoration project, they do it big time. Ninety million dollars was just enough to recently re-open the West Baden Springs Hotel to its early days splendor. In the 1920s this was a place where Al Capone and General John Pershing stayed. When the stock market crashed, the hotel took a huge financial beating and closed. Then the Roman Catholics snapped it up for $1 and turned it into a seminary. By the 1960s, when they were through with it, it sat taking up a huge amount of space. Seriously, if you’re walking in the woods near the Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana where it’s located, you can’t miss it. For example, one hundred feet above the atrium floor is a free-standing dome that was once the world’s largest. The historical significance is one of the things that saved the building–plus it’s now geared up for money-making. It’s now part of the French Lick Springs Resort Casino complex.

From the pictures I’ve seen, it looks like just the place to be to feel like you’re hanging out with the Great Gatsby crowd. It’s gorgous. Hopefully, if you go with some dollars in your pocket for some gambling, Lady Luck will smile on you and you’ll leave a winner. If not, lay down on the antrium floor, look up and enjoy the view. You’ll have helped pay for it.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Casinos Reopen

by Adrienne Wilson on

With the Katrina anniversary I find a lot of the focus will probably go towards the damage in New Orleans, but we mustn’t forget about the neighboring states that suffered from the storm as well. Alabama, Mississippi, yeah – remember those guys? Some of us do and for casino fanatics that thought their vacations to the Gulf Coast would be forever changed, think again. The Miami Herald has a piece from the weekend FULL of details on the reopening of 12 Gulf Coast casinos in Biloxi, Gulfport, Waveland and Bay St. Louis. Another four casinos will open in the next two months. The only difference with a majority of the casinos is that they are and will be built on land. Good move.

Casinos to Close in Atlantic City?

by Adrienne Wilson on

Bad, bad news for tourists with upcoming vacation plans to New Jersey’s famed Atlantic City. This news certainly isn’t hot off the press, but it looks as if the NJ government is set to face a shut down if lawmakers don’t enact a budget by 8 am Wednesday morning. If Atlantic City’s 12 casinos were to close it would cost the state 2 million dollars a day in tax revenue. Ouch! The problem goes far beyond casino closings; state parks and other historic sites will also shut down according to this AOL news piece all due to lack of compromise on a plan to increase the state sales tax from 6 to 7 percent.

Travelers looking to gamble away their vacation savings really have it easy in this situation. Sure you may have dropped $139 bucks most on Spirit Airlines out of Orlando, but still. It’s the employees of the state lotto, construction, DMV, vehicle inspections, courts who are seriously getting burnt in this whole mix up. Casino gambling monitors are next and won’t be getting paid during the closings.

What’s up New Jersey?