AC Visit
Well, team Fitz is moving back to Beantown in the next year or so, and
it came out that there are a few key things Mary has not done in the 4
or so years she has lived here - AC and Tastykakes. I think she also
needs a trip to Pat’s, too, but that will have to come another time.
We booked a room at the Tropicana since that is connected to the fairly
new “Quarter” which is like a little mall with some shops, bars a range
of restaurants, and a loving, upscale culinary tribute to Communism. In
one court, lying adjacent to one another, lies Cuba Libre (representing,
obviously, Cuba), PF Chang’s (China), and Red Square (Russia…and very
specifically, Communist Russia). X had to work Friday evening, so we
couldn’t get there until 10PM. Mike and Mary left work early and got
there around 4, so they were saddled with the task of scoping out a
restaurant. To my delight, they chose Red Square. I’ve eaten at PF
Chang’s before, and I’ve had some Cuban stuff before, but Russian food
was something new. There was actually a “Game Plan” not unlike what we
established in Boston for New Year’s. The game plan was dinner + vodka
drinks at Red Square, dessert + rum drinks at Cuba Libre, and beer at Ri
Ra the Irish pub.
After dropping our bags in the room around 10, we went downstairs to Red
Square only to find that the kitchen was closed! We thought it seemed
senseless to stop serving food at 10:00 in a place like AC where you can
gamble 24×7! We then visited Cuba Libre where were told we couldn’t be
seated by the time the kitchen closed at 11, but we could sit at the bar
upstairs and eat if we wanted. So we went upstairs where the guy told
us the tables by the bar were are seated by the downstairs hostess, so
we couldn’t just sit there even if she said we could. Clearly these
Commie restaurants are run about as effectively as their real-life
political counterparts!
We decided to go back to Red Square. It was 10:05 and if the kitchen
closed at 10:00, we thought by sweet talking/bribing the maitrons’d, we
could sneak in without causing too much additional strain on the kitchen
staff. In doing this, we learned that in reality, Red Square has no set
closing time, they simply shut down when business slows! This doesn’t
seem like an awful way to run a restaurant. It probably does not do as
well since it’s more expensive than the rest of the Eastern Bloc, so why
keep staff around when no one is there?
Nonetheless, when Mike asked if reservations were needed when he stopped
by, it would have been nice to say “come early because we may be
closed!”
At this point we were running out of options so we punted and ate at
A’Dam Good Crab Shack. Not a bad choice considering it was not all that
expensive, and the food was pretty tasty. Having filled our bellies
with clams and crabs and catfish, we decided to return to Red Square.
The unintended focal point of this shot is the old USSR insignia.
If nothing else. Red Square is neat. It is dark, dressed in deep
colors. The hammer and sickle adorns tabletops and little stools al
around. A chandelier has domes that look like the Kremlin. I’m not
sure how I feel about glorifying the imagery of the Soviet era. In
reality, it was a terrible time period for both Americans and those
living in the USSR. On the other hand, as a child growing up in the
twilight of the Soviet Union, they were the Bad Guys of the day, and
unlike today’s bad guys, they had a propaganda machine that produced
awe-inspiring music, images of rows of soldiers marching in lock-step,
an ever-present competitor for the US. To a child’s view, it was quite
spectacular, and Red Square’s decor evokes the spectacle for whatever
it’s worth.
In addition to Soviet symbolism, there is an ice-covered column, and a
sheet of ice across the bar to keep your vodka cold. There is also a
walk-in vodka freezer. I’m not sure if you have to ask or bribe, but it
seems there is a way to get the guard to let you into freezer to have a
picture taken.
We did not try.
At Red Square, Mike got a token Russian beer complete with Cyrillic
letters on the label. Mary and X got fruity “Martinis.” I had a glass
of Russian ZYR vodka and a glass of Scottish Armadale vodka. Not
surprisingly, the Russian vodka was a little better, but both were
tasty. Drinking vodka straight definitely took me back to my college
days of hanging out in Hicks’s room playing video games and alternating
shots of vodka with cans of beer. I need to catch up with Hicks…
Anywhere here are some pics from Red Square. It was dark in there:
Around 1:00AM we were thrown out of Red Square who apparently had
decided to close since the crowd was dying down. We finished our drinks
and headed up to Ri Ra where a college friend of X happened to be
playing in a cover band, Technical V. They were decent enough as far as
cover bands go. We drank some beers and stayed for their last set. At
some point a girl started dancing up on the frontman and his girlfriend
came out of the audience to mark her territory and chase the other girl
away. X and I debated whether she is a bit psycho or if perhaps they
have put an arrangment into place so the singer can easily get rid of
unwanted girls dancing up on him. Last cal didn’t come until after 3.
Did NJ extend drinking hours?
After closing down Ri Ra, we headed back to the room. Along the way, X
found a Domino’s brochure and we thought a pizza sounded really
appealing. As luck would have it, Domino’s in AC delivers until 6AM!
20 minutes later we had a pizza at our door. X couldn’t hack it as
usual and fell asleep before it arrived. She woke up enough to eat a
piece of crust. Mike had opted out of pizza before we even ordered, so
Mary and I killed it ourselves. Pizza never tasted so good!
The next morning we woke up and discussed our plans which included
getting breakfast and then going to “The Walk” which is AC’s little
outlet shopping area. By the time we finished loafing and showering we
scrapped breakfast in favor of lunch at Johnny Rockets.
The weather was not so great. The warm sunny weather during the week
had been replaced with cooler air, rain and wind. The Tropicana is a
bit off the beaten bath with respect to the rest of the boardwalk
casinos, but its fine when the weather is nice. When the weather is not
nice as it was today, it’s a bit miserable. We slogged to Johnny
Rockets and had a tasty lunch and tried to figure out how the jukebox
orders songs that are played.
In Bally’s there was a shoe store in which X found a pair of pink
Playboy sneakers. Yes - that Playboy. They have little bunny ears on
them. The boys tried in vain to convince the girls that this was enough
shopping and we could now forego braving the elements to get to The
Walk, but they could not be swayed.
By this time, the rain had pretty much stopped and it was just cool and
windy. It wasn’t too bad at all. Despite trying on a great many
things, X only bought one or two things. I found a plaid fedora at
American Eagle which is very sharp.
We then hiked back to the Trop where we loafed around the hotel room and
made plans for the evening. Those plans featured dinner at Corky’s
followed by dessert in The Quarter at Brulee or Cuba Libre.
Corky’s was pretty good. Not the best BBQ ever, but certainly not awful
and it’s fairly inexpensive. For some reason, they don’t have beef
brisket on the menu which is kind of strange. We also had a coupon for
a free appetizer. Score!
After dinner we headed to The Quarter to meet a similar demise as before
- it was now around 10PM and we couldn’t get any restaurants to seat us
for dessert! We gave up and went into the casino to play some slots and
bum free drinks. I hit a SPAM-themed slot machine which was
delightfully funny, and also turned my $5 into $30. Everyone else was
doing quite poorly so when our drinks came, we switched to penny slots
where no one did any better, but no one lost much either. I played an
Alien (the movie) machine and was able to go for nearly an hour and
still cashed out the same $30 I put in.
At this point, we threw in the towel and decided to retire since the
Fitzes had to be back for rehearsal in the morning and we didn’t want to
stay too late.
When we got back to KOP, X and I decided to wrap it up by going to the
401 Diner in Conshy where they usually have some interesting takes on
standard Diner breakfasts. I found something they called Eggs Frederick
(named after the King Of Prussia?) which was fried eggs on top of
potato-bacon pancakes and covered with Hollandaise.
A great finish to a fun weekend.