Excuse Me, Do You Need a Pimp?

On Saturday, I made my way down to Atlantic City for the Running of the Santas at the Tropicana. The Santas chased Hooters girls, which explains the picture above (and before you ask, no, I do not have orange shorts or super shiny tights though I do have a 10ish year old men's small Hooters t-shirt that my younger brother bought during a Catholic-school sponsored field trip to Baltimore that I wear when cleaning and doing yard work, but I digress).

What a fun idea! The Santas run all over the country, but this was the first event in Atlantic City, and the added twist of the Hooters girls added some extra zing. Plus, the "run" course went outside, which made for some funny pictures.

I think the Hooters girls were better off than the folks in costume -- at least they wore flat shoes. Some of the stilettos on the other runners didn't work quite so well on the Boardwalk (and neither did the two hours of bar specials leading up to the actual event).

The costumes were impressive. A sampling:











The run started near Firewaters, a great bar for beer lovers, then headed outside onto the Boardwalk, then back inside near Hooters and through the casino, through the Quarter and finally into Adam Good Sports Bar, where many Santas and elves enjoyed 40 oz. bottles of beer. It marked the second event this fall where my running training came in handy (the first being the World Series parade).

I have not yet mastered the ability to take clear pictures while running, but here's what I got anyway:











I'm not sure how the Santas fared after the run. I had to head right home after, though I did have a nice afternoon in Atlantic City before the event. I checked out the newly opened areas of the Chelsea and had hoped to pop into Teplitzky's, their new coffee shop/lounge, for a piece of pie before the running of the Santas, but they were closed in the late afternoon (boo). Looked cool, though. Here's another sample of the hotel's mid-century modern decor theme:



It was a nice day for Boardwalk walking -- a little cold but not so much that I wanted to run inside.



I had expected the Pier Shops at Caesars to be more crowded given how close we are to Christmas. The obvious reason it wasn't "get me out of here" busy would be the economy. Still, I found some good deals, including a price drop on everything at the LeSportsac store -- I got a smaller version of my 'reporter' bag.

An eventful day overall. But the most interesting moment? When a gentleman on the Atlantic City Boardwalk asked me if I needed a pimp. I politely declined.