Notes from the weekend

I can't find the do-hickey that lets me import photos from my camera to my computer, so this will be a text only update. I'll try to find it pronto (because, uh, that would be a bad thing if I lot it).

I headed down to Sea Isle at 7:30 on Saturday morning. My mom and I are renting a house for the week of my birthday (yes, the big 3-0). We spent about an hour looking at houses, picked one that would give me what I call a "birthday suite" - a sink, microwave and couch in my room - and had an early lunch at Dock Mike's. Thank you for serving me lunch at 10:30am. I was hungry.

The plan was to take a walk with my mom on the beach, then sit in my beach chair and read. It was a gorgeous day, hitting about 70 and sunny enough that I saw a few teenagers in bikinis with red solo cups (i.e. probably drinking) out on the beach.

But my phone buzzed offering me an opportunity that may or may not have something to do with a secret ride in Wildwood. But I may or may not have signed a confidentiality agreement, so I'll say this: The Wildwood Boardwalk was lovely as well.

After I may or may not have gone behind the scenes of said attraction, I headed back to the Garden State Parkway to meet up with friends and pop into the Atlantic City Beer Festival - that was until I saw a big black smoke cloud hanging over Atlantic City.

The Revel Casino, which is still under construction, caught on fire. I don't think I've ever driven so fast into Atlantic City. I parked my car at Resorts and flat out sprinted to the scene, which was for naught. By the time I got there, the fire was under control, and I couldn't see much. Turns out the fire wasn't that big, just messy looking.

I never made it to Beer Fest - I had to get home to have dinner with a friend - but I saw the results spilling out onto the street, and then the Atlantic City Expressway. Yes, drunks were walking onto the expressway. It was obscene. Someone's going to get killed if they don't do something about crowd control next year.

I'm headed back to Atlantic City today to work on a feature about the town for an inflight magazine. Good thing the sun came out because the magazine is sending a photographer for pictures.

One more note: a new restaurant is coming to Sea Isle: Drifters. It's across the street from La Coasta and on the site for a former liquor store. The restaurant will have take out booze windows. This, ah, could be trouble.