Atlantic City

Atlantic City itself is just like any other casino resort - or put it another way: Las Vegas crossed with Benidorm, ie gambling and bright lights, slightly tacky and people on mobility scooters (this is completely true. Imagine the character Madge Garvey from Benidorn, but everywhere...). It has 3'main areas: the centre, with outlet shopping and not a lot else; the marina with more hotels and casinos, including ours; and the boardwalk, with smart restaurants, casios and the beach.

I didn't leave the hotel much, as Atlantic City doesn't really have a lot to it besides the afore mentioned. Although, on the second day, I tool a walk along the boardwalk with a few others. A few of us also headed to the beach. The beach itself is golden and sandy, and leads into the Atlantic. I've been on Atlantic coastlines before, except in Europe, and there are a lot of similarities, mainly in the fact there were fairly high waves and surf. This beach is certainly better than the beach on camp, given the saltwater is far nicer than lake water, it's amazing location (albeit camp is beautiful in its own way, and most importantly, I didn't have to lifeguard there.

Besides that, we spent a lot of time in the hotel itself. The hot tubs and pool were great. We chilled there a lot, as it was so relaxing - and entirely well deserved after camp. The bar and lounge area around the pool was also pretty great. On the second evening. Most of us chilled around there, just chatting, relaxing and (if over 21) drinking. The evening was warm, but thundery, but we were undercover, so we could sit out almost all evening until it shut at 11.

The hotel had a large casino, where some of the group gambled. Most just used the free bets we got as part of a promotion the bus company ran. One won $80 from $20 free bets, which is pretty great. Most only won back a few dollars though. Some gambled far more, and predictably wasted it all. I was too young to gamble (it's 21 in New Jersey to gamble) which they were incredibly strict on. We were frequently asked to prove age in the casio, regardless of whether we were gambling, hence why I wasn't allowed in the casino itself.

We travelled to Atlantic City by coach, with staff from camp filling an entire coach (passengers had to be turned away because of the size of our group). It took 2 hours from Port Autority terminal in New York to get there. I was told before leaving, travelling by coach in America would be a real experience, and a must do. Reality: it isn't. To be honest, it is just like any other coach anywhere in the world. The only thing making it special was the fact it was filled almost entirely with camp staff. I will say though, it was fairly cheap, and a great option for travelling around. At $40 return, it was far cheaper than other means of travel.

I also had a brief stint in New York between connections. I explored a little bit, and took manditory photos of landmarks between Penn Station (main train terminal) and Port Authority (bus terminal) including Times Square, Madison Square Gardens and more.

 I also had lunch at 5 Guys in Times Square - a very cheap (but high quality) burger restaurant. My flat all want to go to the new Uxbridge branch (they've just launched in London for the first time, with 4 central and 1 in Uxbridge), but I don't think it will ever live up to this branch... The food was cheap (burger meals are about $6 and better quality than fast food places) and tasted great. I had a hotdog and chips, which tasted amazing. I'd certainly recommend them for a cheap eat in NYC!