Party Central
Imagine my delight when I realized my room would be dubbed ‘party central’ for the weekend. It’s a tough job, but someone had to play host to a bevy of amazing women (oh and a couple of genuinely cool guys, too). OK, I wasn’t really the ‘host’, but can’t a guy pretend to be Hugh Hefner from time to time?
After a quick shower and costume change, it was my duty to get the ice. And another water-themed hotel blunder surfaced. The ice chests in the room were–to say the least–tiny. Plus the ice machine on our floor was dismantled. So Amanda’s boyfriend Jeff and I took two of the glorified thermoses and headed to the floor below.
Holly showed up after dinner and rightfully was dubbed the Energizer Bunny as she bounded into the room and kicked out some serious dance moves. This got the party even more pumped, as did the food from room service and the makeshift bar we had set up. The ‘pre-game’ concept is always a good idea, especially when in a pricey resort such as this.
Mur-Mur
More than just the sounds of a perplexed audience of scientists in a Steve Martin movie, it is a loud, flashy, boom-clang-bang-thump of a club in the Borgata. Now comes my bonehead move of the weekend. I specifically bought and packed a whole bunch of earplugs. Lately I keep ending up at these types of places only to be in excruciating ear pain the next day. I did not want that to happen. But being so caught up in the whirlwind of mirth and merriment, I forgot them in the room.
One thing I’ve discovered in recent months is that I actually enjoy dancing. Sure I look like a fool. Sure my sense of rhythm is on par with a sloth. But the joy of letting oneself go was something that I have been missing in my life for far too long. And if letting loose like some spastic mannequin is the only way to rekindle that joy, then so be it.
A Quiet Drink to Regroup
As the Mur-Mur scene was getting crazier and crazier–including an attempt by our energizer bunny to dance on a ledge near the dancefloor after being denied the chance to dance on a small stage with the go-go girls–it was time to move on to the next spot. To be honest, I was starting to feel a bit under he weather. So my idea was for us to go back to the Sun Room at The Water Club for a quiet drink. Then, whoever wanted to hit the next club could. The rest could hit the hay.
It seemed that getting a drink was a tougher task than anticipated. An order of 6 or 7 fairly simple drinks took over 25 minutes to serve. We found this to be unacceptable and were going to show our disgust in the tip until I noticed one of the cocktail waitresses give me a familiar smile. That’s when I realized she was the one working the lounge earlier in the day. I looked around and saw the other girls too were the same. On top of that, there was but one bartender on duty. On a Saturday night?
This triggered a discussion among us. Would it be fair to punish the girls for this? Think about it, here we have this boutique extension to one of the most luxurious hotels in NJ with numerous problems and miscalculations. They’ve been open for 2 1/2 months, they should have ironed these wrinkles out by now. Oh sure, they are promising more pools for next season, but not having enough staff? And making what little staff you have work double shifts? This should have all been sussed out and fixed after the first couple of weekends (at most).
We of course gave the girl a decent tip as we went out to the pool area for a bit of air. I was mesmerized by a strange phenomenon floating over neighboring Trump Marina. One advantage to the egomaniacal need for Trump to have massive lights shining into the night is it attracts bugs. This attracts seagulls whose white bellies reflect the golden rays of light turning them into hovering, flickering ember-like creatures. I tried to capture this in pictures and video, but the distance and darkness worked against me.
A funny side note … Trump felt the large windmills built to harness the power of nature were too ugly and tried to get their construction blocked. Now, I ask you; what does this man know about things being ugly? Well, OK. If judging from his taste in decor is any proof, he knows plenty about things being ugly. He just apparently likes ugly.
Personally I feel the windmills are a stark, majestic and quite stunning sight and proof of how mankind can indeed think outside the current energy box to find a cleaner way to power the world. So shut up Donald. These may even help power your humongous lighted letters and diamond vision screen.
