Atlantic City Spring Break Kick-Off

Last Thursday was the first day of my spring break, and Gary and I celebrated by going to Atlantic City for some pampering. After checking into our room at Harrah's Resort, we went to White House for Italian subs.

White House Sub Shop, AC

White House subs are legendary, and the real deal. In fact, Frank Sinatra loved the subs so much - he once had them shipped from NJ to a movie location. But for "all its stardust, the White House remains a humble naugahyde-and-neon sandwich shop with a row of booths along the wall and a counter up front. The lighting is harsh, the napkins are paper, and the service is lightning fast: it would be a sin to sell subs any other way." (from roadfood.com)

Now some of you may be scratching your head, saying "I thought Gary was a vegetarian. What is he doing with that giant meat filled sub?" Well, you're right - he is a vegetarian...with rules. He will in fact eat meat if it falls into one of three exceptions: 1) if we are traveling to an exotic location, 2) if he knows the farm where the animal was raised and slaughtered, or 3) if it is a dish that a famous restaurant is known for. White House Italian subs fall into exception #3.

After White House, we wandered around the AC outlets, and I picked up an 8$ t-shirt at H&M. Next, it was over to the Tropicana for some tasty treats at Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar.

Cuba Libre

We started out with cocktails: a watermelon mojito for me and a pineapple mojito for Gary, while snacking on some Tostones (twice fried green plantains with garlic mojo dipping sauce). Then, we indulged in the siren song of the coffee world - cafe cuba libre, which is dark Cuban coffee made with steamed coconut milk.

After we finished our coffee (and practically licked our mugs) we headed over to the Borgata because we wanted to try N.O.W. Noodle Bar. I don't gamble, but we had some time to kill so Gary taught me how to play the one-armed bandits - and I had a good time trying my luck at an "Airplane" themed slot machine ... I even scored a couple bonus rounds.


Even though it was 11:30 pm by the time we got over to the noodle bar, we still had a 45 min wait for a very disappointing, bland dinner of well... you guessed it... noodles. (And I LOVE noodles, so for me not to like a noodle bar - it has to be pretty terrible.)

Then it was back to Harrah's for some sleep before our "couples massage" at Elizabeth Arden's Red Door Spa. Luckily, our spa appointment wasn't until 9 am, so we had enough time to sleep off our noodle haze.

After our blissful massages, we checked out of Harrah's and headed to the Chelsea Hotel for possibly the best thing to ever come out of an oven: sweet monkey bread.

Monkey Bread at Teplitzky's in the Chelsea Hotel

Let me explain the genius of this monkey bread. First, the bread itself is a loaf of warm, twisty knobs of delicate pastry, layered with butter and cinnamon. If that wasn't enough to knock your socks off, there are two dipping sauces to dunk your bread in: homemade strawberry jam and a rich cream anglaise. I should also mention that the monkey bread was followed by perfectly cooked eggs, fresh squeezed juice, and a pot of strong coffee ... but that monkey bread made us go ... well, bananas! (too easy of a pun?)

What a great 48-hours with the guy of my dreams.