Back from Atlantic City, battered, but unbroken.....

We start out early from Vinnie's North Haven homestead, listening to Robert Plant's excellent new CD, Band of Joy (buy it).   It's to be a brief three-day respite of golf, gambling and food.  By deftly avoiding the dreaded 8am Sunday rush hour traffic on the GW (oh, there is none?),  instead sailing over the Tappan Zee (at the insistence of Steve the Bod), we arrive at our Shore Gate Golf Club destination TWO HOURS early!  Not to worry, we wait (and wait) until 12:40pm, play brilliantly on the fabulous layout, then, now famished, hurry to check in at the Tropicana in order to wait over TWO HOURS for our dinner reservations at Carmine's!  A call from Jonathan reports the sad news of our beloved Brownies losing another close one - win streak stopped at one. While waiting for dinner, Vinnie and I are able to experience the wonderfully romantic sunset from our hotel room. Early to bed.

Monday has us up and Adam (with a wonderfully romantic sunrise from Keith and Steve's room!) for Ballamor Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township.  Although disappointed with the slow, sandy, spiked greens, we again play brilliantly.  Back to our hotel for lunch at El Libre, where I take Tom Russell's advice and say, "el Cubano."  (It's got two kinds of pig meat, ham and roast pork, and a slice of white cheese in the shape of New York, so throw on a pickle and pick up your fork, say "el Cubano," that's a Cuban sandwich.)  Delicious!  Spent the afternoon strolling the boardwalk looking for ghosts of Miss Americas past.  Hmmmm, is that poor homeless lady being hassled by the police one?  I wonder.  Steve the Bod, our AC tour director extraordinaire, drives us over to the Borgata for some dinner (Keith gets ill JUST after he pays for the buffet) and comedy.  More sad news - we hear of the passing of the great Solomon Burke.

Tuesday has us packed up, checked out and off to Twisted Dune for our final round.  Despite a brief early morning shower, you guessed it, we again play brilliantly as the first group off the tee on this thoroughly enjoyable links-style layout.  Then it's back on the road to CT while listening to big, fat Mike Francesa's very interesting interview with author Jane Leavy about her just-released Mickey Mantle expose' The Last Boy (Daily News story).  Home safe and sound.