Vol. 3, No. 5, May 2006
RSS Feeds
Hooray for Warm
It's warm. Finally!
Is it just me, or did winter seem excruciatingly long this year? In April, just as it looked like I was going to have to struggle early to fit into my shorts and t-shirts, we had that last arctic blast—that cold slap in the face to remind us we're all in the Northeast—and I found myself thankful for the blubber I had accumulated over the winter.
April is cruel sometimes. One day I'm in shirtsleeves, the next day I feel like I'm in Alaska, or Antarctica. Or even Cleveland. Thankfully, it's May now, and all that schizophrenic weather is probably behind us. Good thing, too, because there is a ton of warm-weather fun, frivolity, happenin's and doin's going on around town.
First of all, we have all the usual attractions, from Surf ballgames to the Absecon Lighthouse. Now that it's May, we can all walk up those 228 steps of the lighthouse and stand on the observation platform at the top without freezing to death after we have our heart attacks.
In any event, check out Susan Ricciardi's "City View" column on page 10 for more "classic Atlantic City" activities available to you this spring.
In addition to this month's formal kickoff of the "busy season" on Memorial Day, it is also the official kickoff for what we like to call "Festival Season." (Honest. We really like to call it that.) From now through Labor Day, you will have numerous opportunities to pile the kids into the minivan and head to daylong parties, filled both with family activities and sufficient opportunities to have your significant other transformed into a designated driver.
It all starts this month not with wine or beer festivals, but with music. A "musical feast for every musical taste," in fact, is how the slogan goes to the month-long Cape May Music Festival that begins on Saturday, May 19. There will be chamber music every Tuesday night, concerts by orchestras at various Cape May venues, jazz shows, and "World Traditions" with samplings of music from around the world. You can have jazz lunches. You can have "Dinner with the Maestro," which has always been one of my personal ambitions.
Another festival on Memorial Day weekend is the "Wildwoods International Kite Festival," where you can see kite-flying stunt competitions, kite-making workshops, and the best "sport kite flyers" in the country. Yes, kite-flying is a sport. It's in the same category as Olympic badminton.
To learn more about all the festivals coming to the region as we move into the summer months, check out Felicia Lowenstein Niven's article on page 30.
There is much work-related stuff to consider this month as well, as you page through your favorite magazine on your favorite break from work. That big patch of land next to the Showboat is the subject of some speculation, for instance. Once pegged for the development of an MGM Grand Atlantic City resort, the Inlet parcel was purchased last month by one company with the intention to broker a deal with another company that would develop and operate a casino hotel there. The identity of that other company remains to be seen.
Another piece of intrigue is the Tropicana, with a few companies competing at press time to be the next owner of its parent company. Aside from that, there are expansion projects beginning and ending this summer, not the least of which will be the unveiling of the Pier at Caesars retail attraction. You can read about all these developments in our "Tides" section.
And when you're finished reading, you now have all kinds of warm-weather options available to you. Go ahead and bag the rest of your work day, and get out in the sun. Go to a festival. Don't worry. We'll cover for you.
