Badabing!

After leaving Cape May on Saturday we tried our best to sail in light winds by putting up the spinnaker and having Conrad and Mark put on fins and hang off the back of the boat to give us a push.  Boat speeds of under 2 knots were't going to cut it so after a few hours we had to resort to turning on the engines.

We arrived in Atlantic City with enough of the day left to dinghy ashore and walked along the crowded ocean-front boardwalk. It was very interesting people watching. Our brief exposure to the city did nothing to counter our preconceived notion that it is a poor man's Vegas. But it does have a certain tired sort of energy (although there is a decided lack of energy from a segment of the population that can't work up the gumption to walk and hire a poor guy to push them around the boardwalk in a glorified woven wicker stroller). Although a few hours on the main strip is enough for us, we are happy to share with the boys another aspect of our diverse world. Their favorite part was the NY-style pizza and lights on the slot machines. It also gave us a chance to talk about the gambling industry with them: "Always double down when you have a ten or eleven."

I'm kidding! It totally depends on what the face card count is...

The other day I was on Mark about cleaning up his toys. At one point he turns to me and cheerfully starts mocking and pretending to be me, "I'm bigger so you have to do what I say..." I have not used those words--that is just his assessment of the situation. My assessment of the situation is that this kid is not nearly scared enough of me. And if this is how he is at 5 years old, we are in for it.

Mark took these pictures. We have to stop every few feet and take pictures of things that he finds interesting, which are numerous. Thank goodness they un-invented film.