We were down this weekend for our final trip of the season. My son worked in Mariner's Arcade Saturday & Sunday...and they were very busy. The rest of the boardwalk didn't seem very busy. The weather was nice and we had a good trip. Here are some pictures and observations.
Many shops in the center of the boardwalk are already closed. Once you walk off of Mariner's Pier....things get dark and quiet. The CocaCola light is still turning on...but much of the neon is still out.
The boardwalk is closed from Pine to 26th for the next stage of the boardwalk rehab. Many railings have been removed and seats moved to the center of the boardwalk. Shops in the center of blocks had to close. Some shops with side entrances could stay open, like Randy's Retro Arcade.
We stopped into Gateway 26 and talked with one of the managers. He said that they plan on replacing all the draw poker machines over the winter with updated machines with touch screens and additional options. He also stated that they plan on replacing many of the slot machines with updated ones.
They are continuing the mural on the boardwalk mall to the side that once had the whale mural. This section pays tribute to Castle Dracula.
They had a lot of live bands playing on Mariner's Landing this weekend to close out the season. The pier closed for the season on Sunday at 5 pm. The arcade will be open for another week.
They also had the live polka band for their October Fest celebration.
There was a marathon happening Sunday morning.
This was the line waiting to get into Mariner's Arcade Sunday morning for their morning madness special. The arcade was very busy all weekend.
I think it's interesting how the crest has their own "logo". I wonder if they hired a marking firm to come up with the design.
And finally, I got my last slice of Mack's for the season on Sunday...and it was delicious like always. I'm already looking forward to the spring.
There's something very odd, yet special and exciting, about revisiting older posts like this. It makes reading about the end of season less sad knowing places are still opening up and the season will be in full swing before we know it.