It’s hard to believe that it’s mid-August and the summer is winding down. It’s seriously making me sad just to type that. But what makes me less sad is the mini vacation Nick and I took last weekend to Galloway in South Jersey to stay at a classic, fancy resort and dine like celebrities in Atlantic City. Our goal was to have a relaxing few days away before school starts again for both of us.
Through a deal from livingsocial, we stayed at the Stockton Seaview Resort in Galloway which is only eight miles from Atlantic City. It’s not on the beach which turned out to be okay because the weather wasn’t good for beach time anyway. The resort is part golf club, part old-school resort with a giant, elegant lobby and a huge golf course that extends out into the bay. It had some crazy long hallways to walk down but with an indoor and outdoor pool and some resort credits for us to spend we were all good. We had some terrible rain on one of the days but we hung out by the indoor pool (it was so classic with brick and skylights and I’m sad I didn’t get any pictures!). We had the most delicious lunch at their grille room and watched the two separate crazy wedding parties and all the family members for a ginormous family reunion wander around.
Friday night we left the entertainment of people-watching at our hotel for the bright lights of Atlantic City. Neither of us are gamblers but there are some awesome restaurants and we had a reservation at Buddakan. The restaurant was at The Piers Shops at Caesars so we walked around and window shopped and enjoyed some amazing views of the beach and boardwalk from through the wall to ceiling windows.
Buddakan was one of the most delicious meals I’ve had all year. Seriously, I kept stuffing myself with golden Buddha buns and Chinese broccoli until I thought Nick would have to carry me home. After a delicious meal, Nick spoiled me with some drinks at the bar of The Continental next door. We had stopped there before dinner for happy hour and had sangria and a beer but after dinner we tried their cocktails. I had a Champagne-O-Rama, which had raspberry-flavored vodka mixed in with my champagne in a sugar and grenadine rimmed glass. Nick’s concoctions reminded me of some sort of Mad Men, cigar smoking accompaniment and definitely not my sparkly and fruity kind of drink. We didn’t stay out too late because this is our kind of vacation and we wanted to relax just us two.
Saturday was spent exploring more of South Jersey specifically Historic Smithville. It’s basically an old-timey style village filled with lots of touristy shops and cranky shop workers. We stuffed ourselves in and out of a few shops with kitschy cheese graters and fairy statues but had more fun in the family arcades. These were the most ridiculous little shacks with old-fashioned arcade machines and it was super silly and fun. We were definitely not the target audience for Smithville but it was a fun place to explore.
Later that night, we zoomed back across the state for a moonlit movie in Rittenhouse Square in Philly. It was Midnight in Paris so we couldn’t miss it! The park was packed and it was prime for people-watching. Seriously, there were almost fist fights over spots on the lawn. Though we had to cut it short due to rain, it was the perfect end to a short and sweet mini vacation.
I wish summer wasn’t almost over and responsibility and indoor activities weren’t kicking it into gear. But either way, at least we squeezed one last vacation in before the weather turns cooler!
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