| The
99¢ Store
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| As we were going down
the boardwalk, Jim stopped to take some pictures, so I got out
of the bike bag and checked out the 99¢ Store shown in the
picture, cuz I wanted to see jest what a feller could get fer
99¢.
You can get a toy car with 3
wheels. If you want the other wheel, you jest buy another
car and take one of the wheels off and put it on the good
one. The guy said it would cost more to make with 4 wheels
and they couldn't sell it for the 99¢ price!
They also had a pair of
sunglasses for 99¢, and the lenses are another 99¢. For
another 99¢ you can get a set of miniature screwdrivers to put
the lenses in with.
You can get 2 cans of generic
soda pop for 99¢, or one bottle of water.
How about a claw hammer without a
handle, or a handle without a hammer head, for 99¢
Lots of imported canned foods for
99¢
Or some paper towels without any
perforations, or some unfolded napkins.
The generic batteries looked to
be a pretty good deal, but I didn't have any cash, so I didn't
buy any of them.
I think I saw one of those stores
back in Denver, so if I find it again, I'll take some cash along
and get something and see if it's any good and let you know.
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| Question
of the Day:
"How much
salt water do they put into Salt Water Taffy?"
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Sparky's
New York Trip, September, 2003, Page 4
by Sparky
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| Atlantic
City, New
Jersey
September 12,
2003. We
got up early and headed for Atlantic City, so the old folks
could ride their bikes on that world famous boardwalk. Jim
parked the van on a side street and we took off up the
boardwalk, with me (Sparky) riding in Jim's bike bag and Lil
Benny riding on Gloria's bike bag.
The wind was blowing so hard that
the old folks had to pedal in the lowest gear when they got
toward the north end of the boardwalk, and they were only going
about 4 miles per hour. When they turned around, though,
they had to use the brakes all the way. When the wind
slowed down a little, Jim jest sat up straight and moved his
elbows outward like a bird does with his wings, and the bike
took off again. It was fun, but they were afraid to go
past where the van was parked cuz it would be a hard climb back
up the level boardwalk.
Photo #1 shows what the boardwalk
looks like at 8:00 in the morning. That's when the guy
with the special vacuum cleaner in photo #2 can get into the
corners and really clean things up.
Photo #3 shows an odd Flamingo
sculpture that Sparky spotted as he was riding in Jim's bike
bag, as shown in photo #4.
Photo #5 shows a colorful casino.
Photo #6 shows Sparky posing in
the hand of the Statue of Liberty's little sister's hand, which
was also sitting on the boardwalk.
Photo #7 shows how big the waves
were getting, with Hurricane Isabel expected to hit Atlantic
City within a few days.
Photo #8 shows Sparky in front of
the pond in the Garden Pier.
Photo #9 shows the boardwalk side
of the Taj Mahal Casino, near the north end of the boardwalk,
while #10 reveals what is farther north beyond the casino.
Photo #11 shows more big waves,
some splashing between the boardwalk boards, while many of them
splashed over the seawall into gardens and grassy areas.
Photo #12 shows a van with some
reel big ladders on top. Most of them are even bigger than
my big ladder.
More Atlantic
City Businesses
We saw a whole bunch of stores
with "Cash for Gold" signs in front, as shown in
photos #1 & #2. They must have a lot of folks that get
there and lose all their money gambling, and they have to sell
their jewelry to get a bus ticket back home.
Photo #15 shows a professional
collector waiting for his wife to get back. She always
goes along with him to make sure he doesn't bring home any
worthless junk.
Photo #16 shows the Believe it or
Not Museum after some construction guys "dropped the
ball!"
| Sparky's
Photo Album of Atlantic City Businesses |
13. A Cash for Gold Store |
14. More Cash for Gold Stores |
15. Professional collector |
16. Oops! |
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| Buzz's
Grill
The old folks and
me and Lil Benny got back to the van and Jim put the bikes back
on the rack and locked them up with about 8 or 7 locks that he
always carries with us, and we drove to another neighborhood and
parked so they could go and buy some of that "World
Famous" Salt Water Taffy from one of the stores on the
boardwalk.
Before shopping,
though, it was lunch time, so they went into a restaurant named
"Buzz's Grill." Me and Lil Benny didn't like the
looks of the place, so we went back to the van and ate out of
the goodie bag in the back.
The reason we
left was cuz there was about a zillion flies buzzing around, so
that must have been where the name came from. The other
clue was that the menu was taped to the back of a fly swatter,
and it was kinda hard to read cuz some folks didn't use the
correct side of the swatter to smoosh some flies.
The menu over the
grill was almost covered with black cobwebs, so it was also hard
to read. And the chef that cooks the burgers and fries had
on an apron that was so dirty it crinkled when he bent over to
get some more hamburger buns off the box on the floor.
Jim ordered a ham
and cheese sandwich and Gloria got a hotdog, so they came
through it pretty good. Buzz's Grill doesn't have a
website.
Souvenir
Department. Buzz's special souvenir was an autographed
fly swatter, complete with menu and Buzz's signature, for $4.95,
but it was nearing the end of the season, and the only fly
swatters he had left were the used ones, which Buzz was willing
to let go for only $2.95, so the old folks thought it over
carefully fer about 1 second and told him that we would jest
wait, and maybe next time we would jest get a new one. His
apron wasn't fer sale, though, cuz it said so right on the
front, beneath the grease and other dirt.
Then we all went
to the James' Salt Water Taffy Store and bought a bunch of boxes
of that candy. If you're interested in getting any for
yourself, you can order it on the web at either of the following
websites for the 2 main companies that make it:
James'
Salt Water Taffy
Fralinger's
Salt Water Taffy
(You can probably
get some at the 99¢ Store, but it
might not taste quite the same...they might leave out some of
the salt water, or something else).
Go to the next page for the next
exciting episode in this trip...the quest to meet Jim's sister,
Helen, at the Absecon, New Jersey train station.
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New
Jersey
"The Garden State"
State Capital:
Trenton
Area:
45,308 square miles
Population:
12,281,000
Question of the day:
"If this is New Jersey, how old are
things in Old Jersey?"
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| The
New Jersey "Jughandle"
When we were on our way to check
into our motel in Absecon, New Jersey, we encountered an
interesting traffic device we had forgotten about.
The highway was 2 lanes each way,
and a concrete center divider. In order to eliminate the
slowing of traffic caused by left turning vehicles, they made a
series of right handed U-turns that merge with a cross street,
so all turns are made from the right lane.
Some of them take you
counterclockwise and some of them are clockwise, which, in some
cases will take you a block past your turn. It takes a while to
learn to trust those signs, especially when added to all of the
construction signs that were also in the area.
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