Well, I couldn't make it to the convention so I decided to at least treat myself to a few days off before I once again dove head first into business.

Generally I try to stay home on holiday weekends as I neither want to spend half of it on the roads nor to become a statistic. This past holiday weekend I was motivated by not only needing a rest but also the fact that the Borgata had just opened, the Trump Marina just a stones throw away was finally releasing their Cinco De Mayo Chips and the Taj was dangling 3 nights free and $275 cash in my face not to mention a gift of a portable CD player.

I got a late start on the 4th of July leaving my house at 1:30 P.M. for what would normally be about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Atlantic City. Traffic was a combination of light to heavy with slow going in spots. As we approached the Atlantic City expressway I mentioned to my wife that perhaps we would be smarter to use one of the less traveled roads. Don't ask me why, but I let her talk me into the expressway so about a 1000 yards after exiting the Garden State Parkway, everything came to an abrupt stop.
Traffic was so heavy that I could have put my van into neutral and just had the bumper to bumper traffic push me all the way into town which was about 8 miles away.

We were finally able to exit, take a side road and even there got stuck for about 20 minutes. By the time I got to hotel check in it was 4 1/2 hours later.
In the lobby I was then faced with a line at VIP check in.
It seems that casinos have a habit of overbooking and several people in line were told that they didn't have rooms. I fortunately was not among them. I guess it pays to have friends

We spent the evening mostly relaxing after having dinner in the players lounge on the 49th floor overlooking the ocean.
Unfortunately, no fireworks this year for the second year in a row. In the past, looking out the window of the club had been the ideal place to be, Air Conditioned 49 floors up with a cocktail in hand...... Well it was not to be.

We slept in the next morning and pretty much got up and dressed in time to get over to the Marina for the chip release.

We arrived at the Marina and were surprised that an hour before the release that only Allan McCurdy was there ahead of us.
When it came time to release the chips, As is the usual case with the Marina, EVERY single chip was brought out to the tables and. Both casino employees as well as suits all waited in line. For whatever reason it seems that with 300 $25 chips up for sale, a limit of only 2 chips per person was imposed. Unfortunately the Casino manager was not on the premises and the pit boss would not change that rule though there were less than 20 people in line.
I think by the time most people got all their $25 chips, they felt like they had just spent a 1/2 hour on the carousel.

NOW it was time to go and check out the Borgata. Driving over from the Marina to the Borgata is simple but it CAN get tricky while within close proximity of each other there are enough wrong turns one can make. Fortune was with us and we managed to get there in only a few minutes.
The back up of traffic to get into the garage on Saturday July 5th at about 1 PM 2 days after opening was only about 10 minutes........ Quite Surprising

When we entered the casino thru the garage we were right at the entrance of their player card center. The line appeared to be long and I asked if there were other locations. I was informed that there was but was advised that I would be better off there. I also asked about their level of player cards and was told that If I held a premium players card from another casino they would honor it and immediately upgrade you.
True to their word, when I reached the front of the line about 35 minutes later, I once again asked. I produced my Maharajah Club card from the Taj Mahal. They looked at a list of cards they would accept and graciously gave me their premium Black Label card. In conjunction with the card, I was also told that $50 was being placed into my player account.
It was explained to me how to access the money using my card and pin number and the money would automatically be downloaded into the slot machine of my choice either all at once or however I chose to use it.
I was also given a brochure explaining their comp system a map of the property and advised that the $50 in comp dollars could not be cashed but must be played thru the machine.

Well by now we were hungry so we said what the heck we are premium players now so why not eat in their players lounge. I spotted a guy in a suit and figured this is the guy to ask. He said that he was on the way over there himself and would be happy to show us the way. When we arrived, there was a line waiting to get in. He asked if we wished to eat right away and we said sure. He asked for my newly acquired Black Label card, walked us over to the Buffet and asked us to wait. He returned about 5 minutes later with a comp for 4 people. My wife, myself and the two friends we were with.
The line at the buffet was also quite long but he mentioned it would move quite fast. Then the SHOCK, he asked if we would like a comp room. Under normal circumstances I would have said yes but as I was already staying at the Taj I said perhaps another time and he gave me his card and asked me to call him.
We went into the buffet when I noticed a little sign that said Black Label only so the four of us followed the signs to find we were at the front of the line and were seated immediately.
What we had was their lunch buffet and I will say it wasn't gourmet but it was adequate. I don't really have much of a critique as I have only eaten at the Taj dinner buffet and don't really have a fair comparison.
I will say the service was quite good and the fact that they actually used linen napkins added a bit of a more elegant touch.
The buffet itself could be a bit confusing as it appeared to have 2 separate lines. Upon further examination the lines did have some different items not found in the line on the opposite side so if you didn't explore, you missed out.
The only thing I didn't particularly care for was the 2 plasma TV's on the walls bombarding you with commercials.
I won't get into a food critique as Allan has already mentioned in his post his likes and dislikes.

After eating and making our contribution to the Borgata coffers we decided to take a peek at their High Rollers club and have a few drinks.
There was no long a line and we decided to sit at the bar. Unfortunately not all the furniture had arrived and they only had 3 barstools [ One would think they could have scrounged up some from somewhere] We had a few drinks and noted that virtually ale the drinks were dispensed from beverage guns [ not a personal favorite of mine]
For curiosity I took a look at the buffet and it appeared that it had not been replenished nor was there anything to write home about.
The room itself was somewhat plain with 2 large plasma TV's behind the bar and 4 more behind us. No sound of course. I asked the bartender and was told they weren't allowed to show sports. I guess that they don't want you to get too comfortable.
Well 8 o'clock was approaching so we decided to get back to the Taj.
It took us about 20 minutes to exit the garage. Parking was $3 but by flashing your Blackabel card, that fee was waived.
I would say overall we had a quite pleasant experience and will return, perhaps after the summer crush.

Back to the Taj actually won a few bucks had dinner Sunday Brunch the next day more gambling some sleep lunch on the deck and home.
Came home with more than I went with so who could ask for more.
Did want to mention that the new comp tax imposed by the state was one that I had to pay $7.85 per night.
While I don't object to the fee, I would think that the casino would waive the fee for their better players. Seems kind of odd, Rooms, Meals, Cash, gifts but they need that $7.85