Motor coaches full of gamblers disappear into cavernous unloading areas, where they can get to the action without ever encountering a rolling chair, sea gull or taffy pull. Same sort of deal for those who drive their cars. Parking garages shunt patrons right into the hotels and form a secondary skyline along Atlantic Avenue. I walked into another casino, then another. They became indistinguishable.
Themes seem half-hearted, at best.
Trump's Taj Mahal has a few turrets. I set out by car to explore the city. Yes, board-gamers, there is a Baltic Avenue and a Park Place. The Miss America culture now works its magic over by the new Convention Center, where plaques honoring former winners lead past a statue of Bert Parks, the late, great pageant emcee. Artifacts of pageants past fill the new Sheraton Hotel nearby.