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Tags: Public Transit / Atlantic City / Train Travel / Drinking / ACES / → All Tags

The Moving Cocktail Bar Is Now Open With ACES 'Pour Tour'

As city dwellers the world over know, public transit means never having to say "No thanks, I'm driving." (Disclaimer: be responsible, kids!) The new Atlantic City Express Service (ACES) train is taking this line of reasoning a step forward with Friday night drinking specials for four weeks starting Oct. 30.

The ACE Pour Tour runs between Penn Station and the Atlantic City Rail Terminal Friday nights on the #7165 train departing at 8:21PM. The 2-hour 40-minute ride will feature a new drink special every week through November 20: Enjoy Oktoberfest ales like Victory Festbier from Pennsylvania this Friday, the 30th, or get your $29 ticket now for "One Sweet Ride," featuring chocolate "martinis" and other dessert-y libations.

These drinks aren't free, but bartenders aboard the train will show you how to make them and hand you a recipe card along with your glass. Time your cocktail hour correctly and you will arrive in AC primed to play games!

Related Stories:
· Pour Tour '09 (click top right hand corner) [ACESTrain.com]
· Skip the Parking Fees: Catch the ACES Train to Your AC Hotel [HC]
· ACES Stands For A Better Way to Get to Atlantic City [Jaunted]

[Photo: ACES]

Tags: 2009-Halloween-Theme-Park-Map / 2009 Halloween Theme Park Scare Guide / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / Theme Parks / Six Flags / → All Tags

2009 Halloween Theme Park Scare Guide: Six Flags Fright Fest

The best place to celebrate the spooky season in the New York City region has to be a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure in neighboring New Jersey. It’s a few hours from the city, but most theme parks are already boarding things up for the winter, so it’s your best chance for once last spin, dip, and drop on a roller coaster. Most of the Six Flags across the country offer a little entertainment, but the offerings at Great Adventure are some of the best around.

Celebrating its eighteenth year of freaking people out, Six Flags Fright Fest is well underway. This year’s events are sponsored by Snickers, so hopefully there will be some treats as well as some tricks for park visitors. There’s new shows, creepy decorations, and plenty of pumpkins and spiders to get you in the mood for Halloween.

The park is transformed into thrills by day and chills by night, so no matter what time you’re attending, you’ll get chills down your spine. Things during the day are a little tamer especially adventures like the Trick-or-Treat Trail. Here you’ll fill up your pillowcase as you get some free candy from the Looney Tunes characters. Hey Bugs Bunny, we’ll take the big size bars if you have any—thanks. Once nighttime arrives prepare Professor Zombini's Freak Show. Here you’ll be able to criticize and judge sideshow freaks as they perform their antics, let’s just hope they don’t escape.

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Tags: Music Travel / How to Get Tickets To... / Bruce Springsteen / New Jersey / → All Tags

Score Tickets To See Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium For The Last Time

Its no surprise that hometown boy Bruce Springsteen holds the record as the number one selling artist at the Meadowlands and has sold out more than 50 concerts there with the E Street Band. The boss was scheduled to play three more shows at Giants Stadium on September 30th, October 2nd and October 3rd, but because the shows sold out so quickly, they have added two more dates on October 8th and October 9th. The high demand for tickets is, at least in part, due to the fact that Springsteen will be the last major act to play at the stadium before it is demolished.

If you want to see Bruce at Giants Stadium one last time, you better act fast. The additional show on October 9th is already sold out but, according to Ticketmaster, there are still tickets available for the October 8th concert. As of this morning, a search for the "best available" seats only returned seats in the upper-most level of the stadium for $65.

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Tags: Travel Snapshot / Greyhound / Bus Travel / Atlantic City Travel / → All Tags

Inside One Of Greyhound's New WiFi-Equipped Buses

This last weekend, while randomly hopping down to Atlantic City for the day, we did not expect to be treated to the plushness of one of Greyhound's new buses. We say "plushness" meaning it's pretty nice for a bus, you know.

According to the Greyhound website, the premium coaches—outfitted with free WiFi, outlets, more leg room, and fresh interiors—are only found on their NYC to Montreal, Toronto and Boston and DC to New York, Boston and Montreal routes. We got lucky and spent the 4-hour-long, one-way trip (thanks, Saturday traffic) charging our phones and napping. We now see potential for Greyhound to equal the amenities of Megabus and Boltbus, but they'd have to do it fleet-wide and therein lies the rub.

Related Stories:
· Will You Ever Go Back To Greyhound? [Jaunted]
· Greyhound Blows Out 95 Candles On Their Birthday Cake [Jaunted]
· Greyhound Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

Tags: Atlantic City Travel / New Jersey Travel / Wedding Travel / → All Tags

Do More Than Gamble And Eat In Atlantic City; Get Married!

People don't head to the sparkly strip of boardwalk light in Atlantic City, NJ just for a weekend of gambling and buffet-noshing; no, they even hold weddings, family reunions and—conferences—there. But sadly, most of the venues for these get-togethers fail to take advantage of the awesome shore views, leaving you feel slightly claustrophobic especially if the weather is nice.

To remedy this, Atlantic City has begun constructing a new event space on top of their premier shopping mall: The Pier Shops at Caesar'. It's a must-visit while in AC simply for its panorama views, the atrium fountain performances, and the adirondack-equipped relax areas on the third floor, complete with sand in which to wiggle your toes. But come December when the new venue, called One Atlantic opens on its roof, it'll finally give weddings and others AC events the ocean backdrop without having to trek down to the crowded beachfront.

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Tags: Music Festivals / Music Travel / Liberty State Park / All Points West / Coldplay / → All Tags

All Points West Returns with Rock-Heavy Lineup, Chance to Volunteer for Free Tickets

One of the highlights of the summer music season, the All Points West Music & Arts Festival, will return to Liberty State Park in Jersey City (just across the river from Manhattan) on July 31, August 1 and August 2.

Following last year’s very successful Radiohead-led inaugural event, this year’s festival features Coldplay, MGMT, Vampire Weekend and Tool. Sadly, opening night headliners the Beastie Boys just pulled out of the show after Adam “MCA” Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his salivary gland.

As is the trend with these events, tickets for the three-day fest are a hefty $219, or $89 a day. APW does have a recession-era deal for you however, and it’s actually not a bad deal if you don’t mind hauling around some trash bags. Volunteer to work 15 hours over the course of the festival, and they’ll hook you up with a free three-day pass. If you think about the $219 cost of the ticket, that’s like getting paid $14.60 an hour, except you get paid in free music—a pretty good rate these days!

Related Stories:
· All Points West [Official Site]
· Beastie Boys cancels All Points West concert date in Jersey City [Star-Ledger]
· Music Festivals coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Travelocity]

Tags: ACES / Atlantic City / Train Travel / Food Travel / Travel Deals / → All Tags

Atlantic City Express Train (ACES) Extends Summer Fare Deal

If ACES’ sleek new trains and cheap summer fares haven’t convinced you to jaunt to Atlantic City yet, the train line is giving you another few weeks to try it out. The NYC-AC express train, which launched in February and slashed its prices by about 40 percent in June, is extending its “All Afford” promotion for the rest of the month.

All coach-class tickets are $29, while first-class seats are $54 for the duration of the promotion, which runs through July 31. Foodie types will be pleased to see that’s just long enough to catch the July 30 start of the Atlantic City Wine & Food Festival, when Emeril, Tom Colicchio, and the rest of the chef-lebrity crew will be hanging around Harrah’s for a few days.

If that’s not doing it for you, check out ACES’ new twitter feed, which has been busy hyping any and every reason they can think of to lure you down the shore.

Related Stories:
· ACES [Official Site]
· Atlantic City's ACES Train Cries 'All Afford' For Summer Travel [Jaunted]
· ACES Stands for 'A Better Way to Get to Atlantic City' [Jaunted]

[Photo: ACES]

Tags: Beer Travel / Beer / New Jersey Travel / Drinking / → All Tags

Have A Sip Of Your Favorite NJ Turnpike Exit

New Jersey is famous for many things, especially wonderful foodstuffs like Taylor ham. The state also is well known, if not infamous, for its network of highways, turnpikes, tollbooths, and whatever those jughandle things are. That’s why it's no surprise that a brewery in Cherry Hill, Flying Fish Brewing Company, has named its new line of specialty craft beverages after exits on the NJ Turnpike.

The brewery has been around for a while and they’ve mastered English, Belgian, and American style ales, but it seems they’ve hit the big time with their “Exit Series.” Each 750 mL brew named after an exit tries to celebrate the spirit of the off-ramp. The Exit 11 Hoppy American Wheat evokes the crossroads of New Jersey by mixing a few different styles of beer.

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Tags: Best Tubing Spots / Tubing / Rivers / Water Sports / New Jersey Travel / → All Tags

Hot Dogs And Hot Tubing Between Different States

Between New York City and Philadelphia sits a good place to spend a summer afternoon baking in the sun and splashing in the water. It's Frenchtown, New Jersey, and you’re welcome to sit your behind in a tube and comfortably travel about five to six miles—a dream distance considering many tubing runs are only a few miles.

Delaware River Tubing allows tube travelers to float down the river between the Pennsylvania and New Jersey state lines, so you’ll be able to get two state stickers for that map on the back of your Winnebago.

The unique part of this river adventure is that you’ll be likely spending time with their Famous River Hot Dog Man. Halfway through your journey you’ll put on the turn signal and pull over along the river’s shore to order up a couple hotdogs or a cheeseburger, and enjoy it from the comfort of your rubber seat. Best of all, most tickets include a “free” meal from the floating restaurant.

Weekend tubing starts at about $19 and includes your life vest, a place to stash your keys, and meal on the river. Parking will set you back $6, so try your best to pile into one car. Double and Triple tubes are available on a first come first serve basis for those that just can’t bear to be apart from their sweethearts. Just hurry up and make your plans as the season will end before you know it on September 29.

Related Stories:
·Delaware River Tubing [Official Site]
·Tubing The Apple River: Slow Speeds, Fast Sunburns [Jaunted]
·Water Sports coverage [Jaunted]

[A Vintage Delaware River Tubing Photo: Joe Shlabotnik]

Tags: Train Travel / Atlantic City / Travel Deals / Summer Travel / ACES / → All Tags

Atlantic City's ACES Train Cries 'All Afford' For Summer Travel

By now we really don't need to tell you how much the casinos have suffered during the recession; like us, you've probably received far too many "special weekend escape" mailings and suffered through the commercials promoting your local gambling mecca (Foxwoods--we're talking about you). It's no wonder then that Atlantic City is jumping aboard their own train to funnel in the cash this summer.

From June 1 thru July 5, AC's new ACES train direct service to and from New York City will run a summer special of $29 coach seats, each way. This saves about $20 per ticket, with which you could spoil yourself and upgrade for $25 to first class.

The deal, aimed at bringing staycationing New Yorkers down the shore to spend a few dollars, is appropriately named "All Afford!" Face it folks: it's either this train with food and beverage service included, or climbing aboard a dirty bus armed with KFC. We've done plenty of the latter, so perhaps it's time to suck it up, take the train, and leave the hand-i-wipes at home.

Related Stories:
· ACES Train [Official Site]
· ACES Stands For 'A Better Way to Get to Atlantic City' [Jaunted]
· Train TravelCoverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ACES}

Tags: New Routes / AirTran / Atlantic City / Airline News / Gambling / ATL / ACY / → All Tags

AirTran Doubles Down With New Atlantic City Route

The impending arrival of warmer temperatures and sunny days on the east coast combined with the people's need to budget vacations better this summer means that previously underestimated destinations like Atlantic City may be getting some answers to their recession prayers.

Luckily for the struggling casinos and massive hotels that dot the boardwalk, the first wave of relief will arrive on June 11 when AirTran Airways begins direct service between Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson and Atlantic City International twice daily. As the 59th destination for the carrier, AC will now have all kinds of options for budget airline connections, including the option to make it a blowout week by flying between Las Vegas and Atlantic City via Atlanta, if your slots finger stays sharp.

With AC desperate to funnel anyone with some jingling pocket change into their casinos, the AirTran introductory fares on this route begin at a suggestive $69 each way. Pair this with a cheap room at one of the older casinos and don't loose too many Benjamins, and you've got the cost of a vacation in Vegas beat by a couple hundred dollars. Good old AirTran—always flying to the sunniest spots with the flashiest coin.

Related Stories:
· Airtran rolls the dice on Atlantic City [Today in the Sky]
· AirTran Airways Hits the Jackpot with New Service in Atlantic City, N.J. [FOX Business]
· New Routes Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: gTarded]

Tags: Travel News Briefs / TV Set Travel / Real Housewives / Graydon Carter / Kanye West / Audrina Patridge / → All Tags

Will New Jersey's 'Real Housewives' Do More Harm Than Good?

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Now here are some of today's more celeb-centric travel stories in brief.

· The Real Housewives of New Jersey: Will "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" be able to fill the void left by Carmela Soprano? More importantly, will it make people hop on the ACES on NJ Transit trains to visit the state? We're not sure. But do expect a lot of "Jerziness" to come out like: mall-hopping, nasal accents, an inside look at the "construction" business, the start-up of a strip club, trips to the Jersey Shore and we can only hope, some Taylor Ham. Yeah, Taylor Ham not Pork Roll. We hope the NJ Tourism board is ok with all this. [Bravo TV]

· Graydon Carter is Monkeying Around: The Vanity Fair editor is working on a new restaurant. The Monkey Bar is expected to open soon on East 54th Street in New York. Remember, Carter is already one of the folks behind the Waverly Inn. [Page Six]

· Could This Be the End of The Hills?: Looks like Audrina Patridge won't be returning for a sixth season either (LC is out too.) But she won't be leaving your TV sets anytime soon. There are talks she will get her own show. Oh great. [EW]

· Southwest's CEO Really Plays Guitar: In case you were ever curious about CEO Gary Kelly's musical skills you can check 'em out here. [Southwest Blog]

· Kanye West Will Be Charged: Remember when Kanye went batshit on a photog at American Airlines at LAX? He's going to be charged with three misdemeanors. [TMZ]