Not long after I saw the big planes, Keith stopped at a place along the side of the road so he and Kristin could get something to eat. There were several mini-restaurants in one building. It is similar to the food court at the mall in Davenport. I think this is really neat to have this on the side of the road for drivers. And guess what? Keith says the place is called an oasis! I had no idea! I bet my camel from Dubai (named Oasis) would like to visit the oasis I did.
Once we arrived in Atlantic City, Keith and Kristin checked into their rooms at the Sheraton. The hotel is very nice and Keith and Kristin both got a gift bag when they checked-in. I thought this was strange. They’ve never gotten a gift bag at a hotel before. But Kristin told me the bags are a gift from the Headliners Awards. Wow…they won an award AND they get a gift bag! Kristin told me if I was really good, she might let me have some of the items in her gift bag. I promised I was going to be REALLY, REALLY good!
Keith had a really COOL room. Here I am looking at the view from Keith’s room.
If you look closely, you can see water behind the tall buildings. Keith told me that was the Atlantic Ocean. Cool! I got to see the Atlantic Ocean while visiting Atlantic City! I’ve flown over this ocean with Keith and Kristin but I have never seen it from land!
I think Keith knew I wanted to get a closer look at the ocean, so he and Kristin walked down the street to something called the “Boardwalk.” It is a LONG sidewalk made out of wood. It looks like a really long deck! Anyway, there are shops along one side of the “Boardwalk” and the ocean is on the other side.
Kristin kindly took off her shoes and walked through the sand so I could get a closer view of the ocean. Here I am with Kristin.
And here I am searching for seashells (although I didn’t find any good ones).
Do these photos remind you of something? They look very similar to the ones Kristin took of me at the Pacific Ocean in California. I thought the oceans would look different but this one looks the same to me!
After my visit to the beach, Keith and Kristin walked along the “Boardwalk” for awhile. Suddenly Kristin stopped and said I needed my photo taken with the street sign. I said OK but I had no idea why. The street was called Park Place. I think there is a street with the same name in Muscatine. But Kristin said this is a special Park Place. THIS is the Park Place listed on the game “Monopoly.” Wow! I had no idea!
Kristin later told me that the person who started Monopoly liked the names of the streets in Atlantic City and put them on his game. Cool! I am going to have to pay more attention to Monopoly the next time I see the game!
Before we left the Boardwalk, Kristin stopped at a small candy store to buy some salt-water taffy. Kristin told me Atlantic City is famous for salt-water taffy. Wow…another thing I didn’t know! I guess I must have been behaving because Kristin bought me a small box of taffy. BUT…she made me promise to share it with Aunt Lynn. So I guess I am going to have to wait until I get back to Muscatine to eat my candy.
Keith and Kristin’s hotel is on a street named “Miss America Way.” And, the hotel lobby has LOTS of photos, dresses, and jeweled crowns on display. I was starting to think we were staying at a special “girls” hotel. So I decided to ask Kristin why there were so many dresses on display in the hotel lobby. She told me that the Miss America pageant started in Atlantic City. She says this is a very famous beauty pageant and it is shown on TV every year. I had no idea! I really wasn’t interested in seeing all of the Miss America stuff. That’s for girls. But, at least now I know why there are so many Miss America items in and around the hotel.
The award ceremony was held in the convention center that is connected to Keith and Kristin’s hotel. We arrived just after 6:30pm. Our first stop was a room where several photos and large notebooks were on display. Kristin told me the photos were the pictures that won awards in the photography category. The notebooks were from the newspaper and magazine winners. There was also a TV in one corner of the room that played small parts of the winning radio entries.
After awhile, someone arrived that I knew. It was Mr. B! I met him on my first trip to New York. He is the host of Keith and Kristin’s radio program. He was also the host for the winning program. I like Mr. B…so it was nice to see him again.
Soon we walked into another room to sit down for a fancy dinner including salad and steak. While we were eating, people who helped pick the winners of this year’s National Headliner Awards talked about the program. One said there were over 1700 entries this year! WOW….Keith and Kristin’s radio program must have been REALLY AWESOME to beat that many other photos, newspapers, magazines, TV stations and radio programs!
The awards were handed out after dinner. I started to get worried because almost all of the awards had been handed out and Keith and Kristin still hadn’t walked up to the front of the room to get their award. Kristin told me not to worry.
I soon learned this is because the radio program won the BIG radio award and so it was presented near the end of the program. It was very cool to see how the awards are handed out. First, they put up pictures of Mr. B, Keith, Kristin and their friend Simon on the screen.
Then, one of the judges talked about the show and played some of the show for the people in the room. And there were LOTS of people in the room. I didn’t understand everything the judge talked about but I think it was all GOOD things.
Soon, Mr. B, Keith and Kristin walked up to the stage to get a special wood plaque. All three then told the people in the room about the program. I was too afraid to go up on stage with Kristin and Keith so I stayed at the table with Mrs. B. Afterwards, Mrs. B took my picture with Keith, Kristin and Mr. B holding their award. Thanks Mrs. B!
Whew! It was WAY past my bedtime when the award ceremony ended and I fell asleep in Kristin’s purse as she walked back to the hotel.
Until next time….
