Trip,
Just remember that AC is not Las Vegas and you should be fine. As far as things to do in AC, here's a list of things to do that I recently put together on another thread:
This is from the south-western end of the Boardwalk going north-east:
AC Hilton Beach bar. The Atlantic City Hilton was originally the Golden Nugget.
The Quarter at the Tropicana - shopping & restaurants in a Havana themed enclosure. There is an IMAX theater and a Comedy Connection at the Quarter.
I think that there's a place that you can rent a bike at this end of the Boardwalk too!
Miniature golf in front of Boardwalk Hall.
The Beach Bar at Trump Plaza. This was rated by the Travel Channel as one of the 20 sexiest beach bars in the world.
The Pier at Caesars - at the ocean end of the mall there's a decent water fountain show and an observation deck that looks over the ocean and gives you a view of the shore. The fountains in the water show go up 4 stories and are choreographed to music.
The Pier is home to some good restaurants and high end stores such as Tiffany's, Coach, etc.
Bally's Wild Wild West - they have some memorabilia of the old west in a corridor that runs on the Boardwalk side of the casino. The Mountain bar has a couple of trains that run around it. Bally’s has recently put in a mechanical bull and a Beer Pong room.
Sammy Hagar’s Beach Bar and Grill at Bally's (not sure if Sammy is running the Beach Bar again this year, but there should be a beach bar of some sort!)
Brighton Park - there's a Korean War memorial at Boardwalk and Park Place that's interesting; especially in the summer months when the water is running behind some of the statues. There's also a fountain in the park that has recently been renovated. This is the real intersection of Boardwalk and Park Place from Monopoly as the game was based on Atlantic City.
Fralinger's or James's Salt Water Taffy. AC is where salt water taffy was created and these places (I think that they are actually one company.) are the best for it. Don't buy the taffy in the cheap souvenir shops, it's not the same.
Steel's Fudge is very good too!
There's a haunted house and a Ripley's Believe it or not, as well as some carnival games.
There's a go cart track and arcade on one of the piers.
The Resorts Casino was recently purchased and the new owners are re-theming the property with a "Boardwalk Empire" look and feel including having the cocktail waitresses dressed in flapper costumes.
There's an amusement park on the pier by the Taj Mahal.
There's the House of Blues at the Showboat.
There's also the Atlantic City Historical Museum at Garden Pier. https://www.acmuseum.org/ - this is in front of where the Revel casino is being built and there may be some construction going on at the pier too!
Besides the casinos, the Boardwalk is sprinkled with souvenir shops, pizza stands, restaurants and massage parlors. Most of the massage parlors are surprisingly good for the price. The Boardwalk also is where you can ride in the rolling chairs. https://www.rollingchairs.com/
AC's beach is one of the few if not only ocean beach in NJ that you do not need to pay to go on.
North/West of the Boardwalk:
The Walk - outlet shopping sprinkled with restaurants such as Ruby Tuesday's, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Jay Z's 40/40 Club. Stores like Coach, Izod, PacSun, Carters, Aeropostale, American Eagle.
https://www.acoutlets.com/
Also, along the Walk are plaques about the different Miss Americas from when AC hosted the show.
The White House Sub Shop - try a half of a regular. They make the best Italian cold cut sub that I've ever had.
In the Marina:
Borgata is the nicest casino in AC; loaded with high-end, noted chef eateries. It has some Dale Chihuly blown glass sculptures and a small koi pond with a bridge. It also has a food court below the casino floor. A lot of designer chef restaurants and some nite clubs.
Harrah's is probably the second nicest casino in AC and has "the Pool" which is a palm tree ladened pool under a glass dome. Again, some designer restaurants and shopping. Personally, I do not like the casino floor here. But a lot of the ECLVAers do. I find the floor too cramped and the ceiling too low.
There's the Deck at Trump Marina which is like a beach bar and there's a boat cruise that goes out from the Farley Marina during the summer months. Landry’s is in the process of buying the property and plan on investing $150 million into retheming it into a Golden Nugget which should be in process by the time you arrive as the deal is supposed to close next week and they've already removed the Trump Marina name from the building!
There's also the AC Aquarium in the area. https://www.acaquarium.com/
And the Absecon Lighthouse: https://www.abseconlighthouse.org/
Whale watching/cruises: https://www.atlanticcitycruises.com/
There's a great breakfast place re-opening in the area called Gilchrists!
Vineyards:
Renault Winery www.renaultwinery.com
Dimatteo Vineyard
Bellview Winery
https://www.newjerseywines.com/wineries.html
Other area attractions:
Philadelphia is a little over an hour away.
Lucy the Elephant in Margate: https://www.njsouth.com/index-lucy.htm
Smithville: https://www.smithvillenj.com/
Here's some helpful links:
https://www.atlanticcityone.com - AC forum board
https://www.altanticcitynj.com - tourist bureau site.
https://atlanticcitynj.com/visit/findnearbys.aspx interactive map
https://www.njsouth.com/index-whatstodo.htm
https://www.atlanticcitysbest.com/recreation.htm
https://www.sjta.com/acairport/ground_transport.asp - ACY ground transportation information.
https://atlanticcitynj.com/visitors/thingstodo/free_thingstodo.aspx - Visitors bureau’s list of free and inexpensive things to do in AC.
AC has a fleet of mini-busses called Jitneys which are an inexpensive way to get around the city. ($2.25) They are currently in the process of replacing the entire fleet. For routes and places to buy tickets there’s this page: https://www.jitneys.net/573.html
Please note that you can pay on the jitney itself, so don’t go out of the way to buy a ticket.
Parking at an AC casino: There is a state tax that each casino must pay for each car parked in their parking garages. Also, casinos on the Boardwalk can have people park in their garages so that they are parked close to the beach without them stepping foot in their properties. So, you will find that there is a parking fee anywhere from $3 to $25 depending on the day, time of the year, special events and time of the day. All of the casinos will give free parking to their premium slot club holders and reduced rates for the other card holders. Some will also run specials discounting the parking by playing a certain amount too. If you do pay to park in one of the casino lots make sure that you get a receipt if you are going to park at another casino within 24 hours of paying for the parking. You will get free parking at the second casino by showing the receipt.
Cool video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2aIlBClR9s&NR=1&feature=fvwp
