Did anyone see the Miss America pageant on CMT?

[bigboyz05]

Both Texas and Arkansas made it to the top 10 but, failed to get to the top 5. Here in Texarkana there were people who had Go Texas or Go Arkansas painted on their cars. There were even people holding signs that said honk if you love Texas and honk if you love Arkansas. I thought the whole thing was bizarre. It would really be something if Texas and Arkansas were the last two to battle for the crown. Anyway, Oklahoma ended up winning.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

Both Texas and Arkansas made it to the top 10 but, failed to get to the top 5. Here in Texarkana there were people who had Go Texas or Go Arkansas painted on their cars. There were even people holding signs that said honk if you love Texas and honk if you love Arkansas. I thought the whole thing was bizarre. It would really be something if Texas and Arkansas were the last two to battle for the crown. Anyway, Oklahoma ended up winning.

That is odd. I watched parts of it against my will.

The whole thing seems kind of goofy if you ask me.

If you've ever been to Atlantic City, they have invested a lot recently in the Miss America thing, putting up monuments, making a sort of walk of fame. The convention center and Sheraton attached are completely Miss America themed, with each floor of the Sheraton being named for a different Miss America, a bar with the shoes of former contestants encased in the wall.....

And now they have no pageant.

[bigboyz05]

I didn't know that there was so much dedicated to a pageant.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

I didn't know that there was so much dedicated to a pageant.

Neither did I until I had the misfortune of spending two weeks of my life working on a retail project inside the Trump Taj Mahal.

I stayed at the Sheraton because that is where priceline.com took me (thanks, Shatner), and because you can take a train from downtown Philly right into the station at the convention center across the street.

As you walk into the Sheraton, there was a video screen that played looped scenes of the "crowning moment" throughout the years. There was a bar with shoes encased in glass blocks, with little plaques giving the contestant, state and year. There were gowns and crowns and swimsuits under spotlights in glass cases in the lobby. There was a walk of fame of sorts newly built, kind of like the one in Hollywood, only for Miss Americas (Misses America?). It led from the convention center area down to the boardwalk area.

There was a brass statue of the old time MC of the event, holding out his hands with a crown so that tourists could stand beneath and be "crowned". It was all very very cheesy.

Sad thing, I'm afraid Miss America was one of the only positives Atlantic City had going for it. That town is a prime example of urban decay.

Picture casinos in "little Detroit-by-the-sea".

A side note, did you know that the streets on the Monopoly board are named for streets in Atlantic City?

[johnnydr87]

I took the same train from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. I wasn't too impressed with AC either....very cheap looking.

[bigboyz05]

I took the same train from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. I wasn't too impressed with AC either....very cheap looking.

Whoa, I didn't know that. I always thought AC would look something like a smaller version of Vegas.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

Whoa, I didn't know that. I always thought AC would look something like a smaller version of Vegas.

Most of the casinos in AC are 1970s construction. There isn't much new there really, or there wasn't the last time I was there.

They were building a big new one, the Borgata I think.

The funniest thing I saw was the sign welcoming you into the parking garage of the Trump Taj..

You're driving up into this gawdy, tired, worn out plastic meets fake gold Donald-Trump-of-the-seventies building and there is a sign overhead that says "Behold, the Opulence"....

Irony.

[bigboyz05]

Are there any plans to turn AC around as far as it's appearance and economically?