It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (and other holidays) in the region’s gambling dens. But it’s Tropicana Atlantic City that is lapping the field.
The Trop has scored a real coup by booking Chevy Chase for a rare public appearance. The Saturday Night Live pioneer will be there on Dec. 17 to host a screening of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and to take questions from the audience afterward.
Chase, of course, starred as the hapless, if well-intentioned, Clark Griswold in a series of Vacation movies. Christmas Vacation, which was released in Dec., 1989, finds Clark’s wish to have his family enjoy a traditional holiday celebration continually thwarted, primarily by the arrival of his boorish cousin (Randy Quaid) and his brood.
While the movie is ostensibly the reason for Chase’s appearance, it can be assumed audience members will be able to address other facets of his life and career.
For tickets, click here.
Holiday-themed “popups”—temporary stations offering adult beverages and related amenities—inside the regions’s gambling dens are adding to the seasonal revelries:
*At Resorts Atlantic City, Bar One on the casino floor has been re-christened as the Candy Cane Lounge. Drink specials include the “Candy Cane Kringle” (Crème De Cacao, Crème De Noyaux, Hazelnut Dekuyper, Grenadine, half & half and ice) and the “Mistletoe Martini” (Melon liquer, Pink Whitney vodka, sour mix in a red sugar rimmed martini glass).
The bar will also host holiday dancers and musical performances including a program of Yultide tuneage by Side Story Trio on Dec. 17.
*Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City is ringing the jingle bells at what has been dubbed the Tipsy Elf. Located at Eden Lounge in the atrium area, the temporary facility is offering a variety of themed adult beverages (including the “Partrige In A Pear Tree Martini”) as well as “The 12 Bites of Christmas,” a competition for guests with a grand prize of a dining credit worth up to $200. Most importantly, all proceeds from the Tipsy Elf are earmarked for the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.
*Ocean Casino Resort’s, 1927 Lounge has been transformed into Jingle Bell Bar: The bill of fare includes specialty cocktails (including “Scrooged” and “It’s A Wonderful Old Fashioned”). Season-centric entertainment is also on tap.
*At Tropicana Atlantic City, the holiday spirit can be found at Santa’s Gingerbread House at Wild Honey Smokehouse & Tavern, which has been decorated with appropriate trimmings (including scads of mistletoe). And of course, there is a selection of cocktails with which to toast the season.
*And in Philadelphia, the Prime Rib Library Bar at Live! Casino & Hotel has become a winter-themed lounge highlighted by a cocktail menu supervised by the mysterious, mono-monickered Le, whose Chinatown-based Hop Sing Laundromat is regarded by those in the know as city’s hippest speakeasy.