THE GRANGERS VISIT ATLANTIC CITY, ROLL OF THE DICE!

Today, The Grangers and The Grandma have travelled from New York to Atlantic City in New Jersey. Before this trip, they have studied the Future Simple, and Zero and First Conditional clauses. 

Finally, they have continuing reading Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost and they have predicted the future.

More info: Future Simple

More info: Zero Conditional & First Conditional

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Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches.

In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. It was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township.

it is located on Absecon Island and borders Absecon, Brigantine, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, Egg Harbor Township, and the Atlantic Ocean.

Atlantic City inspired the U.S. version of the board game Monopoly, especially the street names.

Since 1921, Atlantic City has been the home of the Miss America pageant.

In 1976, New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City, and the first casino opened in 1978.

For many years before the city was founded, the island site of the future settlement was the summer home of the Lenape. While the precise date of the first permanent occupation of what came to be Atlantic City has not been precisely determined, it is commonly thought that in 1783 Jeremiah Leeds first built and occupied an all year home on the island. However, it was not until 1850 that the idea arose to develop the location into a resort town and in early 1853 the name Atlantic City was adopted.

More information: Atlantic City

The history of gambling in Atlantic City traces back to prohibition and the 1920s, with racketeer Louis Kuehnle running an underground hotel and casino. Enoch "Nucky" Johnson followed and furthered Atlantic City's rise through the Roaring Twenties as a destination for drinking, gambling, and nightlife.

In 1974, New Jersey voters voted 60%-40% against legalizing casino gambling at four sites statewide, but two years later approved by 56%-44% a new referendum which legalized casinos, but restricted them to Atlantic City.

Resorts Atlantic City was the first casino to open, in May 1978, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Governor of New Jersey Brendan Byrne.

Atlantic City is considered the Gambling Capital of the East Coast, and currently has nine large casinos.

In 2011, New Jersey's then 12 casinos employed approximately 33,000 employees, had 28.5 million visitors, made $3.3 billion in gaming revenue, and paid $278 million in taxes. They are regulated by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

In the wake of the economic downturn following the Great Recession and the legalization of gambling in adjacent and nearby states (including Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania), four casino closures took place in 2014: the Atlantic Club on January 13; the Showboat on August 31; the Revel, which was Atlantic City's second-newest casino, on September 2; and Trump Plaza, which originally opened in 1984, and was the poorest performing casino in the city, on September 16.

Executives at Trump Entertainment Resorts, whose sole remaining property at the time was the Trump Taj Mahal, said in 2013 that they were considering the option of selling the Taj and winding down and exiting the gaming and hotel business. Trump Taj Mahal closed October 10, 2016, after failing to come to terms with union workers.

Caesars Entertainment executives have been reconsidering the future of their three remaining Atlantic City properties (Bally's, Caesars and Harrah's), in the wake of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the company's casino operating unit in January 2015.

In 2020, Bally's Atlantic City was acquired by Bally's Corporation.

More information: Atlantic City Free Public Library

 Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Bruce Springsteen

ROLL OF THE DICE! MARTHA NEWTON IN ATLANTIC CITY

Today, The Newtons and The Grandma have travelled from New York to AtlanticCity in New Jersey. 

Martha Newton is going to start her particular career in this resort and the family has wanted to spend these later moments with her before she leaves the family. During the travel, The Newtons have studied the English Prepositions of Place.

More information: Prepositions of Place

Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches.

In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. It was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township.

it is located on Absecon Island and borders Absecon, Brigantine, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, Egg Harbor Township, and the Atlantic Ocean.

Atlantic City inspired the U.S. version of the board game Monopoly, especially the street names.

Since 1921, Atlantic City has been the home of the Miss America pageant.

In 1976, New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City, and the first casino opened in 1978.

For many years before the city was founded, the island site of the future settlement was the summer home of the Lenape. While the precise date of the first permanent occupation of what came to be Atlantic City has not been precisely determined, it is commonly thought that in 1783 Jeremiah Leeds first built and occupied an all year home on the island. However, it was not until 1850 that the idea arose to develop the location into a resort town and in early 1853 the name Atlantic City was adopted.

More information: Atlantic City

The history of gambling in Atlantic City traces back to prohibition and the 1920s, with racketeer Louis Kuehnle running an underground hotel and casino. Enoch "Nucky" Johnson followed and furthered Atlantic City's rise through the Roaring Twenties as a destination for drinking, gambling, and nightlife.

In 1974, New Jersey voters voted 60%-40% against legalizing casino gambling at four sites statewide, but two years later approved by 56%-44% a new referendum which legalized casinos, but restricted them to Atlantic City.

Resorts Atlantic City was the first casino to open, in May 1978, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Governor of New Jersey Brendan Byrne.

Atlantic City is considered the Gambling Capital of the East Coast, and currently has nine large casinos.

In 2011, New Jersey's then 12 casinos employed approximately 33,000 employees, had 28.5 million visitors, made $3.3 billion in gaming revenue, and paid $278 million in taxes. They are regulated by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

In the wake of the economic downturn following the Great Recession and the legalization of gambling in adjacent and nearby states (including Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania), four casino closures took place in 2014: the Atlantic Club on January 13; the Showboat on August 31; the Revel, which was Atlantic City's second-newest casino, on September 2; and Trump Plaza, which originally opened in 1984, and was the poorest performing casino in the city, on September 16.

Executives at Trump Entertainment Resorts, whose sole remaining property at the time was the Trump Taj Mahal, said in 2013 that they were considering the option of selling the Taj and winding down and exiting the gaming and hotel business. Trump Taj Mahal closed October 10, 2016, after failing to come to terms with union workers.

Caesars Entertainment executives have been reconsidering the future of their three remaining Atlantic City properties (Bally's, Caesars and Harrah's), in the wake of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the company's casino operating unit in January 2015.

In 2020, Bally's Atlantic City was acquired by Bally's Corporation.

More information: Atlantic City Free Public Library

Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Bruce Springsteen

ATLANTIC CITY: GAMBLING IN THE CITY OF MONOPOLY

Estefanía Bean working as a croupier

Today, The Beans have arrived to Atlantic City in New Jersey. They want to spend a funny day playing in the casinos and relaxing in the resorts. It's a special day for Estefanía Bean because she is having the chance to work as a croupier, her real profession.

Atlantic City is a resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, known for its casinos, boardwalks, and beaches. In 2010, it had a population of 39,558. The city was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township. It borders Absecon, Brigantine, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, West Atlantic City, and the Atlantic Ocean.

More information: Atlantic City, New Jersey 

Atlantic City inspired the American version of the board game Monopoly, especially the street names. Since 1921, Atlantic City has been the home of the Miss America pageant. In 1976, New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City. The first casino opened two years later.

Some Beans playing with the Monopoly

Because of its location in South Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, Atlantic City was viewed by developers as prime real estate and a potential resort town. In 1853, the first commercial hotel, the Belloe House, was built at the intersection of Massachusetts and Atlantic Avenues.

The first boardwalk was built in 1870 along a portion of the beach in an effort to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. Businesses were restricted and the boardwalk was removed each year at the end of the peak season. Because of its effectiveness and popularity, the boardwalk was expanded in length and width, and modified several times in subsequent years. The historic length of the boardwalk, before the destructive 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, was about 11 km and it extended from Atlantic City to Longport, through Ventnor and Margate.

The first road connecting the city to the mainland at Pleasantville was completed in 1870 and charged a 30-cent toll. Albany Avenue was the first road to the mainland available without a toll.

Download Vocabulary for Leisure, Travel and Tourism

By 1878, because of the growing popularity of the city, one railroad line could no longer keep up with demand. Soon, the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway was also constructed to transport tourists to Atlantic City. 

At this point massive hotels like The United States and Surf House, as well as smaller rooming houses, had sprung up all over town. The United States Hotel took up a full city block between Atlantic, Pacific, Delaware, and Maryland Avenues. These hotels were not only impressive in size, but featured the most updated amenities, and were considered quite luxurious for their time.

The Beans in Atlantic City, New Jersey

In the early part of the 20th century, Atlantic City went through a radical building boom. Many of the modest boarding houses that dotted the boardwalk were replaced with large hotels. Two of the city's most distinctive hotels were the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel and the Traymore Hotel.

One by one, additional large hotels were constructed along the boardwalk, including the Brighton, Chelsea, Shelburne, Ambassador, Ritz Carlton, Mayflower, Madison House, and the Breakers. The Quaker-owned Chalfonte House, opened in 1868, and Haddon House, opened in 1869, flanked North Carolina Avenue at the beach end. Over the years, their original wood-frame structures would be enlarged, and even moved closer to the beach.

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Well now, everything dies, baby, that's a fact

but maybe everything that dies someday comes back.
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty,
and meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Bruce Springsteen

THE BEANS DO BUSINESS: INVESTING IN NEW YORK CITY

The Beans doing business

The Beans have continued their English classes. Today, they have reviewed Present Simple vs. Continuous and new activities about Social English.

The family is spending the last days in the city that never sleeps and they have decided to invest there being the new owners of some of the most important and spectacular places and buildings.

They have also known the public transport (subway and bus) and they have created some activities with them.

Download NYC's Most Popular Tourist Attractions

The Grandma has confessed one of her deepest secrets: her first lover. Corto is an intelligent, handsome Maltese man who stole her heart some decades ago. She still loves him and she hasn’t forgotten him.

 

Corto Maltese, an old Grandma's friend

Finally, the family has tried to convince The Grandma to buy a new house in New York City but she hasn't been very interested in it. She has preferred to create a fictional story using some infinitives and play some memory games.

It has been another unforgettable day. Tomorrow, they are leaving the city and they are going to Atlantic City where Estefanía Bean wants to show her skills as a croupier to the rest of her family, and New Jersey where The Grandma wants to visit another old friend and platonic love: Bruce Springsteen.

More information: Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

New York, New York.
I want to wake up in a city, that doesn't sleeps
and find king of the hill, one top of the list,
a number one.

 Frank Sinatra

PAQUI & THE BEANS: WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER

Paqui Bean

I would like to introduce myself. I'm Paqui Bean a member of The Beans family. I was born in Poland and I'm a horse rider. I like my job but I needed to do something different and I joined to my family and we started to travel. We arrived to New York City last year and we are enjoying our last days in this incredible place symbol of migrations, effort and survival. We're also survivors because we had a terrible experience when a boat sank and we had to be rescued from the Hudson River. Now, we're preparing to visit Atlantic City and New Jersey before staying some days in Washington, DC.

More information: Atlantic City

 

Rafael Casanova defending Barcelona in 1714

The family is learning English and we're working very hard to arrive to our objectives with the help of The Grandma, a bored rich old woman who one day decided to buy a family because she felt alone. 

Everyday, The Grandma explains some grammar and some stories to help us to create compositions and practise listenings. It's not easy for us but we're doing a good job and we have a motto: We shall never surrender.

Today, we have done some exercises about Present Continuous, Air Travel Vocabulary and Connectors before receiving the visit of MJ who has been talking to us about our future exam. We're very excited with it. 

More information: Connectors

Winston Churchill

The Grandma has explained us how history has shown us the importance of civil resistance in wars. From the War of the Austrian, the Civil War or the WWII, the cities have been the objectives os¡f the bombs, so the people could only survive with refuges. 

Now, there are movements of neighbours who want to protect the refuges in Barcelona city.

She has been talking about the same spirit of resistance in different ages in different places but with the same motto: We shall never surrender. 

This is also our motto in this travel, because as Leonard Da Vinci said "the noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding".

Welcome to my family and enjoy with us the rest of our travel across The USA.

Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence,

is the key to unlocking our potential. 

Winston Churchill