If you look closely on the left-hand side of the first photograph, the scenery is slightly different than a typical view in Albany, NY! Nick Williams is posing in front of the window of his hotel room at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City. Nick went on a Yankee Trails bus trip for an overnight adventure with staff at a very affordable price. (This was Nick’s second time visiting Atlantic City in his entire life.) Considering this mini-vacation is off-season, he received a lot of amenities for only $99.00 that covered transportation, a $25.00 meal voucher, the room, and $15.00 in free slot machine money. The club will definitely take a trip back to this location in the late-spring or summer months if this is what the alumni want to plan once again.

We wish we could make up a tall tale and claim that the Alumni Activities Club subsequently took the Alumni Activities Club to Miami Beach, FL to shave off a few days of winter. But one of the three photographs is actually part of the Tropicana Casino designed to look like a tropical, outdoor promenade where visitors feel like they are taking a stroll at dusk. Nick also went to see the new superhero movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home in the casino’s IMAX theatre in which all three Spider-men (played by Tom Holland; Tobey Maguire; and Andrew Garfield) unite to battle villains that have escaped from their respective dimensions.

We are looking forward to exploring more options throughout the Albany community and beyond as the alumni continue to understand the options they have with their budgeted money and any free time they have at their disposal. Even though we certainly respect the rights of the alumni to gamble like any other adult, the staff was happy and proud of Nick for choosing to spend his own money on food and recreation instead of a slot machine!