So there we were…a group of semi-sophisticated Group Sales professionals in Atlantic City for a week. We had visited shopping, casinos, upscale restaurants, and had enjoyed some excellent speakers, education, and interaction. But we had four hours with nothing to do. What would we do? Go to a casino and give back some of Atlantic City’s sponsorship money? Go lay out on the beach (even though none of us remembered swimming attire!)? Soak in the hot tub in the hotel (with the lights off, since none of us remembered swimming attire)?

Nope…not us! We decided to pick the one brochure that caught our eyes out of an amazing array of information from our welcome bags, and go see something really different. So we piled into Cheryl’s car, and off we went, with the GPS leading the way. Did we go to Cape May for the Victorian homes and tours? Did we go to Historic Cold Spring Village for some history, or the Cape May County Park Zoo to see the animals?

Nope…not this bunch! We went to see LUCY!

Some of you are nodding and laughing right now, and others are scratching your heads. [1] Lucy, you see, is a six-story tall elephant, located right on the beach in Margate, just south of Atlantic City. She was built in the 1800’s by a real estate tycoon as a way to attract people to Margate, then to buy land off him to build their bungalows. She has been an apartment, a tavern, and the anchor to a hotel next door. But whatever she has been, she is probably one of the most unique places you’ll ever see! You walk up a very tight spiral staircase in her left rear leg, look out through her eye (eight miles into the ocean, if you believe the hype). You climb another tight staircase to the Howdah (the thingy on her back) for another view of the Jersey Shore (from Ocean City to Atlantic City on a clear day).

But what’s really important is not where we went, it’s why we went. We found something unique, and wanted to see it. And, when we got back to the PBA Meeting, you can betcha we told everyone about what we found in Margate! I know of a couple of Operators who are going to check it out on their next visit, just from the enthusiasm we had for the lady. We were even designated the “Lucy Fanclub” at the closing lunch the next day, due to our cheering when Lucy’s name was announced as a sponsor of the week’s activities (hey, laugh all you want…Heather is sending all four of us some totally cool Lucy swag!).

So, is there a Lucy in your town? Is there something so hokey, so strange, so bizarre that you just stand and stare at it? Well, don’t discount it…it just may be a ticket to increased business, as there’s always someone looking for just something like that. I’m going to be looking for our Lucy around here…you never know when you’ll find her, and fall in love with her.

I’m already looking forward to taking my kids to see her, and I just found out that some of us from the Theatre are going to AC later this year to see a show. Wanna bet I invite all my co-workers to go see something they’ve never seen before?