Last weekend I traveled to the Las Vegas of the East Coast — Atlantic City — for my first-ever experience gambling, dining and exploring in the beach town. Thanks to LivingSocial.com, I enjoyed Atlantic City on a budget, which is always appreciated. For $100, my guest and I stayed at The Chelsea on a Friday night with free parking and a $30 voucher to Teplitzky’s — one of the hotel’s restaurants.

Upon arrival, we pulled into the hotel’s parking lot and were greeted with smiles. The garage attendants were nothing but nice and helpful. From the garage, we proceeded to check in. We saw the line was very long and expected this, as the LivingSocial deal was expiring soon. To our surprise, we got through the line in no longer than 10 minutes. Our room was spacious, nicely decorated and extremely clean. Overall, I was impressed, which — coming from someone who usually travels with her own bedding — is huge!

From there, we headed to Chef Vola’s for a 9 p.m. reservation. If you are interested in going, book far in advance to ensure an earlier reservation. Located in the basement of a local beach house, Chef Vola’s is a family-owned Italian restaurant with big food and big personality. The food was top-notch; my guest ordered lobster, and I enjoyed the veal. To note, Chef Vola’s is BYOB. Be sure to bring your own of whatever strikes your mood.

After dinner, we were ready to gamble. We made our way to the Borgata to play blackjack. All the casinos and hotels in Atlantic City are so big and flashy, we just had to visit them all. We walked along the boardwalk on the way back to our hotel after, unfortunately, losing most of our money. I could smell the ocean and imagined how alive Atlantic City must be in the summer.

The following day after we checked out, we stopped at the famous White House Sub Shop and the Tanger Outlets before heading back to Philadelphia. Overall, the trip was very enjoyable, and I hope to go back once it gets a bit warmer.

— Lindsay Gruen, digital account executive