Sunsets on the Back Bay

ATLANTIC CITY — When Kyle and Jane Williams established the Back Bay Ale House in June 2003, they refurbished a 130-something-year-old structure that was re-sited to historic Gardner’s Basin and fashioned it with a Key West, Florida motif. The couple then created a tradition in Atlantic City reminiscent of one common in Key West’s Mallory Square, where patrons raise their glasses and perform a sunset toast on Back Bay’s upper deck. 


Recently the Williams partnered with Jeff and Jenn George (owners of Atlantic City Cruises in Gardner’s Basin) to purchase what for the past 23 years had been the venerable Flying Cloud Café. They aired out what had been somewhat of a cramped interior and gave it a fresh, rich wood-trimmed look that Kyle Williams calls “modern nautical,” and renamed the establishment Scales Grill & Deck Bar. Probably the most striking aspect of the transformation are several enlarged photographs on the wall depicting Gardner’s Basin throughout its storied history, many of which illustrate the fishing vessels that bring back fresh catches that often end up as Scales’ nightly blackboard specials.


With the arrival of Scales in May came the amplification of Back Bay’s sunset toast on Friday nights throughout the summer, as the two establishments teamed up for a prolonged Sunset Happy Hour (4pm to sunset) that kick off weekends in the summertime. During the celebrations both places — accessible by boat, with docking available adjacent to Scales, or by car off the far northwest corner of New Hampshire Avenue, and both offering spectacular views of the inlet and marina districts — run drink specials such as $5 margaritas, Skyy martinis, Mondavi wines, frozen cocktails served in pint glasses, $2.50 domestic bottles and premium drafts, and more. Live bands perform from about 7-11pm on Scales’ spacious outdoor deck which, combined with a small arts-and-crafts village that recently sprung up in Gardner’s Basin, gives the entire area the sort of scaled-down ambience of Key West’s famed Duval Street. 


“Generally we have live music every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, but we also have special events on a regular basis [the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority recently hosted its summer mixer there],” says Kyle Williams, who for eight years booked bands and musicians at the local Hard Rock Café before opening Back Bay. “This Tuesday [July 19, a benefit for Atlantic City police officer Jack Slota] we’ll have a live reggae band performing, and we have several different bands booked throughout the summer.” On Friday, July 22, the nine-piece party band Out of Bounds performs live on the Deck from 7-11pm.

Key West Hotels | Key West Hotels: Where To Stay In The ...

Key West’s operation of road house options–from oceanfront hotels nearby Mallory Square, similar to the Hyatt Key West Resort Spa (pictured) to bower bed and breakfasts similar to the Wicker Guesthouse , off Duval Street–is about as heterogeneous as the island’s multicolored race of artists, eccentrics and born-to-party people. All time we revisit the Southernmost city, we similar to it more. Once you obtain divided from the many touristy areas, there’s a really Caribbean feel to Key West, with chickens pecking about in the frontyards of tin-roofed bungalows and bougainvillea draped opposite every entryway. And summer, it turns out, is a great time to find road house deals down in these parts–especially if you book your stay during the week. Here are a couple of of the hotels we suggest in Key West:

Walk past a rapids in to a sensuous yard at the Almond Tree Inn , off Duval Street.

The Ocean Key Resort Spa has an preferred location, correct next to the Sunset Pier and only a couple of stairs over along to Mallory Square and the every night nightfall spectacle.

Enjoy your nominal breakfast poolside at the super old-fashioned Westwinds Inn , in the aged seaport district.

And follow this link for more ideas on where to stay in the Conch Republic.

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