Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to a casino for the first time. Yes....I said it. I've have been to casinos before (Las Vegas to party, Mille Lacs for the buffet, Mystic for Josh Blue) but not to gamble. Not even when I turned 18!
A lady I know from the Y is fundraising for the Breast Cancer 3-day. This will mark her 4th year.
She invited me to come along and to bring a friend if I wanted...of course, I brought my sister. She's never gambled either.
We met the bus and were off my 9:30 heading towards St. Croix Casino in Danbury, WI. On the bus there were raffles and bingo (both going and coming home). I won on both raffles. I got a coffee mug with instant coffee packets and a photo mat (it's one of those cardboard/batting wrapped with fabric and cross-crossed ribbon). Jean won a bingo round =$10! She's always lucky with bingo. The games made the hour-and-a-half trip fly by.
When we got there, we were given player cards. Being that I never played before, I had no idea what this player card was for. I though I brought my $20 bucks to the cashier and I got a roll of nickels.....LIKE IN THE MOVIES!!! The $10 that I paid for the bus I got back on my players card plus an extra $5. We found a slot machine and weren't really impressed. I wanna pull a handle; not push a button....LIKE IN THE MOVIES!!! And I want tokens to come flying down on me; not a gas station-type receipt....LIKE IN THE MOVIES!!! Our money was gone within 20 minutes. We tried to find someone to help us with trying to get more money on our cards but the staff couldn't explain how the machines worked to my satisfaction so we stopped playing. They didn't get a single dime from us.
We were hungry so we headed to the buffet. That was mediocre too. Old Country buffet in Coon Rapids has a way better selection. Better salads, better meat, better desserts. It was cheap so I guess you get what you pay for.
We had 3 hours to kill so first we visited the gift shop. Boring!
We decided to leave and explore the little town. There was a gas station and a log cabin store. They had lots of knick knacks...stuff I would consider junk in my home. We ended up buying a deck of cards (ha!) and some magazines. We went back to the casino and ended up sitting on some benches probably meant for smokers. We sat in the sunshine reading up on the latest celebrity gossip and played Rummy and Fire.
Speaking of smokers, I was caught off guard to walk in and see people lit up. I forgot that we had crossed the state border. It wasn't over-powering and our clothes didn't reek of the smell...thank goodness. We did find a spot set aside for non-smokers, but again...it was lack-luster.
The time crawled by and were happy once we saw the bus come through the parking lot to pick us up. We were more than ready to go home. We got back at 5 pm.
I would never go back again...ever. Not unless I had nickels, tokens and a lever. And maybe a friend to show us what the heck is so fun about slot machines.
We ended up braking even and had more fun on the bus ride. At least that was for a good cause. The up side: we didn't waste our own gas and wear and tear on our vehicles. We now know that as far as addictions go, we more likely to become alcoholics than gamblers.
A New Normal
5 years ago
