George and I took a little weekend trip. We drove to Connecticut and stayed at a lovely Hampton Inn in Groton. It was a beautiful, sunny, winter weekend, and we had a lot of fun. On the way on Friday, we stopped in at Mohecan Sun, the casino near Groton. We had never been there before. Mohecan Sun is out in the woods, and the rolling hills are beautiful. And there in the midst is this huge copper building. It was fun, like the Wizard of Oz. We walked in through a huge wooden structure with stretched canvas and Indian artwork. And on through a richly carpeted hallway into the casino.
If there is a downside to casinos, and I'm sure there are many, the big downside for us is the scent of cigarette smoke. I have heard that in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, they have ways of filtering and blowing the smoke out so you really don't notice it. That is not true at the Connecticut Casinos. It wasn't horrible, but it was always there.
George and I galloped into the casino with high hopes. I put in the first twenty dollar bill. Pull, push the button through $10, cash out and move to another maching, pull, push the button for another ten spot....nothing. I would get a cherry or two, and a few extra turns, but basicly, the bad news is that we spent $60 and got...nada.
We went to another casino on Saturday, Foxwoods, and had much the same result. We stood in a line for a "wampum" card, which you put into your slot machine and in some way, it records your wins, and then you get a chance for discounts and a raffle type prize later...something like that. George had the card, he moved to two or three machines, and lost the card. Oh well. I had to laugh. One time on my machine, I had THREE BARS all across...and guess what...I made $2.50. Another time, George had three EXTRA WINS across, but since he had not played three quarters, he got...you guessed it...nada. At that rate, no matter how good our luck, we were not going to leave rich. The jackpots are smaller that they used to be I think. It all seemed a bit pointless I'm afraid.
There were long lines at the buffet and we were tired of the smokey smell so we turned for home. But it was fun to see what other people do, and fun to see people feeding hundred dollar bills into the machines and still not looking happy, and it was fun to leave the smokey den for the beautiful fresh Connecticut air.
Have a great day!
