I had been looking forward to a break from reality? We had been working six days a week for the last six months and my recurring thought was,” if I have to go back to work tomorrow, I’ll go crazy.” I wasn’t looking for an escape… I was looking to “es”CAPE”! After a little thought, I found the answer. My pleasure would be to enter the world that never sleeps: a world where the mind doesn’t have to think., and all you have to do is push a little button and with a wee bit of luck all your monetary dreams can come true.
Hold on, don’t get too excited: I exaggerate; but in the scheme of things, if you are looking for a place to really unwind this is a place to consider. Tunica Mississippi is such a place.
This small city, located by car a short hours from our home or an hour by plane, offered multiple places to unwind and rejuvenate the mind. And as you might have guessed, the places are called casinos. A couple of weeks ago that is exactly where we went.
The trip was an adventure. On the way we stopped to fill-up the car at this quaint little gas station. Not only did they sell gas, chips, candy. Lottery tickets and sodas; but somebody in this little town made individual pies in every flavor imaginable. Then I spied homemade ice cream while I kept eying those mini pies that looked so good. I wanted to buy every one of them. I decided on a scoop of black walnut ice cream and a coconut pie. Heaven in my mouth!
Gamble! I luv it…Slots, love them! Couldn’t wait to waste those $100 dollar bills, I had worked so hard to make. What a wonderful addiction! Kidding again!… My cousin from Memphis used his influence and got our hotel room “compted” and we dropped off our bags and ran down to the casino just in time for my husband to sign up for the Texas Hold em tournament .He settled in for a night of poker and I walked through the casino like a kid in a candy store deciding which beautiful machine would grab me first. I put a nice crisp bill into a slot and when I had twenty dollars left I stood up. Walking the casino again, I walked into another area that called to me. The problem was, I didn’t notice the big sign that read “high rollers only”!
So I walked up to a machine and put my twenty dollars in and punched what I thought would be a three quarter bet. Nothing happened! I pushed again…nothing happened. I pushed the light on the machine for an attendant who quickly came over He listened to what I had to say and promptly called the floor manager. That’s when I got worried. The manager explained that I had put my money into a twenty dollar minimum bet machine and that my only option was to make the bet. I told him that I had made a legitimate mistake and I wanted to get my money back. He told me he was sorry and that I had to make the bet. That’s when I started crying…..and that’s when he said, “Hold on lady, it’s not that bad…we’ll work it out!
He instructed me again to just push the button. I said no. He said, “PUSH THE BUTTON!” I realized I had two options at this point. Push the button and lose twenty dollars or push the button and win. I pushed the button…….and guess what? Door number one opened. I lost! That’s when this very nice man took me over to the courtesy desk and told them to issue me $20 dollars in free play script.
OK, OK that was a little dramatic, but after playing penny and nickel machines the whole night, I was a wee bit overwhelmed. I quickly left his area and looked to see how my husband was doing in the tournament. Lo and behold, he had made the final table and ended up coming in the money. He definitely made more money then I that night. I went to bed happy though looking forward to the next day.
My cousin and his beautiful wife drove from Memphis to meet us for lunch. Loved being with them. Thanked them for getting us our room and for a delicious lunch and they left after spending a little time at the dice table. I really love this cousin. He is a real “mensch”. For those not familiar with the word, it is from the Yiddish language and means a very good person: a person of integrity and honor. The whole family luvs him!
That night a couple from high school that I had not seen in over forty years also drove in from Memphis to have dinner with us. We had reconnected on Facebook a couple of years earlier. Before the trip she said to me, “Remember we are old now “. I told her that old is just a state of mind and that physical beauty is fleeting and attitude is all that counts.We dined at the hotel’s steak house. They were, simply put, a totally beautiful couple and it was a wonderful evening catching up and reminiscing.
The next morning we drove home doing our own reminiscing on the past few days and agreeing we had had lots of fun. It had turned out to be everything we had wanted. It was not a glamorous getaway… yet it served its purpose; in fact, we started planning our next “escape”. Stay tuned…..
