We had Vegas & Chester before we ventured out for our "Great Escape", so we were out to get the remaining 4 props to complete our 6.
After some trip plans I worked out on AAA, I came up with the following plan. Anytime I ever talked about going to either Joliet or Horseshoe Indiana, my husband always said he wanted to go to Corvette Central in Sawyer MI or Bowling Green Kentucky. So I checked it out & decided that we could do both. He has an 84 Corvette which needs restoration.
We had our Garmin (we call her Garma), thank goodness, which really kept us on track even when we goofed. These GPS units are one of the greatest inventions in my opinion.
We started our adventure on Monday, Sept. 12.
MONDAY
We left at 8:40a.m. and arrived in Sawyer MI at 12:50. We weren't sure exactly what the place would be, and it really was just an order house with a little showroom display. It is a pretty large facilty. We should have called first as we could have taken a tour of their manufacturing area. Hubby did order a stainless steel fuel line which ended up having to be shipped as they did not have one there. They are sending it to our home with no shipping charge. We had lunch near there and proceeded to our final destination of the day at 3:00, Harrah's Joliet.
We arrived at Joliet at 3:30. We gained an hour here in the Central time zone. We checked in & then proceeded to play some VP. We knew that they didn't have very good pay schedules, so we didn't expect a lot. We went to the DL to eat. They had a pasta dish, as well as salad, soup breadsticks, and desserts. The girl at check-in was excited to show us around. Our drinks were $2 & $4. We played again after eating. Hubby went up to the room, and I stayed and played as I found a deuce game which was very entertaining and played way too late. It was a spin poker machine which I don't usually play, but I only played 1 line. We liked the place, but wouldn't be too inspired to return with the poor vp schedules. I did get the deuces so it was good.
TUESDAY
We had lunch at the DL, and left Joliet at 1:00. We arrived at St Louis at 6:00. It was around 96 when we arrived. We got settled in at the hotel then went to the DL to eat. They had Sweet & Sour chicken and a nice salad bar. We went to play VP for several hours not really winning. They were supposed to have some promotion for lottery tickets, but were giving a free buffet instead. We played some on Wednesday, and then went to the buffet before leaving for Metropolis. We liked this property a lot and wish we could have stayed longer. We left at 2:30. It poured all the way, and the temperatures were in the 60's.
WEDNESDAY
This drive was the worst of our trip with heavy rain all the way. We were very lucky to have great weather other than this day.
There wasn't a lot to say about this property. Video poker was the worst of the trip. We didn't stop at the DL as the sign said food only on weekends. We played for awhile, and took food to our room from Aces Diner before retiring for the evening. Hubby had a fried bologna sandwich & I had ham & cheese with shakes & onion rings. We left at 8:00 as we were heading for Bowling Green to visit the Corvette Factory & Museum.
THURSDAY
This was the nicest driving day. Kentucky is a really nice State. We arrived at the museum around 11:15. We had hamburgers at the diner, and purchased our passes for the museum & looked at a few displays. We drove over to the factory just a short way from the museum as we had a reservation for 12:45, and we had to arrive a half hour early. We had a pretty long walk from the parking area to the plant. They show a film with race drivers experiencing the speed of the Corvette while waiting for the tour to begin. Then they show a little clip about safety in the factory. You are not allowed to take purses, cameras, cell phones etc. as well as no open toe shoes. The tour was interesting, more so for hubby. It was neat to see all those brand new Corvettes and the checks they do to insure a quality product. As hubby was a toolmaker for Ford, he understands a lot of the processes. After the tour, we went back to the museum. We left about 4:30 to head to Horseshoe. We were a little concerned as we heard that the bridge over the Ohio river was closed for repairs.
We got lucky with the bridge as we probably missed the rush hour traffic arriving at Horseshoe a little before 8:30, now back on Eastern time. We parked in a garage which was the Casino garage. We hiked down to the hotel registration area, checked in and checked out the room. We decided to leave the car there and move it later to the other garage. I will be staying here for 3 nights, but hubby only 1. He will be going to our son's house, and my sister & her friend will be joining me. On Thursday they had happy hour at the DL from 7:00-9:00. We arrived there with just enough time to have 1 drink. We could have ordered more, but really one was enough for us. People really get into this free drink thing. They had drinks lined up, and some were taking a couple out with them. We were surprised that they were able to take them out. The place emptied pretty quickly after 9:00, lol! One thing here was the drinks were more costly than the others we visited. I guess they have to make up for happy hour.
We played vp for several hours. Their card readers on the machines were very slow and weird acting, but we got used to them. They have the system for ordering drinks on the machine which worked quite well. You push buttons to request what you want & they bring them to you. Funny thing is, we were both playing on hubby's card, and each ordered a drink. The guy brought hubby's drink, and I told him I also ordered one. He said it gets confusing when 2 people are playing on the same card. We said , busted lol! He brought my drink back then.
We walked back to the garage, and drove to the Hotel parking garage took our luggage to the room and went to bed. This was a pretty long day.
FRIDAY
We drove to the Casino parking garage as hubby was heading out later. We ate lunch at JB's Cafe on the 2nd Deck of the Casino. We played vp for a few hours on Deck 1. I walked back with him to the parking garage, and we said our goodbyes. I went back to the room to get my jacket and after all the exercise, I returned to the casino. I played for a few hours waiting for my sister to arrive. I finally heard from them and met them at the casino entrance. They went off to play slots. I went to get a snack at the DL as I hadn't eaten since lunch. My sister played slots for several hours. She called to tell me where she was as her friend headed back to the room. I got a royal in the wee hours of the morning on Deck 1 after playing for several hours. I decided to head over to where she was. For the first time ever, I left the royal on the machine. Funny story was that I played a long time on a hundred. I finally ran out and had a $5 ticket. I played for some time and was up to $60 when I hit the royal. I sat next to my sister and played a slot machine for a short while, and then we finally went to bed. I haven't played a slot machine in a long time and this session did not inspire me at all.
SATURDAY
We ate at Paula Deen's Buffet both Saturday & Sunday. They had a lot of that down home cooking including fried green tomatoes & okra, chicken pot pie, breakfast foods, oysters etc., way too much food. It was very good. At least we walked off a lot of it.
I took the girls to the DL in the evening & they let both of them in with me even though it said only 1 guest for a diamond player. The food was good. The only weird thing is that they give you little dessert plates. I guess they're afraid you'll take too much. They had fried chicken, sausage & kraut and some beef. They do have very poor service, but they do keep putting out food.
SUNDAY
We ate at the buffet again. My sister played slots while I watched a little of the Browns/Colts game. We left about 3:00. Hubby met me at my sister's house in Columbus where we visited for awhile before heading home. We got home at 1:00 am.
This was a great adventure. It was fun going to some new places. The only problem was several hours each day driving left little time to do much. Of course, I'm always happy playing vp.
We put on a total of 1600 miles. We averaged about 22 mi. to the gal. in our Marquis. Gas total was about $225.00
I did fairly well with my play, hubby not so well.
Now bring on our comps for a real good time!
I took a lot of pictures of the Corvette's, the St. Louis Arch & a few wins, but I'm having some difficulty trying to post.
After some trip plans I worked out on AAA, I came up with the following plan. Anytime I ever talked about going to either Joliet or Horseshoe Indiana, my husband always said he wanted to go to Corvette Central in Sawyer MI or Bowling Green Kentucky. So I checked it out & decided that we could do both. He has an 84 Corvette which needs restoration.
We had our Garmin (we call her Garma), thank goodness, which really kept us on track even when we goofed. These GPS units are one of the greatest inventions in my opinion.
We started our adventure on Monday, Sept. 12.
MONDAY
We left at 8:40a.m. and arrived in Sawyer MI at 12:50. We weren't sure exactly what the place would be, and it really was just an order house with a little showroom display. It is a pretty large facilty. We should have called first as we could have taken a tour of their manufacturing area. Hubby did order a stainless steel fuel line which ended up having to be shipped as they did not have one there. They are sending it to our home with no shipping charge. We had lunch near there and proceeded to our final destination of the day at 3:00, Harrah's Joliet.
We arrived at Joliet at 3:30. We gained an hour here in the Central time zone. We checked in & then proceeded to play some VP. We knew that they didn't have very good pay schedules, so we didn't expect a lot. We went to the DL to eat. They had a pasta dish, as well as salad, soup breadsticks, and desserts. The girl at check-in was excited to show us around. Our drinks were $2 & $4. We played again after eating. Hubby went up to the room, and I stayed and played as I found a deuce game which was very entertaining and played way too late. It was a spin poker machine which I don't usually play, but I only played 1 line. We liked the place, but wouldn't be too inspired to return with the poor vp schedules. I did get the deuces so it was good.
TUESDAY
We had lunch at the DL, and left Joliet at 1:00. We arrived at St Louis at 6:00. It was around 96 when we arrived. We got settled in at the hotel then went to the DL to eat. They had Sweet & Sour chicken and a nice salad bar. We went to play VP for several hours not really winning. They were supposed to have some promotion for lottery tickets, but were giving a free buffet instead. We played some on Wednesday, and then went to the buffet before leaving for Metropolis. We liked this property a lot and wish we could have stayed longer. We left at 2:30. It poured all the way, and the temperatures were in the 60's.
WEDNESDAY
This drive was the worst of our trip with heavy rain all the way. We were very lucky to have great weather other than this day.
There wasn't a lot to say about this property. Video poker was the worst of the trip. We didn't stop at the DL as the sign said food only on weekends. We played for awhile, and took food to our room from Aces Diner before retiring for the evening. Hubby had a fried bologna sandwich & I had ham & cheese with shakes & onion rings. We left at 8:00 as we were heading for Bowling Green to visit the Corvette Factory & Museum.
THURSDAY
This was the nicest driving day. Kentucky is a really nice State. We arrived at the museum around 11:15. We had hamburgers at the diner, and purchased our passes for the museum & looked at a few displays. We drove over to the factory just a short way from the museum as we had a reservation for 12:45, and we had to arrive a half hour early. We had a pretty long walk from the parking area to the plant. They show a film with race drivers experiencing the speed of the Corvette while waiting for the tour to begin. Then they show a little clip about safety in the factory. You are not allowed to take purses, cameras, cell phones etc. as well as no open toe shoes. The tour was interesting, more so for hubby. It was neat to see all those brand new Corvettes and the checks they do to insure a quality product. As hubby was a toolmaker for Ford, he understands a lot of the processes. After the tour, we went back to the museum. We left about 4:30 to head to Horseshoe. We were a little concerned as we heard that the bridge over the Ohio river was closed for repairs.
We got lucky with the bridge as we probably missed the rush hour traffic arriving at Horseshoe a little before 8:30, now back on Eastern time. We parked in a garage which was the Casino garage. We hiked down to the hotel registration area, checked in and checked out the room. We decided to leave the car there and move it later to the other garage. I will be staying here for 3 nights, but hubby only 1. He will be going to our son's house, and my sister & her friend will be joining me. On Thursday they had happy hour at the DL from 7:00-9:00. We arrived there with just enough time to have 1 drink. We could have ordered more, but really one was enough for us. People really get into this free drink thing. They had drinks lined up, and some were taking a couple out with them. We were surprised that they were able to take them out. The place emptied pretty quickly after 9:00, lol! One thing here was the drinks were more costly than the others we visited. I guess they have to make up for happy hour.
We played vp for several hours. Their card readers on the machines were very slow and weird acting, but we got used to them. They have the system for ordering drinks on the machine which worked quite well. You push buttons to request what you want & they bring them to you. Funny thing is, we were both playing on hubby's card, and each ordered a drink. The guy brought hubby's drink, and I told him I also ordered one. He said it gets confusing when 2 people are playing on the same card. We said , busted lol! He brought my drink back then.
We walked back to the garage, and drove to the Hotel parking garage took our luggage to the room and went to bed. This was a pretty long day.
FRIDAY
We drove to the Casino parking garage as hubby was heading out later. We ate lunch at JB's Cafe on the 2nd Deck of the Casino. We played vp for a few hours on Deck 1. I walked back with him to the parking garage, and we said our goodbyes. I went back to the room to get my jacket and after all the exercise, I returned to the casino. I played for a few hours waiting for my sister to arrive. I finally heard from them and met them at the casino entrance. They went off to play slots. I went to get a snack at the DL as I hadn't eaten since lunch. My sister played slots for several hours. She called to tell me where she was as her friend headed back to the room. I got a royal in the wee hours of the morning on Deck 1 after playing for several hours. I decided to head over to where she was. For the first time ever, I left the royal on the machine. Funny story was that I played a long time on a hundred. I finally ran out and had a $5 ticket. I played for some time and was up to $60 when I hit the royal. I sat next to my sister and played a slot machine for a short while, and then we finally went to bed. I haven't played a slot machine in a long time and this session did not inspire me at all.
SATURDAY
We ate at Paula Deen's Buffet both Saturday & Sunday. They had a lot of that down home cooking including fried green tomatoes & okra, chicken pot pie, breakfast foods, oysters etc., way too much food. It was very good. At least we walked off a lot of it.
I took the girls to the DL in the evening & they let both of them in with me even though it said only 1 guest for a diamond player. The food was good. The only weird thing is that they give you little dessert plates. I guess they're afraid you'll take too much. They had fried chicken, sausage & kraut and some beef. They do have very poor service, but they do keep putting out food.
SUNDAY
We ate at the buffet again. My sister played slots while I watched a little of the Browns/Colts game. We left about 3:00. Hubby met me at my sister's house in Columbus where we visited for awhile before heading home. We got home at 1:00 am.
This was a great adventure. It was fun going to some new places. The only problem was several hours each day driving left little time to do much. Of course, I'm always happy playing vp.
We put on a total of 1600 miles. We averaged about 22 mi. to the gal. in our Marquis. Gas total was about $225.00
I did fairly well with my play, hubby not so well.
Now bring on our comps for a real good time!
I took a lot of pictures of the Corvette's, the St. Louis Arch & a few wins, but I'm having some difficulty trying to post.
