Summer of Cal/Nev - Day 7
“Stranded in Laughlin” It sounds like a book or movie title but I’m not sure if it’s a comedy or tragedy. With the car still in the shop, I’m down to water taxi or feet and then there’s the what to do story line. Of course, I’d be here either way. I just don’t like the idea of not having the choice.
After breakfast and the usual morning routines taken care of, I headed down to the water taxi pier. There was a couple there also waiting. We began chatting about all the fish along the pier and it turns out most of the large fish are carp, and according to the gentleman, carp are not good eating. However, there are a few trout swimming around there as well. They’re a Harley biker couple and when I told them about my car situation, the lady told me about when she and her husband were on a ride in Alaska, her bike broke down and they had to ship it back to California to be fixed and then they had to ride tandem all the way back, so my troubles aren’t so bad. They come to Laughlin often. I told them I enjoy it here but avoid it during biker week. It was funny that they said they avoid biker week as well. “It just gets too rowdy and crowded and the hotels jack up all the prices.”
I took the water taxi (a neat way to get around) to the Riverside where I thought I’d take in the movie, THIS IS THE END. This was written and directed by Seth Rogan. It’s about all these hip stars playing themselves when Judgment Day arrives. It was written for laughs and there were many cameos such as Rhianna and Emma Watson. This movie is without a doubt the worst movie I’ve seen this year. It was gross, stupid, and I don’t think I laughed twice. It’s okay. I don’t mind seeing a clunker every once in a while. It makes me appreciate the good ones all that much more. (Besides, any excuse for theater popcorn)
I took a walk down to the corner where the bridge to Bullhead is located and wanted to take a picture of the memorial there. I’ve taken one here before and was surprised how many people who have come to Laughlin didn’t know it was even here.
The Veterans Memorial at Laughlin, NV
The plaque at the Memorial
Across the street is a statue of Don Laughlin (hence the town namesake), who built the Riverside, the first hotel then added casino here on the river. Behind the statue is a new rest area and hiking trail that just opened at the end of last year. You can’t miss the beautiful pedestrian bridge as you enter Laughlin. I took a walk over to it. Aside from the few homeless folks camped out around it, there wasn’t anyone else here. The trail across the bridge leads to the Davis Dam. I thought I’d give it a shot so I could take a pic for you of the dam; however, it was about seven miles, and the temperature was getting into the three digits, so I took a picture of it in the distance.
The Don Laughlin statue at the entrance to Laughlin, NV
The pedestrian bridge at Laughlin to the Davis Dam
The Davis Dam is way in the background--sorry, that's all ya get.
I next headed over to the Laughlin Visitors Center, which is across the street from the Riverside. I’ve passed this play dozens of times, but never thought of checking it out, so today’s a good time. It’s a nice little place staffed by a couple of very nice and helpful people. They tell me that everything is free, so take one of anything I’d like. Against the walls were the hundreds of cards advertising southern Nevada and Arizona tourist locations (what you’d see at the door entrance of a Denny’s on a rack). There were also local newspapers and a sales office if you’re interested in real estate, which was closed today. Another nice touch was they also have a computer set up that you’re free to use to check your emails.
The Laughlin Visitor's Center
The plan was to do no gambling today, so I thought I’d take the Riverwalk that runs along the river connected all the casinos from the Riverside to the Golden Nugget. It was already almost 3 PM and the heat was taking its toll. I did break my promise a little. I thought I’d play Four Card Keno for nickels in each casino for $5 a pop to see how I come out. First the Riverside was a nothing. For cards with six numbers picked on each one. Nada.
I walked to the next casino, Aquarius. I’ve reported on this place before. People are surprised, considering that I don’t stay here, that it’s my number one recommendation to stay in Laughlin. The only reason I do stay at Harrahs and the Riverside are simply because they offer me the free rooms, and if that was to ever end, I’d change my allegiance to the Aquarius. The rooms are very nice, the casino is clean and modern, and they actually have some full pay video poker here (surprising because this is owned by the same people who own the Stratosphere, and I’ve written how terrible their machines are). An aside note to reader Lolly, who asked me if there was any decent play in Laughlin and I mistakenly said there wasn’t. There is a bank of full pay everything here and the bank, which is located close to the Outback Steakhouse, is clearly labeled 100% payback. I failed to mention this because the slot point ratios on these machines are 10 to 1, but they indeed do have full pay deuces, DDB (10/6), DB (10,7), and JoB (9/6). Because I’m a slot point whore, I still opt for the 8/5 bonus poker, which can be found all over the casino, including the high limit area.
The Aquarius Hotel and Casino taken from the parking lot of the Riverside
So, while I’m losing my $5 on the Four Card Poker, I want to relate to you what I call, “The Crazy Old Man” story. As I’m playing, I hear a familiar ding, ding, ding of a bonus round be triggered. I look over and there’s this very old guy playing a China Mystery penny game. He had bonus signals across the screen and had won 93 spins. This game offers you a choice. You can either take the free spins or take a jackpot, which changes depending on how many spins you have. This guy was betting the minimum of thirty cents. The offer was $117. I wanted to shout to him, “Take the $117!!!” I’ve played these machines and have received huge spin totals as well and was disappointed more times than happy. However, he took to spins. On the other end of this bank of machines was some guy who was paying the maximum $3.00 per spin on another China Mystery game, who was apparently so upset that this guy had this huge bonus that he cashed out mumbling to himself (I know that feeling as well). Sure enough, the 93 spins (along with a retrigger of 16 more during the process) came away with $23. I just shook my head. The story doesn’t end here. I watch this crazy old man then walk to the machine where the angry guy left and he put in his $23 ticket and began to play, again for the minimum thirty cents. Within about seven or eight spins, I hear it again. Sure enough, this time 128 spins. He called his wife over who I will now call his “crazy old wife” because he asked her if he should take the spins or the jackpot cash (I couldn’t make out the amount offered this time because the crazy old wife’s body was in the way). They took the spins and get this, about three spins later triggered 140 more spins—I’m not kidding. They now had 268 free spins. I have NEVER seen this before. I’d love to give you a good ending to this story, but I had no intention of sitting there for the 25 minutes or more watching all the spins. Of course, as I write this, I’m now wishing I did. Hopefully, the crazy old couple won a ton of money to spend on their crazy young grandchildren at Christmas.
It was back to the Riverwalk as I headed over to the Edgewater. On the path along with way were a couple of men drinking out of paper sacks sitting on a small lawn area and were surrounded by sleeping ducks. One thing you notice here is that the wildlife is very comfortable around humans. They won’t let you touch them, but they just hang out right along with you. The Edgewater is the “ugly sister” of the Colorado Belle. The rooms are worse, the casino is more worn, and the sports book is just plain antiquated (I’m sure there’s some geezer in the backroom with headphones calling out the winners from the ticker tape). There’s not much doing here and I didn’t stay long other than leaving them five dollars lost at Keno. This is the reason I don’t play Keno.
Looking up at the Colorado Belle (not a real boat)
Next I headed to the next hotel, the Colorado Belle. I’m not going to say much here. I found another Four Card Keno game for nickels and aside from on little hit of 5-spots for 72 credits, I end up losing my five bucks. However, I did take a picture of their new gift shop. This spot in the casino has been used for many purposes, first slot machines, then a poker room, then a tournament area, then back to slot machines. When nothing works, build a sure thing: an overpriced gift shop. To be quite honest, they did a nice job.
The newly opened gift shot at the Colorado Belle
As I started back to the Riverwalk, I decided to stop here and go on down to the Water Taxi pier because it occurred to me that I’m here again without a car tomorrow, and I’ll need something to do then as well, so I’ll finish up the mini-tour with the rest of the casinos in Laughlin and my ridiculous quest to win money playing Keno for nickels. I took the taxi back to Harrahs. I remembered that it was time to pick up the gift crystal ware, which was the promo I used to get the rooms. They give you one box when you arrive and the second box on the last day (tricky, this marketing team). It was after 4 PM, which meant the Diamond Lounge was open, so I went in to see what they were offering today. Again, no surprise: cold cuts, pasta salad, and soup. I had a few tortilla chips with salsa and a drink watching the never-ending ESPN Sports Center coverage of the NBA championship (“Bob, I’m here in the locker room with an eyewitness report of LeBron James lacing up his shoes—oh!, almost a knot, but he caught it just in time!—back to you in the studio”).
After about an hour, I went to the café and ordered a turkey wrap to go and was back in my room watching re-runs of THE BIG BANG THEORY—ah, another fine day in Laughlin!
More tomorrow.
“Stranded in Laughlin” It sounds like a book or movie title but I’m not sure if it’s a comedy or tragedy. With the car still in the shop, I’m down to water taxi or feet and then there’s the what to do story line. Of course, I’d be here either way. I just don’t like the idea of not having the choice.
After breakfast and the usual morning routines taken care of, I headed down to the water taxi pier. There was a couple there also waiting. We began chatting about all the fish along the pier and it turns out most of the large fish are carp, and according to the gentleman, carp are not good eating. However, there are a few trout swimming around there as well. They’re a Harley biker couple and when I told them about my car situation, the lady told me about when she and her husband were on a ride in Alaska, her bike broke down and they had to ship it back to California to be fixed and then they had to ride tandem all the way back, so my troubles aren’t so bad. They come to Laughlin often. I told them I enjoy it here but avoid it during biker week. It was funny that they said they avoid biker week as well. “It just gets too rowdy and crowded and the hotels jack up all the prices.”
I took the water taxi (a neat way to get around) to the Riverside where I thought I’d take in the movie, THIS IS THE END. This was written and directed by Seth Rogan. It’s about all these hip stars playing themselves when Judgment Day arrives. It was written for laughs and there were many cameos such as Rhianna and Emma Watson. This movie is without a doubt the worst movie I’ve seen this year. It was gross, stupid, and I don’t think I laughed twice. It’s okay. I don’t mind seeing a clunker every once in a while. It makes me appreciate the good ones all that much more. (Besides, any excuse for theater popcorn)
I took a walk down to the corner where the bridge to Bullhead is located and wanted to take a picture of the memorial there. I’ve taken one here before and was surprised how many people who have come to Laughlin didn’t know it was even here.
The Veterans Memorial at Laughlin, NV
The plaque at the Memorial
Across the street is a statue of Don Laughlin (hence the town namesake), who built the Riverside, the first hotel then added casino here on the river. Behind the statue is a new rest area and hiking trail that just opened at the end of last year. You can’t miss the beautiful pedestrian bridge as you enter Laughlin. I took a walk over to it. Aside from the few homeless folks camped out around it, there wasn’t anyone else here. The trail across the bridge leads to the Davis Dam. I thought I’d give it a shot so I could take a pic for you of the dam; however, it was about seven miles, and the temperature was getting into the three digits, so I took a picture of it in the distance.
The Don Laughlin statue at the entrance to Laughlin, NV
The pedestrian bridge at Laughlin to the Davis Dam
The Davis Dam is way in the background--sorry, that's all ya get.
I next headed over to the Laughlin Visitors Center, which is across the street from the Riverside. I’ve passed this play dozens of times, but never thought of checking it out, so today’s a good time. It’s a nice little place staffed by a couple of very nice and helpful people. They tell me that everything is free, so take one of anything I’d like. Against the walls were the hundreds of cards advertising southern Nevada and Arizona tourist locations (what you’d see at the door entrance of a Denny’s on a rack). There were also local newspapers and a sales office if you’re interested in real estate, which was closed today. Another nice touch was they also have a computer set up that you’re free to use to check your emails.
The Laughlin Visitor's Center
The plan was to do no gambling today, so I thought I’d take the Riverwalk that runs along the river connected all the casinos from the Riverside to the Golden Nugget. It was already almost 3 PM and the heat was taking its toll. I did break my promise a little. I thought I’d play Four Card Keno for nickels in each casino for $5 a pop to see how I come out. First the Riverside was a nothing. For cards with six numbers picked on each one. Nada.
I walked to the next casino, Aquarius. I’ve reported on this place before. People are surprised, considering that I don’t stay here, that it’s my number one recommendation to stay in Laughlin. The only reason I do stay at Harrahs and the Riverside are simply because they offer me the free rooms, and if that was to ever end, I’d change my allegiance to the Aquarius. The rooms are very nice, the casino is clean and modern, and they actually have some full pay video poker here (surprising because this is owned by the same people who own the Stratosphere, and I’ve written how terrible their machines are). An aside note to reader Lolly, who asked me if there was any decent play in Laughlin and I mistakenly said there wasn’t. There is a bank of full pay everything here and the bank, which is located close to the Outback Steakhouse, is clearly labeled 100% payback. I failed to mention this because the slot point ratios on these machines are 10 to 1, but they indeed do have full pay deuces, DDB (10/6), DB (10,7), and JoB (9/6). Because I’m a slot point whore, I still opt for the 8/5 bonus poker, which can be found all over the casino, including the high limit area.
The Aquarius Hotel and Casino taken from the parking lot of the Riverside
So, while I’m losing my $5 on the Four Card Poker, I want to relate to you what I call, “The Crazy Old Man” story. As I’m playing, I hear a familiar ding, ding, ding of a bonus round be triggered. I look over and there’s this very old guy playing a China Mystery penny game. He had bonus signals across the screen and had won 93 spins. This game offers you a choice. You can either take the free spins or take a jackpot, which changes depending on how many spins you have. This guy was betting the minimum of thirty cents. The offer was $117. I wanted to shout to him, “Take the $117!!!” I’ve played these machines and have received huge spin totals as well and was disappointed more times than happy. However, he took to spins. On the other end of this bank of machines was some guy who was paying the maximum $3.00 per spin on another China Mystery game, who was apparently so upset that this guy had this huge bonus that he cashed out mumbling to himself (I know that feeling as well). Sure enough, the 93 spins (along with a retrigger of 16 more during the process) came away with $23. I just shook my head. The story doesn’t end here. I watch this crazy old man then walk to the machine where the angry guy left and he put in his $23 ticket and began to play, again for the minimum thirty cents. Within about seven or eight spins, I hear it again. Sure enough, this time 128 spins. He called his wife over who I will now call his “crazy old wife” because he asked her if he should take the spins or the jackpot cash (I couldn’t make out the amount offered this time because the crazy old wife’s body was in the way). They took the spins and get this, about three spins later triggered 140 more spins—I’m not kidding. They now had 268 free spins. I have NEVER seen this before. I’d love to give you a good ending to this story, but I had no intention of sitting there for the 25 minutes or more watching all the spins. Of course, as I write this, I’m now wishing I did. Hopefully, the crazy old couple won a ton of money to spend on their crazy young grandchildren at Christmas.
It was back to the Riverwalk as I headed over to the Edgewater. On the path along with way were a couple of men drinking out of paper sacks sitting on a small lawn area and were surrounded by sleeping ducks. One thing you notice here is that the wildlife is very comfortable around humans. They won’t let you touch them, but they just hang out right along with you. The Edgewater is the “ugly sister” of the Colorado Belle. The rooms are worse, the casino is more worn, and the sports book is just plain antiquated (I’m sure there’s some geezer in the backroom with headphones calling out the winners from the ticker tape). There’s not much doing here and I didn’t stay long other than leaving them five dollars lost at Keno. This is the reason I don’t play Keno.
Looking up at the Colorado Belle (not a real boat)
Next I headed to the next hotel, the Colorado Belle. I’m not going to say much here. I found another Four Card Keno game for nickels and aside from on little hit of 5-spots for 72 credits, I end up losing my five bucks. However, I did take a picture of their new gift shop. This spot in the casino has been used for many purposes, first slot machines, then a poker room, then a tournament area, then back to slot machines. When nothing works, build a sure thing: an overpriced gift shop. To be quite honest, they did a nice job.
The newly opened gift shot at the Colorado Belle
As I started back to the Riverwalk, I decided to stop here and go on down to the Water Taxi pier because it occurred to me that I’m here again without a car tomorrow, and I’ll need something to do then as well, so I’ll finish up the mini-tour with the rest of the casinos in Laughlin and my ridiculous quest to win money playing Keno for nickels. I took the taxi back to Harrahs. I remembered that it was time to pick up the gift crystal ware, which was the promo I used to get the rooms. They give you one box when you arrive and the second box on the last day (tricky, this marketing team). It was after 4 PM, which meant the Diamond Lounge was open, so I went in to see what they were offering today. Again, no surprise: cold cuts, pasta salad, and soup. I had a few tortilla chips with salsa and a drink watching the never-ending ESPN Sports Center coverage of the NBA championship (“Bob, I’m here in the locker room with an eyewitness report of LeBron James lacing up his shoes—oh!, almost a knot, but he caught it just in time!—back to you in the studio”).
After about an hour, I went to the café and ordered a turkey wrap to go and was back in my room watching re-runs of THE BIG BANG THEORY—ah, another fine day in Laughlin!
More tomorrow.
