Friday, April 11, 2008

JACKPOT - Cabin Fever Comes to an End!

I have been cooped up in my house for way, way too long. It’s not for lack of desire to get or, or for trying. It’s just one of those things that you have to adapt to when your body becomes as unpredictably uncooperative as mine (and occasionally, the HipHubby’s).

Having the cast on hasn’t exactly made getting out of the house any easier. With the cast in place, I can no longer sit in my favorite position, which happens to also be the most comfortable for long periods of time. Without being able to change positions, get wet, get sand down the cast, it’s been a bit of a challenge trying to get the heck of out dodge.

Today, though, all the barriers were mowed down and my desire to break free finally triumphed! The HipHubby and I went out and spent a fun afternoon at the casino.

Our local casino is no Atlantic City or Vegas, that’s for sure. It’s a tiny little place on the desert-like east end of the island with a dozen gaming tables, a few hundred machines (all slots except for eight video poker machines) a small (and as yet unlaunched) sports book area, a snack bar, and a bar that hosts live bands on the weekends. But if you enjoy gambling (as we do now and again), it’s more than enough to have a good time for a few hours.

Which is exactly what we did today.

The drive over, which takes between 20 and 25 minutes (it’s a 15 mile drive, far closer as the crow flies), was GORGEOUS. The sun was shining brightly, and the only things breaking up the endless blue sky were a few widely scattered cottony clouds. With the arrival of spring, everything is in bloom again, and there were flowers everywhere you looked.

But most beautiful of all was the water. The majority of the drive between our house and the casino runs parallel to the coast, and the views of the water can be breathtaking. They were nothing less than that today. There had to be half a dozen different colors visible, including fluorescent turquoise near the reef shallows, pure white as the water breaks over the reef formations, and the clear deep blue of the open water. Just seeing this was more than enough to shake off any traces of cabin fever.

Since we hadn’t been out in so loong, I wanted to commemorate the occasion by getting our picture taken in front of the dolphin fountain at the entrance to the casino. HipHubby and I playing tourist at the local casino.The HipHubby recruited a sweet man who works security to snap the photo -- our photographer du jour thought it was great that after four years of living here, we were still silly enough to play tourist now and again.

The day just got better from there. We enjoyed a tasty lunch of popcorn shrimp (a snack bar specialty), then hit the machines since the HH’s game of choice, roulette (which he has cleaned up on in the past despite it being the table game with the worst odds), isn’t up and running in the afternoon. No big wins to speak of, but we did play a couple of penny machines for a few hours on about $7.50. Cheaper than going to a movie, for sure.

We stayed under our budget for the day, I came home in no real pain, and we managed to get out of there before the heavy smokers arrived. In my book, that’s a jackpot win all on its own.

Sharing a basket of popcorn shrimp, fries, and a soda: $9.50.
Two hours of play on the penny slot machines: $7.50.
The gallon of gas that got you to the casino: $2.89.
An afternoon out of the house, having fun with the love of your life: PRICELESS.

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