Monday, August 22, 2011

Get Away: Part One

It was time.
We like to do it every year.
My friend, her daughter,
Becky and I find somewhere to escape to
before the dreaded wonderful new school year begins.

For Becky,
it means her Senior year.
For Lindsey,
it's her first year of college.

Teresa, the girls and I have been friends
since the girls were two months old.
One year, we ventured all the
way to South Dakota.
Last year,
it was camping.

Luckily,
we can still get two 18 year old
girls to join us.

This year, we traveled about an hour from home,
to the "other" side of the cities.

We began here for lunch:

one of many local casinos,
which is known for this:




$9.99 all you can eat.
I assure you,
we all showed great restraint.
Especially a friend,
who shall remain nameless,
that kept piling 
vegetables
onto her plate.

Next stop,
our hotel.
If you remember my camping trip,
the campground I had made reservations at,
turned out to be creepy.
Wouldn't you know it,
this hotel turned out to be yucky!
Imagine it if you will...
The dank smell of mold
wafting up your nostrils upon entering your room.
A very fast inspection revealed
a hole in one bedspread,
a mattress on one bed that
sank severely to the middle
and had a very strong
resemblance to the Grand Canyon,
and dark, dingy lighting to say the least.
What is it with me and reserving
places anyway?

Oh well.
We were not to be deterred.
We decided to pursue
more welcoming quarters.
In the midst of a Pow Wow,
a dog show
and
some big sporting event going on,
we were able to secure
a lovely room!
So off we went,
had a quick dip in the
hot tub and pool,
then readied ourselves for some...

horse racing!
It was new to Becky and I so our
lovely companions made reservations for a table
which looked like this:

Pretty fancy, schmancy for this
little chick!

It was
so we had 4 hours of
entertainment for $1.00
per person.
Well, of course
our bets were in addition to that
but with 8 races and an average of
$2.00 a bet, it was a fun, cheap
night of entertainment.

The horses were beautiful
and we reveled in their speed.
Everyone won a little
and that made it even more pleasant.
Becky proclaimed
"I won a wad!"
at her $14.00 win.
We were right above the winners
circle which was delightful.
Teresa and the girls
enjoyed running to the paddocks
to view the horses
up close and personal
(I'm not 100% sure it was the horses and NOT the jockeys they were eyeing)!

Back to the hotel
for a little chatter
and a good night's sleep
which was needed for day 2...

to be continued.

16 comments:

Kathy said...

Sounds like fun. I'll be waiting for the next installment.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

You do have bad reservation luck! Hopefully that'll change :-) Sounds like you had a fun time - I would've liked that buffet!!! I've chowed down at several in Atlantic City - yum!

Unknown said...

Sounds like an awesome time!

TexWisGirl said...

sounds like a neat time. :)

Donna said...

Can't wait to see day two!!
Glad y'all had fun!
hughugs

Susan said...

Hello Jill, thank you for visiting my blog, it was a lovely surprise. I look forward to reading through your previous posts. You've a very friendly blog.
Your trip away sounded like a lot of fun (shame about the hotel room... ah well, these things happen don't they).
I always love a good buffet too. Cheerio for now, Susan :D)

Raindrops and Daisies said...

Sounds like you had a lovely time.


Fiona

Sharon said...

Fun, fun, fun! Except the motel room, I don't know how the managers think they can get away with even having rooms like that! I am nearly sure I have been there, at least once!
Those all you can eat buffets, make their money on people like me (and lose it on my DH, LOL! We are the perfect couple!)
The horse races, sound very exciting, I'm sure it was interesting!

My Mind's Eye said...

You 4 ladies know how to have fun!
Thank goodness you were able to find better accommodations.
We're looking forward to Part II
Madi and Mom

Paula said...

Glad you had a nice time. Will be watching for more info.

SZM said...

How fun!

Michaele said...

This really sounds fun!

Young Adventures... said...

Fun! I've always wanted to go to the races. I think it is so cool that your friend and the daughters have been doing this for so long.

Nancy said...

What a fun first day -- we used to go to the dog races years ago, but now it's just a casino where the dog track used to be. It is exciting when you win! :)

Ms. G said...

How fun to take a 'girls' trip with the daughters. I would like to do that some time with my bunch : )

Reena said...

You are something! What fun!