cheap thrills

So, there is this Reno trip that many people I work with sign up for every July. For $35.00 per person you get a stay for two nights, all the alcohol you can drink and a sit down banquet dinner. There are a few catches; you have to gamble in their casino at least 4 hours each of the two days and the casino isn’t the hippest swankiest place. What a deal!!!

So, my cousin and I headed up there after work on Friday. Once we arrived, I picked up my envelope of debauchery and quickly found our hotel room. It was past 8:00 pm by the time we arrived so we decided to hit the buffet which was serving all you can eat New York Strip cooked to order. On our way to the buffet we stopped by the nearest bar and picked up our first of many complimentary drinks of the weekend. (in order to make life easy, you are provided with a name tag to wear the entire weekend to identify yourself as a VIP and be handed free drinks) Dinner was a little tacky but delicious none the less. We got in about 3 hours of our required 4 hours of gambling and many complimentary drinks. I think I fell in love…all the Kettel One I can drink? Are you kidding? I now pronounce you Vodka and Wife.

My "passport to drunkeness"

The next morning we took a short walk across the street and drank a leisurely cup of coffee at Starbucks before we went to breakfast. We were starving. They had a Mel’s Diner in the casino and it seemed like a safe bet (non pun intended). When our breakfast arrived, it was cold, stone cold. And, I had ordered a biscuit without the gelatinous gravy, but there my biscuit sat drowning under the weight of the gravy mass. So, I asked for another biscuit. And she NEVER came back until the very end and was surprised that I no longer wanted my biscuit. I had some ideas on what she could do with it, but I refrained. So, we went up to pay the bill and when the manager asked how everything was. I was honest; “our meal tasted great, but it was stone cold”. He stated that he would take care of our entire bill and hoped that we would return. ANOTHER FREE THING ON MY CHEAP WEEKEND!!!! Yeah!

Anyway, more gambling, more drinking, more eating and a trip to the local Costco was on the agenda for the afternoon. We decided to soak before getting ready for our banquet dinner and this required another trip to the bar…lemon drops and bottled water. So, in the hot tub we soaked the toxins out of our systems and I sweated away my Kettel One. After we got ready, we went early to the banquet to buy our raffle tickets, pick our table and of course, take advantage of the hosted cocktail hour, hour and half, two hours. Who’s counting, really?

We ended up sitting with the sweetest Japanese family at dinner and had a great time. For dinner cocktails we had margaritas on the rocks with Patron floaters… Dinner was delicious but we didn’t win any of the gift and cash raffle items during dinner.

After dinner, we headed down to gamble and wait for the 3 additional raffle drawings. On the second drawing, my cousin won $50.00 in chips. YEAH! More cocktails, a trip to the cashiers and up to our room to crash for the evening.

We decided to head to Mel’s again for our breakfast and things were infinitely better… After breakfast we packed it up and headed home.

Reno is hardly a place I would frequent on a normal basis, but for $35.00, free drinks, a free dinner and raffle prizes, I can make an exception.

Adios Reno, until next year.