CA-CHING!!!!

Last Wednesday Grandpa and I traveled to Harrah's Cherokee Casino to celebrate our anniversary. We had been there years ago on one of our visits to Tennessee before we purchased our home. Back then, it was a tiny little casino with hardly any slot machines. Boy, is it different now!! It's now this huge hotel-casino complex where you can't help but get lost in. We reserved a room and invited Uncle Eric and his wife, Mary to join us. Eric is Grandpa's childhood friend and was the best man at our wedding. They live in Cleveland, Tennessee. Now, I'm not a big fan of casinos; can be a little too noisy and smokey for me. But, Grandpa wanted to celebrate getting his first Social Security check and the timing was great with our anniversary. The room was great, company wonderful, but lets get to the really exciting events of our stay.........

We met Eric and Mary at the Food Court in the casino and then everyone went their separate ways. I don't particularly like the slot machines that Grandpa likes to play; the the popular ones....like when your try to get 7-7-7 in a row. Too boring and a little too costly for my taste. So, I headed out to find a machine that was more my style; cheaper and "cutsie". I like the machines that have animals or people bouncing around along with the 'free' screens or spins that come up occasionally. To me that breaks the boredom and keeps me interested. I wondered around (trying to stay in the non-smoking area) and then I saw it!!  I don't remember the name of the machine as I write this but do remember it had fish and mermaids. AND, it was a penny machine! Everything I was looking for!!! I sat myself down and inserted my $20 bill. I played for a short time and was having some leisurely fun. Every once in a while a mist would come up and engulf the mermaid for some reason and that was fun to watch. In addition, I was having fun talking with the lady next to me. That's me.....I'm a people person and will talk to anyone just about anywhere, anytime. It drives Grandpa nuts!  But, I digress.....sorry.

Anyway, I was plugging along and hit the free spin screen once and won a little extra which kept me sitting me there longer. Like I said, I was having fun; won a little, lost a little which was ok with me since I only had $20 invested. I hit the free spin screen again (now this is a screen where you win a certain number of free spins and the machine rolls for you). So, I sat there and watched as the machine did it's thing. All of a sudden, it started to make more noise and I was now on a different free spin screen. Then.......it got louder and louder and the light on the top of the machine went on. And, I couldn't play anymore. The machine was froze. I asked the lady next to me if she knew what was going on; she's now laughing and said "Yeah, you just won". I glanced back at the machine and I see this number of 80,000+ credits flashing. I was happy because I thought I had just won 80-some dollars. Then I feel a tap on my shoulder; turn around and see one of the floor people standing there congratulating me. He introduces himself, like I'm going to remember his name. In all the excitement that followed, it finally hit me......I had won over $800! 

So, he puts his key in the machine and starts pressing buttons while at the same time talking into his walkie-talkie thingy. Up comes another floor person. The first one is telling me that "This is.....(yeah, like I'm going to remember his name too in my shock) and he has to verify what I'm doing". Ok........they handed me a book that I had to sign my name that I have accepted the win of $838!!

CA-CHING!

My mouth dropped open when floor person No. 1 then pulls out a wad of cash and starts counting it out into my hand. I thought I would get one of those slips right out of the machine, have to take it to the cashier and fill out papers for tax purposes. He said no, you only have to fill out a W-2 if it's over $1,200 so he paid me off right there and reset the machine.

So, I have this money tightly gripped in my hand and was going to leave when he said that I still had some credits left to play. I asked him if I do and I lose those credits, they weren't going to take my money back, were they? He laughed and said no. Now, while all this is happening the lady next to me is just cracking up. Well, I didn't want to hang onto this money and keep playing, afraid I would drop it or something so I stuffed it in my bra......you can imagine the reaction of the floor people and my lady friend to that move!  Anyways, I played the last of the credits and headed out to find Grandpa (holding my hands tightly against my chest). I walked up to him and asked him "Does one of my boobs look bigger than the other?" He gave me a strange look and then I pulled out the cash. He didn't believe it....especially on a penny machine. That was day one......

On day two, I couldn't find the same 'cute' machine so I chose another; a 2 penny machine, "Jackpot Party"; another one with pop-up screens. Well, I racked up $300 on that one!!

CA-CHING!!

It was a wonderful trip and the ride to the casino is so beautiful! We go up the Smokey Mountains on the Tennessee side and come back down on the North Carolina side. Breathtaking is the only way to describe it.

And......my opinion of casinos?  Just might be changing. (-: