Post VII - Season's Harvest

Went up here for Lee's birthday this weekend and to do a little gambling.  It was a pretty good adventure.  We (Doug, Steph, Patti, and I in one car; Lee and Erin in the other) left from Camillus at about 4 or so and scooted up the Thruway.  We took advantage of the valet parking and went inside.  After a little while, Lee and Erin met us and we all headed up to get some dinner.

The line at the buffet was medium long, but after about 20 minutes we got up and got our table.  They came around to take our drink orders.  There was no real iced tea, only soda gun iced tea.  I will write more about the evils of soda gun iced tea at a later date.  My second choice was Dr. Pepper (I think I will also write an entry on the laziness of various Dr. Pepper knock-offs), which they also did not have.  But they did have Cherry Coke, so that was an acceptable choice.

My first trip up to the buffet, I got:

• Chicken Teriyaki sushi - not a really strong teriyaki flavor, but an interesting design.  It was chicken in the middle, then the seaweed wrap, then rice.  On the outside there were some blackened sesame seeds which were kind of cool.
• Fried shrimp with cocktail sauce - the shrimp were crispy and fairly good sized...call it 24 - 28 size?  Maybe?  The cocktail sauce was weak, and in desperate need of additional horseradish.  Once this was achieved though, it wasn't half bad.
• Over at the carving station, I got some roast beef and horseradish.  It was flavorful and tender.  A little more well than I like it, but not so much as to be offensive, and closer to the middle may have been more rare.
• A freakish, but delicious, taco - the freakishness was my fault, as I had to build it myself.  The deliciousness was to the credit of the cooks.

My second trip up, I got:

• More fried shrimp
• More sushi
• Orange chicken - this had a nice, fresh flavor to it.  Despite having to sit in the sauce, the chicken was not mushy.  The sauce had a distinct orange flavor and brightness to it which you don't normally see.  It was a nice change to the "normal" orange chicken you get when you're out.
• Finally, I tried a dish which looked scary, but was tasty.  Ham fried rice.
  Ham.
  Fried.
  Rice.
  It was basically pork fried rice with slight background notes of smoke and salt.  Nothing to write home about, but nothing to avoid.
• The coffee, of which I had 2 cups, was some of the best coffee I've had in years.

After we were done eating, we repaired to the line to check in and get cards for the folks who didn't have them.  Then we all went our separate ways to the floor.  I dropped $20 in the slots and lost it in all of five minutes.

I moved on to the Craps table where my luck soon changed.  I was at a $15 table (the minimum bet is $15) and playing the "Don't Pass" line.  Started with $60 in chips, since this would allow me to play and lose 4 times and still walk out with a little cash in my pocket.  Instead, though, I managed to walk out $35 ahead...which ain't half bad.

That's the secret of gambling, kids - if you get ahead, quit.

Other things I saw at the casino-

• A midget with a HUGE pompadour standing on a stool dealing blackjack.
• A woman with one leg, in a wheelchair, wearing a purple sweatsuit, smoking a cigarillo.
• A young lady who appeared to be a prostitute (HINTS: we saw her in close conversation with no fewer than 6 guys throughout the night, she was wearing a dress roughly the size of a men's medium t-shirt, she had matching fleur de lis tattoos on each of her ankles) wandering in the lobby.
• At Wegmans on our way home, I saw a hipster buying seeds at 930 PM.