Instead of a Christmas party, my office has a February Gala. This year, it was held at Tioga Downs Casino and Resort. It’s about a 30 minute drive from me, but we decided to stay the night. Since Brian’s work schedule is unpredictable, I turned the night into a girl’s night, bring my friend Alicia2.
We arrived early, at 3, to check into our room. The event started at 6 so we had plenty of time to explore the casino and hotel. After walking the casino, we decided to put on our swimsuits and head to the pool. The indoor pool was only 4 feet 6 inches at the deepest, but it was fun to chat and casually swim laps until more people showed up at the pool. We then hung out in the hot tub for a while, fully relaxing.
After swimming, we had the munchies and we decided to head to one of the bars. Alicia2 got a drink and I got some bbq wings to go. Oh and the bartender thought we were like 16 years old which is pretty common for me. I enjoyed the wings in our hotel room and then we showered and got ready for the gala event.
I had Alicia2 straighten and style my hair. It was fun to have a night to dress up.
Our event was 80s theme, but I didn’t dress particularly 80s. Brian’s cousin got into the fun of dressing up though.
We sat with some of my co workers and enjoyed mingling. It was torture at first as there were little salads for each chair and it seemed no one was eating and I was so hungry. I finally just went for it and ate my salad while others were mingling. I was glad I got those wings earlier for an appetizer because I really would have been starving. They didn’t start to call up tables until about 7pm. I’ll just say that I’m already old because I like to eat at 5 or so for dinner when possible and I had an early lunch so that was partially my fault.
The food was pretty decent. I had green beans, potatos, chicken and pasta. There was also fish and beef to choose from as well. Oh and since I don’t drink alcohol much, I didn’t get anything from the cash bar, but I did quickly finish my 1 glass of water on the table. I ended up having to track down a waitress to bring me water. Pretty sure I was the only one to do that, but when you are used to drinking a gallon of water or so a day and working out like I do, I need ALL the water. My second glass was also much better because it was iced water.
After eating our dinner, we discovered the dessert table and quickly rushed over there to make sure to get something before they ran out. I went with the chocolate mousse which was delicious.
When we were done eating, they had the door prizes which they did by pulling your ticket. I didn’t win anything but it was fun to see who got picked. Then they had the costume contest for best 80s outfit. There were definitely some good ones. There was 1 prize for best female and 1 prize for best male. The female had 2 tie and the male was a tough one after narrowing to the top 3.
Next they started up the music and had a small dance floor, but there were few people dancing and it seemed like many people left after that. I got a group photo with the people who came from my department and then Alicia2 and I decided to head to the casino as well. Somehow in our first $1 in the mouse trap machine, we both turned that $1 into something more. I cashed out almost $7 and Alicia2 got $12. I didn’t even know what was going on, but hey, more money than I started with.
We tried a few other machines around the casino and walked around for a bit, but we both aren’t gamblers and anything requiring more than $1 to play was out of the question. I think I spent $4-5 and I left with about $7 so we left while we were both ahead.
It was only 10:30 when we called it a night and headed back to our room. We got some peanut butter m&ms at the vending machine that were so delicious and I facetimed with Brian for a bit. Then I turned on HGTV, since I don’t have cable at home and don’t use the tv, that was a real treat. I somehow managed to stay up until 1am because I had to see the end of the Fixer Upper episode that was on.
Sunday morning, we were both awake around 8am. I had a solid night’s sleep according to my fitbit.
I thought we had breakfast with our room but turns out that is only a Monday-Friday thing I guess. Instead we got dressed, which I watched the Food Network (either HGTV or Food channel and I am set) and then we headed to Owego to eat at the River Rock Diner. I filled up on pancakes, bacon and an egg. I was also so excited for a bendy straw in my water. Anyone else get excited over little things like that?
It was a dreary morning and day with some rain here and there. However it was much nicer staying the night at the hotel and enjoying ourselves. I’m glad we got to check out the casino, but both me and Alicia2 agree we don’t feel the need to go back. I don’t know, maybe the horse races would be cool to see once, but there is no way I am placing bets on a horse and losing tons of money.
Do you like gambling or do you cash out as soon as you are ahead?
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