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After a very busy Christmas, Joe & I headed out for a much needed vacation. We left my mom and dad with a fridge full of leftovers and a house full of new toys to entertain the troops. We left for Biloxi just about sunset on Christmas night. It's a ten hour drive for us, and this year we decided to split the trip there into two parts. Our goal was to make it to Tallahassee before stopping for the night. I really enjoyed the Christmas sights on the way. There was a house in Jacksonville that had the American flag in lights on the roof. Very cool! We picked up one of those hotel discount magazines at a gas station on the way and decided to try a Howard Johnson's. The hotel was neat & clean and had a coffee maker which is always a big plus in my book. They had no problem taking the coupon even though it was a holiday. The hotel clerk was super! Talk about a good "people person". His name is Russell, and he would be great in hotel management. I just wish I had the connections to help. The next morning was bright and sunny. Just great driving weather. When we got close to Biloxi, we decided to get off the interstate and take the "scenic" route. Talk about a misleading sign. If you like the looks of strip malls, shopping centers, and hospitals (with plenty of red lights thrown in) by all means go for it. I plan on staying on I-10 next time. We checked into the Bayview hotel at the Grand early in the afternoon. They sent me a flyer with a coupon for one night free, but when I called to make reservations they gave me two nights free & the third night at the casino rate. The line to check-in was very short. We stayed in room 956 which has a good view of the casino with the gulf in the background. The room had a coffee maker, iron, hairdryer, but no in-room safe. I liked staying on Casino Row because I enjoy the freedom to walk to different casinos, but I missed the big soaking tubs that they have at the Beau Rivage. Bell Service was great. The luggage almost beat us up to the room! Once the clothes were put away, it was time for some fun! We headed to the Mississippi Long Bar section of the Grand first, and played nickel multi-line and quarter slots for a while. When we left I was down $5. Of course I want to leave ahead, but playing that long without getting very far down is worth the entertainment to me. BTW - If you want to be technical, I was probably ahead due to the free Miller Lites I was enjoying. I was never charged for a brew at a casino during the entire trip, even if I got one at a bar with no intention of playing VP. We left the Grand and walked over to Casino Magic. They usually have a quarter roulette table during the day, and we always have a good time playing there. Joe usually plays a system, and I play a few sentimental numbers. The wheel was on my side then, and I ended up turning my $20 into $40. I'll take it! We wanted to catch a shuttle to a restaurant near the Beau Rivage, but the only shuttle around was one from Isle of Capri. I didn't figure that the driver would go out of his way to take us from one competing casino to another, but this driver didn't hesitate. Thanks Milan! We went to the Bombay Bicycle Club which is right across the road from the Beau with our taste buds ready for the 1/2 price appetizers that they usually have at happy hour, but alas ... all good things must come to an end. Instead of all starters being 1/2 price, they just have one each day with a selected drink special thrown in. The artichoke dip was good, but we probably won't go out of our way to eat there on the next trip. We went to play in the Beau for a while, and it was really crowded! The buffet lines was VERY long, and the VIP line wasn't much shorter. The machines seemed to be stuck on money-sucking mode, so we decided to get a cab back to the Grand. Instead on a cab pulling up, we were treated with a limo ride! The driver said that when things are slow they use the limos as cabs. How nice! After a little VP in the Long Bar, I got a muffalletto and we headed up to the room to watch a little TV and veg. The next morning Joe headed down to the Long Bar area to play while I enjoyed taking my time getting ready. He likes to drink unsweetened tea in the morning for his caffeine fix, and the Long Bar has a self-serve Coke dispenser complete with unsweetened tea. This was a BIG plus in his book! I have heard that comps are much easier to come by in Biloxi than some other places, so I decided to ask for a comp for breakfast. I would have been happy to get a 2 for 1 buffet, but I ended up with a $20 food comp in the Island View Cafe. The lady that waited on me at the Players Club is named Lana Brown, and she is a real sweety! From now on I will let others ahead of me in line to wait until she's available. She is GREAT! The Island View Cafe has a buffet with all of the basics on it plus eggs and omelets cooked to order, or you can order off of the menu. We went the buffet, and thought the food was great. Service was super, too. The waitress even explained that the few left over dollars from our comp would be reported to the players club and put back into our account. Nice touch! Joe left a nickel machine 500 credits up, and we headed over to Casino Magic where it was my turn. There was only one quarter roulette table open, so we went upstairs to play a few slots. I tried a Price is Right game for the first time and thought it was great fun! I just love the bonus round! That granny is a hoot!!! I also played a multi-line WOF. I put a $20 in both and took out $40. So I won't be retiring any time real soon, but I do like walking away with some of the casino's money. We headed downstairs to see if we could get to the roulette table, and the pit boss was just opening up a new one. I asked him if it was going to be a quarter table, and he replied "It will be if you want it to be." We played there for a while, and when we left I was down $10 and Joe was up $6. I had some "in coin" coupons from the Beau, so we decided to stop by there next, but the players club line was extremely long, and didn't seem to be moving at all. I had heard that this place had cut back on the staff to the point were it was affecting the service, and it really does show. We went to get a cab to go to Treasure Bay, and ended up with another limo. I could get used to this! We played a little quarter roulette here, too. This is just my kind of town! I ended up with these neon green chips, and Joe called me Kermit the rest of the time we were playing. This wheel didn't seem to like my numbers too much, and Joe was getting down too. We were just about to leave the table, and Joe put a big stack on one of my numbers. Kermit was very surprised to see it hit! I left the table down, but Joe was up on it. Then he won $48 on a WOF nickel machine. He always seems to win at Treasure Bay! We took a shuttle over to a Mexican restaurant called Cuco's for lunch and sat in the bar. The bartender's name is Tracy, and she was great! The food was yummy, and Tracy gave us some good advice about a place to go at night. We left Cuco's and decided to walk down to the President. It's a little far, but we enjoyed the walk down the beach. I got a kick out of looking at the yachts in the marina that is in front of the President. We had never been to this place before, and I thought it had a more "Locals" feel to it than the Grand or the Beau. It didn't take me long to find a machine that I had a good time playing. I never hit anything big, but I put in $20 and left with $80. We took a cab back to the Grand and opted for a much needed nap before heading out for the night. The place Tracy told us about is called The Sugar Mill, and we really liked it! It has a nice restaurant upstairs, a grill on the middle level, and the Bimini Lounge at the bottom. There is a fantastic deck that overlooks the water. They had a band called The Land Sharks that was playing 80's music. They play Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. We had a good time listening to the music and dancing a little. You can order food in the bar, and I had the crawfish etouffee. It was yummy! The service was also super. Nicole was bartending, and our waitress was Jessica. I'm going to include directions from the Biloxi Grand to this place for future reference. I'll be going back! Leaving from the Grand in Biloxi drive ~ 8.5 miles toward Gulfport - Turn right on Cowen Rd. (just past Chateau De La Mer hotel) - Turn left on Pass Rd - Turn right on Teagarden Rd. - Turn left at dead end - Take the first right onto Mill Rd. - Go through stop sign - You'll see the Sugar Mill sign on your right. We enjoyed looking at the Christmas lights on the way back to the Grand. Biloxi knows how to do it right! Joe had to wait for a payoff on a nickel machine upstairs in the non-smoking area, and I told him to go on. I decided I'd wait for him. Geez! Service was much slower up there than down at the Long Bar. It took forever! We slept in late on Friday. I asked about a food comp for breakfast. I didn't get two meals this time, but I did get $8 cash back which paid for one breakfast. We went from there to Casino Magic for some quarter roulette. We played for a long time there. Joe was down, but I broke even. We tried some slots upstairs, but neither of us did anything. I want to check the player's club before we left since it was our last day, and I wish I hadn't. I got behind this mean old lady who was not happy that they had a separate line for new members to sign up. She didn't think they ought to be served before her. It didn't help matters when her husband started making racial remarks in a very loud tone of voice. It could have gotten very nasty very fast, but the employees there handled themselves very well. We went over to the Palace Casino from there. I had never been there, so I wanted to go to add to my slot card collection. This place isn't very big, but it was a little nicer than I expected. For some reason I had the impression that the place was a total dump. Not sure where I got that idea from ... We drove back to Cuco's for a late lunch. We got there right around 3:00 which is when the lunch specials end and the happy hour prices begin. Linda waited on us, and she gave us the lunch price for our food and the happy hour price for my brews. I thought that was very nice. Thanks! We went back to the Long Bar to watch the Dawgs play. There were really a lot of people down there just watching the game. We went back to the room at halftime to watch the rest and decided to just take it easy and watch a little TV. The drive back was uneventful until we got to Jacksonville. We ended up in heavy traffic for a while, but we got in before my parents expected us. I liked breaking up the trip on the way down there. It really is just too long of a drive for us, but I couldn't find any good prices on a flight. Neither one of us hit anything big, but we left a good many machines ahead. It wasn't a life changing trip, but we had fun!
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