By Shannon Williams
As promised last week, I will continue with the tale of our two vacations, I am sure you have all held your breath waiting to hear about it all. LOL. After loading up all that we had brought with us and making sure that our fish were securely frozen and ready for travel, we headed back to Lake Charles to the Golden Nugget. When the husband asked me to go on another fishing trip, he said we would follow it up with a couple of days at the Golden Nugget so I could go to the spa and he could pay a round of gold. I would stay in a fishing camp for a week if it meant a weekend at the nice hotel with a spa. We wanted to avoid IH 10 and some road construction we had seen on our way up there. I am not really sure what way we went, but I got to see lots of neat and fun things as we drove along, it was just the right length for a road trip, I think about 3-4 hours, enough for one stop for a snack and potty break, but you got there just about the time, you were ready for the car trip to be over.

As we pulled up to the hotel, the valet line had at least 20 cars in line. Well, the potty stop was over an hour ago and the ice tea had filled me up, so I jumped out to go find the potty and get us checked in. I left hubby with the car and do deal with helping them know what stayed in the car and what went in the room.

I am a Vegas girl from way back, I went the first time for my 21st birthday and for about the next 20 years went at least three times per year. I celebrated my 50th birthday in Vegas, seeing Cher and have stayed at just about every type of hotel there was. During the time that the new big hotels were opening, The Bellagio, MGM, Treasure Island, The Mirage we went soon after each new one opened. There were also trips that Circus, Circus was all we could afford! So, I am used to the Vegas style casino, so was really surprised that the Golden Nugget was just as nice with all that I could ask for as any Vegas hotel.

Check in was fast and quick and painless, as I had used points from my travel to pay for the rooms! I found our room and was like a little girl squealing with delight, it had a huge soaking tub and a separate shower, a private potty room and a very nice bed with lots of pillows. After three days sleeping in bunk beds and sharing a small little bathroom, it was a welcome site. I figured I better go and check on the husband and our belongs, as he could not get to the room with a key to use in the elevator. I found him looking for a cold beer! We finally got a bell hop and they found our car and the unloading began, we looked like we had moved instead of just being on a vacation, with all the we had brought along.

I went down to scope out the casino and sign up for my casino card, well lo and behold they had me in their system and I had not been at a Golden Nugget for well over 20 years or more. I got a new card and into a machine it went, to make sure it worked so I could get all my goodies. Please know I am not a big money gambler and have not gotten a free room for gambling since my son was a boy! There is just something about the sights and smells of a casino, it is a great place to just be away from all you want to be away from. We met Paul’s brother and his wife at one of the restaurants that night for dinner. They had the best seafood soup and crawfish, and the bread, I made a pig of myself and even ordered a key lime pie to take home and it sure tasted good about midnight!

I was up early the next morning to wish my hubby well as he left to go play golf and then I headed to the spa for a massage and facial. It was total relaxation, followed by a nap. We then met the boys for a meal of sushi, it was a great day and we still had that evening to go!

Since I work at home, I just don’t wear makeup or fix my hair and besides we live at the beach so why would you? So that night, I spent sometime putting on the ole war paint, rolling the hair and even put on a pair of heels, ok they were very low heels, but it was not a flip flop! We had a delightful dinner at one of the nicer places at the hotel. We took our time and talked and visited and just enjoy the meal.

I managed to get a little time in at the craps table and did not do half bad, but again, did not risk much. It was time to head back to reality in the am, we stopped to see the newest grandson and enjoyed his smiles and laughs. The only bad part was now that I have discovered this little gateway, I am going to want to gateway a whole lot more. Please take time to spend with those you love, day to day life is just hard and we get lost in it and don’t take time just to walk together and to hold hands.

[Mar-22-2022]