Barona Casino Resort

We enjoyed our Friday night stay at Barona. We checked in on Friday evening,  March 4 and checked out on Saturday March 5.
We had a king room on the fourth floor on the poolside.  We had a great view of the pool. It was way too cold for me to even dream of getting in the water,  but there were people swimming.
Our room was great and we enjoyed our trip. Too bad I didn't win any money.

My husband did ok, and we ended up enjoying Saturday brunch at Sage before we left. 

The food was excellent and the view was amazing as always.

We can't wait to go back to Barona.

Carnival Valor

Our cruise on Carnival Valor was a 7 day, Caribbean Cruise out of Port Canaveral, Florida.

We boarded on Saturday, Sunday was a sea day. 
Monday was Cozumel Mexico, Tuesday was Belize City, Belize, Wednesday was Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras and Thursday was Costa Maya Mexico. 
Friday was a Sea Day and we returned Saturday. 

Carnival Valor was a great ship and we had a great time. 

We ended up with a handicapped room, which gave us a bigger bathroom, but less storage space in the cabin. 

The Rim, Taj Mahal, Atlantic City

It is really not enough that we have a favorite casino in Atlantic City, we have to have a favorite casino restaurant. 
Normally, we eat nothing but casino buffets at the casinos. 
Why, well simply two reasons.
One, the casinos won't hesitate to comp you a buffet because the food per person cost is low. Secondly, they are usually faster and require no reservations. My husband wants to get right back to the action as soon as possible. 
So honestly, I know casino buffets. And since food is the main item comped at casinos, I know casino food in general. I can't remember the last time we actually paid full price for a regular meal in a casino. Yes of course if we pick up snacks or Starbucks or something like that, it isn't comped. 
But honestly, we eat for free and that is why my husband wants to get up from the table, and get back as soon as he can. 

We started regularly coming to Atlantic City in 2014. We took a "spring break" trip of our own and drove here. We stayed at a hotel that no longer is open, but we visited every casino hotel in the area. 

So we have been dining at the Rim for almost 18 months now. 
I am known as the "ice lady" because I ruin their hot tea with ice. 
I think it is funny. I am always complaining that I am cold, but I never drink a hot beverage. 

So as per usual, last night when we arrived at Taj Mahal, we dined at the Rim as normal. I got my usual, Chicken Chow Fun. 
Honestly, if it wasn't good, I wouldn't be eating it 2-3 times a weekend trip for 18 months. 
So obviously, I enjoy the dish, the restaurant and the service. 
Personally I feel that the casinos here in Atlantic City are not big on late night eats and it is the only place open until 4am. Which is amazing when you need a pre-sleep meal. 

Below is a picture of my chicken chow fun. I am sure I will have more pictures and stories from the Rim at Taj mahal as we are here until Sunday. 

Monster Trip - Dover Downs

A very good friend of our had never been to a casino at all. She knew that we frequently go to Dover Downs and Atlantic City. We planned a trip to spend one night at Dover Downs and then drove on to Atlantic City.

 

 

For dinner at Dover Downs, we decided to go to Frankie's for Italian Food.

We spent the evening gambling, and then headed to Atlantic City the next day after checking out the monster first.

 

 



Baltimore May 2015

My husband and I are gamblers, him more than me. I just kinda like being there and playing penny slots. 
We normally go to Dover Downs in Delaware, it is about 4 hours from our home in Virginia. 
We noticed that there were less and less people at Dover Downs and were told that since Maryland Live and Horseshoe Baltimore had opened that many Maryland residents were going there and not coming to Dover Downs. 

We decided to check it out and see what the fuss was all about. For Maryland Live, we decided we would never go back. It was fine entertainment wise, but it was the tightest casino and had the absolute worst food. 

Skeptically, I agreed with my husband to try Horseshoe Baltimore, only if we could combine it with a trip to visit Baltimore's Inner Harbor. At one time many years ago, I had visited Baltimore's Inner Harbor Area on a work trip, and I thought this was a great opportunity to go back and check it out. 

We totally picked a wrong hotel, it was too far away from where we were going, and the staff lost our reservation and did nothing to help us. But besides the hotel, we spent time in the Inner Harbor area and then went to Horseshoe.

We had a great time at both. We picked a great day for the weather at Inner Harbor. We were able to check out the whole area and walk and enjoy ourselves. Then at night we went to Horseshoe and were definitely pleased. Horseshoe has a great environment and it was tons of fun. They entertainment was great and I was amazed by the food choices.

We started our day at Lexington Market. It is a historic place that has been on the food channel. Seafood was on the agenda. The crab cakes and the fresh oysters were definitely not to be missed. 

There was live music entertainment at Lexington Market and plenty of places to shop and dine. It was fun for us to walk around and see a couple of the places that have been on the food channel and try it ourselves.

At Inner Harbor, My husband found Chessie. The legaendary Chesapeake Bay Sea Monster, Cousin to Loch Ness Monster. My husband finds him.

Of course what we saw were just the paddle boats that look like Chessie. 

Now, only if we could have found the real thing.

Horseshoe was fun. Horseshoe is named after the infamous Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. It is where the world series of poker actually started. Caesar's Entertainment has now built several of these Horseshoe Casinos and they are great. A great way to add to your Total Rewards points when you are not in Vegas or Atlantic City.

Carnival Fantasy, Freeport Bahamas

Carnival Fantasy, Freeport Bahamas

We took Carnival Fantasy on a 5 day Bahamas Cruise and one of the ports was Freeport, Bahamas. 

Since the reviews for Freeport are mixed, we decided to book an excursion to enjoy the day with a guide and not take our chances. 

Freeport is more of an industrial port city, and has less for visiting tourists than other ports. But the ease of cruise ship access is a main reason the cruise ships still stop here regularly. 

We took the Tour that included the Brewery. Tiny or tour guide was awesome! I definitely recommend this excursion. We got to see the perfume factory, port lucaya, and the Sands Brewery. It was a great tour. 

I definitely would do Carnival Fantasy, and Freeport Again.