Observations on Gambling & I Still Travel On The Cheap

So this past week, my husband and I went to the Casino at Niagara Falls for an overnight. We don't gamble really. In truth, I am a very nervous gambler and it doesn't do much for my husband. We go because my grandma gets us a free corner suite with a jacuzzi tub and floor to cieling windows that look over the Niagara River.
We drive there early, stop at a winery along the way, take advantage of the nice pool/hot tub at the hoteland I sit in a deck chair on their patio and read a book while my husband excercises. I usually take a nap. My grandma and Bob pick up the tab for dinner. All in all, it's a pretty good way to have a nice overnight in a nice hotel-and it was especially nice when I didn't work and funds were tighter. We always bring some snacks for the room. This year I brought some 1803 Fat Ox Ale that I purcahsed from the museum so we didn't buy any drinks there and we bring yogurt for breakfast.

Every year we both took $20 after dinner for gambling and usually lost it withing 30 min. 

After dinner my husband decided he didn't want to gamble with his $20. He actually said something that really resonated with me. He said "Look around, NO ONE is smiling;" and he was pretty much, correct. Everywhere you looked people were staring at those machines, puching the buttons in an almost trance-like state. Some had drinks, some were smoking... NO ONE was smiling. No one looked like they were better off for the experience. NOT ONE PERSON. That pretty much killed it for me, not that I needed a lot of coaxing. He was right...I've never gotten a rush from gambling, but that description made me really think about it in a different manner. No one looked particularly excited even. I think if I'm just throwing my money out the window, the least I would want would be a thrill from doing it. I could not find a smile in the place. It was rather depressing.

We walked across the street to Starbucks where I got a Frappachino and used their free Wi-Fi to download a book in the series that I'm reading.  We used the jacuzzi tub and looked out the window at the night lights and drank Fat Ox Ale.

Turns out I'm still a cheap date.
How the weekend broke down. We did go shopping for food for the room beforehand and I didn't count that in the total of money spent.

$10 at Bruggers for my ALL TIME FAVORITE Everything Bagle with lox and coffee.
$50 at the Winery for 4 bottles of wine. They had a 3 for $30 reds sale that my husband liked and I picked a white I liked as well.
$5  Frappachino
$8 for a download to my nook
$5 for Tim Horton's Coffeee this morning
$32 for Lunch at The Waterstreet Landing in Lewiston today-While sitting by the river I noted that this was a way better way to spend $30 than throwing into a machine for a few minutes.
$18 for Olive Oil and Vinegar at D'Avolio in Lewiston-Ditto above.

$123 for a nice overnight, I still like a bargain!

At the Waterstreet Landing, they also havethe Wet Jet Boat Tours. Now the people that got off of those boats looked happy. They even clapped when their boat docked.  You could see the difference in the people and it was interesting to note that the ones on the boat looked like they just had a little energy knocked into them, while the ones at the gambling machines looked like the life was getting sucked out of them.