We were traveling on I-35 North from Dallas when we crossed the state line into Oklahoma and saw this behemoth. Where the hell have we been? I'll tell you where - not in Oklahoma. We rarely travel from Dallas in this direction, it always seems as if we're going every direction but north.
It must have been quite a while since we'd been here because we've never seen this casino. It's called WinStar World Casino. The exterior façade depicts different buildings of the world - the Colosseum in Rome, the Palace of Westminster in London which houses Big Ben, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, some Bejing, China looking tower, the Chrysler Building in New York - in one continuous line.
Billboards on the interstate as you approach the casino claim it's the second largest in the world. It's definitely the largest casino in Oklahoma. Man, those Indians must have muhhh-ney!
We really stopped for dinner since we were starving after having loaded all day and not having a chance to stop and eat - I have no food in the truck because I have to grocery shop. We figured we'd check this joint out and maybe gamble a little. We set a verbal limit of $40 each.
There was plenty of parking and no signs restricting trucks, so we parked where we wanted. In addition to the hotels on the property, they have an RV park on the premises somewhere too, with a shuttle that'll take you to the casino. Being so close to Dallas and Oklahoma City, I can imagine plenty of people will come for a weekend to gamble.
There was plenty of parking and no signs restricting trucks, so we parked where we wanted. In addition to the hotels on the property, they have an RV park on the premises somewhere too, with a shuttle that'll take you to the casino. Being so close to Dallas and Oklahoma City, I can imagine plenty of people will come for a weekend to gamble.
We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant inside the casino - oddly Mexico wasn't represented in part of their "world" theme - why, I'm not sure, as there was plenty of space for them to build Chichen Itza's El Castillo pyramid.
The food was good but overall the casino was a little cheesy. It was big inside, but the "zones" you walked through - Italy, Vienna, China - were not very distinctive, with the exception of one or two decorative items to let you know which section you entered. In China, they had two rhinestone dragons hanging over the card tables. It's definitely no Vegas. But then, what is? It was more of a Hollywood movie set. I guess that's good enough for Oklahoma.
The food was good but overall the casino was a little cheesy. It was big inside, but the "zones" you walked through - Italy, Vienna, China - were not very distinctive, with the exception of one or two decorative items to let you know which section you entered. In China, they had two rhinestone dragons hanging over the card tables. It's definitely no Vegas. But then, what is? It was more of a Hollywood movie set. I guess that's good enough for Oklahoma.
They do have a 3,500 seat event center that showcases top-billed musicians and celebrities, though. And at the end of the month, they'll host a Professional Bull Riders event during the WinStar World Casino Invitational. That should be interesting. I think if you're going to see Daughtry, D'Angelo or Weezer (they're still around??), it's worth the trip.
After dinner I hit the slot machines and Ed hit the blackjack table. I promptly lost $20. So I moved to another machine, hoping to have better luck. I lost my second $20 there. My night was a bust. So I sat and waited for Ed to make enough to cover the cost of dinner and what I had lost - our usual arrangement. We always try to cover at least our meal.
After dinner I hit the slot machines and Ed hit the blackjack table. I promptly lost $20. So I moved to another machine, hoping to have better luck. I lost my second $20 there. My night was a bust. So I sat and waited for Ed to make enough to cover the cost of dinner and what I had lost - our usual arrangement. We always try to cover at least our meal.
I was ready to leave.
So I moseyed over to the table and tapped Ed on the shoulder, asking if he was ready to leave. He had only lost $15 of his gambling money, but we were still down overall so he wrapped it up. What he didn't like more than losing a few dollars, was that the casino charged fifty cents per hand that was played at the tables. We've never heard of that before, nor come across it. It felt greedy.And because of that, we'll never go back. I'll go to Vegas if I want to see a fake world. At least we'll have an extra fifty cents to explore it with.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2012: Zero Tolerance Zone
2011: Flicker Of Hope…GONE
2010: Knee Deep In Training
2009: She Sells Seashells By The Seashore
2008: Shopping At Walmart Is The Closest Some Of Us WilL Ever Get To China
2007: Giving Indians A Bad Name
2006: Six Flags Of Horror Fly Over Texas
2005: Snake River
5 comments:
Man, those Indians must have muhhh-ney!
Considering how much you travel and interact with people, I thought you would know that Native American is the correct term. And if I must be ignorant, here is a tip to remember - Indians/dot and Native Americans/feather.
Regards, A full-blooded Native American who once enjoyed your blog.
ANONYMOUS:
In addition to all my traveling and interacting with people, I have lived in Tucson, AZ for almost 30 years.
I mention that because in that area (Southern Arizona) we have two main tribes - the Pascua Yaqui and the Tohono O'odham Nation. The latter is where you'll find San Xavier del Bac Mission, which is called the "White Dove of the Desert" - beautiful mission, I've been many times.
Tucson is also a place where the terms "Native American" and "Indian" are used interchangeably. Downtown we have an organization called the Tucson Indian Center, and both the Pascua Yaqui and the Tohono O'odham use the term "Indian" on their websites. I have even worked with people who call themselves Indians.
And, after doing some research because of your comment, I found that the Tohono O'odham are actually broken up into four federally recognized tribes - the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Gila River Indian Community, the Ak-Chin Indian Community, and the Salt River (Pima Maricopa) Indian Community.
As you can see, they are using the word "Indian", not "Native American" to describe their communities.
I meant no disrespect in using the word, nor did I mean it in a derogatory manner. I have used the term Native American also, but in this instance, in the writing of that sentence, "Indian" seemed to flow better.
I'm sorry the use of the term offended you and it's unfortunate that I've lost you as a reader, but as long as the Native Americans continue to call themselves Indians, I see no reason why I shouldn't either.
Google is awesome.
I am part of three tribes - Pueblo, Hopi and Navajo. Although I did not grow up on a reservation, most of my immediate family did - mostly in Arizona and New Mexico.
I am quite aware that some of us may still reference ourselves as Indians, but that is only because they have succumbed to the rest of the world's ingnorance in actually correcting the term given by non-Native Americans (in my opionion). Also, as horrible as it is, it is almost easier to call yourself an "Indian" as that is what people know "us" as.
No harm taken, I am just glad you acknowledged what was written in your blog and took the time to research a little about us; that I appreciate. Thank you.
PS: The Navajos call themselves "Dine'" or The People.
Wouldn't that be nice to be considered a person instead of a label. But I guess that would be too easy.
ANONYMOUS:
I am always in favor of the underdog, the downtrodden, the disenfranchised, the minority. I think you'd be hard pressed to find something in the nine years' worth of posts I've written (this week I'll hit 3,000 posts) to the contrary. In no way did I think I was using a label and diminishing a group of people.
I can't speak for everyone (wish I could - they'd sound so awesome!), but I know there are a lot of ignorant people out there who are not sensitive or even aware of the plight of your people. I don't consider myself among them, but I didn't realize there was so much controversy between the terms "Native American" and "Indian".
I grew up in New York, where we have many things which reflect the Native American history in so many ways, some of the most obvious being the names of actual places - Onondaga, Oneida, Oneonta, Mohawk Valley. Hell, the name of the island of Manhattan comes from a Lenape word. I have been well aware of the Native American presence since my childhood, as it was all around me. Of course then, we exclusively said Indian - shit, now I'm all self-conscious - I don't know what to say! LOL
Bumper sticker seen on a pickup at a recent Pow Wow - "Native Americans had poor immigration policies"!!!
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