Gamblin' & Exploration

This weekend my co-worker is over in Puerto Rico meeting up with some friends who are involved in some boating event. Therefore, I get to make my own fun. This is not a problem (note my earlier post regarding making friends at the brewpub).

So, Saturday begins lazily. After hanging around and doing some swimming, Margarita (my host) offers me to join her & her daughter (who lives nearby) for a trip into Christiansted. I agree. We end up having lunch at the brewpub, and I impress them when a guy at the bar yells out to me. This guy (who I played dice with on my third day here) I now realize doesn’t just work at the pub but is a manager there. That explains why the drinks that I lost count of during that first visit totaled a whopping $7. I will definitely make an effort to visit that establishment much more often

So, we had a pleasant lunch and return home. Blah blah blah… dinner, etc.

Then, in the evening I am informed that a bar I am aware of (but not yet visited) has a special “full moon party”. I look outside and see the full moon. At about 8:15 I head for the bar. I reach it around 8:25. No room in the parking lot, & the street doesn’t exactly have a shoulder. So, I think “f the bar… hitting it alone when it’s so packed isn’t really what I’m looking for anyway, and I can’t drink much since I drove here”. So I think of the brewpub and the possibility that my manager-buddy might still be there. So I drive into Christiansted, park and walk to the boardwalk (where the brewpub is). Don’t see my buddy (“Tommy” is what I think his name is). So, feeling the same “eh, I’d rather not drink much” thing, I return to my car thinking of some activity.

Then, at approximately 8:50, the full moon strikes. I think “I have nothing useful to do, and I haven’t seen Point Udall, the ‘Easternmost Point of the US’, yet”. So, not consulting my maps, but with a general idea of which direction is East, I drive out of town. On my way to Point Udall, I decide that I should take a leak off of that distinguished point. So, about 10 miles (3 or so are a creepy, twisty, unkempt road, which I’m sure is much nicer during the day when an ocean view complements the drive) and 20 minutes later, I reach “Point Udall”. I recognized the weird sculpture thing from many travel brochures and websites (google it—you’ll realize what I mean). So, I put the car in park, not turning it off, get out to touch the monument (it just felt more official that way), and then I step to the side, unzip my fly, aim easterly, and whiz. Then, getting back in my car, I notice a parked car about 30 yards away. Obviously not a cop (since I wasn’t being arrested), I briefly thought “maybe this is some shady criminal activity going on”. As I pull around, I realize it’s just a couple cuddling & star-gazing. They were somewhat uncomfortable-looking. This is probably because a guy just ruined their romantic moment by pissing off of a tourist attraction.

Following that, as soon as I got far enough down the dirt road to get cell phone reception, I realized I needed to share my glory with someone back home. Since I recently spoke with John Moffett and he had mentioned a possible hang, I figured he’d be a good recipient. So, I called John at 9:21. Alas, no hang was in progress, but Donna and he had the distinct honor of first hearing my tale. I think they both laughed, so that pleases me.

Then I briefly entertained the thought of driving around the entire island. Regardless of whether I’d be doing that or going back home, I’d have to take the same road. So, I drove. Then, some glorious lights caught my eye. I was drawn to the Divi Carina Bay Casino like a mosquito to a bug-zapper.

Like many words, casino in St. Croix means something rather different from casino in Atlantic City. The best analogy is to think “Turning Stone” (an Injun casino in the middle of nowhere in NY State), but only about 25% the size. 90% of this “casino” was slots, and there was a MAXIMUM of 10 tables (I think 2 were closed—on Saturday night). So maybe 5 poker-esque things, 2 blackjack tables, and one roulette wheel.

Of course, I promptly sat down at an old-west train themed nickel slot machine.

I put in $5, and lost.

Put in another $5. Lost.

Counted my singles. Had 6.

Played one at a time. Lost 4.

Put in last one. Down to 5 credits (my average bet was 25 cents—5 lines @ 5 cents per line).

Last best, I won 500 credits.

Stared a while until I realized the mental math to do. I discerned that was $25 and was very happy with myself. Resolved to stop at $20 so I’d end up being up $5.

Before that happened I won something crazy again—got around 1230 credits. Realized that was over $60. Decided I’d stop at $60. That’s what I did.

Then, since my winnings were more than the machine would dispense in coins, I had to wait about 15 minutes for an attendant to come and pay me. All the while, a poorly-digitized refrain from “In the Money” was playing continuously on the machine and a light was flashing. The excitement was dampened by the fact it was nickel slots, so the payout wasn’t ridiculous, but I was still pretty happy.

I got my cash. (aiming for rationality, I realized it was a total winning of less than $45 (since I also put in some nickels when I first sat down). Still happy though. While waiting I realized I had 3 quarters. So, I figured to play them and nothing else on my way out. I put the quarters in a quarter machine… pull the lever (this was an actual levered machine--- the nickel one was entirely video). Bar… bar… bar! I won $4.50 (far less that what I thought a payout for such a thing would be. So, I cash out and grin. That total made me feel like I was up $50 (a nice round number). Plus I used a complementary moist towelette to rid my hands of the filth of such an establishment. That made me feel like a winner!

The time was approximately 10:35. Not a bad evening.

As I typed this story, I drank a Red Stripe (I now know that if the colors of that beer’s logo are inverted, you have the ‘Diver Down’ flag, which alerts passing boats to scuba divers). Red Stripe is slightly cheaper here than at home.

Hooray Beer!