Thursday morning Joe’s parents took us out to breakfast at another one of their favorite places called Mickey D’s Cafe. The food was ok, although I only ordered potatoes and a cup of fruit since by the time they asked I had eaten my BBQ leftovers from Wednesday as my breakfast.
Later that afternoon we met up with M and her daughter at TopGolf where M’s husband works as the executive chef. We got a nice 2nd floor stall where we were able to hit some golf balls. I actually did better than the last time I tried many years ago. They have nice couches in the area and a TV. It’s pretty sweet – I can certainly understand the appeal. Everything was really clean and new looking; I think the location is only a couple of years old.
We didn’t order any food at TopGolf, although we did snack on the chips and guacamole M had them bring out. We wanted to stay hungry since we had lunch plans to revisit this Thai place we discovered and loved on our last trip. So around 2 pm we did just that and it was the most disappointing meal of our vacation. I don’t know if they changed chefs since our visit seven years ago, or we just happened to pick all the right dishes last time, but my Pad Se Ew was nothing special at all and Joe wasn’t impressed with his Pad Thai. I briefly considered ordering the Thai fried rice I enjoyed so much last time but was afraid to spend any more money there, so we just left. What a bummer! I was literally excited for days to go back too.
That evening Joe’s mom treated us to BINGO at Lone Butte Casino. I hate casinos, and this one was no different – loud and full of cigarette smoke. The BINGO hall was much quieter and we sat in the non-smoking section so it wasn’t too bad. We sat across from the restrooms so that Joe’s mom and sister could smoke when they wanted. We got the electronic BINGO devices which, while expensive at $39 (!!!) each, are pretty cool.
The machine keeps up with the game for you and even lets you know when you’re close to getting BINGO. They allow outside food and drinks which is cool too, although we purchased some food there and took advantage of the free (non-alcoholic) drinks in the BINGO hall. We got there so early, and we had a free $15 for joining their casino program, so we played on the Poker machines for a bit but cashed out before we lost any real money. They make you put at least $5 of your own money into the machine before you can access the $15 they give you. I hate gambling so it was just something to pass the time before BINGO begin.
M and her mom (Joe’s sister) got into it less than halfway through the evening so that put a damper on things. Plus none of us won even though a woman two tables away won twice! THAT is why I could do without casinos altogether. I don’t get the appeal but old people really seem to love going there. Most of them look miserable, however.