Health & Fitness
Seniors Go Gaming in the Autumn of Their Lives
Seniors take the PARC bus to Argosy Casino in Alton, IL.
The PARC (Parks and Recreation Cooperative) bus picked us up at . We were from Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Brentwood. The driver of the thirteen who were on board the bus commented that this blogger made fourteen, a lucky number (seven plus seven). Most of us know each other by face, if not by name. The ride up Highway 367 to The Argosy Casino was scenic and we even spied the new Audubon Birdlands Sanctuary in the distance.
Once on board the boat, we break up into smaller groups according to our gaming budgets. A few go to the fifty cent or $1.00 slot machines. Most go to the penny or five cent slots to extend their gambling time.
The blogger takes the elevator to the top level. The favorites there are "Ms Kitty" (Dr Kress' cat's name), "Cats" (famous play by St. Louisan, T. S. Eliot), and "Kitty Glitter" (a bad pun if ever there was one!). The blogger moves from one machine to the next, investing $5.00 at each for a total of 1,500 "spins". Time flies by until we meet up at the main entrance to decide on lunch.
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We "nix" a cab to Fast Eddy's Bon Aire and decide to eat at The Captain's Buffet. Lots of vegetables, soups, salads, ham, meatloaf, salmon, and fried chicken are paired with more carbohydrate side dishes than we care to count. Dessert is home-made blackberry cobbler with ice cream or pie (pecan, pumpkin, cherry, apple, banana cream or coconut cream). Totally stuffed, we gaze at the Mighty Mississippi; the waves are so frothy we feel like we are "steam boating".
The blogger moves downstairs to the $1.00/spin slot machines. He quickly hits three jackpots in a row and cashes out. There is a swagger to his gait as he re-joins his companions to board the bus. No one ever discusses the amount wagered, but one of the regulars asks the driver how he did. He replies, "I won some and lost some." As we cross the Alton Bridge over the swollen Mississippi River, the stiff breeze is throwing up waves which sparkle like silver coins. A tow of barges plows through the coinage going down river to the confluence. We all ponder "winning some" and "losing some" in the Autumn of our lives.