I was out of Ann Arbor by 7am and rang home to see how everything was there. Following that I headed east to Detroit to visit the three casinos in the city. Detroit is a big city and the area the three casinos are in is a diversity of buildings from new models skyscrapers to older brick buildings. There is a beautiful old church right next to the Greektown Casino and all around the casino are old style buildings that have been refurbished.
After getting the chips from the casinos with varying luck at the tables I jumped back into the car to head west towards Illinois. Having been to both the casinos near Kalamazoo on Friday night I was able to keep driving straight through to the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Indiana. The casino is owned and run by the local Indigenous Indian tribe. There is a lot of tribal markings and items within the casino and I received an interesting pamphlet on the local tribe to read whilst I am travelling.
From there I travelled further west to Michigan City, Indiana. I arrived there about 6.30pm after stopping along the way to have a nap at one of the rest areas.
The Blue Chip Casino is in Michigan City, it is another flash new glass covered building in an area that was once on the main highway heading west to Chicago from the east. Now the large motorway takes the cars around the area and a lot of the old motels and business are looking very dated.
The casino is actually owned by the same company that owns the Gold Coast Casino in Las Vegas. So when I received my players’ card the attendant informed me I had a lot of points already on the card from two years ago when I stayed at the Gold Coast in Vegas. There were more than enough for me to get dinner from the Buffet. So after I went into the casino and picked up my chips I went to the Buffet and had a very filling dinner.
I had not pre-booked any accommodation for tonight and had intended staying in this area but as it was still early I decided to continue on into Chicago and visit some of the casino’s there before getting a room. I first stopped at the Majestic Star Casino and the Ameristar Casino which are close to each other in Gary, Indiana. Both are riverboat casinos where the actual casino is on a ship which is fixed to the land and you need to enter via large fully enclosed walkways.
I had a good time in both casinos, which for a Monday night were both very busy with not many empty spots for you to sit at. Leaving there I travelled into Chicago to the Horseshoe Casino. It is a huge casino which is very well set out and very well decorated. I played for quite a while there at various tables and only when I went to leave did I realise it was two o’clock in the morning.
This created a slight problem as I still had not arranged any accommodation. I got the GPS and looked up for hotels and found an Econo Lodge not far away. I drove over and was able to get a room quickly that had 11am checkout. It only took a few minutes to book in and I was straight to sleep.
Driving today covered around another 350miles.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Day 5 - Belleville - Ann Arbor - UP - Alanson - Ann Arbor
Today was an early start to get to Ann Arbor to meet up with Chris Taylor, who is also a beer can collector and is a member of the Rusty Bunch Chapter of the USA club. When I asked on the website if there was anyone who would be able available to take an Aussie out dumping for old beer cans Chris generously took up the challenge.
Chris is the Editor of the chapter magazine and is always providing stories of his dumping exploits and I knew he would be an excellent teacher and be able to show me the correct ways of doing things.
I arrived at Chris’s home just before 8am and he was ready to go. Chris is also a musician and spent last night playing a benefit concert for one of his band members who has some serious medical problems. Chris grabbed a couple of cans of caffeine as we headed off north on the I-75. The place we are going to is in Alanson, Michigan and Chris has been coming to the same block of land for over 20 years and with many other collectors is still finding cans out of the dump. The land is a large bushland that was used as a waste dump from the early 1900’s till the 1950s.
As we headed off it was raining and Chris said the forecast was for the weather to fine up around lunchtime. The constant rain and patches of fog were not an inconvenience and we sat on 75 miles per hour most of the way. We met up with another collector Dan Bora at a Burger King on the side of the interstate on the way up. Dan and his wife and 3 boys were away holidaying for the weekend and we spent about 30 minutes with them catching up. Dan is the webmaster of the Rusty Bunch website and is a magician on the computer. I catch up with him each year at the Canvention so have gotten to know him quite well.
Chris said he was going to take me to see the Mackinaw Bridge where the two sections of the state of Michigan are joined by this amazing engineering structure and that we were also going to cross over the bridge to stop at one of the casino/s on the other side. Dan suggested the one at Sault Ste Marie in the UP. UP is the local’s word for Upper Peninsula Michigan. When we crossed the bridge the ramp directly to the I-75 was closed and we did not see a detour sign so continued up the wrong road trying to find a way back to the right way. Even studying maps we could not find one so we had to turn back towards the bridge until we were able to find the original turnoff.
I would normally trust Dan with anything he told me but he told us that Sault Ste Marie was not a long drive. IT was in fact about and a three hour return trip by the time we got back to the Mackinaw Bridge. We also had a small problem finding the casino, we followed the signs which were only small ones at eye level on the road edges but one the final one was missing and we did not get to turn off correct. We eventually found it and even then we got it wrong and walked the wrong way when we went inside and had to back track to the gaming room. I was a bit luckier that the other day and was able to walk away with some extra money plus three different chips for the collection.
We then had to drive all the way back down the U.P. and coming towards the Mackinaw Bridge I was running low on petrol so we had to drive through the town before the bridge to fill up with petrol. Crossing the bridge again we headed to Alanson and Chris directed me towards the bushland where the dump is. This is a big wooded area where the locals used to drive into and dump rubbish up to the 1950’s.
When Chris was a young boy he and his brother used to collect beer cans they found lying around anywhere. Their father shared the pastime with the boys and during a holiday at Alanson they were told about the block of land that the townsfolk used to use as a dump.
Due to the roughness of the ground and the amount of bottles and shrubs on the ground we both wore trousers and heavy boots to ensure that our feet were safe. The ground was literally covered in rusted cans, bottles and fallen tree trunks. There was so many rusted cans that you just had to turn over the soil and you would find more cans sitting under the surface. Within 10 minutes I had found some cans that you could clean up to see the labels had plenty of colour.
Although collectors have picked over this site yearly for many years there is still plenty of cans still to be found. We were there moving around on the site for a couple of hours and I ended up bringing away six cans to clean up plus a rusted 1953 Ohio car number plate that Chris thinks will clean up well. It was tiring work with plenty of sweat in the afternoon heat.
We finished up at the site just before 7pm and after cleaning up and getting into some clean clothes we headed off for the long drive back to Chris’s place. We arrived just on midnight and it was not long before I was asleep.
I covered over 650 miles driving for the day on the round trip. I must thank Chris for his hospitality, his expertise, his patience explaining everything to me and also his generosity for putting my up for the night on his couch. He is a real great person and a great ambassador for our hobby. Thanks Chris.
Chris is the Editor of the chapter magazine and is always providing stories of his dumping exploits and I knew he would be an excellent teacher and be able to show me the correct ways of doing things.
I arrived at Chris’s home just before 8am and he was ready to go. Chris is also a musician and spent last night playing a benefit concert for one of his band members who has some serious medical problems. Chris grabbed a couple of cans of caffeine as we headed off north on the I-75. The place we are going to is in Alanson, Michigan and Chris has been coming to the same block of land for over 20 years and with many other collectors is still finding cans out of the dump. The land is a large bushland that was used as a waste dump from the early 1900’s till the 1950s.
As we headed off it was raining and Chris said the forecast was for the weather to fine up around lunchtime. The constant rain and patches of fog were not an inconvenience and we sat on 75 miles per hour most of the way. We met up with another collector Dan Bora at a Burger King on the side of the interstate on the way up. Dan and his wife and 3 boys were away holidaying for the weekend and we spent about 30 minutes with them catching up. Dan is the webmaster of the Rusty Bunch website and is a magician on the computer. I catch up with him each year at the Canvention so have gotten to know him quite well.
Chris said he was going to take me to see the Mackinaw Bridge where the two sections of the state of Michigan are joined by this amazing engineering structure and that we were also going to cross over the bridge to stop at one of the casino/s on the other side. Dan suggested the one at Sault Ste Marie in the UP. UP is the local’s word for Upper Peninsula Michigan. When we crossed the bridge the ramp directly to the I-75 was closed and we did not see a detour sign so continued up the wrong road trying to find a way back to the right way. Even studying maps we could not find one so we had to turn back towards the bridge until we were able to find the original turnoff.
I would normally trust Dan with anything he told me but he told us that Sault Ste Marie was not a long drive. IT was in fact about and a three hour return trip by the time we got back to the Mackinaw Bridge. We also had a small problem finding the casino, we followed the signs which were only small ones at eye level on the road edges but one the final one was missing and we did not get to turn off correct. We eventually found it and even then we got it wrong and walked the wrong way when we went inside and had to back track to the gaming room. I was a bit luckier that the other day and was able to walk away with some extra money plus three different chips for the collection.
We then had to drive all the way back down the U.P. and coming towards the Mackinaw Bridge I was running low on petrol so we had to drive through the town before the bridge to fill up with petrol. Crossing the bridge again we headed to Alanson and Chris directed me towards the bushland where the dump is. This is a big wooded area where the locals used to drive into and dump rubbish up to the 1950’s.
When Chris was a young boy he and his brother used to collect beer cans they found lying around anywhere. Their father shared the pastime with the boys and during a holiday at Alanson they were told about the block of land that the townsfolk used to use as a dump.
Due to the roughness of the ground and the amount of bottles and shrubs on the ground we both wore trousers and heavy boots to ensure that our feet were safe. The ground was literally covered in rusted cans, bottles and fallen tree trunks. There was so many rusted cans that you just had to turn over the soil and you would find more cans sitting under the surface. Within 10 minutes I had found some cans that you could clean up to see the labels had plenty of colour.
Although collectors have picked over this site yearly for many years there is still plenty of cans still to be found. We were there moving around on the site for a couple of hours and I ended up bringing away six cans to clean up plus a rusted 1953 Ohio car number plate that Chris thinks will clean up well. It was tiring work with plenty of sweat in the afternoon heat.
We finished up at the site just before 7pm and after cleaning up and getting into some clean clothes we headed off for the long drive back to Chris’s place. We arrived just on midnight and it was not long before I was asleep.
I covered over 650 miles driving for the day on the round trip. I must thank Chris for his hospitality, his expertise, his patience explaining everything to me and also his generosity for putting my up for the night on his couch. He is a real great person and a great ambassador for our hobby. Thanks Chris.
Day 4 - Kalamazoo - Argos - Belleville, MI.
After a short sleep I was on the road by about 10am after having some cereal. I quickly rang another collecting friend from Michigan, Chris Taylor who is taking me on a field trip tomorrow, to touch base and make sure everything is o.k. for the visit. I was down to the end of my balance on my Sim card so I also had to load some more $$ onto it.
I purchased an international SIM card similar to previous years and it gives me two phone numbers, one for the UK and one for the USA. It is good in so far as it is quite handy to be able to give people a cell number to ring that is their own country.
Today I am driving back into Indiana and to the township of Argos to visit Mike Beam one of my collecting friends in the BCCA. Mike and I are also members of one of the Chapters of the BCCA called the Rusty Bunch. We correspond regularly via a the Chapter message board which offers a great place to talk about beer cans and any other weird and wonderful topic. The message board and its contributors are a great help to me with my collecting and also especially when I am planning various parts of my USA travel.
It was just on a two hour drive down to Argos along many different state highways which are mainly two way roads which up drive along at the speed limit of 55 mph. On these roads you pass through the townships not bypass them like on the freeways. It gives you a good insight to the local lifestyles. There are some very pretty buildings and also some interesting sights along the way.
Being Saturday it seemed that it is yard sale day with it seemed every fourth or fifth home having a garage sale of sorts in their front yard. I am sure in these times it is a good way for people to make some extra dollars to help pay the bills. There were plenty of people stopping to look at the items for sale as well.
I arrived at Mike’s home just on 2pm and was given a tour of his collection of beer cans and brewery memorabilia. Mikes son Spencer who just turned 16 also collects beer cans. He travels to beer shows with Mike when he is not too busy playing one of the many sports he is involved in and has a good collection as well.
What is good with Mike’s collection is he also has a great collection of items of things he grew up with and some great family mementos that have been in his family for quite a long time. It was great to be able to meet up with him and was a special treat to be able to see his collection of interesting memorabilia.
I was able to stay for 2 hours and we had a great time talking about collecting, I also enjoyed hearing from Mike about the history of the town of Argos, he has a photo from around 1900 (sorry Mike I forgot what year you said it was from) of his ancestors standing in front of their business in the main street of the town.
At various times this afternoon I passed through some rain patches but they were brief and did not affect the driving. I arrived at the hotel at 10pm ready to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow’s field trip with Chris looking for old beer cans.
I had a good day meeting up with Mike and seeing a lot more of the townships of the USA than yesterday when I spent most of my driving time on the Interstate freeways. I drove another 300 miles today.
I purchased an international SIM card similar to previous years and it gives me two phone numbers, one for the UK and one for the USA. It is good in so far as it is quite handy to be able to give people a cell number to ring that is their own country.
Today I am driving back into Indiana and to the township of Argos to visit Mike Beam one of my collecting friends in the BCCA. Mike and I are also members of one of the Chapters of the BCCA called the Rusty Bunch. We correspond regularly via a the Chapter message board which offers a great place to talk about beer cans and any other weird and wonderful topic. The message board and its contributors are a great help to me with my collecting and also especially when I am planning various parts of my USA travel.
It was just on a two hour drive down to Argos along many different state highways which are mainly two way roads which up drive along at the speed limit of 55 mph. On these roads you pass through the townships not bypass them like on the freeways. It gives you a good insight to the local lifestyles. There are some very pretty buildings and also some interesting sights along the way.
Being Saturday it seemed that it is yard sale day with it seemed every fourth or fifth home having a garage sale of sorts in their front yard. I am sure in these times it is a good way for people to make some extra dollars to help pay the bills. There were plenty of people stopping to look at the items for sale as well.
I arrived at Mike’s home just on 2pm and was given a tour of his collection of beer cans and brewery memorabilia. Mikes son Spencer who just turned 16 also collects beer cans. He travels to beer shows with Mike when he is not too busy playing one of the many sports he is involved in and has a good collection as well.
What is good with Mike’s collection is he also has a great collection of items of things he grew up with and some great family mementos that have been in his family for quite a long time. It was great to be able to meet up with him and was a special treat to be able to see his collection of interesting memorabilia.
I was able to stay for 2 hours and we had a great time talking about collecting, I also enjoyed hearing from Mike about the history of the town of Argos, he has a photo from around 1900 (sorry Mike I forgot what year you said it was from) of his ancestors standing in front of their business in the main street of the town.
I left Mike with a couple of mementos from Australia and a can of India Pale Ale beer from the Great Crescent Brewery that I visited two days ago. Thanks Mike for the presents you gave to me as well.
I now had to back track the way I drove for about 1 hour whilst heading back into Michigan and onto my hotel for the night in Belleville, MI. I chose this area as it is close to Detroit and also not far from the home of Chris Taylor, another collector from the Beer Can club who is taking me off on an adventure tomorrow.
The drive from Argos to Belleville was approx 4 hours but I stopped a couple of times for some rest and also stopped in the town of Coldwater for a meal at one of the local diners. I had a 16oz steak and salad for dinner, the waitress kept coming back to the table to speak to me because she liked the Aussie accent. It would be good to get a dollar for everyone that says that to you whilst you are travelling around in the USA.
Whilst driving I passed the Michigan International Speedway, which is hosting the Nascar races next weekend. It is in the town of Brooklyn MI on highway 12. It’s also a coincidence because the weekend after that I will be at the Nascar race in Bristol Tennessee.
At various times this afternoon I passed through some rain patches but they were brief and did not affect the driving. I arrived at the hotel at 10pm ready to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow’s field trip with Chris looking for old beer cans.
I had a good day meeting up with Mike and seeing a lot more of the townships of the USA than yesterday when I spent most of my driving time on the Interstate freeways. I drove another 300 miles today.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Day 3 - Covington to Kalamazoo
Day Three was a long day. I was up, packed and on the road by 9.00am. I was originally going to drive up to the Fort Worth area and stay the night, but decided to carry on a drive through to Kalamazoo, MI. The reason for this was to cross off the two casinos in the area which I was originally going to do on Monday. This will make free some extra time on Monday to explore.
I once again headed over the Ohio River into Indiana and followed my GPS heading towards a casino in Anderson. I followed the I-74 towards Indianapolis and turned right before getting there. Heading north I passed through the town of Greenfield, which is your typical country city with a central area of older buildings that then sprawls outwards with larger industrial areas around it. Coming from the direction I did you still actually drive through the center of the town. There I stopped at a Walmart to get a USA plug adaptor for the power socket as I have left mine at home. I also got a car adaptor for my phone charger. Whilst I was there I stopped at Subway and had a turkey breast 6 inch sub for breakfast (note it was the healthiest item on the menu).
Travelling on to Anderson I arrived at the Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. A lot US States have only recently in the past 5 years granted casino licences and some of the Race Tracks were in a good position to get a casino licence and build a casino next to the race track on land they already owned. 3 of the casinos I visited last year in Pennsylvania were also at race tracks.
I entered the casino and went and got a players card for my collection and then went to the gaming tables to get some $5 chips. To my horror the tables are called E-tables and all the betting in done on individual computer screens built into the table felt. You do not get dealt real cards and you do not get casino chips to play with. I can tell you I was not happy.
I had read of another casino in Indiana had these tables and had left it off my list to visit because of that same reason. So to find out this one was the same actually added about 2 hours of my time for the day as I would have gone a different route to travel north if I had known that there were no chips to be obtained.
Leaving there I headed north up I-69 motorway and crossed the Michigan border up to the I-94 which heads east – west across lower section of Michigan.
I turned left at the interchange and went firstly to the Firekeepers Casino. It is a Native American run casino. The Firekeeper is an historical figure in Indian folk law. I went to the information area and received my player’s card and then picked up three different $5 chips whilst losing the rest of the money I had put on the table to play with.
Travelling about 20 minutes west I arrived at my hotel for the night in the town of Kalamazoo. It was just on dark as I arrived and I rang one of my US collecting friends Mike Beam to confirm it was still o.k. to visit him tomorrow. I have not met Mike but have corresponded many times on the Internet and when he heard I was going to be in the area he lives he graciously invited me to visit his home and his collection. This sorted, I then rang home to check in and spoke with my sister who had just arrived down from Cairns to visit and see our Mother for 10 days.
Following that I drove to Gun Lake Casino which is approx. 40 minutes from the hotel and again got the players card and sat at a table to get my $5 chips. The place was packed being a Friday night and I was only able to get onto a $25 minimum bet Blackjack table. This means all the chips were $25 denomination and the only way I could get $5 chips was to get a Blackjack which pays 3 to 2. I managed to get one of them early and get my chips and then played for quite a while and managed to walk away from the table doubling my money plus the two $5 chips.
I went to the cafe and had a very late dinner by this stage and headed back to my accommodation. It was almost 3am by the time I arrived back.
I had travelled just over 400 miles (640 km) driving for the day. It can be best summed up by the following photos I took.
I once again headed over the Ohio River into Indiana and followed my GPS heading towards a casino in Anderson. I followed the I-74 towards Indianapolis and turned right before getting there. Heading north I passed through the town of Greenfield, which is your typical country city with a central area of older buildings that then sprawls outwards with larger industrial areas around it. Coming from the direction I did you still actually drive through the center of the town. There I stopped at a Walmart to get a USA plug adaptor for the power socket as I have left mine at home. I also got a car adaptor for my phone charger. Whilst I was there I stopped at Subway and had a turkey breast 6 inch sub for breakfast (note it was the healthiest item on the menu).
Travelling on to Anderson I arrived at the Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. A lot US States have only recently in the past 5 years granted casino licences and some of the Race Tracks were in a good position to get a casino licence and build a casino next to the race track on land they already owned. 3 of the casinos I visited last year in Pennsylvania were also at race tracks.
I entered the casino and went and got a players card for my collection and then went to the gaming tables to get some $5 chips. To my horror the tables are called E-tables and all the betting in done on individual computer screens built into the table felt. You do not get dealt real cards and you do not get casino chips to play with. I can tell you I was not happy.
I had read of another casino in Indiana had these tables and had left it off my list to visit because of that same reason. So to find out this one was the same actually added about 2 hours of my time for the day as I would have gone a different route to travel north if I had known that there were no chips to be obtained.
Leaving there I headed north up I-69 motorway and crossed the Michigan border up to the I-94 which heads east – west across lower section of Michigan.
I turned left at the interchange and went firstly to the Firekeepers Casino. It is a Native American run casino. The Firekeeper is an historical figure in Indian folk law. I went to the information area and received my player’s card and then picked up three different $5 chips whilst losing the rest of the money I had put on the table to play with.
Travelling about 20 minutes west I arrived at my hotel for the night in the town of Kalamazoo. It was just on dark as I arrived and I rang one of my US collecting friends Mike Beam to confirm it was still o.k. to visit him tomorrow. I have not met Mike but have corresponded many times on the Internet and when he heard I was going to be in the area he lives he graciously invited me to visit his home and his collection. This sorted, I then rang home to check in and spoke with my sister who had just arrived down from Cairns to visit and see our Mother for 10 days.
Following that I drove to Gun Lake Casino which is approx. 40 minutes from the hotel and again got the players card and sat at a table to get my $5 chips. The place was packed being a Friday night and I was only able to get onto a $25 minimum bet Blackjack table. This means all the chips were $25 denomination and the only way I could get $5 chips was to get a Blackjack which pays 3 to 2. I managed to get one of them early and get my chips and then played for quite a while and managed to walk away from the table doubling my money plus the two $5 chips.
I went to the cafe and had a very late dinner by this stage and headed back to my accommodation. It was almost 3am by the time I arrived back.
I had travelled just over 400 miles (640 km) driving for the day. It can be best summed up by the following photos I took.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Day 2 - Covington - Indiana - Covington
After a good sleep I was ready at 11.30am to go via shuttle back to the airport terminal to get my hire car. The shuttle driver told me he would take me straight to the Dollar Rent A Car Office which is a short way from the airport. Getting there only took 5 minutes.
Once at the counter I explained that I had mixed up my bookings to start the day after I arrived and had made a second booking for today only as trying to add it to the original booking would have cost nearly $300. The original rate I got months ago was very low and when I tried to add a day it wanted to charge the whole lot at a higher rate.
My one day booking was also free as I had a one day free rental voucher from all the car hire I had used in the past year.
The ladies at the counter managed to combine the two bookings so I do not need to return tomorrow and swap cars. That will simplify things somewhat.
I did not take the option of a GPS system as it is $11 per day additional fee. For the 18 days I have the car that would be $198 and buying one is only from $80 upwards depending on which one you get.
I left the rental car facility and headed straight to the nearest Walmart store, which I had written down directions from Google maps. Unfortunately the directions were from the airport not the rental facility and I was one road out in my navigation. It was soon sorted and I only took about an extra 5 minutes to get there.
Once there I had a set shopping list, firstly the GPS, which I decided on a Garman unit similar to what I use at home. Then some camping gear for my trip to Bristol Tennessee for the Nascar weekend. I am camping at the track with 40,000 other people for 4 nights. So a tent, tarp, foam ground roll, sleeping bag, torch and a cooler were added to the trolley. I also forgot my car charger double adapter plug so I got a new one of them and then picked up a long sleeve shirt and finally into the grocery area to get some food. I bought some cereal, bowl and spoon, a 24 pack of water and some Pringles, for those of you that don't know I collect empty Pringles containers, I have over 500 different ones and these two are new ones for the collection.
Through the check-out I stopped at Subway for some lunch then packed the car and started up the GPS.
Today I have set a loop into Indiana to visit three casinos to get $5 chips for my collection. Kentucky does not have any casinos but right across the Ohio River in Indiana there is the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, it is only 15 minutes from the bridge crossing the river near Covington.
The casino is quite large the building is 6 storeys high with a large hotel included. I signed up for the players card (also to add to my collection of Casino Players Cards) and received a sports bag for signing up.
Most of the table games were fairly full of people so I slid into a Let It Ride game, a variation of Poker where you are dealt three cards and use the two dealers cards to make a five card hand. I bought some chips and was able to get two different $5 chips for the collection. The standard $5 chip the casino issues and a $5 Grand Opening chip dated July 2009.
I played for about 15 minutes loosing my original stake minus the chips I kept and left for the next casino down the river. Along the way I drove through the town of Aurora and stopped at the Great Crescent Brewery, a craft brewery which cans its own beer. I was able to pick up three different brews in cans. They use one can with there brewery design on it and put a sticker label across the bottom of the front of the can with the beer style on the label. The do not have any coasters but I picked up some stickers and business cards.
From there I drove along side the river on a fairly scenic route too the Grand Victoria Casino & Resort on the outskirts of the town of Rising Sun. The casino has a golf course attached to it. I was able to get a players card (no free gift though) and played some Blackjack, Let it Ride and Caribbean Stud, picking up the only chip available their own standard $5 chip.
It was 5.30pm by now so on the way out I went to the Casino's Buffet and had dinner. It was a good spread of roasts, seafood, Italian food and salads plus plenty of deserts to chose from and free soda to go with it.
Leaving there I continued south via a windy road following the river passing through many small communities and a lot of farms with fields of sugarcane growing. Along the river on the Kentucky side were a couple of large coal generated power stations and on the river were boats with many connected floats containing coal for the power stations to use.
I also travelled through a lot more small communities along the rivers edge including the aptly named Patriot, which is completely decorated with USA flags and the county of Switzerland which claims to be the Birthplace of America's Comercial Wine Growing.
Finally I got to the third casino the Belterra, it also has a well set out golf course and a a large day spa attached to the buildings. I signed up for the players card (no gift) and again most of the tables were full of people. I got onto a Let It Ride table and picked up two chips, the Belterra $5 general issue chip and a commemorative Tenth Anniversary chip for the casino.
By the time I left it was now dark and before driving off I rang to offer a Happy 50th !!! Birthday to Jan from Wagga but only spoke to Dave as she was out, so Happy Birthday Jan hope the night at the Farrah was a great night out (Did Dave run a raffle?)
Right next to the Belterra was river crossing back into Kentucky and I was soon on my way back towards Covington. My trusty GPS took me on a 5 minute detour by taking me to the second freeway on ramp not the first one.
40 minutes later about 10.30pm, I was back in Covington at the Country Inn & Suites, my hotel for the night. I was in room number 314 which was a suite with a separate lounge area and a King sized bed. The room had a fridge and a microwave oven.
Unlike in Australia most of the hotel rooms do not have fridges in them and you are supplied an ice bucket and each floor has an ice machine to supply the bucket. Most people you see carry a cooler with them to fill with ice to keep drinks etc chilled whilst in the room and also for travelling in the car.
Sorry for the lack of photos, I went to take some today and the camera's battery was flat. I took some with my cell phones camera but could not work the adapter properly to load them up. I will try again to load them up when I get to my next hotel.
Once at the counter I explained that I had mixed up my bookings to start the day after I arrived and had made a second booking for today only as trying to add it to the original booking would have cost nearly $300. The original rate I got months ago was very low and when I tried to add a day it wanted to charge the whole lot at a higher rate.
My one day booking was also free as I had a one day free rental voucher from all the car hire I had used in the past year.
The ladies at the counter managed to combine the two bookings so I do not need to return tomorrow and swap cars. That will simplify things somewhat.
I did not take the option of a GPS system as it is $11 per day additional fee. For the 18 days I have the car that would be $198 and buying one is only from $80 upwards depending on which one you get.
I left the rental car facility and headed straight to the nearest Walmart store, which I had written down directions from Google maps. Unfortunately the directions were from the airport not the rental facility and I was one road out in my navigation. It was soon sorted and I only took about an extra 5 minutes to get there.
Once there I had a set shopping list, firstly the GPS, which I decided on a Garman unit similar to what I use at home. Then some camping gear for my trip to Bristol Tennessee for the Nascar weekend. I am camping at the track with 40,000 other people for 4 nights. So a tent, tarp, foam ground roll, sleeping bag, torch and a cooler were added to the trolley. I also forgot my car charger double adapter plug so I got a new one of them and then picked up a long sleeve shirt and finally into the grocery area to get some food. I bought some cereal, bowl and spoon, a 24 pack of water and some Pringles, for those of you that don't know I collect empty Pringles containers, I have over 500 different ones and these two are new ones for the collection.
Through the check-out I stopped at Subway for some lunch then packed the car and started up the GPS.
Today I have set a loop into Indiana to visit three casinos to get $5 chips for my collection. Kentucky does not have any casinos but right across the Ohio River in Indiana there is the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, it is only 15 minutes from the bridge crossing the river near Covington.
The casino is quite large the building is 6 storeys high with a large hotel included. I signed up for the players card (also to add to my collection of Casino Players Cards) and received a sports bag for signing up.
Most of the table games were fairly full of people so I slid into a Let It Ride game, a variation of Poker where you are dealt three cards and use the two dealers cards to make a five card hand. I bought some chips and was able to get two different $5 chips for the collection. The standard $5 chip the casino issues and a $5 Grand Opening chip dated July 2009.
I played for about 15 minutes loosing my original stake minus the chips I kept and left for the next casino down the river. Along the way I drove through the town of Aurora and stopped at the Great Crescent Brewery, a craft brewery which cans its own beer. I was able to pick up three different brews in cans. They use one can with there brewery design on it and put a sticker label across the bottom of the front of the can with the beer style on the label. The do not have any coasters but I picked up some stickers and business cards.
From there I drove along side the river on a fairly scenic route too the Grand Victoria Casino & Resort on the outskirts of the town of Rising Sun. The casino has a golf course attached to it. I was able to get a players card (no free gift though) and played some Blackjack, Let it Ride and Caribbean Stud, picking up the only chip available their own standard $5 chip.
It was 5.30pm by now so on the way out I went to the Casino's Buffet and had dinner. It was a good spread of roasts, seafood, Italian food and salads plus plenty of deserts to chose from and free soda to go with it.
Leaving there I continued south via a windy road following the river passing through many small communities and a lot of farms with fields of sugarcane growing. Along the river on the Kentucky side were a couple of large coal generated power stations and on the river were boats with many connected floats containing coal for the power stations to use.
I also travelled through a lot more small communities along the rivers edge including the aptly named Patriot, which is completely decorated with USA flags and the county of Switzerland which claims to be the Birthplace of America's Comercial Wine Growing.
Finally I got to the third casino the Belterra, it also has a well set out golf course and a a large day spa attached to the buildings. I signed up for the players card (no gift) and again most of the tables were full of people. I got onto a Let It Ride table and picked up two chips, the Belterra $5 general issue chip and a commemorative Tenth Anniversary chip for the casino.
By the time I left it was now dark and before driving off I rang to offer a Happy 50th !!! Birthday to Jan from Wagga but only spoke to Dave as she was out, so Happy Birthday Jan hope the night at the Farrah was a great night out (Did Dave run a raffle?)
Right next to the Belterra was river crossing back into Kentucky and I was soon on my way back towards Covington. My trusty GPS took me on a 5 minute detour by taking me to the second freeway on ramp not the first one.
40 minutes later about 10.30pm, I was back in Covington at the Country Inn & Suites, my hotel for the night. I was in room number 314 which was a suite with a separate lounge area and a King sized bed. The room had a fridge and a microwave oven.
Unlike in Australia most of the hotel rooms do not have fridges in them and you are supplied an ice bucket and each floor has an ice machine to supply the bucket. Most people you see carry a cooler with them to fill with ice to keep drinks etc chilled whilst in the room and also for travelling in the car.
Sorry for the lack of photos, I went to take some today and the camera's battery was flat. I took some with my cell phones camera but could not work the adapter properly to load them up. I will try again to load them up when I get to my next hotel.
Day 1 - Sydney to Covington
I finally finished packing about 7.50am and weighed my case. I am allowed up to a total of 32 kg in two suitcases on the Qantas flight to Los Angeles but the internal flight with US Airways from LA to Covington via Charlotte, North Carolina is a domestic flight and only allows 20 kg per case.
When I weighed my case it was 21.4 kg so I put some of the flat items from the case to my computer bag and it got to the 20 kg limit. They also charge you per case, you do not get the first case free like on my previous flights with them and South West Airlines. Seems that this year the rules changed at US Airways.
Some interesting observations.
- I am flying US Airways this trip because South West do not fly into Cincinnati,Ohio.
- Cincinnati Airport is in Covington, Kentucky not in Cincinnati, Ohio. The official title is Cincinnati - North Kentucky Airport.
- To fly to the airport from LA you need to make a minimum of one stop along the way, there is no direct flight. To only have one stop you have to fly via Charlotte, North Carolina,which is on the east coast of the USA and then fly back north west 1 hour 30 minutes to Cincinnati.
Back to the trip. I arranged for a shuttle bus to pick me up from home and drop me at the airport. It arrived right on time at 8.30am. They will again bring me home when I return from the trip in September. This costs $110 return. ($60 one way) On shorter vacations I will drive and park at the long term car park, which as I saw on an ad on the back of a taxi is currently having a sale, book 5 days parking and get up to another 10 days free up till the 22nd of September - the long term parking business must be pretty slow to make that offer. Funnily if you just go straight to their web page to book they don't tell you about it you need to press the promotions button to find the deal
I got to the airport about 4 hours before the flight and was able to check my bags straight away. The was able to sit and place all my printed A4 reservation bookings into my travel folder, this is one thing that I run out of time to do before leaving, I normally have it done weeks in advance. Three other things I forgot were my Business cards with all my collecting details on them, the card with the PUK number of my international SIM card and some DVD's of Aussie Rules I had taped for an American collecting friend who is a Collingwood supporter. So hopefully I will not need the PUK number and I can get some cheap business cards printed here over the next couple of weeks before the conference starts.
The Qantas Flight QF11 was a A380 airbus named the Bert Hinkler after our famous aviator. It was a problem free flight, as good as the Emirates A380 flights I had in May. The seating was more comfortable than I found the VAustralia seating last year and the food and staff service was top notch.
The entertainment package for the screens on the seat backs in front of you was not as wide ranged or as easy to work as the Emirates flights though. I watched three movies Big Mummys Boy - an Australian movie about a 25 year old Greek man who lives with his mother and his exploits to try to get out from under her apron. Water For Elephants which was good and Cedar Rapids which is a funny movie about a very straight up man who attends an insurance brokers conference for the first time.
The rest of the time I listened to some music or slept. The couple next to me on the plane were going to Canada to meet up with his brother and travel around the east side of Canada by car.
Landing in LA at 9.30 on Wednesday morning (with crossing the international date line I landed 3 and a half hours before I took off) it was a breeze to get through Immigration Control as we must have been the only plane that landed at that time at Terminal B. It only took about 10 minutes and I then had to wait about another 15 for my luggage to come through and there was a line of only 4 people in front of me to get the customs check, and I got waved straight through without having to stop.
I then had to walk around to Terminal 1 to US Airways check in for my connecting flight. It is about a 15 minute undercover walk past terminals 4, 3, and 2. I checked my luggage and of course paid the $25 fee for doing so. and went through another security check to get through into the departure area. Had my first full body security scan in the new machines that are in use. Then had over an hour and a half to wait for my flight.
I was in the last group called to get onto the plane and by then there was no room for any overhead luggage on the plane so I had to check my carry on bag through to Covington. I carried my lap top onto the plane and had to stow it under the seat in front of me.
The flight to Charlotte was uneventful, there is no flight entertainment available on the plane so I tried to get some sleep and also did the Suduko puzzles that were in the in flight magazine. At Charlotte airport I grabbed some food and had to wait about 1 hour for the connecting flight to Covington.
The plane was a commuter jet only two seats either side of the aisle and only about 25 rows of seats. I sat next to a lady from Cincinnati who was very helpful telling me a lot about the local area and all the places to go and see. The Ohio river goes between Cincinnati and Covington and there is some good boardwalks and tourist spots to check put apparently.
The flight was only 1 and a half hours and I slept most of the way arriving in Covington at midnight the terminal was empty and all the shops shut. You have to go via overhead walkway to the baggage claim and I only had to wait a few minutes for my luggage.
I am staying at the airport in the DoubleTree Hilton Cincinnati Airport. When I knew I was arriving at midnight I checked out the Airport Hotels as I did not want to have to travel to far to get to a room. This hotel had a list of room rates about 50 rates long and they were starting at $125 and then upwards. Then I saw one room rate of $50 dollars only amongst all the rest. That was a no brainer so I booked it straight away.
I rang for the shuttle bus after getting the luggage and once again being the middle of the night it was only 5 minutes before it turned up and only another 5 minutes and I was at the hotel. When I arrived I was given room 239, it has a King Sized bed and flat screen t.v. It is a large room with plenty of space in it and the shower was great after the long series of flights.
I rang home and checked on my mother, she has a sore hip at the moment and it is slowly getting better. My sister arrives from Cairns on Saturday morning to spend 10 days with her before Mum is going to have a break in a respite home at Ryde for 4 weeks. We checked out the facility before I left home and I hope she has a good time there and gets plenty of attention from all the staff who seem very friendly. Hopefully the hip will be back to normal by then.
So that was Day 1 of my trip, it was a long first day being 32 hours from waking up till getting to my room in Covington. So lets wait and see what the rest of the trip brings.
Hope you enjoy reading about the journey.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
2011 Round The World Tour
It has come the day when I head off on my latest trip overseas. This is my second overseas trip this year, if you haven't already you can read about the first one here:
http://www.kbtours-ireland2011.blogspot.com/
I am flying out this afternoon for the USA. I have 26 days there to explore and catch up with my collecting friends. I will put a detailed plan of my trip up later but after the USA I am also going to England, Ireland and Singapore before arriving back home in late September.
The Annual Brewery Collectables Club of America Canvention is on again and I will be there. It is being held in Covington, Kentucky which is across the river from Cincinnati Ohio. I will be there for seven days at the end of the USA section of the trip.
Also whilst in America I am lucky that some of my beer collecting friends have invited me to visit them and their collections. I also intend going to a few baseball games, hopefully a Green Bay Packers NFL trial game and to the Nascar race in Bristol Tennessee.
I will again be documenting the trip, so if it does not bore you to much please keep coming back to these pages and you should get a pretty good idea of the fun and adventures I will be having.
http://www.kbtours-ireland2011.blogspot.com/
I am flying out this afternoon for the USA. I have 26 days there to explore and catch up with my collecting friends. I will put a detailed plan of my trip up later but after the USA I am also going to England, Ireland and Singapore before arriving back home in late September.
The Annual Brewery Collectables Club of America Canvention is on again and I will be there. It is being held in Covington, Kentucky which is across the river from Cincinnati Ohio. I will be there for seven days at the end of the USA section of the trip.
Also whilst in America I am lucky that some of my beer collecting friends have invited me to visit them and their collections. I also intend going to a few baseball games, hopefully a Green Bay Packers NFL trial game and to the Nascar race in Bristol Tennessee.
I will again be documenting the trip, so if it does not bore you to much please keep coming back to these pages and you should get a pretty good idea of the fun and adventures I will be having.
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