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This trip was for my Hubby's birthday (October 19^th) He chose Tunica instead of vegas..silly boy.

October 16^th - Friday

We left Baton Rouge on Friday headed to Tunica to stay our first night in Indianaola MS and the next three nights at The Sheraton Casino/Hotel in Tunica. It's normally about a 6 hour drive straight through. We decided to stop along the way to do some sight seeing in the Mississippi Delta along the Blues highway. We are big fans of Blues Music and I had done a lot of research before we left so we could make the most of this trip.

We arrived in Indianola around 4:00 PM so it was a bit too late to start our sightseeing as most museums close around then.

There are two casinos about thirty minutes from here (Greenville MS)so we figured we would go check them out.

One is Harlow's & the other is the Lighthouse Point. They are both riverboat casinos. We chose Harlow's. I was really expecting a dump and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. It was huge with wide open areas, a really good selection of new slots and table games. We played for a couple of hours and at one time I was down 200.00 but managed to win it back before we left on a Power ball progressive machine. Thank Goodness because my budget for the 4 days was $500.00. We left there at around 9:00PM and started looking for something to eat. Most small town local restaurants closed early so ended up eating at Shoney's. No review on this because well Shoney's is Shoney's.

October 17^th Saturday

Saturday morning we got up and began our tour. Indianola is hometown to Riley B. King. (B.B.) There is a wonderful museum located in an old cotton gin there that is well worth stopping to visit. Music is playing throughout and there are videos you can watch as well as a couple of "Lucille's) you can gawk at. Well worth the $10.00 admission. We spent two hours there but you could easily spend a half a day there. On to the corner of Church and Second Street where he played on Saturday nights as a young man and you can see his footprints and signature here.

We stopped and had lunch at a local diner called Pea Soup. As much as possible we try to eat at small family owned local joints. As they usually have the BEST down home southern cooking. And Pea Soup did not disappoint. I ordered a cheeseburger and DH ordered the catfish. Both dishes were wonderful. I really do enjoy a homemade cheeseburger. Both came with fries and DH's had cole slaw as well. We shared a small order of Hot Tamales. The bill was less than 20.00$.

On to Leland Ms., Kermit the Frogs birthplace. This is a teeny tiny museum that mostly houses a collection of Sesame Street Memorabilia. There is of course a TV monitor showing old Sesame Street videos. Our tour guide met is at the door with a "Welcome to the home of the frog" ! She said she was in high school when Jim Henson was there so she really didn't know him. Very cute touristy thing to do.

DH & Kermit:

Pictures of Jim Henson as a boy:

We left there and visited the Highway 61 Blues museum. This one was really small and not a whole lot to see and do. Still worth going through. There are a couple of murals painted on some of the walls of a few businesses that are throughout town. We had to go see those as well.

After that we headed north to Clarksdale. This one has the Delta Blues museum. "Displays include one of B.B. King's "Lucille" guitars, harmonicas once owned by Sonny Boy Williams II, and the log cabin that Muddy Waters lived in at the Stovall Plantation. This is Blues heaven." The cabin that Muddy waters used to live in was destroyed mostly by a tornado. There is guitar there that was made from the wood of the part of the cabin that survived. It was on display there. The guitar goes on tour from time to tome to raise money for the museum. Also in Clarkdale is the famous Crossroads. This is where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil for his talent. Any way he died very young from being poisoned in a "juke Joint" I think it's a great story true or not. I was not allowed to take pictures in the museum.

On to Tunica. We are planning to eat in Memphis tonight at Charlie Vargas Rendezvous. Best ribs in Memphis. So we make it to The Sheraton (HET Casino)around 4:00 PM to check in and wait around twenty minutes just for the valet. We finally ended up going in and having a security guard go get him. This happened pretty much every time we dropped off or picked up our car from there.

The rooms are very nice here. All of the rooms have a huge Jacuzzi tub in them. I never used it because I'm sure it probably took an hour just to fill. The bathrooms are huge with double sinks, and a makeup area complete with stool along side the sinks. There is a separate shower that had decent water pressure. The shower head would be nice for tall people because it was pretty high up. The carpet is getting a little worn and had a few stains on it but all in all it was a nice room. Our view was of the parking lot. So we get checked in drop our bags wash up a bit and get back in the car to go to Memphis.

The food at Rendezvous is outstanding. I prefer a dry rub rib instead of one covered in Barbeque sauce. Too much sauce just overpowers the taste of the meat IMO. And they have the best. I don't know how they do it but the outside of the ribs has almost a crust to it. Half a rack, baked beans, cole slaw and rolls cost $14.25. A full rack is $17.50. The atmosphere in this place is worth the trip alone. On the way out we bought some dry rub seasoning so DH can try and duplicate the ribs. The only serve beer and wine. Oh and no coffee.

Finally on to gambling in Tunica. We decided to try The Sheraton since we were staying there. I tried several machines and lost $160.00 in an hour and a half. I play mostly penny and 2 cent machines with 25 cent WOF every now and then. I didn't hit anything and didn't even have play time. We decided to call it a night at around 11:00. I was pretty tired from the day anyway and one day I will learn not to gamble when I am so tired.

Sunday October 18^th

After sleeping in a bit we decided to walk over to The Horseshoe (another casino owned by Harrah's.) There are three casino's in this "block" Sheraton, Horseshoe and Gold Strike(owned by MGM). This is a nice casino but they didn't have much of a selection if you liked to play penny machines. I managed to hit a Pompeii machine for $140.00 so I won most of my money back. I cashed out and DH and I decided to visit a few more casinos.

He had a coupon that he got for his birthday for $15.00 at the Holly wood Casino so we went there. I have never done anything there and today was no different. I only played $40.00 there and left. This is a nice casino and has lots of movie memorabilia in it so you actually have something to do other than gamble. I just can't win a thing there. And neither did DH.

It was getting pretty close to Noon and we wanted to find a place to settle in to watch the Saints game so went next door to Resorts Casino. On this "block" there are three casinos. Hollywood, Resorts (owned by the same folks who have the Hilton in Vegas) and Sam's Town. All within walking distance. Not really next door but close enough to walk. I really thought it was going to be a dump but it was nice. There were lots of machines to chose from and the isles were big enough that you didn't feel claustrophobic. Cocktail service was great and I managed to play a long time on a hundred dollar bill. So the Saint's pulled off a great win and managed to look really good doing it. GEUXX Saints.

We left there and headed to Sam's Town. I had a coupon for a restaurant called The Barn for buy one get one free entrée so we figured we would try it. DH got ribs again and I got fried catfish. Each came with two side orders. He had beans & coleslaw and I had creamed corn and fries. The food wasn't outstanding but it was good enough. The total was 25.00 with coupon. We played in here a bit and I managed to lose another 100.00$. Again I am getting tired so I shouldn't have played at all.

We headed back to the room and called it a night.

Monday October 19^th

Today is DH's birthday. He wanted to go back to Memphis to visit the Peabody Hotel, eat breakfast there and watch the ducks march. We went to the Cappricio grill for breakfast we happened on this place by accident on our last visit. We got to The Peabody 2 hours to early to watch the duck march so we asked some people where to eat. They have a buffet here that is wonderful! Applewood smoked bacon & sausage, eggs, pancakes, fresh fruits, cereals and best of all cheese grits. It's $13.50 pp except for Sundays when they have a champagne brunch then it's $37.50. I have not had the champagne brunch so I can't comment on that. This has become a tradition for us and something we always do while up there. We did that and went out on the roof top and took these pictures. One of these days we are going to spring for a room there. At $250.00 a night we just haven't been able to bring ourselves to stay there since we can get free rooms in Tunica. We didn't visit Beale Street because it was just too cold. That wind picks up on the Mississippi river and it gets cold. We also didn't make it to Graceland as I have been there three times already. So we headed back to Tunica for more gambling. Some how we ended up going in the wrong direction and ended up on I-40 in West Memphis Ark. Along the way we saw signs for a casino/dog track that was there so we thought we would check it out. They had VP machines and those "lock & roll" machines like they have in the Harrahs Casino in the Smokey Mts. Well I had played these before and did terrible so I wasn't about to spend much money there. DH put a twenty in a penny deuces wild and I put a five in a lock & roll double diamond penny machine. Of course we lost but he did play the VP awhile.

Where the ducks live after when they are not working..

Finally back in Tunica and DH wants to get a nap so I dropped him off at The Sheraton and decided to visit Harrah's while he was sleeping. Harrah's property is HUGE but can be a bit of a pain to stay there. The casino is not connected to the hotel so you have to get in your vehicle and drive over or catch the shuttle. Anyhow, now I'm down to my last 200.00$ so I will be playing very conservative. I sat down at a Whales of cash machine because I had seen someone hit one yesterday for 240.00$ playing .50 a spin. She hit the 5 clams with the whales.

I put a hundred in it thinking I'll spend it here and quit so I'll have $100.00 left for the rest of the trip… After about 6 spins I hit the 5 clams also!! Mine was for $177.00 so I guess maybe she was in the bonus I'm not sure. I was also playing 50 cents a spin. Anyhow woohooo!! I figured I'd play it down to $250.00 and cash out when I hit all 5 money bags and went into the bonus. I managed to cash that one out for 360.00$ so I put three big bills away in my stash and put a twenty in the Jackpot Party progressive machine. I think it was some sort of a greek or roman game. I upped my bet to 1.00 per spin because now I am loaded. I hit the regular bonus after spending half my money and won around 50.00 for it. Then I got the jackpot symbol. First pick I picked 1^st Star - progressive $10.00 Second pick - I picked the 2^nd star, progressive 30.00! - 3^rd pick I picked the third star progressive is worth $254.00!!! Now I am holding my breath the fourth star progressive is worth $2,400. I picked collect. Oh well I now have that machine over $300.00 so I cash it out. I am up over $500.00 and I have been there about a half an hour. I put two big bills away in my stash and promise myself I would just spend the twenties and leave.

I played a couple more machines and lost. DH finally called me to tell he was up and was walking over to Gold strike so I started playing $1.00 a spin on Tiki Torch and hit the 5 moons and got in the bonus. I cashed it out for $120.00. I left Harrah's with 700.00$ So I went to pick DH up and lost 100.00$ at Goldstrike very quickly. I wanted to go back to Harrah's but he wanted to go back to Resorts and it was his birthday so we went.

We were getting hungry and I didn't want to eat a buffet so before we went back to Resorts we decided on this diner we had passed on our way to Tunica. It was called the Blue & White Restaurant. Again another local restaurant. I think it has been there since the 40s. It was wonderful from the service to the food to the atmosphere. DH ordered hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and gravy with turnip greens and Texas toast.

I got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with onion rings and we split an order of fried dill pickle chips. The food was great. Some of the best onion rings I had ever tasted. I really miss the old diners and cafes. No fancy food just great food and service. I think the bill was around 18.00$ DH gave the waitress 25.00$ and told her to keep the change she seemed shocked. Another thing that really surprised me was you could smoke in the restaurant when the waitress asked if we wanted an ashtray I thought she was kidding.

We managed to hit the last two casinos that night as well as back to Resorts. Fitzgerald's and Bally's. These two are set up by themselves and I wasn't impressed with either one of them. I managed to lose half my money for the night was over. DH won a little bit but not enough to make up for his loses for the week. We headed back to our room at about 11:00PM and stepped into a room that had not been visited by housekeeping that day. Our wet towels were still in a heap on the bathroom floor. I always pile them up to make it easier for them to pick up. So I had to pick them all and hang them up so at least they would be dry in the morning. I called housekeeping twice and no one ever answered. I could have dealt with the room but it's nice to have clean towels.

Tuesday October 20^th.

Finally time to go home. DH wants to stop at Fitzgeralds on the way out because he won a little bit there yesterday. I would much rather go home while I still had a little bit of money left. So we did and I lost again. I now have $100.00 left and plan on keeping it. Really I didn't do too badly. I only spent $400.00 of my own money for four days gambling. Not bad.

We left at around 11:00 and stopped at another local diner for lunch. It was the Hollywood Cafe. We both had the catfish with fries and slaw. Excellent food and again great service. We managed to make it home at around 7:00PM. Traffic was at a standstill in Vicksburg. We never did find out why.

I was so glad to get home. I really missed my puppers. We had a new dog/house sitter and I was a little nervous about leaving them. She's the girlfriend of a daughter of a very good friend on mine. We board Minnie the Chi at the vets because she is old and sickly. Jazzy girl loves everyone but my little red dog Rouxbee get a little nervous around people she doesn't know well. But they did fine. They were very happy to see us. And my entire house was spotless when I walked in. They cleaned the floors, put clean sheets on the bed, washed dried and folded the towels. They had put away all the dishes. I'll be using these girls again.