Hi Gang:
Hedy and I are back from a three-day trip to the Harrah's/Horseshoe
properties in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and we are hoping and praying that the good
people of Iowa and Nebraska get through the trying time they are
experiencing right now.
The Missouri River is cresting and the height of the floodwaters around
Harrah's riverboat and hotel is reaching scary levels. The bottom level of the
parking garage adjacent to the riverboat is covered by six to eight feet
of water and the parking lot at the rear and to the right of the hotel is
completely under water. It was strange to see only the tops of the trees in
this lot and the upper half of the the light stanchions. The levees are
holding so far but there was a breach of a levee to the north in Hamburg and
many people were forced to evacuate their homes.
Everywhere we looked during our stay we saw sandbags being laid out around
electrical facilities and Thursday when we left to fly home we saw crews of
men laying sandbags around the lower levels of the hotel.
The College World Series is scheduled to open tomorrow at the new TD
Ameritrade ballpark across the river in Omaha and they were hoping that they
wouldn't have to reschedule or move games to another site due to flooding.
All in all, it was very disconcerting to see. So, again, if anyone on this
board is living through this nightmare, we wish you only the best.
As far as our trip was concerned, Hedy and I decided to throttle back a bit
and play the 10/6 DDB machines on the Harrah's riverboat at the 50-cent
level almost exclusively. We also spent an afternoon at the Horseshoe and
played triple play Super Times Pay 9/6 DDB at the quarter level. The first day
and a half were fairly unproductive but late on Tuesday we hit aces a
couple of times for $400 each and things got better from there.
Hedy got aces and a kicker twice on STP for $500 each and we continued to
hit low quads and aces over the last day and a half of our stay. The bottom
line was a fairly substantial win for the level at which we were playing,
so it turned out to be a good trip, financially speaking.
Also noteworthy was the fact that the Diamond Lounge has been relocated to
the top deck of the riverboat and is much larger and much more comfortable
that the one previously located next to Aces Diner. It features a number of
sofas, couches and large screen TV's as well as a shuffleboard table. It
was open for a continental-style breakfast every morning from 10-11 and then
lunch/dinner was provided.
The food was fairly good, especially the last two days when they offered a
tasty teriyaki chicken dish over rice and then baked pork chops with BBQ
baked beans. Nothing really fancy, but satisfying nonetheless.
Thanks to our host, who was very helpful and gracious, we also got two
tickets to see Mumford and Sons, a folk/rock music group from England that
played the outdoor venue on Tuesday night. We had never heard of them but they
sure were popular in Iowa. Their concert sold out in 17 minutes.
We made the trip primarily to see Hedy's niece and her family, who live in
Des Moines. They drove down to meet us and spent the three days with us.
The highlight for the kids (ages 13, 11, 9 and 2) was a visit to the Henry
Doorly Zoo in Omaha. It is one of the top zoos in the country and the kids
... and the adults, too ... had a blast. Since Hedy and I are both Seven
Stars players, Harrah's provided transportation to and from the zoo and allowed
us to use our rewards credits to purchase our tickets. It was also sad to
see Rosenblatt Stadium (right next to the zoo) vacant. The long-time home
of the College World Series is being torn down, we are told, so the zoo can
expand.
We will be back at Harrah's AC tomorrow for a one-night stay then will be
gearing up for the Seven Stars Signature Weekend in AC starting Thursday.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
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