Thursday, August 05, 2004

It's been about two weeks since I got back from Vegas, and I won't be in Vegas again for about two more weeks (I remember planning a non-Vegas vacation for sometime this Summer, whatever happened to that?), so of course I was deep in the grips of withdrawal this evening, and for a chance of pace, I decided to feed the need at Sycuan. Unfortunately, I unwittingly chose to do this the same night Crystal Gayle was performing. I'm not sure if she had any trouble with air marshals on her way to the gig, but she seemed to have brought in a good number of people. And if you've ever seen the Sycuan parking lot, you understand why this might be a problem. I briefly considered valet as an alternative to their lot, which never really advanced from the temporary lot back when Sycuan, a typical Indian casino, was basically some trailers. But I don't think I would trust any employee of Sycuan with the keys to my car. So I drove out to the far end of the lot and picked a row. I drove about half-way down the row, not finding a space, when I came upon one of many twists in the road accommodating a tree (I suppose it is nice that they apparently built their lot around the foliage). Thanks to some big trucks parked a bit too close to the tree, it didn't look like I could fit through, and backing up would have required maneuvering a twisting path for about 350 feet. So I seemed to be stuck. I stopped for about two minutes, thinking the conundrum over, finally deciding to go forward. I thought I was going to have to drive right into the planter with the tree, but all that ended up being required was driving up onto the curb a bit. A very tight fit, but I made it. I found a space not much further down, and enjoyed the walk to the casino, observing the broken glass littering every third space or so. Gotta love El Cajon.

It is stunning the dramatic drop in class in the clientele of Sycuan versus the other casinos in town. We're not talking about Western-level clientele, but some real freaks are easily found. Unlike previous visits, no one tried to sell me anything (I always enjoy trying to decide if they need money to gamble or need money for meth), so maybe they're classing up the joint. Played blackjack for an hour or so, won a small amount of cash, just enough to make it worth my time. They do have an okay blackjack game, not the best in town, but good enough. If they did something about the parking, it might be worth the occasional visit, but as things stand now...I guess it depends if they send me some good offers in the mail or not.

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