Making Our Way In The USA

[case]

Forgot I had a pic of the ship museum in Sault ste Marie

[case]

Tuesday Aug 15. We left the Soo under sunny skies. Today would be a boring long drive through the forest of Northern Michigan. However we had one stop I was looking forward to and that was a visit to the shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point. Getting to Whitefish was about as remote a drive as you can find. As we got closer we finally got a glimpse of Lake Superior.

We reached Whitefish and we’re surprised at the number of vehicles including a tour bus. Of course the famous wreak from this area was the Edmund Fitzgerald made famous in the Gordon Lightfoot song. The ship sank here 17 miles from Whitefish Bay. There was a lot of info and we even watched a short movie of divers recovering the bell from the famous ship. Lots of buildings to walk through to see how the lighthouse keeper lived in such isolation. A must visit if ever up this way.

We then had to backtrack to get back on course and a few hours later we caught our first view of Lake Michigan

Tired after about a six hour drive we stopped at Northstar casino in Bowler Wisconsin to have a bite to eat and stretch. A beautiful casino and quite large with 1200 machines. Also non smoking as this policy seems to becoming the norm. Video poker payouts were DDB 9-5 and DB 9-6-4. M and I each put 100 dollars in and played beside each other. We both lost our money with no four of a kinds. Such is life.

We spent the nite at Best Western in Wittenberg WI at a cost of 105 dollars. Room and free breakfast were adequate.

Tomorrow we will crisscross between Wisconsin and Minnesota as we head for Treasure Island casino.

[Come Back Kid]

Cool pics...Nice keno hit too!

[case]

Wednesday Aug 16. Headed for Treasure Island casino and crossed the Mississippi River a few times. Wisconsin was on the east side of the river and Minnesota was on the west. Leaving the forest behind we entered rolling hills with lots of farmland. Paid 3.60 for gas,

Arrived at our hotel Country Inn and Suites in Redwing Minnesota. Room cost 149.00. Treasure Island casino was less than 10 minutes away but got stopped for road construction as they were paving and might have been the longest delay as we were stopped 25 minutes.

The nicest casino of the trip and also no smoking. Huge place with over 1800 machines.Video poker pay table not good though. DDB 8-5 and DB 9-5-4. However my keno pay tables were at the highest return and only a few casinos across the USA offer this payout. I got lucky and hit a 7 out of 7. The odds of hitting a 7 are the same as getting a royal Flush so not an easy feat. It returns 7000-1. I had two nickels on it and it returned 700 dollars

We left happy up 620 for the day.

Thursday we will follow the Mississippi and even take a boat ride,

[onemoretry]

I've never had much of a taste for keno, but seeing your keno results so far on this trip makes me understand why people like it. $700 for a 10c bet is hard to beat.

What would the return be on that good keno paytable?

[olds442jetaway]

I really am enjoying this thread. Stay safe and well and Congrats too!! The wife and I would enjoy the museum both being born and raised in nautical areas with tons of history. We were born and grew up in towns that were founded in the 1630s. Whaling, pirates, famous battles, all where we walk every day. Have a great rest of your trip.

[case]

Onemoretry
I will use the return on a 5 spot.
5 of 5 = 838
4 of 5 = 13
3 of 5 = 3
This is the best table you will find and I (believe) just under 95% but I could be wrong. Not as good as video poker but a small bet is able to produce a large win. When I am in a casino with poor vp pay tables I play keno. If vp is good I play more of that. You either love keno or hate it. My wife hates it. To win at keno you must have patience as it is slow and can take a long time to hit. The biggest mistake people make is trying to hit a 10, 9, or 8 spot. Just way to hard. Money can be made on 5 and 6 spot and try the odd 7 spot. A nickel on a 5 spot pays around 40 dollars.

I still love video poker but keno fills a void for me.

[case]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I decided to do this trip report because I know this site doesn’t get much posting and I myself don’t post much.

[case]

Thursday August 17. The weather has been perfect with sun every day and 75 degrees. The long range is for really hot and humid weather ahead so will take advantage while we can. Today is really windy though and there are whitecaps on the river,

We left Redwing and followed the Mississippi to Pepin Wisconsin.

Pepin is hardly a town but it is the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder (little house on the prairie). They have a museum there profiling her life so of course we did the tour.

The road that day really did follow the Mississippi so we had terrific views all day. Also lots of miniature mountains as the land was quite rugged.

We reached La Crosse Wisconsin and had booked a small cruise on the Mississippi.

This turned out to be a letdown as we wanted some history of the river and surrounding area but the guide was more interested in the birds and who owned the big houses on the river.

We continued to Waterloo Iowa where we had a free room (Caesar) at Isle Casino Hotel. We were late getting there so did not gamble long

We did check out pay tables and typical Caesar bad games. They did have about a 1000 machines so decent size. Also was a smoking joint. Will give credit to the restaurant there called Brew Brothers as the food was great.

Friday off to the Bettendorf- Davenport area where we will spend two nights.

[olds442jetaway]

I would have liked a history lesson too. Always wondered more about the River after reading Huckleberry Finn when I was about 10 or 12. The Mark Twain Museum is right here in Ct. I am a huge history buff as well as Sci Fi. I am surprised that in this day and age so many casinos still allow smoking. After Covid, the Ct casinos stopped it and they have told me they are never going back. I just can’t handle the smoke. I think I also read recently, the revenues spiked way up as well. They do allow smoking outside. Enjoy your adventure tomorrow.