The Return of "Getting Loopy at the Local" (It's been a while) March 21st-23rd

I'll be completely honest on this one. I was not, initially planning a TR for this quick weekend but, after reading the March Vegas thread I was "inspired".

It's been a minute since Mrs. P and I have been to Lake Charles, even longer since we've been to L'Auberge. We kind of gave up on the place after a couple of really bummer stays there. It's been even longer still since I've had a decent gambling result there.

But, Penn Gaming is now in charge of the place and we're running desperately low on our supply of Insane Sausage. Therefore we decided that a trip to Lake Charles was desperately needed. So, where to stay? We've been staying at Golden Nugget on our last couple of trips but, they've been very disappointing in terms of quality and service. From a water leak that left a huge wet spot on the carpet, resolved not with a new room but by putting a very loud dehumidifier and fan in our room (really Tillman?) to some of the worst pool cabana service I've ever had, to "meh' dining experiences we've decided to give that place a pause.

Horseshoe, the new Caesar's joint, is underwhelming, so we decided to look at either Golden Nugget or L'Auberge. Golden Nugget was running around $300 per night (yikes!) probably due to March Madness. I was beginning to lose hope but then, my comps at L'Auberge were still (sort of) active, and we got one night free and the 2nd night at $85, perfectly doable and in range for the quality and service that one gets at Lake Charles.

This, of course, made me wonder: "Why are the rates so cheap for what, should be, a fairly busy weekend?"

I mean, March Madness will be in full gear with the first weekend, the weather is supposed to be nice (after storms on Thursday, yay driving in hail!!) and there's a concert. Then I looked online and noticed that they're charging people $100 to get into their sports book for the Tourney. I'm willing to be they're either going to drop this down quite a bit or the place is going to be a ghost town. We'll see. What I have noticed from Penn since they took over is that they are way too proud of what they have. They almost doubled their cabana rates last season and the pool became a ghost town.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure getting a seat at a bar top VP machine is going to be almost impossible because of the basketball. (I'm also sure very few people sitting at the machines will actually be PLAYING VP, instead just watching the games on the TVs) so I have no idea what gambling is going to look like this trip. Probably some slots, might play some blackjack or other card games depending on what happens.

For now, our plans are as follows:

Thursday: We're going to leave Houston at about 1PM hoping to arrive at L'Auberge around 4PM-5PM weather and construction to determine that. We have dinner at Ember Grille scheduled at 8PM. So, we hope to arrive and get some gamble in prior to dinner. Then we'll probably just gamble around and hit the bed.

Friday: Our only 'full' day in the casino. Our plan is to take advantage of being in a hotel and sleep in. Hell, we might spend all morning in the room, minus a quick coffee run. We're then going to start at L'Auberge and then move over to GN where we have Dinner reservations at Grotto at 8:30, which is 30 minutes AFTER the concert starts. We'll try and find an open VP machine at a bar and play at one of the two casinos for the rest of the evening.

Saturday: We'll wake up, check out, check our bags and play for just a bit before hitting the road. On the way home we'll stop by Insane Sausages to grab some lunch and stock up on their andoullie and boudin. Then home, then basketball, and then rest up on Sunday.

Hopefully we can grab y'all some pictures of wins. But at least we'll probably be assured of some good food and drink pics, and maybe some interesting shots of how L'Auberge is doing under new-ish ownership now that they've had a chance to run it for a while.

I used to have good status at L'Auberge but that's gone away. I'm now at the base level. It will be interesting to see how the new program compares to the old in terms of points and levels.

First, I have to finish work today and navigate home through Houston traffic. More to come.......

 

One final thought: I know we usually look at getting a cabana for the pool however, the weather on Friday is supposed to be in the 60's and raining. I will say however that Penn has righted the ship on their cabana rates. $400 Mon-Fri is reasonable for what you get. Although $700 on Weekends and Holidays is still a little high it's a darn sight better than the $950 they wanted last Summer.

IF this trip turns out OK it's possible that a pool weekend might be in the cards during the warmer months now.

 

Given our current living room TV situation I'm not sure the sportsbook will be any better.

Except they'll have VP of course. Might have to buy me a machine or two eh?

 

About to hit the road. Meetings at work ran long, so about an hour behind. Will just have to gamble that much harder after dinner.

 

Well, we've been stuck, not moving on I-10 for two hours now. Had to cancel our dinner reservations. All of the vehicles on the Interstate have turned their engines off and people are walking around on the freeway.

No idea what is going on. No noticeable police activity. No nothing.

Texas is a third world State I swear. Maybe we get to the casino sometime this evening. Check in ends at 9. Have already called the hotel to let them know we might be late.

Unreal.

 

Well, we finally made it. 3 hour and 15 minute drive less the two and a half hour stop on I-10.

Bonus, got upgraded to a Jr. Suite. Bad luck behind us!

 

Playing at the new bar here. Pretty good start.

 

Deal 'em to me.

 

How 'bout dem apples?

 

Up just a little now. Good first night. Been a long time since I've been up at this casino.

 

So last night went a little off the rails. Never did get food, no late night dining options here. Everything closes at 10.

We drank, we gambled, and we lost. Only down $400 though which is not bad considering.

Slept in today, just laid in bed and watched basketball. About to get up and go get some lunch. Definitely eating food today.

 

This dog never stood a chance.

 

This is how today has gone. Went down to nickles to slow down the losing, hit this.

 

Great dinner last night at Ember. We ate, and just went straight to bed. Good, full night's sleep felt good. Late check out today, so taking advantage of that. To just relax before driving home.

 

Home. After one last stop to stock up.