South Point Staycation

Beginning Christmas Eve, we stayed at the South Point for two nights. My mom and Blaine, and my brother each had rooms too for one night. This is our second stay, and I really like the property. It's one of my favorite local's casinos. I only wish it were closer to home.

We checked in and had dinner at Steak N Shake. It's been over a decade since I've had one of their burgers. Back in Chicago, it was a routine stop for lunch. I chose a jalapeno melt, but was left wishing I went with Frank's choice, the portobello and swiss burger. My melt was odd, not terribly cheesy, the jalapenos came diced on the side. The bread overpowered the rest of melt. His burger was juicy and cheesy, just as it should be. I enjoyed their thin and crispy fries and Frank thought their shake was very good too. The tab was less than twenty bucks, not bad, for a sit down meal.

Frank played poker and I played Keno. Then, we moved onto slots. He hit a nice penny jackpot and I was losing so we went to the bar to enjoy $2 drinks. The family met us there. We chatted while sipping cheap drinks for a couple hours. Hunger struck about one o'clock. Frank and I went to the Coronado Cafe for graveyard specials and the family hit the casino to try their luck.

The restaurant was slammed but the staff handled it well. Our server was a champ too. We were quite impressed. I had steak and eggs ($3.95), Frank had hamsteak and eggs ($2.95). No fuss, just cheap and quick. I missed graveyard specials. We used to take advantage of them every week our first couple year's of living here.

The accomodations are quite comfortable. The only exception was the bed pillows. They only provided two and both were hard hard. I wish it had been a more peaceful night of sleep.

Christmas day we lounged around until our two o'clock reservation at Don Vito's. We dined there before, and they had Christmas menu that sounded most appealing. Their garlic dipping oil and warm bread is so delicious. I had forgotten just how good it was. We were all careful not to stuff ourselves silly. We had salad or soup to start the standout was Frank's caprese ($10). Beautiful and tasty!



The crab stuffed halibut ($30) was offered on the Christmas menu. It was good, but not terribly special. I've had far better fish elsewhere.



The rest of the entrees varied, filet mignon ($30), veal parm ($28), sea bass ($30) and gnocchi ($17) were all enjoyed. The gnocchi was the crowd pleaser.

Thanks to the coupon booklet given at check-in we were able to all indulge in complimentary dessert. A canoli, tiramisu and cheesecake were had. All were scrumptious.

We also had a bottle of wine and the total damage for five was $210. It was a pleasant surprise, Merry Christmas to us.

The family checked out, and later that evening Frank and I returned to the South Point. We saw Les Misérables at the theater. Snacked on free popcorn. The coupons come in handy. Then, grabbed a bite at Steak N Shake. This time we went to the takeout window. It is definitely the way to go if you don't have time to wait. This time we went with the original burgers, no shake, only fries. I think dinner was about $12.

We turned in for our final night. Morning came, and it was back to the grind. At least, the commute to work was nice and painless.