Cheesecake and Slots

It was a fairly busy weekend for us. "Busy" for us normally means we leave the house some time before dark. But Saturday was filled with errands like dropping off piles of clothing at the Salvation Army and shopping (unsuccessfully, this time around) for a new living room rug at Building 19.

On Sunday we had a little adventure of sorts. For a couple of weeks, the Mrs. has been jonesing for some cheesecake. Not just any cheesecake, but Junior's cheesecake. Junior's is in Brooklyn, but last year they opened a location at the MGM Grand casino at Foxwoods, which is somewhat closer. So she decided that we needed to drive there. Since we would be passing through Rhode Island on our way, she suggested I ask my mother if she wanted to come along with us.

On Sunday we drove down to RI and picked up my mother, and made the 45-minute drive to Ledyard, CT. The complex is about eight miles off route 95 and is very easy to get to, if you're considering a visit. We arrived a litle before 1 PM, and since we hadn't eaten breakfast we headed straight for Junior's, which is just off the main hotel lobby. By this point I was ready for lunch, so I ordered a pastrami sandwich. The Mrs. wanted Junior's famous french toast, but unfortunately they stop serving breakfast at noon on Sundays. She settled for matzo ball soup.

Then she ordered cheesecake, and as soon as she put the fork in her mouth, I knew from the look on her face that something wasn't right. "It's too sweet." While I myself could not taste any difference, that doesn't mean much; her palate is generally more sensitive to differences in sweetness and saltiness. Disappointed, she lost interest in getting a whole cheesecake to bring home, and worried aloud that they had irrevocably changed the recipe. I suspect it's more likely that the difference is due to it being a distant outpost, far from the mother ship. At least I hope so, for her sake.

After lunch we headed to the casino. After a minute or two, I learned that the Mrs., who is also very sensitive to smoke, did not know that people are allowed to smoke in casinos. She offered to wait in the lobby area, which had fresh, cool air circulating, while my mother and I visited some slot machines. That was a bust as well, because we could not figure out how to work the change machines. You're supposed to put in money and get a ticket with stored value, which you then take to the machine of your choice. But between the two of us, we could not understand the process. It was also kind of dark and very noisy, as every single one of those hundreds of machines has a soundtrack of chirps and blips. So we went home. At least it was a nice day for a drive.

I'm not much of a gambler, which I guess is pretty obvious. I've been to Suffolk Downs, Churchill Downs, and Hialeah Park; I used to go to jai alai in Newport a long, long time ago, and I was in Atlantic City for an afternoon once, a quarter century ago. That's the extent of my gambling experience. I learned later that the casino at Foxwoods proper has a non-smoking area, but I don't see us going back. I do imagine a trip to New York is in our near future, to get a definitive answer to the cheesecake question. And some french toast.