Trip Report: Father's Day at the Potawatomi
We don't get out to the Potawatomi in Milwaukee much. But we do try to keep it in the rotation at least once a year.
There really is a ton of stuff to do within minutes of the resort. The pisser for a Dude traveling with two young kids, there just isn't much to do AT the resort itself. Normally we stay at the Blue Chip in Indiana, with its buffet and indoor pool. Or the Four Winds in Michigan, with its outdoor pool, Kid's Quest and arcade. Also a buffet.
Why point out the buffet twice? At the "Pot" kids can't eat at the buffet since it is actually in the casino. Good for other adults, bad for us.
But the surrounding area does make up for it. You are a mile walk away from the Mitchell Domes, the Chudnow, Harley and the big Public Museum.
Everything we would want to see if pretty much condensed right near the casino. So that helps.
Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory
This go round we pick the Milwaukee Public Museum. We have been here before, but they just finished up a decent revamp of the "Streets of Old Milwaukee" so we wanted to check it out.
Even more awesome than the last time we were here. You board an old street car and magically become transported into Milwaukee from the 1920's.
They even have an old European town to explore. Sort of like an indoor Epcot.
Two pennies do not buy much of anything these days, but it should be good enough for a pair of wishes.
I'm sure the little one wished for cheese. But my older daughter tossed her penny in the fountain and whispered to me "I wish you will live forever".
I sure hope I didn't just jinks it by sharing that!
Cheeky little shits... Wont even let me take a normal picture for prosperity.
Still in the "Streets" section, it is pretty damn big, and I'm sure we could kill a good hour just wandering around in here, watching an old Charlie Chaplin flick in the Old Timey Theater or just peeking in to windows.
But we have a schedule to adhere to!
Rather unique, they actually have a section set up like museums used to display things 100 years ago. No wonder kids hated going to a museum when its just random shit stuffed in a mahogany box.
Over to the Butterfly Garden!
We told her if she stayed really still a Butterfly might land on her. She did, and they didn't...
From tiny bugs that fly, to giant bugs to ride.
I'll just blow the rest of these out below, just in case anyone was considering going here.
The museum is big, well laid out and would take a good 4 hours or so to see everything.
Now we are Chicago Folk, and sometimes we get overwhelmed by our massive museums. This one is downright cute by Chicago standards, but when you have a pair of youngens, this place works out much better than ours back home.
A quick trip to their native Japan...
And we made it!
Right now they are in the middle of expanding the hotel. And I can only assume this will lead to more crowding on the weekends. Another one of the reasons why we shy away from staying/playing here.
The casino is big. Huge! But that barn gets filled up fast with horny gamblers and you might often find yourself waiting for a spot at the tables, or having to pass on that slot machine you have been eyeballing.
Unless you get here during the week days, or early enough on the weekends.
This trip came with the free room, $25 + $25 in dining credits plus $300 in Free Play.
Check-in time isn't until 4PM, but I have never had a problem checking in early before.
We grab lunch around 1PM and decide on everything Cheese. This is Wisconsin after all.
Most of their dining is on the second floor of the casino. Since gaming up here is limited to a poker room, Bingo Hall and a small enclosed Non-Smoking casino, kids are allowed to eat up here.
They have a few sit down dining options, we opt for the food court and grab some Mexican food for lunch.
I scarfed down what I could and headed down to see if the room was ready. I got a cranky toddler on my hands and we gotta get this bus in gear.
Room ready. Kids still eating (all of my nachos). I grab a smoke in the casino before gathering the troops.
First game of the day, whatever was closest to the check-in desk.
The plan is to use $100 to get started and convert as much of their $ 300 in Free Play into real money. I'll be heading back to Atlantic City soon, so I'd hate to piss away too much here. I do have backup cash, but I'd like to see how far I can go on their dime.
That smoke break? A bonus game within a few spins. And just like that I'm up $66
All together once more and we head up to the room.
The rooms are nice, modern and each comes with a little counter complete with a fridge. Which seems to be popular since almost everyone in line at the hotel check-in had a case of beer under their arm. Wisconsin...
Views from the windows, part of the new hotel going up and part of their skyline.
The shitters are nice as well. But the rooms overall are small. Fine for just a night, these Fucks never give me more than one night free anyway.
Here is a view from the window by the elevators. Looks like the intent is to butt the new structure right to the old. And share elevator banks with each other.
I gamble around a little while on that $166 ticket I built up at check-in before heading over to some video poker to convert my Free Play.
I started with $100 on the day and I cash out $400 with the conversion. Not bad, let's see how far 400 bones will take us.
No clue what this candy game was but I was invested $100 before this $75 line hit.
Over to this Wheel game, playing $4.50 a spin, and I assume this is a good hit. $250 and we are up to $430.
I play this one right next to it, and after dropping $100 I hit for $108 and move on. Now up to $445
Wander, gamble, lose, win. I'm probably a good 30 minutes past the above hit when I land a 4X 7 hit below for $160. Still holding strong at $426.
And then everything turns to shit. I start chasing my losses betting $ 10 a spin on Wheel of Fortune, and that doesn't turn out well. Start losing some more betting $5 on the dollar slots, also wrong.
By the time the wife shoots me a text saying "Your kids wont nap" I'm down to under $200 on my ticket. Piss...
I grab the rugrats and tell her I'll take them for a walk. The Hank Aaron State trail runs right behind the hotel. Lots to see along the river and the Harley Davidson Museum is just a mile straight down the trail.
Mom hits the casino and me and my girls hit the road.
First stop is the Twisted Fisherman. Sort of like a Wharf party with food and music.
And then, there it is, the Harley Museum. I had a motorcycle years ago. I get the appeal. My kids, well, they only know "Old" Dad and not "Young" Grid. Not much appeal for them here. But if you like bikes, I bet its super awesome for you.
On the way back to the resort the older kid finds a giant dandelion. This thing was the size of a softball. She blew with all she had but that fucker wouldn't give. So she kicked it and that worked just fine.
By now it is almost 5PM. We meet Mom in the lobby and I run in the casino to have a smoke.
I was under $100 of that $200 TITO when the below $100 mixed 7's pretty much got me back to where I started.
Meet back up with the girls, drop the last $25 dining credit off in the food court and we eat some friend chicken and fixens. The food here is pretty solid, and to be fair, it is reasonably priced for a casino.
If you wanted to eat something else, you have the Twisted Fisherman down the street or a car ride to more options. So they could gouge you on their prices but they don't.
The youngest kid, the one that wouldn't nap, gets a little pissy so we take our food back up to the room to finish.
The clock is now ticking on the day, and I gotta get my gamble on. I leave Mom with her little Monsters and I see if I can recoup anything in the casino.
I spent way too much on this weird Gorilla game, but I landed the bonus for $167 and crossed the $200 mark again.
$93.75 on the below after a bonus, but I was in for more than that. I was almost belly up, but now I am barely alive with just $110.
Slide over one seat, and I was over $50 in before this line hit of $93.75 once more. Now I have $140.
Nearly at the brink of bankrupt, I was down to $60, $60 from my peak of nearly $450. And then...
$500 "In The Money" bonus and I'm now at $562! Gambling fixes everything!
I end up pissing away a few hundred more before finally getting a $200 Wheel of Fortune spin. Puts me back to $287.
Up and down again. Hit for $120 + Hit for $171 and I'm still nursing that near $300 mark. I'm getting a lot of play, and the swings come fast and furious when you can only get off betting 5 bucks a pop.
And then it happened. A new mechanical version of my beloved Cleopatra! I didn't even know this game existed! And I got my ass handed to me fast playing the $9.00 max bet.
I wont lie, I lost the last of my ticket on this stupid game and started with another hundo. I got that down to $17 left before I hit for $84.
By now I lost my starting $100 + my converted Free Play and I'm playing on my next Benny. So I'm $200 invested on the day out of pocket, but my coin-in is right around $6,000 by now.
Each point comes with $2.00 of coin. 1 point = 1 penny in free play. Free Play must be used in increments of $5.00. Just for those of you curious about their program. It is pretty straight forward.
I'm fully prepared to to see just how far I can take Cleo when I finally get a bonus game out of her. I was thinking Handpay, but instead I won $177.
Not bad, but not great for a $9.00 bet and 15 free spins. She doesn't play like a normal Cleo, the Free Spins are just normal free games. But I assume that means it is easier to get.
I cash out of her with almost $400. So I am back to +$200 on the night.
I would have thought this one would be more on a $9.00 bet, but I'll take any profit. Now I have $420.
For the first time in my life Spiderman doesn't shit in my face. I didn't win, but I didn't really lose that much for the 20 minutes I sat on it.
Moved over to this weird beast. I have never seen a slot machine like this before
I stole this picture from their website. The chair itself is a "rumbler" but it also reclines, has cup holders in the armrests and you can spin the reel by tapping a button from the chair.
It was comfy, big and I felt super silly playing it. But I guess they are going after the gamer set with this thing.
The Pot had a few of these scattered around the casino.
I ended up playing one with some Vampire girls. After a $153 bonus, I still had a $300 TITO to show for it.
It was interesting, but just a little too weird for me. The screen is like a big TV so people were standing around and watching me relax and play. And I hate attention!
Here is another game I have never seen anywhere else. I became hypnotized with the soft beat of "Roxie" playing while I spin. I did OK on it for awhile, but once you hit a long enough slow streak it caught up to me.
Plenty of $0.40 "wins" on my $4.00 bet.
I left "Chicago" with just over $100 left on my TITO. I decided to play the other Cleo next to the one I had bonused on earlier.
It was the right move. Another bonus, this time for $228, and I'm back to $300.
Back to my Dollar Quick Hits and I pull off another mixed 7's for $100. Now I have $369 to play with.
Same machine shortly after and I nail 6 Quick Hits for $261. Now I have a $566 ticket! That puts me up $366 on the trip. Nearly back to my high water mark.
Good enough right? It should have been. With me catching so many upswings after losing I felt invincible. I was not.
The below was my last "good one" for the night. I ended up bust not long after.
All in, I was able to convert $55 in point play. You knew there would be math right? That's $11,000 of coin in through the slots, and it cost me $200 out of pocket.
It helped that they spotted me $300. I had fun, I slept in a $250 hotel room, ate $50 worth of food and lost $200 doing it.
Everyone up for breakfast and we head back to Chicago....
With a quick detour through a couple of Toy's R Us's!
This might be my kids last chance to actually go to a real Toy Store. They never got the chance to toy shop in a castle like Child World. Never got a free balloon inside Circus World Toys. They never got to see the magic of F.A.O. Schwarz. But they do know Toys R Us, and they may be the last to say that.
One Day they might have to take their kids to a shitty Walmart for Toys, or whatever Amazon soon morphs into.
Either way, it sucks growing up if you cant be a Toys R Us Kid.
Deals? Sure we found some. Birthday presents to tuck away. Some sunglasses and potty training stuff.
I ended up with a cart full of Star Wars Toys to fill up a bankruptcy sale aisle display I snagged earlier in the week. I'm an 80's kid, I couldn't resist.
Looks good in my basement!
Toys R Us might be dead, but now a little part of it will live on in our house.
