While we may not be huge gamblers one event we enjoy is an occasional visit to a racetrack. When I was younger and living in South Dakota a friend of mine invited me to watch the greyhound racing in Rapid City. I remember placing a few bets, winning a little cash and after that day I was hooked. I have loved watching the dogs or the ponies race many times since that day. Although there may be a slightly darker side to racing I have concluded, to my own satisfaction, that it is no worse than many other things I enjoy seeing and doing.
In Naples there is a greyhound track that on every first and third Friday sponsors what they call Dollar Days… however we refer to it as Dollar Daze! Why Dollar Daze? Well not only are hotdogs, soda, popcorn and pretzels a dollar but they even sell beer for buck as well. It does cost $2 to enter and a racing book is a buck as well. So for five bucks for the two of us we have an entire afternoon of enjoyment while also having an occasional one buck beer!
We have been to the track twice since we have been here and the first time we only won two of our bets. Now we are not heavy gamblers so we typically bet the minimum $2 per race. We may not even bet on a particular race if we can’t agree on a good one to bet on. We also aren’t expecting to get rich so we typically only bet a dog to place or show. We have found this works best for us and even if we don’t win any races a typical day at the track with lunch and beers would cost no more than about $30.00. But, since we usually win a race or two it is often much less. We typically carefully consider which dog looks ready to race, compare notes and settle on one we feel confident to bet on. Our first trip after our consideration regimen we placed our bet and then had to laugh because our dog came in dead last. We certainly had some rust to knock off....
The second time we went we got on a lucky streak and won several bets including three in a row. By the end of the day our out of pocket expense was a bit over $5.00. A great value for a lot of fun!
Suddenly the calendar slipped up on us and we noticed it was Thanksgiving. We had no real plans other than making our own super feast just for the two of us. We had scored a turkey at the local Publix grocery store for 59 cents a pound. We figured we would cook this 8.5 lb. turkey in the convection oven since we no longer (because of lack of storage space) have our favorite cooker for turkeys. We also had purchased some other fixings for our traditional feast.
Then a couple we met two years ago here at Imperial Bonita Estates (IBE) invited us to a small gathering of folks converging for a Thanksgiving dinner. So we scrapped our solo plans and tagged along with the group. Sharon made our favorite (and very fattening) southern style sweet potato casserole (with the pecan praline topping). Oh my this is a yummy way to make a very healthy sweet potato into a very fattening yet truly delicious side dish!
Well we had a fun day with all the other IBE folks and many of them were snowbirds we had remembered from our last stay here. Another great day to be thankful for and as always we are grateful to our RV family and friends who enrich our lives daily… Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Now that's a lot of fun at the races and a buck a beer, sign me up !
ReplyDeleteWe have never been to dog races only horse. WOW...$5...big winners indeed.
ReplyDeleteFor a small gathering, it sure looks like you had a ton of food.
We've never been to a dog race but used to visit the horse tracks. Since we don't know much about it, we just did win, place or show on the favorites and rarely spent much for a day of entertainment either.
ReplyDelete