Trip to Charles Town

Over the weekend, I crossed over state lines for my first ever visit to Charles Town Races & Slots in Charles Town, West Virginia. I am not a big fan of slots, so I was much more excited about the horse races. Here are some notes from the adventure:

- The casino/racetrack must be a huge moneymaker for the state of West Virginia since every car in the parking garage had a license plate from Maryland or Virginia. My guess is the only West Virginia cars are driven by the casino employees.

- Between Charles Town, Atlantic City and Dover in Delaware, how much money is spent by Maryland residents in out-of-state casinos?

- The music played throughout the casino included songs by Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and KC & the Sunshine Band. Maybe the next time I visit Charles Town, they will update their playlist to include more “modern” acts like Duran Duran and Billy Idol.

- Casinos will be the last place where smoking is permitted. Even though there are several non-smoking areas, you can’t avoid the smoke.

- I only played (and lost) $1 on the slots; I wish I did that well at the track.

- Even though I missed the first race, I did better on that race than the other nine. That’s right, I lost every single race. Even on the one race where I had a winning ticket, I lost, since I bet $2 on a horse to place but spent another $4 on exacta boxes. I bet $6 and won $4.20. No exactas or trifectas. A few close calls, but, well, you know the expression.

- Just like Atlantic City and Las Vegas, there is a Sheetz just outside the casino entrance. (I know that this isn’t true, but it should be!) Actually, Sheetz at 12:30am was the place to be. It was packed as everyone was buying their MTOs.

Even though the night didn’t turn out as I hoped financially, I had a great time hanging out with family and friends. While I won’t be rushing back to Charles Town, I’m looking forward to my next trip to a track or casino (preferably with table games). Please note that I have no plans to turn into Art Schlichter.