The Other Side of the Tracks

This weekend, Tiff and I Independently declared that No Longer would we be Held Under the Tyranny of National Holidays and that Our Freedom should Be Duly Exercised in accordance with our Life, Liberty and particularly this weekend, our Pursuit of Happiness. Yes, this weekend, rather than neighborhood parades and evening sparklers, Tiff and I returned to the Charles Town Racetrack to whist the day away betting on horses.

This weekend in Charles Town, West Virginia, however, the horses were not the main attraction. Neither was the Fourth of July. Or even a rare three-day weekend. This weekend, Charles Town Races and Slots became the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town. Table games galore! Fun? Yes. Good Clean Fun? No.

I’ve been doubting my original claim that Horse Racing is Good Clean Fun pretty much since I wrote it. The atmosphere has everything that I would look for in Good Clean Fun: Old-timey folks doing old-timey things, Leisurely activities that scream of yesteryear, Admiration for outdoorsy-types… yeah, maybe a bit of city-folk-in-the-country feel. However, it does involve gambling, but I think my mixed feelings originally stem from the enormous building attached to it filled with glowing slot machines.

Now, with poker and craps, blackjack and roulette, and all those crazy Asian card games, the Norman Rockwell image of Charles Town, WV has lost its apple pie charm to the temptations of Sin City. Yep, Charles Town has just wandered to the other side of the tracks.

They seem to have gotten off to a poor start too. The poker tables are just below the grandstand, or between the racetrack seats and the bathrooms, so that you have to walk alllll the way around. The poker tables weren't open either, much to the ire of many, many people. "I drove two hours to play poker and only 8 tables are going to open!" There aren't too many table game tables either and the result was, at 3 in the afternoon, the lowest limit was $50 dollars! $50 dollars just to play!!

It didn't drive people away though as they were packed full. One man I saw following an employee kept repeating, "That's it? That's all the tables?" The poor lady just repeated "Yes sir. All the tables are behind you," clearly annoyed by the common question.

All in all, it was extremely disappointing, and it will probably be awhile before I venture back to the racetrack again.