Monday March 19
I make reservations today for another Big M Gambling Cruise, and secure a spot on their Wednesday day cruise (10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) I want to do a total "hack" of the cruise this time to see how low I can cut the expenses. So first order of business is to find the "coopen" everyone else seems to have, and I find it in a flyer at a Hilton Garden Inn close to the condo on College Parkway. I get the $10 cruise for $5. I also find a couple of other coopens at places I frequent. So nice score there. I also snag a couple of chocolate chip cookies on my way out of the hotel. I figure, what the hell, I am a good Hilton customer and have given these folks plenty of money over the years (and am a member of their loyalty club), so isn't that worth a couple of cookies?
Tonight is $10.99 dinner night at Big Al's City Sports Bar, so I head over there for an early dinner, and also make a couple of stops at stores that are in same "Market Square" shopping center, including a dollar store where I buy a couple packs of padded shipping envelopes, and some triple-A batteries for my computer mouse.
My other stop is "Total Wine & More" which advertises beer (2,500 varieties), wine, and spirits. Just for kicks, I wanted to see what was the most expensive bottle of booze in the place. It was a 750ml bottle of Hennessy 'Richard' Cognac which comes in a crystal decanter and a presentation box for $3,000. This is a mixture of more than 100 of Hennessy's cognacs, some of which are 200 years old. I guess this is a bargain, because other sources have it for sale at $3,200. But at $3,000 for 750ml, this makes it just a shade over $118 for a one ounce shot. Is there anyone in the world with a palette that refined that he/she could pronounce this 150 times better than, say, your garden variety $20 bottle of Korbel brandy? Not anyone that I know at least! I buy two bottles of cocktail mix at their store, one for margaritas, and the other for Pina Coladas. I also snag a copy of their paper catalog for future reference. Their most expensive beer, by the way, is a brew called "Orkney Dark Island" from Scotland, and it costs $29.99 for a 750ml. bottle, and that is the only way it is sold.
Champagne? How about a Roederer Cristal Rose, 1.5L, for $999.97? (They are out of stock at the moment, but more is on the way) Or, for a wine, how about a Chateau Petrus Pomerol, 2004, 750ml, a French Bordeaux, for $2,299.97?
For dinner at Big Al's, I have the baby back ribs (normally $14.99 for $10.99, no coopen required) and they are delicious. Some of the best I've had anywhere. For beverage, I have a $4 Blue Moon, and it's happy hour, so I get two for the price of one.
An evening workout completes my day.
Expenses: dollar store, $3, cocktail mixers, $6; dinner, $17. Total $26
Bruce
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