Load of coffee
A few Google maps
Rental car, full tank
Free weekend
To roam the South
Plot a course
Skirt the Appalachians
North past Manassas
Past Harpers Ferry
To Charles Town, West Virginia
Historical names of substance to stir the curiosity
Through countryside
Horse country – estates large and small
Farm country – corn tall and turning color
Almost ready for harvest
So green… no drought
here…
America the beautiful as only it can be
Poker tournament at the Hollywood Casino
 |
| Poker room at Charles Town's Hollywood Casino |
In Charles Town West Virginia
Plunk down hefty entry fee
Worth it
After all, how many
times in life?
Not many casinos out this way either
Players from all walks
Just like the Sacramento bunch
Just like the Harrahs, New Orleans bunch
Just like the Reno bunch
Just like the Beau Rivage Biloxi bunch
“Cards in the air.”*
The signal to get the tournament rolling
Hitting slow, missing draws
Stack whittles down
Finally a double up against an “all-in”
Finally a quarter of us left
Almost at the money “final” table
Stacks and wagers get bigger
Still just hanging in
To eleventh (the famous “bubble”) then tap out
On a bad beat … The cards falling where they may
Five hours of concentration
Tempting chance
Shuffling chips
Squeezing cards
 |
| This great restaurant in old town Winchester, Virginia |
The vast majority of players being
By and large good sports
Overnight at Winchester, Virginia
Dinner in old town Winchester
Chanced upon Italian restaurant
The “Violino Restorante Italiano”
All the authentic trappings
Including the all important
A truly memorable dinner
I corralled Franco to tell him so
Found out he rides Harley’s too
(He mentioned it after
noting my perennial HD t-shirt)
We talked a while…animated
 |
| Owner/chef opera singer and fellow Harley enthusiast Franco Stocco. |
Plan A was another tournament there
The next day
But it started late
I wanted to leave enough time to get back
To my current gig in Raleigh
Plan B was to take a slow ride
On the Blue Ridge Parkway and thereabouts
A slow ride back
Weather forecast a lot of rain
What would be to see?
Plan C was route back
Through Richmond
Hit a few Harley dealers
Shirt and dealer pin check
Sniff leather, ogle chrome
Get my proverbial fanatic card punched
It was C
Three more pins for my famous corkboard collection
(What will become of
that pin packed board in the end?
Who would want
it? Gotta’ quit building it.)
Return through a couple of bouts of hard rain
So hard we were creeping along the freeway
Emergency lights flashing
Finally back in time for dinner
A weekend adventure worth noting?… well, yea.....!
*"Cards in the air" is a phrase used by pit bosses and commentators to signal the beginning of tournament play. Another common expression is; "Shuffle up and deal."
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