Places We've Been

This post is brought to you by MGM Gold Strike Casino Resort

On the first night of our stay at MGM Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Missippi, my friend, Elaine, and I were treated to a wonderful dinner at the Chicago Steakhouse. The Chicago Steakhouse is the premier restaurant at the resort. If you ever get a chance to go to MGM Gold Strike Casino, you have got to eat here.

Elaine and I arrived just a bit early for our dinner party. There were ten guests in all. I was the only blogger there, the other writers were journalists with newspapers and magazines. We had a private dining room in the restaurant.

Dinner started out with a glass of wine. I asked for Riesling, which is my favorite. I am fond of sweet wines, and this one was perfect! Next, there was a small bite brought out, which was made with crab and asparagus. Delicious!

Appetizers were delivered to the table after the small bite. I ordered, what else?, the crab cakes. OH MY WORD! Fabulous! Elaine also had the crab cakes, and the guy sitting next to me did too. These crab cakes had large bits of crab and were seasoned just right. The sauce was so good, too. The chef gave me the recipe, which I will share in another post (with permission, of course).

My salad was another one of my favorite things. Beef Steak & yellow tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella & red onions, aged balsamic, EVO & a basil pesto. The tomatoes in this salad tasted so good! Vine ripened, full of summer flavor, and juicy.  Everyone at the table remarked at how pretty this salad was. Other salad selections included Chopped Salad, Grilled or Traditional Caesar Salad, The Wedge, or Spinach Salad. All of the sounded so good in the menu description, but you know me, it’s going to be a mozzarella salad if one is on the menu.

Up until the entree was served, I thought I was in restaurant heaven. All my favorite things were served to me, and it all tasted so very good. I could have gone back to my room, full and satisfied even if there was nothing else to eat at that dinner. But then? A Bone-In Ribeye Steak with King Crab Legs was set before me, and I was just amazed! I have never, and I mean NEVER, had a steak that I did not need a knife to cut. This steak was fork tender, cooked to perfection just the way I like it and was so full of flavor.

At this point, I have to tell you, that even if you are not a gambler, have no desire to ever drop a quarter into a slot machine, or bet a dollar on roulette, if you are ever in the area of Tunica, you must go to the MGM Gold Strike Casino to have dinner at the Chicago Steakhouse. And, I am not even to dessert  yet. I could not eat all of the steak. I felt so sad leaving what I didn’t eat there in the restaurant. I was always a member of the Clean Plate Club growing up, but this time, I just couldn’t do it.

Elaine’s entree was Lamb Chops with Fig Crème Brulee, Mint Gremolata, and Bleu Cheese. It looked so beautiful on the plate, and she said it was so tender and delicious, too. That looks like mashed potatoes it was served with.

Finally, we were served our dessert. Mine was Creme Brulee Cheesecake. Just like everything else served at this meal, it was perfect, and tasted so good! The guy to my left ordered the Chocolate Cake:

Five layers of devil’s food chocolate cake, and chocolate frosting. Any questions? I thought not. Along with a great cup of coffee, a perfect ending to a perfect meal. Thank you, MGM!

You can see the menu for The Chicago Steakhouse here. Reservations are recommended. Call 662-357-1225 for table reservations or reserve your table online.

P.S. if you think I am gushing about this meal, then you really do have to go try it for yourself. So So good!

Elaine and I arrived at the MGM Gold Strike Casino Resort around 2:30 in the afternoon. As we drove up to the entrance, I told Elaine to use the Valet Parking and I would pay for it because I didn’t feel like walking far from the parking lot. We were both pleasantly surprised to find that the Valet Parking was complimentary!

From the moment we arrived at the MGM Gold Strike Casino, we felt like we were treated like royalty, or at least like we were two famous ladies. The only disappointment of the entire weekend was that our room was not ready when we arrived. To be fair, though, my reservation confirmation said we could check in after 4:00 p.m. The front desk clerk told us that we could check our bags at the bell stand, and they would store them in a closet until our room was ready. With that problem solved almost before we asked, we were free to explore a bit.

We decided to sit in the Food Court for a while to rest a bit from our journey. The salads and sandwiches look very appealing, so we were soon eating a quick bite.

At 4:00 p.m. we checked in, and gave our baggage claim check to the bell attendant. We went up to our room, and in a few minutes, the bell attendant was at the door with our bags. We were greeted with a welcome package of snacks, tied up in pretty red bow!

Just look at this room! Both of us got our things settled right away, and crawled into our beds to nap. We woke up about fifteen minutes before we were supposed to be at the Chicago Steak House for dinner. Before I tell you about that, let me show you pictures of the room:

Those beds were so comfortable. I slept so good on mine. We were on the 25th floor, so our view out the window was of the Mississippi River at flood stage.

This hotel has one of those little coffee pots that makes one cup at a time. There was no fridge or microwave, but there were bottles of water in the room. The bell attendant asked us if we wanted him to fill our ice bucket, too! So, we had ice available for our water.

I just had to show that because I have never had anything like this waiting for me in a hotel. I started looking for my princess crown, hahaha.

After my awful experiences trying to get a handicap accessible room in Flagstaff, Arizona, I was so impressed that MGM Gold Strike promised AND delivered one for my stay. I just can not tell you how much those bars and bath seat mean to me.

Now that I have told you all about our room, tomorrow I’ll tell you about our meal at Chicago Steak House at MGM Gold Strike. Believe me when I say it was delicious!

A couple of months ago, I received an invitation in my snail mail to come to visit MGM Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi as part of a press tour. I thought at first that it was a joke or a scam, because I have never in nine years of blogging, received a paper invitation to an event. Everything I have ever received in the past was through email. I decided to give the telephone number on the invitation a call, though, and I’m sure glad I did. It was one of the most enjoyable trips my friend Elaine and I have ever taken.

Elaine and I met way too many years ago, when I was eighteen and she was seventeen, and we both went to work at Southern Bell, which is now a part of AT&T. We became friends quickly, and had so much fun together cruising around in her little Corvair. Even after we both left Southern Bell, we kept in touch, and visited often. I got married, had three children, went back to work at Southern Bell.

Sometime in the mid 1980’s we lost touch. Elaine was married, had two children and was going to college while she worked during the day. Fast forward to 2003, when I received an email from her. She had found me on Classmates.com. We have emailed back and forth, chatted on the phone, and visited as often as possible since then.

So, when I got the invitation for this trip, I asked her to go with me, so we could renew our friendship. We picked back up right where we left off, caught up on life and family, and came away with new memories shared.

Elaine said she would drive so when the day finally arrived to hit the road headed for Tunica, Fabgrandpa helped me get my suitcase, my backpack, and my tote bag packed with lots of gluten free snacks and bottles of water into our car to go meet her at I-20. It was going to be So. Much. Fun!

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you part one all about our stay at MGM Gold Strike Resort!