Somehow we made it in and out of the Lake Charles casinos in one piece.. We even had a minor run-in with Tillman Furtita’s goon squad and yet we’re still here. We endured the roulette, craps, blackjack, and poker tables… sorta. Even our crazy friend Dax came up and visited us and we still managed to survive. For anyone that knows Dax, you know thats not easy. [Love ya Dax, we’ll see ya again soon bruddah!]

If we can handle that, hopefully we can handle the ICW to New Orleans over the next few days.

I won’t spend too much time describing our time in the casinos, but I will say we had a great time at the L’Auberge. At first, though, we pulled up to the brand new Golden Nugget. Their facility wasn’t finished yet, but after speaking with the front desk and other very friendly employees we were psyched our stay was comped.

An hour or so later we were approached by a bunch of suits from the mega-yacht right next to us.

The alpha-apparent didn’t feel the need to identify or introduce himself. “I don’t care who you talked to, you’re talking to me now. Shove off.” and “I’m in charge of everything here, you need to leave.”

“You know, this isn’t very good customer service from someone who says they’re in charge of everything.”

“You’re right, its not. Shove off.”

Ah, thats the owner’s yacht. He must have a dinner party to get to at his new casino. I guess he can’t be bothered by the sight of us 30 yards away while he gets dressed.

Another 20 minutes went by and karma came through in the clutch. A fire alarm had just gone off inside, and to the tune of Mr Furtita’s private band on the balcony just across from his yacht, hundreds of people with their money sitting harmlessly in their wallets were evacuating their slot machines and waiting outside.

We hung out just long enough to write a cheeky letter, gave it to the very nice man with the name tag that said “Head of Security,” and puttered next door where our stay was practically comped after the Hotel Manager heard our story.

So, if you’re ever in Lake Charles, visit the L’Auberge.

Now, we’re back in the ICW chasing down barges and tracking down decent anchorages…