There are many things you can do in an hour. For example, you can watch an entire episode of 24. You can also have some photos developed or have your prescription eye glasses made. Another thing that takes an hour is the wait between the time you order your food and the time it is brought out to you at the Whispering Winds Restaurant at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, MN.

We got to test this theory twice on a recent trip and overnight stay at the casino. The night of my birthday, the buffet at Shooting Star Casino was serving seafood, a meal I didn’t want to put Jason through, even though it was my day. So we instead selected the sit down restaurant, Whispering Winds. Quite frankly, I wish it would have whispered to us to eat elsewhere.

Upon entering the restaurant, one could certainly tell it was busy. Finally though, we were seated and water was brought to us almost immediately. And then we waited. And we waited some more. And yet some more... After about 10 minutes and watching another couple leave, our server arrived to take our order. Jason inquired about the soups, which should have been our cue that dinner was likely going to go drastically wrong as one of the soup choices given to us was "cheesy." Cheesy what? We both settled on the sirloin steak, I selected the salad option, and Jason chose chili from the soup list, as it seemed the only safe choice.

While we didn't time it, supper did take a while to reach us. We watched another table leave without ever being waited on in this time frame while I enjoyed her quaint little salad. Our steaks were then served up, mineappearing plump and juicy, like an eight ounce sirloin, Jason's maybe five ounces and taken from the ass end of the cow. Or maybe a cow had sat on it? Hard to say. Jason’s displeasure with the steak was evident throughout the course of the meal.

And yes, we would have complained or at least I would have. Too bad we never saw our server during the entire dining experience. No refills, no check to see if the steaks were properly prepared, and no offer of a to-go box, which may have been intentional if the servers have ever tasted the food they serve. Needless to say we ended up in the deli at the hotel around midnight to provide our stomachs with some substance since $40+ didn't do much for us at supper.

Perhaps we are gluttons for punishment or simply cannot learn our lesson the first time around, but we ended up at Whispering Winds the next morning. At a casino, there aren't many choices for dining. It was the Winds again or a lunch buffet. We should have run for the buffet when the hostess sat us in the same exact table we had been at the evening before...

We choose to sit in opposite spots in hopes that our service would improve. While the server did seem less inept on this visit, the cook seemed to have progressed backwards since his/her last shift. On this particular morning, we watched couples leave again and three other tables become quite upset with the wait. After waiting an hour for our own breakfast, we understood why. And yes, it was a complete hour. We weren’t quite sure as to why since the breakfast menu only has about 10 options, almost all involving toast, pancakes and/or eggs.

As for the food? Well, I am still unsure as to how someone can screw up toast, but the cook at Whispering Winds managed to do so. It was like eating cardboard. Actually, cardboard may have tasted better. Perhaps it was in the toaster the entire hour we waited for our food. The hash browns, too, had likely been on the grill since the restaurant had opened at 6am. Ketchup couldn't even kill the bland taste of those. While our server did check on us and kept my cup filled with coffee (for the second half of our hour long wait at least), we were beyond the desire to even complain. After all, we did consciously choose to eat here twice. On an end note, if you'd like to leave the casino winning what feels like the stomach flu, be sure to make a stop at Whispering Winds. Please allow at least two hours for the complete experience.

30 Days and Counting

I am a bit late in getting this written, but it is my intent to check in every 30 days even if I am a little late in getting it posted. I think Jason and I are both surprised in ourselves with the dedication we've put into working out. I've personally only missed four days out of the 30, so I have gone well above my goal of 3-5 times per week. YEA! I am proud to say too that I am up to 40 minutes of cardio after 30 days and loving the elliptical, a nemesis when I first started this fitness program. Jason and I also alternate days of lifting weights. He is progressing much further than me on that; however, he lifts almost every day, while my goal is 2-3 times per week. I feel cardio is more important at this time. And I am pretty sure I could kick his butt when it came to time and level on the elliptical.

Overall, we are also truly enjoying Snap Fitness, the club we joined. It is a lot smaller than your typical club like the Y or Courts Plus, however, I know I feel a lot less intimidated there and also feel the people who workout there are friendlier. I will admit, I was never fond of the Y and made it about two months there. Another plus of Snap Fitness is that we usually never have to wait to use any of the machines/weights. We have found that around 5:30-6pm during the week is not a good time, but even then, our wait to use a machine was 5-10 minutes. When possible, we now go later in the evening, around 9. If Jason has bowling or another obligation, I tend to go right after work, also a quiet time. Weekends, we think, everyone takes off, as we have went at various times and never seen more than three people working out. We did learn that the church near the Snap Fitness we go to lets out around 12 noon on Sundays, so we do avoid that time on Sundays. Traffic is insane. Traffic and parking seem to be our only major gripe about the place so far. That, and I wasn't too happy about the Boot Camp they decide to hold Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:45-8p. We are working around that though too.

Finally, I'll admit, my weight loss hasn't been anything to exactly blog about; however, I feel healthier, have more energy and know I am eating a lot healthier. The inches prove more than the scale anyways as do the muscles I can feel again in my legs. For now though, this is my 30 day check-in. Hopefully we'll have some bigger results to post in a few weeks!