McClain County - Goldsby

Goldsby, Oklahoma is a sort of no-man's land off of Hwy I-35, going south of Norman. It has some nice farm land and a few expensive looking housing additions, but not much in the way of businesses or amenities. A resident of the town, Pam Morgan, told me she got her phone service out of Norman, but if she wanted an ambulance she had to call the town of Purcell and if she wanted to put out a big fire, she had to call the town of Newcastle.

The town would be in danger of dying out altogether or being completely absorbed by one of the larger, nearby cities, except for it's one very big claim to fame. It's home to the largest casino in Oklahoma, Riverwind. There's also a smaller casino called the Goldsby Gaming Center, which attracts a lot of visitors, as well.

Besides the two casinos, the only other businesses are a hotel behind Riverwind, a cafe/bar, and a butcher's shop which specializes in goats. Since I didn't have a goat that needed butchering, I decided to try the cafe. And that decision led me to wonder if I'm really exploring Oklahoma's seventy-seven counties or just eating my way across the state. So, I decided I better go to the Riverwind Casino, too.

I've been to Riverwind before to attend concerts and special events, but had never tried the slot machines while I was there. Since this is the main attraction in Goldsby, I decided this was the time to try it.

My son, Matt, and his girlfriend, Rachael, decided to tag along with me this time. So, we drove down to Goldsby and got to the cafe about 6 pm.

They were having live music later in the evening in the bar, but on this particular day we decided to just eat and then head for the casino. Admittedly, that decision was also heavily influenced by the fact Matt and Rachael aren't old enough to get into the bar.

Libby's Cafe is the only business on what is considered Main Street in Goldsby. The building looks like it has been added onto a couple of times. The cafe part is divided into two large rooms and the bar is upstairs in the back.

One of the large rooms in the cafe, I'm guessing the newer half, has dark, wood floors and a rustic, hideaway feeling to it. The other half, is an interesting mix of old gas station signs and large, mounted fish hanging on tin sheet metal walls. Also, in this half, most of the wall that divides the dining area and the kitchen is gone, so you can see straight into the kitchen and watch them make your dinner.

According to the menu, they're famous for their fried catfish, so Rachael and I decided to try it. Matt ordered the hamburger and fries. Rachael and I both agreed the catfish was very good, but the side items tasted like they were straight out of a can. Matt must have liked his choice because he didn't leave anything on his plate. Although, I wasn't terribly impressed, I probably would have gone back again except everyone of us at the table got dirty silverware. Large clumps of dried food were stuck between the fork tines and on the knives. Which was a shame, because the food was decent and the service was good.

After dinner, we headed over to the Riverwind casino. I wish I had been able to get a picture of the building, but my camera just couldn't do a wide enough shot. It is a huge building, and as pretty as it is big. It has a river of lights running down one side of it. The lights change colors and shapes at night and rivals anything they have in Las Vegas.

Riverwind is 219,000 square feet of black jack tables, poker tables and slot machines. There's also a large buffett, a restaurant, a food court and a couple of bars, as well as a 1,500 seat auditorium for entertainment.

We were mostly interested in trying the slot machines, but the noise level from 2,295 slot machines and all their flashing lights competing for our attention, left us wandering around with the floor with that deer-in-the-headlights look. It didn't take me long to realize we were going to need professional help.

We found it at the customer service desk. I had a lot of questions about how to get started, like if we needed tokens or just used cash, and how do you possibly choose which machine to play and what were the rules, and how did you know if you were winning or losing, and what happened if you did win? It took the lady at the customer service desk about five seconds to realize we were new at this and she quite generously offerred us each a free card with $10 on it to play the slot machines. She patiently explained how to use the card, gave each of us one, and we set off to figure out how it all worked.

To be honest, I never did understand much more than how to put the card in the machine and then push a button. If there was a strategy to the games, I never caught on. Oh, I did learn how to read if I was winning or losing, and I walked out $10.46 richer than when I went in. Matt left with about $6, and Rachael was the big winner with a little over $13. All in all, it was an entertaining night and a lot of fun. I'm ready for Vegas now!