Dear LPG,

It has been years since I left the shores of England but this year I was persuaded to become one of a group of friends who threw caution to the wind as we crossed the Atlantic for a bit of an adventure.   When the instigator of the project suggested it we were all a bit hesitant, but two years later four of us embarked on this trip of a lifetime; after all, you can’t take it with you.

The last time that I was brave enough I went east and spent a few days on the continent but this time we went west just for the ultimate change.

We decided to visit the Canada/America border amongst other locations and I have to say that our point of interest did not disappoint.  Niagara Falls is every bit as breath-taking as reported and proves to me that pictures and videos do not do it credit, but there was another aspect of the area that we could not help from noticing.

We are not gamblers but found it necessary to walk through the Niagara Casino to get to the falls.     I can’t say that I have ever visited a casino but this one was reminiscent of those which you used to see down at South end, Margate and many other seaside towns back in the 60s and 70s but with one difference.   Nearly every one-armed-bandit had a chair for the convenience of the players which I thought was a nice touch.  It was then that one of my companions pointed out that, nearly every player was a pensioner. 

So the chairs appeared to be there to entice the legs of the older players, (which if they are anything like mine, would force me to end a game prematurely), and give them a reason to keep pulling the bandit's arms and pressing the necessary buttons to make sure that the coins kept being put into the machines.

The sight, ambiance and power of the rushing water can only be described as awesome, and I hope that my writings may inspire a few more people to take in that view, but beware the casinos and note that the one-armed-bandits really are just that, especially when tired legs have no excuse to take the players away.

FS, Blackheath