Somehow, though, the act of spending 24 hours at the casino/hotel/experience is an entirely different, mind-altering experience from the in-and-out act of catching a show there or going to drop/gain money in gambler mode. Our desire for escape and for basking in a decidedly “other” place arrived after a mere 35-minute drive from the house and over a period of just 24 hours in casino country, all in the affordable-luxury/guilty-pleasure category of indulgence. Call it a nearby getaway, or maybe a micro-staycation. Duly armed with swag-tificates, my wife and I seized on the impulsive notion to pack up the bags (well, one small bag) and head to Chumash land on a Monday night.
Now, 15 years and another major casino renovation later, it was time to visit the place on an overnight basis. I got the goods when covering the casino’s opening back in 2004, when Fleetwood Mac was hired for two nights to toast the glitzy moment and christen the Samala Showroom. Golden swag suddenly showed up in a desk drawer corner recently in the form of gift certificates to a deluxe hotel room at Chumash Casino Resort, a swanky dinner in its in-house fine-dining haven that is Willows, and dollops of spa decadence.
