My girlfriend and I love living in San Diego. We have everything a city has to offer. Beautiful beaches, curious inland areas, sandy desert fun, and mountainous adventures. One of these adventures into the hills east of San Diego led us to what people all over Southern California call the best casino in town—Viejas Casino & Resort.
So we hopped on the 8-freeway and drove the 25 minutes on safe and sturdy highway roads. No need to put chains on or Waze for directions. It’s a straight shot. We had a one-night getaway planned so we checked into our room at the Viejas Hotel.
We put our stuff down in the room and quickly made it to the coffee bar at Viejas Casino. We needed some caffeine to take on our adventure. After our java hit, we set out to the Viejas Outlets. It’s just across the street so no need to move the car. The sun was bright and shining and my girlfriend mentioned to me as we walked through the shopping center, “everything here is so beautiful.” Boy was it. The Viejas Outlets have quaint streams and waterfalls. Sounds of nature engross you in a magical place, and that’s before entering any of the stores. We went into Nike, GUESS, and GAP. After some more strolling, my GF looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and said, “it’s gamblin’ time!”
The casino was rocking. People were high-fiving each other playing craps and roulette. We decided to try our luck on a couple of slot machines. Before we sat down, someone who worked at Viejas told us about their club card program, the myViejas Club. She told us how we can get free gifts just for playing our favorite casino games. Best yet, it was completely free to join. So we headed for the nearest myViejas desk and signed up. It was quick and yes, free! We then set off for our lucky machine.
One caught my girlfriend’s eyes. She said, “oh this one’s got my name written all over it.” She sat down and about five minutes later, boom, a mini jackpot! What?! I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t one of the huge ones I’ve seen on the Viejas Facebook page but hey, it wasn’t anything to be mad at. I went to a machine of my own and then turned around and she was gone.
Viejas is huge so I kinda got worried for a second. I asked myself, did I really just lose my girlfriend in a casino? But then, out of the corner of my eye, she appeared, the coffee cup still in hand. I told her, okay time to ditch the cup of joe and let’s get some cocktails.
My girlfriend had never played blackjack so we hit a table and started a great shoe. We got a great double-down hand and decided to go for it. QUEEN! Of course! Book, those chips kept coming.
I then had a little surprise for her at the Willows Spa. She got her nails and hair done. She looked gorgeous the moment she went in, and even more beautiful the moment she came out. We headed for our dinner reservation at Baron Long Bar & Grill. We shared an amazing pretzel (which was the size of my head). She had a chicken sandwich, I ordered a succulent short rib plate. And the dessert was a mouse butterscotch decadent dream.
Our night at Viejas ended in our Suite. She plopped on the bed, exhausted from all the fun we had. Look, I know we’ve been all over San Diego and visited every amazing place this city has to offer. The coast, desert, inland, and mountains. And by far, the best place in San Diego to go for a couples retreat is Viejas Casino & Resort.
Thank you Viejas!
