Hungry? Want a little lunch and some nice, cool pop...but maybe you're low on cash this week?

So I bet you want to pay a visit to McDonald's, or perhaps to Erbert & Gerbert's sub shoppe over on West First Street. Well, guess again, Mr. Bigpants. Today—and every day—we're eating at the Fond Du-Luth Casino!

With its convenient downtown location on East Superior Street, the gaudy gambling den has the cheapest concessions in town. All sandwiches are served with potato chips, a pickle spear AND complimentary soda or coffee. Most meals run about $1.75. In fact, the most expensive item on the menu is the 21-piece shrimp basket, sold for a whopping $2.95.

Visitors should be warned not to commit the same social faux pas as I did one lunch hour. In my rush for the concessions stand, I cut behind a row of nickel slot machines and stepped between two Blackjack tables. A burly dealer and a security guard rushed toward me and shouted, "Get back!" To this day, I'm not certain what they thought I would do—slip a trick ace into the deck, perhaps? But I learned an important lesson in casino etiquetee: sometimes, it's best to take the road most traveled.

The other disclaimer is for our wine-drinking guests. Don't be seduced by the shade-palm and flamingo figurines staged about the bar. If you crave a glass of wine, take heed. Ask the bartender for the year and the vineyard. THEN, ask her when she removed the cork. Otherwise, you could end up unwittingly sipping an "old school" Merlot, as I did, which will cause the entire town to spin on its axis before you even finish your first glass.