Last Tuesday my son, Dennis, and I took off for Biloxi. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Isle of Capri Biloxi. Tom was puny and didn’t want to go and on top of that he had his new puppy to try to train.

Ride down was smooth we made it from Tunica to Biloxi in about 6 hours.
I have to give two thumbs up to the casino’s architects who have rearranged the Isle to make way for a casino in the hotel. For me guess, I had blinders on…the biggest part of the casino floor I didn’t see until we were ready to leave. As we would come and go on the hotel elevators on the second floor, I could see through a small door some machines but had no idea there were so many behind the little door. LOL.
The poker room is awesome. Good job there. Buffet is on second floor.
This is the view from our room at the Isle....note Casino Magic and Grand Biloxi as we knew it is gone. The Grand Biloxi is now that building on the right (which used to be one of Grand's hotels)I never dreamed I would be able to see the Beau from the Isle.

We met up with Linda Mabry and I hardly recognized her since she has lost so much weight. Wtg Linda!

We checked in…made all of our calls and headed out to see Dorrie at the IP.

 Good to see my little buddy Dorrie. I sure miss her since she moved from Tunica.

I don’t know if ya’ll remember my buddy, Chef Alfred. He was my neighbor in Tunica Resorts and moved to Biloxi and is Executive Pastry Chef at The IP.  (He has been to Tunica meets).

Alfred gave us a quick tour of the improvements at The IP and I was sooo impressed.

The IP is a fun and exciting place to be and I will definitely stay there next time.

We had dinner at the Carnaval de Brazil. (Located in the Lobby on the main floor)  I could eat there every night. I highly recommend you put this on your list of things to do in Biloxi. The atmosphere is genuine Brazilian, cozy and relaxing. 

 For Starters there is a buffet for salads and appetizers. I can’t even begin to list everything….from Roasted Spicy Brazil nuts, Brocollini, palm hearts, grilled portabellas, fresh salsa, you get the picture. We fill our plates and head back to the table. Our server brings us a coaster which is red on one side and green on the other. I had no idea how important that little coaster was going to be as the night went on.

Our server instructed us when we finish our salads we can turn over the coaster so the green side shows. This means GO! Then the gauchos begin to swarm. These young men are so friendly and actually make the meal a lot of fun. I think after a couple of glasses of wine I may have asked one of them to marry me.

 The gauchos are carrying swords of meats and goodies. Our table has a serving plate with greens and garlic mashed potatoes, enough for everyone, these are our sides. Our Entrees come off the swords. The gauchos place a disc on the table and position the sword and begin to slice, you take a pair of twenchers (tongs) and grab the meat as he slices. After they serve you they return the swords to the open fire. The swords form a pyramid over the flame.

There are 16 different meats and goodies they bring around on the swords. Grilled peppered sirloin, leg of lamb, shrimp, sausage, pork, filet mignon wrapped in Apple wood smoked bacon, chicken, roasted Pineapple (yum) the list goes on and on.  When you have enough on your plate you turn your coaster to Red.

It is a non smoking dining room but it is adjacent to the bar. We, like many others took a few breaks and snuck over to the bar a few times during our dining experience. There we encountered a very talented young bartender who juggled bottles. The bottles flew thru the air like butterflies and always landed back in his hands. (next door at the Chill Lounge the bartenders juggle with fire) Hot and Cold Tapas are also served at the bar. Such as Crab Claws with creole mustard, smoked fish, fried capers, with shaved onion salad, presunto (Portuguese ham), crawfish pie, citrus shrimp espetus, grilled beef, margarita pizza, escargot in red wine garlic sauce, to name a few. Very entertaining, everyone is friendly and everyone is having a good time. Love the bar area, relaxing.

We are now officially stuffed and the server/gaucho mentions desserts. Well how do you have dinner with a pastry chef and not order desserts? You don’t. Alfred suggests one dessert with three spoons. We have a custard type dessert with guava and whipped cream. Light, rich, (if you can use those two words together), and smooth. Yum, excellent choice. I must add that there are no corners cut when dining at the IP. The chefs seek the best of the best to serve.

Cost is $30 per person. Everyone pays the same. Cocktails and beverages are extra.

Go there. You won’t regret one single minute.

Next day Dennis and I head over to the gaming summit. Thank goodness it is being held back in Biloxi instead of Tunica. Biloxi has so much more room for an expo like this.

I was really disappointed to hear the ACF (American  Culinary Federation) for the coast was not going to have competition as they usually do. 
Some of the interesting things I ran across were:

Roulette Slot Machines! There are more and more table games now on machines.

Some of you may have already played Top Gun. If not try it. The speakers are in the back of the chair and when the plane goes by on the screen you could swear it was right behind you. Cool sound.
 

Video for Real Slots. Now this is sooo cool. The slot machines come with the ability to play a movie, advertisements, or TV like during the World Series you can watch and not have to leave your favorite slot machine. During the demonstration the slot machines were playing Spiderman.

Reel Poker – To me this sounds like a backward progression….. Not video poker but reel poker. But it is fun to play! Figure the odds on this one lol.

Back to the Isle for a break and then on to friends at the IP.

Got to play some slots with Dorrie. The IP was plenty full and this was the middle of the week. All rooms sold out. Long lines to the buffet, but we heard it moves fast. The gaming floor is crowded. The IP is doing a lot of things Right.

Dinner at 32

Here is a view of the Back Bay from 32 and the pool area.

Very impressive wine selection located just as you walk in. Plus I love the fact they have a sommelier. Wines are so interesting and to have someone explain makes the meal more enjoyable.

For Dinner is Alfred, Myself, my son and Alfred’s daughter.

We begin with a wine selected by the sommelier from Australia.
I started with lobster bisque, very tasty and rich. Alfred ordered the Lobster consommé.

I order the grilled pork chop. Wow was it huge and so tender you could eat it with a fork.
Accompanied by a sweet potato, raisin, cranberry salad, grilled zucchini, and sauces.

Dennis double dipped having shrimp scampi entrée for appetizer and filet mignon for “main entrée” (Growing boy).

Mariles had the big porterhouse,

The bread basket is definitely worth bragging about. An amazing assortment of breads, cheese, tomato, brioche, there must have been 10 varieties in the basket. PLUS they serve Danish Butter. Just an FYI  Danish butter runs about $12 a pound and is absolutely sinful. You could make a meal with the bread basket. (I am not just tooting Alfred’s horn here because he made them…they are really fantastic)
Desserts hit the table oh my…. Terramuse, vanilla ice cream made with giant vanilla beans imported from Thailand. (spendy) and double chocolate cake yummmmy.

I don’t have pics of everything as this was a not a working meal but spending time with a very missed friend. Alfred may have taken some, if he emails them I will post.

All said and done……… THE IP is tops! I would have Never ever ever dreamed it would have become such a fantastic gaming property. Kudos to the management of IP for creating a fabulous place to get away.

Oh we did some other running around…taking pics visiting other places. As soon as we got home we headed out to Houston, Texas. I am still numb from traveling and have company coming for a week in the morning. So dat’s all folks.

I will head back To Biloxi as soon as possible I can guarantee that lol.