Feeling Lucky at the Casinos in Connecticut

As the largest resort casino in North America, Foxwoods Resort Casino offers an all-in-one getaway. Your first step: select a hotel. Do you want Four-Diamond luxury? Try the Grand Pequot Tower, the Fox Tower or The Villas at Foxwoods with 24-hour butler service. The Great Cedar Hotel offers spacious comfort with an unbeatable location, while the Two Trees Inn provides a quieter country inn escape.

Are you placing bets on baccarat, bingo, or blackjack? With three casinos, 3,400 slot machines and more than 250 table games, newcomers can start slow at the Money Wheel. For an adrenaline boost, buy in to a Sit & Go tournament in the east coast’s largest poker room.

You can also have the time of your life without wagering. Outside, play 18 rounds on the Lake of Isles championship golf course designed by Rees Jones. Take a history break at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, which preserves the culture of the area’s first inhabitants. Shop at Tanger Outlets with more than 70 premium retailers all under one roof. Relax with a caviar facial at the Norwich Spa, or a Native American-inspired maize-and-mountain-laurel scrub at the G-Spa.

Repeat visitors know to pace themselves for the nightlife. It begins with dinner, from the classic and casual Hard Rock Café to Vue 24. Next up: bowling at the retro-chic High Rollers alley, a comedy show at Comix or dancing at Shrine Nightclub. Check the show calendars for the Fox and Grand Theaters so you can catch a concert or sporting event.

Also located within southeastern Connecticut, Mohegan Sun offers up the elements of nature in a dynamic, 24/7 sensory display. Your attention is first drawn to Wombi Rock, a glowing crystal mountain made of imported stone. Once you approach the 55-foot Taughannick Falls thundering down a massive boulder, you’ll marvel that these sites are both indoors.

In fact, everything your escape needs is under one roof: Sky Tower, a 34-story, 1,200-room luxury hote, and Earth Hotel, an urbane escape with a contemporary design and sophisticated amenities; the world-class Elemis Spa; 47 restaurants, bars and lounges; three entertainment venues and 130,000 square feet of upscale shopping.  You can hit the links at Mohegan Sun Golf Club, an 18-hole championship course, in nearby Baltic.

“State-of-the-art” is the common denominator among the three gaming venues: the casinos of the Sky and Earth. More than 5,000 slot machines and 300 table games, including 33 poker rooms, are spread out among them. New games, such as video reel slots and Race Book, are mixed in with tried-and-true favorites, like baccarat, craps, pai gow and roulette, or simpler fun like sic bo and Wheel of Fortune.

Entertainment is serious business at the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena, ranked consistently among the world’s top venues. More than 100 headlining concerts and sporting events are presented annually, with acts from Billy Joel, Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi to championship boxing, comedy, WWE, NCAA and professional basketball. Two more intimate venues, the Cabaret Theatre and the Wolf Den, bring in both emerging and established performers.

After the show, your night is far from over. Grab a nightcap or go dancing in one of Mohegan Sun’s clubs, bars and lounges, such as Vista, Novelle, Avalon Nightclub, Lansdowne Irish Pub or Pasta Vita.

Former Stamford resident Traci L. Suppa recently escaped to Mohegan Sun for a kids-free girlfriends’ getaway.