Deciding to spend the evening in Metropolis was a great idea on our last trip through the area. My wife and I wanted to do something a bit different, so we boarded The North Star (a riverboat that was built for the burgeoning river gambling industry in the Midwest) and tried our luck at the tables and the machines. The parking lot had a $5.00 fee, which didn't set well with my wife, but it was within reason for an attraction of this sort. We noticed a nice (new) hotel adjacent to the boat that is owned by the Harrah's group. It seemed too fancy and expensive for my tastes, but I could be wrong. I decided to not press my luck on that one.
When we boarded, we noticed that there were three decks (they call them floors) dedicated to gaming. The bottom deck had only slot machines, but the two upper decks had tables for cards and other games. I tried a few tosses of the di and two hands of blackjack, then went to the slot machines. I am not a heavy gambler, nor is my wife, so we didn't want to spend all of our money on this boat. We saw about 1500 or so people onboard that evening... all enjoying themselves. As is typical, there were attendants serving drinks for the customers. We did take advantage of that opportunity.
Three restaurants provided chances for meals, one with a buffet, one with fast food, and one served as a steak house. The food was actually pretty good, although I believe that most of the customers came here to try their luck.
One evening was enough for us. The event was well worth our time, but it was not the way that I wanted to spend my limited budget on this trip. Perhaps when I plan on spending more time and money I can return. It certainly was pleasant for the short time that we spent.