A First Timers Trip Report Part 1

Monday October 5th was overcast in Houston but as my girlfriend and I boarded a Southwest Airlines plane I knew things would all be better soon. I have spent 8 months learning about Vegas through various resources (most notably this website). I wondered if it would be a letdown or if I already knew to much and my trip would be ruined, little did I know that a few short days would spawn a love affair.

We landed in Vegas around 4:30 local time, the flight was perfect and sitting at the window I watched the beauty of the Southwestern United States fly by. As we got off the plane I was a little surprised how dark and bland McCarron was, silly me I was expecting more from an airport terminal. As we took a cab to The Flamingo I was like a kid in a candy store, I didn't know what to do, I was in heaven.

There was a long line to check-in but my girlfriend and I waited patiently, we were only standing around 20 or so minutes when I was up. The desk person was a very nice lady (I forgot her name but her badge said she was Employee of the Month in April), they had me booked in a deluxe room and I asked her if any complimentary upgrades were available, all the while I had a $20 in sight. She gave me a couple of Go Rooms as options but mentioned that she had a corner room looking directly at Caesars and a great view of the Bellagio Fountains!!!!!! BINGO!!!!

Room 11064 was awesome, clean and spacious with a comfy king bed, pillows that were soft and yielding like a nerf ball, and showerhead that could remove a layer of skin. We both loved the room and loved the view, it was a million dollar view, the $20 trick is a good thing my friends.

After unpacking we went to explore Caesars and The Forum Shops, the place is huge, I didn't know where to go next. Walking The Forum Shops my girlfriend was getting a blister of her toes from her wedges. She was also getting tired, I found it cute. She's an ex-model who weighs maybe 120 and is about 5'8" and my fat-ass was having no problems with the long walk. After she whined a little we went back to The Flamingo and had dinner at The Burger Joint. This was good stuff, I loved it and espically enjoyed my pesto bun. My girlfriend liked her burger but didn't think it was anything special. After dinner we walked around outside and looked at the wildlife and strolled to the Bugsy Memorial. Kind of spooky up there, then we were off to bed.

Tuesday morning I was up early and decided to hit the ground running, around 7am I took off towards the south end of the strip, pornslapper galore made me laugh bright and early. I walked all the way down the MGM before going in there, I wandered this huge place in awe of it's size. I found the Monorail and purchased 2, 3 day passes, best money you can ever spend on the strip! I got off at Ballys and made my way to that little piece of heaven called Ellis Island. What a great salad, perfect steak, great potato, and nice green beans! From here I made my way back to The Flamingo and stopped along the way for Coke, Sprite, and Crown. My only major gripe with Vegas is that it takes an act of God to get a Coke product.

Around 11 we hit the city and headed north. My girlfriends only other trip she stayed at Imperial Palace and had little positive to say, just walking by I didn't think much of the place. I liked O'Sheas and the little guy with the great voice barking to the crowds. Harrah's Carnival Court did little for me, but I like Casino Royale, it seemed fun and unpretentious, my kind of place. Of course next up we made it to The Venetian, wowsers.

I got a kick out of the moving sidewalks that went up and down, I guess it's true, the best things in life really are free. We had thought about check out Madame Toussads but decided against it after seeing the poor depiction of The Rock outside. We window shopped at The Canal Shoppes and The Palazzo, beautiful places. Next we checked out The Wynn, gorgeous. While using a stall there I updated my Facebook status mentioning it was the best stall I'd ever used. Being a golf pro we went and looked out and saw the course, I was unimpressed simply because it was so contrived, I like natural courses, but hey, that's just me. Next we walked over to Encore, also very nice, it's hard to say anything bad about either property.

After hitting Encore we went across the street to Fashion Show, we were hungry and wanted a drink. We went to Maggianos, I had never been to the one 20 minutes from my house but visited one 1200 miles away, nice going. We had appeteizers, I had the sausage and peppers and she had the calimari. Both were very good and our cocktails were top notch.

After lunch my girlfriend was tired but I convinced her to head north, we visited Riveria (unimpressed), Circus Circus (made me want to hang myself), had a tasty rita from Slot O' Fun, and then went to Sahara. That along with all the booming construction (wink, wink) on the north end of the strip was kind of depressing. From Sahara we took the Monorail back to The Flamingo.

It was around 4ish and we decided to hang out in the room for a little (by we I mean I was going to let my girlfriend make this call). We watched some CSI, I'd never seen it before and her head started to hurt. She wasn't real big on visting Freemont Street so we agreed that I'd go there that night while she rested at the hotel. I went to the Walgreens across from Monte Carlo to get some supples (fun walk) and then ordered her dinner from room services. I didn't expect much but her T-Bone was fantastic, it was pretty big so she let me finish it.

Around 8 I head to the Monorail and went to The Hilton, from there I took a cab to The Golden Nugget and hit Freemont Street. My first goal was the steak and lobster special at Tony Roma's. There was a 30 minute wait to get in so I played slots. Once I got in I dined on one of the worst steaks I've ever had and a decent but small lobster tail. Of course what should I expect for a such a great price? Now it was time to walk FSE. It was not near as crowded as I expected and not as pretty as the pictures make you believe. Well I got going walking a little to far and in the distance I saw the hell hole of Las Vegas casinos, the place where even the degenerates think you have a gambling problem, The Western!

I think the easiest thing to say is that The Western sucks, I played blackjack with a crazy old blackman who cussed me everytime I won a hand and he lost. At the table next to us was a chinese guy who wanted to be treated like he was playing $500 hands at Bellagio. On the plus side I won a little money and the drink service was good. At the end of the day that's all I really want out of a casino.

So I walked back towards FSE and passed El Cortez, I will take yalls word for it being a cool place but the backside of it looked like hell. Now I was going up the street towards Plaza when I stopped in front of Binions to the watch the overhead show. A nice enough, kinda cute girl started talking to me about the show. I really didn't think much of it, I'm from Texas, we talk to strangers here. Anyway she told me I was kind of cute and asked me if I had any plans. I told her that my girlfriend was waiting for me back on the strip but since she was by herself she could tag along FSE with me. Again, I'm a friendly guy and in Texas we make friend with strangers. At this point she told me that it wouldn't work that she was working. Well I being an idiot and being in front of Binions said, "Oh what do you do for Binions?" She then told me that her name was Nicki and she was a hooker, I felt like a dumbass. At this point she was getting a little more aggressive telling me her life story, then came one of the lines of the trip. I told Nicki that my parents have a mutt named Nicki that's a great dog (they really do). She got pissed and left while telling me she was the best piece of ass I could have ever had. After this I went up to The Plaza and went upstairs to see Firefly and check out the view. While there I updated my Facebook status with my hooker story.

At this point I went and saw MSS and the Berlin Wall urinal, I liked the theme in the casino and headed back to Golden Nugget. From there I grabbed a cab to Stratosphere . The cabbie was an older Indian guy who was very chatting, he told me going to Strat around midnight was a waste of time, and offered to take my to a strip club, a good place to get hookers, or a guy who could hook me up with some dope. I told him thanks anyway and laughed.

I am afraid of heights, I don't like standing by the rail at our 3rd story apartment so getting up The Stat was a big deal for me and what a great view! After seeing The STRAT I walked back down to Sahara and took the Monorail back to Flamingo. I was pushing 2am but decided to go to O'Sheas. There I played War and had some nice success, won a little money and then went and played some slots at Flamingo before bed.

I was tired and there was still plenty left to come!

 

Part II

After only a few hours sleep I was ready to run again Wednesday morning. I headed towards TI as I still wanted to see this, I had the breakfast buffet and was unimpressed, it just wasn't very good. That's okay, today we were going to relax a little and see the sites around midstrip. I took my girlfriend first to the Mirage to see the White Tigers, she loved them and their beauty actually made her cry. They were cool but I didn't cry, then we went to MGM and saw the Lion Habitat. The only 2 lions were cuddled on top of the entrance way sleeping, I thought it was cute. From here we went to Tropicana, I wanted to see the famous tiki mask that I'd read about. According to the doorman they took that out 10 years ago. Atleast my research was up to date.:evillaugh

Next we went across the street to Excalibur and rode the shuttle to Mandalay Bay. We didn't do much at Mandalay Bay but we were hungry and headed to Luxor so I mentioned the Burger Bar. Wow, I had the Kobe Burger and she had the turkey burger, I liked the Burger Joint just as much but she said I was an idiot. Oh well. From here we walked around the sad tomb that is Luxor. The place was quiet and lifeless, it was a shame because this is where we were going to originally stay. Well we were glad we didn't. We took a cab back to Flamingo and had a creepy, flirty cabbie I ignored him but my girlfriend was a little creeped out.

Now we rested for a little because we had dinner reservations at Enoteca San Marco. We headed over there for our 7:15 reservations and we seated early right along the rail. We shared two different kinds of salad that were very good. She didn't like the crispy duck but I loved the veal and ricotta meatballs, wonderful. My only real complaint was the bagged breadsticks, I expected more from Batali but I would go back. Plus we saw no longer relavent to anything actress Marilou Henner! She actually still looks pretty good for her age. After dinner I got us a gondola for 2 and we rode the canals, now that was romantic. It's worth the extra money to get the whole thing if you're just a couple.

After dinner we went and relaxed at the room. As she was going to bed she knew I had a mission that I've waited years to undertake. I was going to In n Out Burger. Being from Texas we are proud of our Whataburger and I had to compare to two. At 11:30 I left the Flamingo and took the monorail to MGM. From here I walked across the street to NYNY and down Tropicana to In n Out. Of course along the way I got lost like 3 times since I didn't want to get hit by a car but finally I made it. Of course I also realized that I was pretty much a dumbass but sometimes you have to do crazy things in the name of cheeseburgers. My double double animal style was incredible and it blew away Whataburger, it was a mix of emotions that to this day I can't describe.

At this point it's like 1am and I'm not at all tired. I walk through Exacalibur and actually liked it, I would stay there based on what I saw. I took the moving sidewalk to Luxor and then over to Mandalay Bay. I checked out MB for a little before deciding to head back towards Luxor. I had all intentions of gambling a little at Luxor until the people I met. While in Mandalay Place I was approached by a couple of aggressive hookers and then shortly thereafter some guys wanting to know it I needed any blow. This really didn't bother me because I've been in a scrape or two and can take care of myself if something happens. Then walking into Luxor I was approached 2 more times by hookers and one cussed me out. She said that the only thing a single guy is doing out that late is looking for a hooker. At that point I asked her if she would accept my Total Rewards card. At this point I decided not to gamble there and headed back to The Flamingo.

I walked up to NYNY and it was quiet so I went to Monte Carlo, also pretty quiet. As I walked back up midstrip I was amazed at how many people had their kids out with them, it was like 2am and there were children everywhere. About 2:30 I made it to O'Sheas and played war again, O'Sheas was hopping and I had a blast, played about 45 minutes and won something like $85, not bad. At this point I headed back to my room next door and decided to stop and play some penny slots, I through in a dollar and on the 3rd spin won $114!!!!! At that point I knew it was bedtime!!!!

 

Part III

I was in bed by about 3:30 and up again by 8, my feet hurt and I felt like crap but I didn't care. First thing I did was go to the Hilton to pick up our Manilow tickets for that night. By the time I got back my girlfriend and I went and checked out the Auto Collection at Imperial Palace, it was kind of crappy and the entire casino seemed rather bleak.

From here we went over to Paris to walk around. We went on the Eiffel Tower and that was not a good idea. As I mentioned before I was afraid of heights. A, I didn't know it was a glass elevator and B, I didn't know the observation deck was a cage. That was 15 minutes of pure hell for me. Once we got on the ground we went to Mon Ami Gabi, wow. Her steak was great and my macaroni gratin was to die for. Plus we got to sit right on the rail, our best meal and what a view, even got to watch the fountains!!!

From here we went and relaxed in the room, we had Manilow in a few hours and wanted to be fresh. The show was amazing, I was not a big Manilow fan before but I am now! A great show in a great room. Wherever he goes next we will go again! From here we went back to the room and hung out. Around 11 I went over to The Rio, The Show in the Sky was dark so I didn't stick around, after that I went back to O'Sheas. I didn't have as much success at War and reality set in that I was leaving soon.

Friday morning I woke up in a bad mood, I tried to get into Bellagio buffet for breakfast but it was packed so that didn't happen. Then I went over to the Victorian Room and there was a 30 minute wait. In fact I went there 6 times during my visit and everytime (even at 3am) there was a 30 minute wait, I don't think anyone eats there I think they have employees who just sit in there to create a buzz in the place. I did decide that it's almost impossible in Vegas to eat a meal without a reservation, espically breakfast.

We headed to the airport and back to Houston, visions of Vegas still dance in my head, it's like a drug, and since I got home I've yet to see the sun.

 

haha you've covered a lot of ground on your first trip! The Southwest terminal is kinda rundown and depressing. Terminal D where Continental and several other carriers use is real new and a lot nicer. I could have definetly save you the wasted dinner at Tony Roma's, but oh well, you can chalk it up to experience now!

 

It's hard to turn down cheap steak and lobster!

 

I know... that's how we got suckered in.. it was a regrettable dinner for us! Anyhow, you have some cajones to hike on Tropicana across I-15 to get to In N Out!

 

It wasn't a great area but not that bad.

 

Great start to your Vegas trip report!

And a great hooker story too - you should update the hooker story thread.

By the way - the El Cortez - that *was* the front.

Its way nicer than the Western btw.

 

I do need to put that in the hooker thread. Oh, that was the front of El Cortez, okay then, moving along.

Anything is nicer than the Western, even the security guys looked at me funny. I didn't know shorts and a golf shirt were overdressing, anywhere.

 

Good TR. You got a lot covered in a few days. Thanks for posting.

 

Fellow Texan here. Your quest for in n out was hysterical! It beats Whataburger hands down in my opinion too. And I have 2 Maggianno's within 20 minutes of me and the only one I have eaten in is there in Vegas.
Enjoyed the report - sounded like you have been writing them for years.
Nice score on the room. Goin' back soon?

 

Where is the Hooker thread?

There are two things I do not need to be bothered by in Las Vegas

1) Porn Slappers
2) Aggressive Personal Entertainers

I will gladly chat with the personal entertainers but once it turns to business then I am no longer interested.

Who the heck said the El Cortez is cool?

 

Thaks for posting. Great Trip Report.

later, GVJ

 

Thanks for the trip report. Ill have to try in and out next time.

 

Thanks guy, writing the report was a blast, almost as much fun as the trip itself, I plan on going back in the spring!

 

your not kidding about getting a coke at any Harrahs property.

Yep, just what I want, a Wild Turkey and Pepsi..

Good report.

 

Excellent Trip Report you certainly got around!

great upgrade u had , loved the hooker stories , I saw Manilow back in 2005 he rocks, lol @ wanting to hang yourself whilst visiting the Circus Circus



I'm taking my hubby next month and hes never been will be interesting to see Vegas thru his eyes

 

Well done! I enjoyed all the parts...I do like the long reports, they are more detailed and make me feel like I am there.

 

Thanks guys, I'm a junkie now. I'm on Southwest Airlines Vacations planning a spring trip!

 

Great report ! You sure got around town. Good times..