Another Solo Trip Report May 10-15, 2015

Sorry it took me so long to get my trip report going. I'll do with this trip report like I've done with my previous trip reports, one post = one day.

Day #1 May 10, 2015. Sunday. (This was my longest Vegas trip.)

My plane (Southwest) took of from Houston at 6:50am. Landed in Las Vegas at 7:45am. Not a full flight. I got to Excalibur at 8:35am. Checked in & went to my room on the 28th floor. The room was much nicer than I thought it would be. I've read horror stories about Excalibur's rooms. No horror for me. The room had a decent view.

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For breakfast I went to the Paradise Garden buffet at the Flamingo. 10:13am. My second time there. Not a big selection, but the food was good.

I then went to the Flamingo Habitat. 11:24am.

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I took some pictures of the Flamingo pool.

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I then went to Crystals at City Center. 12:35pm. I walked around taking pictures & going to a couple of the galleries.

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For dinner I ate at the restaurant inside the Hooters Casino. 6:05pm. I had a Texas Melt burger, curly fries, & a Pepsi.

I then putzed around taking pictures.

Outside David Copperfield's show room at the MGM Grand.

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Cosmopolitan casino.

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I eventually made it back to my room & was in bed at 12:30am.

Next up is Day #2, Monday, May 11, 2015.

xman30

 

Truthfully, the best view I ever had in Vegas (pre-fountains) was at Excalibur...it was on the north side, looking directly up-strip

 

Pics are amazing....

 

Great pictures!! I'm surprised/shocked Copperfield won all those Emmys. I don't keep up with those things but he won more than SNL?? I hardly even remember him being on TV. Oh well, looking forward to seeing more of those great pictures...

 

He used to run specials almost yearly back in the day... and looked like he won an Emmy in a visual category a lot, according to wiki.

And awesome pics so far!

 

Great pics!

 

Great photos - I really find it hard to capture the wonder of citycenter, aria, cosmo, and chandelier bar in particular through photographs. Great job!

 

Day #2 May 11, 2015, Monday

I woke up about 5:30am & got ready for the day. I got to the buffet at Treasure Island at 8:40am. First time there since I stayed at TI in 2012. Not a wide selection of food, but still good.

I then made my way to the Madame Tussauds wax museum at the Venetian. 10:17am. I used a 50% off coupon that was from a magazine on the airplane.

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First time seeing the Shaq statue in a Heat jersey. Before it had always been a Lakers jersey.

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The new Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking Ball' statue display.

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The 'Hangover Experience' display.

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Mike Tyson's tiger in the bathroom.

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Zach Galifianakis statue at the end of the Experience.

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I then went to the Auto Collection at the Linq hotel & casino. 11:45am.

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I then headed over to the Bellagio Conservatory. 2:13pm.

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For dinner I ate at Nine Fine Irishmen inside New York New York. I had a burger, fries, & a Pepsi. The burger was decent to good depending on what part of it I was eating from.

After dinner I putzed around the Strip.

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Inside the SLS casino.

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I took in a Bellagio water fountain show.

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I eventually made it back to my room about 10:30pm.

Next up is Day #3, Tuesday, May 12, 2015.

xman30

 

The pictures are incredible!

 

Day #3, May 12, 2015, Tuesday

I woke up at 6:10am & got ready for the day. I got to the Aria buffet for breakfast at 8:20am. Good food. I likeed it better than my previous visit (December 2013). I think mainly because of the price, $35 in 2013 vs $21 in 2015.

I then made my way to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. 11:25am.

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For dinner I ate at Blondies inside Miracle Mile. 6:30pm I had a Philly cheese steak sandwich, fries, & a Diet Coke. It was ok at best.

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I then headed to the Fremont Street Experience. Arrived at 8:30pm. Took in some sites.

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After Fremont I had to use my older non-DSLR camera for both pictures & video because of a bad backup battery I tried to use (while at Fremont) for my DSLR. The battery was a tad too large & got stuck in the battery compartment. Dumb non-Canon brand. (I took the camera to a 'camera repair' place the day after I got home & got it fixed.)

I made it back to my room by 11:40pm & was in bed by midnight.

Next up is Day #4, Wednesday, May 13, 2015.

 

Wow. Thanks for the pics! Only one in SLS?

 

Day #4, May 13, 2015, Wednesday

I woke up at 5:40am & got ready for the day. I ate breakfast at Excalibur's buffet. 7:30am. The buffet has been renovated since my previous visit. There are some more options & the food was good.

I made my way to Cashman Field for a 51s minor league baseball game. My first minor league game. It took me a little longer to get there than I though it would. I arrived at 10:55am, in the second inning.

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My seat was in the first row on the first base side of the field. Views from my seat:

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The 51s mascot between innings. I bet it's really fun being in that outfit during the summer.

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A dairy company's mascot sitting in the stands.

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A mascot race between innings.

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After the game.

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Some of the surrounding area outside Cashman Field.

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On my walk back to Fremont Street I saw a guy being arrested at one of the convenience stores. I don't know what he was being arrested for. I definitely wouldn't make the walk between Cashman Field & Fremont Street at night. Might not do it during the day again. (I also walked TO Cashman Field from Fremont Street.) I made it back to Fremont Street a little after 2pm. I got to see this nice sight: Sorry for it being sideways. Forgot to rotate the picture.

She got ran off by security.

I eventually made it back to my room at 3:25pm.

For dinner I ate at Twin Peaks. 6:20pm. I had a Pablano Chicken sandwich, fries, & a diet coke. I couldn't finish the sandwich because it was bad. It was the worst meal I've had at any Twin Peaks. I've had Pablano Chicken sandwiches at other Twin Peaks & they were always very good. Not sure what happened with this sandwich,

My entertainment for the night was Britney Spears' show/concert inside the Axis Theater at Planet Hollywood. I had a great time. It was the highlight of my trip. I was in the left Golden Circle section. It's a standing room only area that's right next to the stage. Pictures I took:

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Some of Britney's outfits from her music videos in the lobby.

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Videos I shot during Britney's show:

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Youtube muted the audio because of a "copyright claim", but didn't mute any other videos.
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WWE wrestler Dolph Ziggler is in this video, albeit briefly. He was pulled up on stage. Apparently he's a big Britney fan.
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After the show I putzed around Planet Hollywood. I was trying to come down from the high of the show. I was approached by 1.5 prostitutes. :wink

I eventually made it back to my room at 12:25am & went to bed.

xman30

Next up is Day #5. Thursday, May 14, 2015

 

Really enjoying your pictures and report. Why was the girl in the sideways picture run off by security? At least she looks better than the other homely girls with pasties on their boobs.

I was amazed that you were able to take videos at the Brittney show. Also the girls dancing on the bar at the D. I thought you couldn't take videos of them.

I'm glad you did though and shared them with us. Thanks!!

 

Great pictures. Thanks for posting.
Really enjoyed it. I love the Flamingo Habitat!
Your pictures really showed how pretty it is.
Nice place to gel out.

 

Fantastic photos! Looking forward to the rest.

 

I'm not sure why she was run off. Maybe someone complained. I'm not sure how long she was there before I arrived, but she was run off a few minutes after I got there. First time I've heard about not shooting videos of the girls dancing on the bars at the Fremont Street Experience. I've always shot videos & pictures of them. I've seen many others do the same. About Britney's show, there is a PA announcement before the show starts that says something like "Please try refraining from taking pictures and videos." I guess they use the word "try" because they know people are going to use there cell phones & cameras anyway. Quite a few people used there phones to take pictures & videos. I & some others used actual cameras. We had smaller point & shoot cameras. No professional cameras are allowed in the theater. You do have to go through a metal detector & the things you take out of your pockets are looked at. It wasn't like I snucked in my camera (Canon Powershot sx130), it was seen at the metal detector. There are also security guards in the Golden Circle area where I was & none of them said anything to the people taking pictures & videos.

xman30

 

That grass really looks nice at cashman field, I wonder how much water that takes when it's over 100 outside. Why was the game so early, was it to avoid the heat later in the day I wonder?? Anyways great pictures and reporting !!

 

It was "field trip" day for area fifth graders. There were kids from about eight different schools at the game. I think they had something before the game about keeping kids away from tobacco products.

xman30

 

Great Pictures. Thanks for posting.

 

That's great! Your pics and videos were really outstanding! Good for all of us here on VMB that the mgt. and security people were a bit understanding and not being dicks! Glad you had a great time!

Thanks again!