9-13 to 9-18 birthday trip

Just back from five nights to celebrate our daughter's 21st birthday. I can't remember a lot of details so will just serve up a few highlights.

The thjree of us tayed first two nights at the Palms. We had a wonderful birthday dinner Tuesday night at 3950 at Mandalay Bay. Highly recommended. I was really proud of myself that I could drive from Palms to MB without getting into the snarl of Strip traffic or using the freeway. Taking the back route via Industrial was so easy. And parking at the little-used West Valet was heaven. It puts you right at Restaurant Row.
Wednesday night we saw "Avenue Q" at Wynn. Wonderful theater, very fun production. This isn't "Sesame Street,'' folks. Loved Wynn. The circular escalator was an eye-catcher. Again used secondary valet on Sands. A breeze in and out.

Absolutely loved Green Valley Ranch. Stayed there the next three nights. Superb rooms, superb service. Fun gaming! (see my craps note under gaming topic). I was there to enter slot tournament. Finished 88th out of 237 after starting out 23rd. Ten places paid. Since entry was free, there was no high expectations. (As one competitor said to me: "Even a chimp could do this.") We had some great food at China Spice, Grand Cafe and the buffet. The new steakhouse (Hank's) unfortunately wasn't open yet. And, we even jumped in the car for a quick trip to a yummy In N Out about two miles away (on Eastern). If you haven't had a chance to visit GVR, it's definitely worth the short drive on the beltway. The District is a great shopping mall just steps away from the resort. The one thing I really loved about the GVR room (we were in the East Tower, the newer one) was the really great shower. Big-time water flow, which you don't get at a lot of places.

And, in case anybody wondered, the birthday girl had a fabulous time!

 

Me Too!

I too was in the GVR slot tournament: I finished 14th, which is sort of sad, since I was so close to the money, but I'm glad I wasn't in 11th--that person was a mere 4 points out of the $$!

I concur with your opinion of GVR, and I promise to have my own trip report up soon!

 

Hey, my monkey resents that.

Glad to see you & the birthday girl had fun. GVR is a really nice place. I read that Trophy's is gone - replaced with a steak house or something . That was a really cool place to watch March Madness.

 

Actually, Trophy's was replaced by a poker room. The steakhouse (Hank's) unfortunately wasn't open yet. We'll definitely try it next time. Can't wait to go back!