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November 2014 - El Cortez and Flamingo

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by cvkelz, Jul 8, 2016.

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  1. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

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    My Trip Report

    Sorry this was two years ago, not sure how to edit the title.

    Old Trip Report here, but I'll do my best to recap.

    We left after work on on Tuesday and made really good time, only stopping twice. Once for gas and again for a pee break.
    We arrived to our hotel at the El Cortez around two in the morning and checked in with no problem. After a small problem a couple years ago with a Cabana Suite, we always opt for the tower rooms. Plenty of room and we are always happy with them. We got a sandwich from the 24 hour Subway and went to bed, it had been a LONG day.

    Our first couple of days we had no plans so we delighted on just laying around for a while on Wednesday afternoon after waking, before showering and getting ready to explore a little downtown.
    There was a place about a block from our hotel, called Container Park. We had meant to check out last year and didn’t have time, so that was the first thing on our agenda this trip. We walked there and found it to be pretty cool. Lots of little shops all built into old shipping containers. My husband found this very interesting since his job is in shipping and receiving so he sees a lot of these types of containers. Three levels of them. A lot of little hipster type stores, but good food choices, I thought. Gave it a bit more variety for being down by the El.

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    On the way back to the hotel we noticed something had moved into our old favorite eatery across from the El Cortez. Mamita's had been shut down twice by the health department(we didn’t know that when we ate there so often) and we were shocked to see it go. However, the new place was called The Market and we were delighted to see that they had expanded it and turned it into a deli/market that sort of reminded us of a whole foods. Something that was definitely not explored downtown but was a welcome change.

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    We got a couple of groceries and a sandwich that was THE BOMB! And we decided we had a new favorite place downtown for eating and snacks.

    After eating the sandwich in our room(sorry can't remember what it was called) we headed back downtown to do a little more exploring. There was some sort of food competition happening that was just ending when we rolled up. They had all of one side street blocked off with ovens and fridges and little cooking stations. I wish we had gotten to see it in progress because it looked very cool.

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    We got our picture taken with the million dollars over at Binion’s because it’s pretty much a tradition now[​IMG]

    and then wandered to the end of Fremont St. We discovered that they had closed out the hotel portion of Las Vegas Club and very little of the casino remained. There was a small section of gaming and a large souvenir shop. However, all the old hotel area was just blocked off.
    We rounded the corner and decided to go to the California since we hadn’t been in many years. Rob remembered an ice cream shop there very fondly. We ended up getting Hawaiian shaved ice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the bottom and it was heaven.

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    After that we decided we were both getting tired. I did managed to buy a new purse at one of the kiosks on Fremont St before heading back to the hotel though.
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    Back up the in room, Rob took a nap and I loved the idea that I didn’t have to do ANYTHING, so I watched Full House on TV while laying in bed and playing games on my phone. It was AWESOME!
    I did get up at some point and headed down to the Mexican place in Container Park to get some Carne Asada fries.

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    Rob woke up when I got back up to the room so we decided to explore a little more downtown. We gambled a bit before we decided to head back up the room.


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    Big wins!!
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    Even Bigger Wins!

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    Rob posing.

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    And with that, we headed back up to the room and went to bed.
     
  2. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    Thursday morning was another lazy morning and I loved it. Rob and I laid around for a good portion of the morning. Rob eventually headed down to that The Market across the street and got us two yummy breakfast sandwiches.
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    Sunrise Sandwich

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    Egg Sandwich

    My memory is starting to get fuzzy at this point, but I know that we were a whole lotta lazy that day. I did venture down to the Container Park so I could get a better look around and actually take a look at the shops there. There were a lot of pricey knick knack shops and some pretty decent looking food places. I ended up picking up a bunch more Mexican food for dinner at Pinches Tacos and bringing it back up to the room.
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    Container Park
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    I think we did some shopping downtown that night but no real gambling.
     
  3. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    We had a very loose schedule this trip, but we DID have certain days planned for actually getting out of our hotel room for more than food and gambling…not MUCH more, but it’s good to have goals right?

    Friday we had predicted to be our “tourist day”. We have done one of these for the last three years now and they have proven to be fairly successful. The original plan was to get up kind of early and get our bus passes for The Deuce. For those that don’t know, that is the double decker bus that goes all the way up the strip and back downtown. It’s kind of a touristy thing to do but it’s also part of the public transit system of Las Vegas. A 24 hour pass runs eight bucks each and if you have the time to waste stopping every two minutes to pick up and drop off more people it is a pretty effective way to get around in Vegas without the hassle of driving with all those other crazy drivers/pedestrians that are usually out there.

    We didn’t end up getting our passes that early. I had woken up around four that morning with a very upset stomach. Two and a half days of Vegas food and drink had caught up to me and my body was reminding me that after being very good on a low carb diet for the last month and a half, shoving all kinds of greasy carbs and booze into my system was a rather large mistake. I took a tums but that wasn’t going to cut it. I ended up throwing up a very small amount and as soon as I did I felt instantly better. It seemed to me that it was all the onions I had been eating on the Mexican food was the culprit. I can’t be sure but that is what I had been burping up all the previous day and that is what I threw up, so I’m gonna go with that. Sorry if that is TMI. :D

    Anyhoo, I went back to sleep and Rob let me sleep in until around ten or so when we showered, got dressed and made our way to the RTC pass machine outside of the Heart Attack Grill downtown.

    There was quite a line of tourists that didn’t seem to know how to use the machines properly, but we eventually got our passes and waited for the next bus. When it came we were able to score the coveted(by tourists) front row spots on the upper part of the bus. I quickly decided that might have been a grave error on my part given my still slightly woozy stomach and the amount of direct sunlight baking down on us, but I toughed it out until our first stop.

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    Sockmonkey on the bus!

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    Deuce Selfie!

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    Our first stop!

    The original plan we laid out before we even got to Vegas had us having lunch at the top of the Stratosphere as it had been a good number of years since we had done that, and then making our way to the Expo for the half marathon so I could get checked in and get my race bib. Then we were just planning on doing some touristy sight seeing and the like.

    Once we got to Vegas I changed my mind on our lunch choice as The STRAT was a little pricey if I remembered correctly. And knowing we were going to be staying at the MGM later in the trip I was reserving my right to spend the money in a fancy restaurant that we had never eaten in before there instead. So we decided to hit Circus Circus to see about going to the snack bar there. The snack bar at that particular casino is significant to us since that is where we had our first breakfast together when we first met fifteen years ago.

    We got off the bus at Slots Of Fun and walked through there to get to the regular casino. We discovered a bank of massage chairs that you could get a three minute massage for a buck and thought, what the hell? I plunked myself down and Rob inserted the dollar in the chair. The first thing it did was grab both of my legs. It had these sort of curves where I put my legs into when I sat down and as soon as the chair was activated, they inflated and trapped both my legs. The chair started to vibrate starting at my skull and making it’s way down my back and then all of a sudden something popped up in the middle of the seat and I was violated by the chair!

    I yelped and started giggling as I tried to explain to Rob who was furiously snapping away with his camera phone, that the chair had just poked me in the pooper! He was cracking up and taking picture after picture while the chair continued to have it’s way with me for the next three minutes. There was no escaping since I couldn’t move my legs. It was alarming in a funny kind of way, but dang! I don’t know if wasn’t sitting in the chair properly or if that is just what people go for nowadays but it was quite a surprise to me.
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    Once the chair released me we made our way over to Circus Circus. In our search for the snack bar one of the first things we saw was a bar and a restaurant that toted Vince Neil’s name on them. We kinda chuckled that Vince Neil would have a bar/eatery at Circus Circus of all the places but decided when we couldn’t find our snack bar that we would check it out and have our lunch there.

    For an old 80’s hairband chick like me, the place was kinda cool. There were pictures of all the old glam bands framed all around the walls. I tried to find a picture of Europe but I was sadly disappointed. :(
    Motley Crue records and old magazine covers as well as outfits that Vince has worn over the years were scattered throughout the decor as well. There were also large screen TV’s that played mostly 90’s videos on the walls.

    Our waitress was a sweetie. She came to take our drink order while I was taking picture of the wall. She encouraged me to get up and take as many pictures as I wanted to, which I did. I ordered a drink just because it was called “The Groupie” and we got some meatloaf kind of sliders and loaded french fries. The drink was good but my stomach wasn’t ready for alcohol so I ended up leaving half. The food on the other hand was really good and totally hit the spot. We split everything so it was the perfect amount of food without going overboard.

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    It was called a "groupie"
    IMG_2953.JPG Meatloaf Sliders

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    Loaded Fries
    IMG_2955.JPG Sockmonkey had to finish my drink for me.

    So while Vince Neil’s restaurant is nothing to really write home about, it was a good way to kill an hour for someone like me that was into the band and those like them back in the day.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2016
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  4. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

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    Once we were done with Vince Neil's Tatuado, we headed back out to Slots O Fun and caught another bus to what I was sure was the location of the marathon Expo. You see, while I didn’t do the race last year, all the three years prior the expo was held at the convention center at the Venetian hotel. There was never any reason for me to think this year would be any different, but you know what happens when you assume right?

    Yeah. So I decided to check on my phone at the last minute and it looked like I was wrong. At the moment I am trying to tell Rob that, the stop for the Venetian was coming up so we got off the bus. Either way, Rob had to pee and we had already missed the correct stop and would have to backtrack.

    We made it into the Venetian and found a bathroom before making sure on our phones that they did indeed move the expo. It was now being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center which was back towards downtown. Mad at myself, we headed back out to Las Vegas Blvd to catch the next bus back towards downtown.

    After about ten minutes of waiting Rob mentally crunched some numbers and decided it might not be worth our time at that point to hit the expo that day. At the rate the bus was NOT arriving and the fact that we were needing to get back to our hotel and then back on the bus and up to Planet Hollywood before seven thirty that night for the show we had already bought tickets for, it wasn’t going to work. Sure we could make it time wise, but we’d be rushed and frustrated at the Expo and exhausted by the time we got to the show. So we decided to head back to our hotel and rest for a little while before we had to get ready for the show. The expo was open the next day so we figured we would just drive there before we did our other plans for the day.

    Finally about 20 minutes later the bus showed up and we loaded in. Rob and I got two seats together in the upper section and discussed our plans for the evening. I was thinking that it was taking a really long time to load the bus when we started to hear raised voices from below. So, here is something you NEVER want to hear while on public transit: “Show me the sign that says I cannot take a gun on the bus!”

    Yeah…the entire bus fell silent. Nervous smiles were exchanged by the passengers. Was this a joke? Turns out no, it was not. The next ten minutes were very scary and didn’t seem real to me at all, as a gentleman attempting to board the bus argued loudly with the bus driver about bringing his gun on board. He got very angry and loud and said he WAS NOT getting off until she showed him a sign that said he couldn’t bring a gun onto the bus.

    Upstairs my fellow passengers discussed what they should do. Should they just go downstairs and get off the bus to wait for the next one? A couple got up and headed down the back stairs asking the driver to open the back door repeatedly. People started to shout down at the man: “Come on guy, we want to get going!!” To which I whispered: “Let’s not irritate the man with the firearm.” I was in the throws of a full on panic attack at that point. Certain that the man was going to open fire and we were all going to die. It was very real in my head. That was it. I was going to die on a bus in Las Vegas. I would never see my dogs again. It was done.

    Rob was squeezing my hand and asking if I wanted to get off the bus. At that point I didn’t know if it was safer to stay upstairs or try to go down and exit the bus. I’m not the best at making decisions on a good day, let alone when our lives might be on the line. All I knew was that the exchanges between the bus driver and the guy were getting more and more heated and at that point even the most jaded people on the bus were saying we should all get off.

    It was as if we all made the same decision at once, power in numbers and all that. We all got up and started to make a mass exodus towards the back stairwell. Before Rob and I could even get to the stairwell, the bus lurched and started to finally move forward. We all quickly made our way back to our seats and just sort of looked around.

    I will never know what actually happened. I can only assume that the guy had no intentions of shooting up a bus full of tourists and when he actually saw everyone trying to leave, he realized he was being an asshole and got off the bus. Whatever it was, I was thankful for it.

    People started to let out their nervous energy, cracking jokes and acting all macho. Saying what the “would’ve done” if they had gotten down there and got a hold of that guy. I leaned into Rob and mentioned how funny it was that everyone grew balls once they knew they were safe.

    I squeezed out a few silent tears of relief and allowed myself to calm down. We were safe, and all was right with the world. But was it really? When a situation like that was completely plausible and possible? Ick.

    Okay, now that that is off my chest, on with the trip report!

    We made it back to the hotel safe and sound and relaxed for a couple of hours before getting dressed and heading back out to catch our show. Last year when we were there we went to the V Theater at Planet Hollywood to see Evil Dead The Musical, (which by the way was totally worth it and an awesome show) we saw something advertising a Zombie Burlesque coming soon and we discussed possibly going to see that. One groupon later we got really good prices on the seats and so we were set to see the show that night.

    We hopped back on the bus (my nerves calmed by a couple of cocktails), and headed over to Planet Hollywood. If I remember right it took us almost 45 minutes to get there, but we arrived without incident. We were a bit early so we got a coffee at the Starbucks downstairs and scoped out the cab line. Seeing how long it took us to get there and how we had plans in the morning, we made the command decision to take a cab back that night after the show rather than waiting for the bus. Last year after the show we waited for at least a half an hour just for the bus to arrive.

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    Coffee in hand, we parked ourselves at a couple of video poker machines and played for a while until it was time to head to the theater.

    As we entered the “mall type” area that would lead us to our destination, I realized that I was starving. After a quick stop to a pretzel chain spot where I practically inhaled a pretzel with cheddar cheese dip, we were good to go.

    After a short wait at the theater we were seated. The show was sold out and we were at the second to the last row, but it was a small theater so it wasn’t quite the same as being in the nosebleeds.
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    Overall, I thought it was a good show. There was audience participation and the host was very funny and quick on his feet. The performers were good at what they did, although there only appeared to be two singers out of the whole bunch. But there was a live band with horns so that was very appreciated. There were silks, a pole dance, some variety acts and it was a very solid show. Plus they gave everyone free jello shots during “intermission”! I probably wouldn’t go see it again but I was glad that I went to see it.

    Once the show was over we caught a cab back to the hotel. Rob and I split ways at the hotel as he had to gets some stuff from our car in the parking garage and I headed over to The Market and got a roast beef sandwich and pasta salad for our dinner. No onions ;-)

    Back up in the room we watched Fresh Prince of Bel Air on TVLand until we fell asleep.
     
  5. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    Saturday we had plans to meet up with some local friends, but first we had to tackle the Marathon Expo so I could get my race packet.
    Since we were planning on driving that day anyway, we just got up earlier than planned and hit the road for the convention center. We got there just as they were opening their doors and it was PACKED. Parking wasn't so bad as we didn't mind walking, but the line to get in the place was like a joke. It wound all the way around the front of the parking area in all these weird twists and loops. I'm sure it made sense to someone, but it was just mildly annoying and amusing at the same time to us.
    I didn't get any pics of the expo this year because honestly it was too crowded and I wasn't in the market to buy anything this time around. We pretty much just picked up my packet, did a once around loop and left.
    On to visit our friends. We try to meet up with our friends D and F every year that we visit. This year however, F's MS was acting up so she had been admitted to the hospital two nights prior. Oh well, that never let us stop a visit with friends before! We drove out to meet her at the hospital, making sure she got the medicinal bottle of wine we had bought for her and chatted for awhile. She is into extreme couponing and tried to teach us a bit about it, but that kind of thing is lost on me.
    D and her parent's arrived a little bit later and F insisted that we all go out to the soul food place we had talked about going to before she was hospitalized. F may be small but she is mighty when she has her mind set on something. We didn't bother to argue. Besides, I was pretty hungry. :) We bid her goodbye until next time and took off in separate cars to Soul Food Cafe.
    Everything was really good. We all shared our food and the service was very good. I love when servers and staff have a really good sense of humor. :)

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    It's called a Sugar Daddy. 1/2 Lemon-aid and 1/2 Kool Aid. Super sweet.

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    Enjoying the cornbread.

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    The cornbread

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    Okay, on the left mac n cheese, yams and fritters. On the right two bowls of gumbo and a plate of oxtails.

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    Rob's gumbo. He was so happy.

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    And of course you have to have chicken and waffles.

    Lunch lasted a good long time and we were plenty full. However, by the time we parted ways we still had some time to kill before our painting class.
    We had found a groupon online for something called Wine and Canvas. Since we knew we would be near there visiting D and F we signed up for shits and giggles. Neither of us consider ourselves very artistic, but it seemed like a fun thing to do that wasn't draining our very small budget at a slot machine. :-D

    We drove over to the place and sat in the parking lot. We debated on napping in the van since we were so full from the lunch, but we saw a shining beacon in the distance and realized we were very near Sunset Station. We had stayed there years ago with my mother when she was still travel mobile and didn't find it that bad. Since we had the time to kill, we drove over and sat down at some machines.
    We each lost twenty bucks pretty quickly so we bought a starbucks with an old gift card I had and sat in the lobby playing on our phones for awhile. I think we are getting old.

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    Finally time, we headed back over to the studio and started our painting class. Rob was worried at first because the instructor was painting so fast and he couldn't keep up. He was getting frustrated until he realized that he didn't HAVE to keep up. The instructor was going so fast so that he could come around and help everyone afterwards. Once he figured that out he relaxed and we enjoyed the evening.
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    Rob posing as usual.

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    Mine

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    Rob's

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    Painting Night Selfie!

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    Rob really enjoys photobombing...

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    The finished product. This particular class was billed as a "date night" class where you each make a painting that comes together to form a larger one.
    Overall it was a really good experience that I would do again. We both really enjoyed it.

    Being that the race was the next day, we boogied on back to the El Cortez to get some rest. Changing hotels the next day to the MGM!
     

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  6. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

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    Thanks to whoever fixed the title of this trip report! I appreciate it! :nworthy:
    So Sunday was the half marathon. This would be my fourth year doing this, although not consecutively. I took the prior year off because I just needed a break.
    We had planned it so that this day we would move to a three night MyVegas comped room at the MGM Grand. The MGM was within walking distance to the starting corral and we had never stayed there before. For the price of a resort fee for three nights, it was a bargain to us. We also booked a room at the Flamingo just for that night since that was where the finish line was near. Since we were only paying a resort fee for the MGM room, I didn't mind double booking for the sake of getting up to the room to soak in a bath in a timely manner. I was not well trained for this half marathon. :goofy:
    We checked out of the El Cortez around eleven. We loaded up the van and headed over to the MGM parking structure and made our way to check in. I don't remember there being very long lines and we got a really helpful desk clerk. Even though I had called MyVegas multiple times, taken down names and confirmation numbers and made sure all three nights would be linked, there was still a slight hiccup at the front desk. Thank goodness the desk clerk was very patient and kind. She sat on the phone for about fifteen minutes trying to get it all rectified and eventually did. I think she felt bad about the whole thing because even though we were booked the comp in the West Wing tower, she asked if we would like to be moved to the closer elevator of the Grand Tower at no charge. You better believe we jumped on that.
    All checked in we headed up to the room with our luggage. Since we would be spending that night at the Flamingo after the race, I packed a backpack of essentials to give to Rob for when he checked in and got changed into my running gear. The plan was that he would take the monorail to the Flamingo and check in while I was running the race with minimal baggage.


    Video of our room at the MGM.

    Soon it was time to hit the streets and get to my corral for the race. I was nervous, but this wasn't my first rodeo. I did remember that on the last race, I had a blister pop on one of my little toes around mile nine and the next few miles were agony. In an effort to reduce this from happening again, I had purchased some of those cushiony blister band-aids and put one on each of my last little toes on my right foot as that is my problem foot. This comes into play later.

    Rob and I parted ways and I made it to the corrals no problem. There was a long wait in the cold for the race to start, but again - this wasn't my first rodeo. Rob texted me that he had checked in at the Flamingo just fine and then the race started. I was at the very back of the corrals so it took me about an hour to even cross the start line.

    The race was pretty uneventful for me. This was my fourth time doing it and it was pretty much the same as all the others. I was very under trained for the whole thing so I basically power walked the entire race. Two years prior I had been even more unprepared than this year so I wasn't in as bad shape as I remembered being the last time.
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    Waiting for the race to start, no make up, no filter.


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    Is that the start line???


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    Finally starting!





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    Rob took this of me crossing the finish line.

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    Marathon Photo.

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    Me pulling a face with Rob after finally getting to the Flamingo and stretching out my sore muscles.


    I finally finished the race and squeezed through a barrier to get to my husband who was waiting on the other side of the street at the Flamingo. He led me through the casino and back up to our room where he realized he had left his room key...in the room. He headed back downstairs while I sunk down onto the floor outside our hotel door and pulled off my shoes. I was not going to move another inch. Also, something felt weird on my pinkie toe on my right foot.

    When I removed my sock I found that those band-aids I had put on my toes had FUSED together. The plastic was stuck together and it was very painful to take them apart. Once I removed the band-aids entirely, I noticed that there was a very large blood blister forming on my pinkie toe and the nail itself felt squishy.

    Not wanting to mess with it any further, I put it out of my mind as Rob came back with the room key and drew me a bath. He had Johnny Rockets waiting for me. It was cold and the fries were stale, but it was awesome!!

    That was the extent of me moving for the rest of the night. I had a hard time getting to sleep because my joints ached, but eventually succumbed out of sheer exhaustion.

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  7. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    Monday morning we woke up, packed our minimal belongings back up and limped back to the MGM via the Monorail.
    Once we got there we got some Stromboli from the food court, which I devoured and then took a power nap.
    It was very hard for me to wake up, but I eventually had to get in the shower and get back on with my vacation. Such a hard life, I know.
    We explored MGM that night and a little bit of the view outside, but didn't do a whole lot. I was still in recovery mode and needed more rest...and booze.

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    Soooooo good!

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    Only missing JT by days. :-(

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  8. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    Details are decidedly fuzzy at this point, but on Tuesday was our last full day so of course, we slept in. Can't remember where we ate, but I know we hit of the Ross department store on the strip where I bought too many things and then we explored NYNY and the Hershey's shop. I know this because the pictures from the trip show me. :-D
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    Scored these kick ass boots at Ross. Not easy to buy retail in my calf width. Love them!

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    Um...yeah, we didn't have much money left at that point.

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    Rob photobombing, again.

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    I could look at the views of LV at night for days and still be in awe.

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    Candy time!

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    We are big dorks.

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    Had a 20 to play for a co-worker...it didn't go well.

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    Time to head back to the hotel and sleep. I don't want it to end!


    That night as we packed up everything except what we would need for the next day, Rob discovered two uncashed vouchers in his man purse for El Cortez. If memory serves, one was fifty and the other was around seventy, so it was worth going back for. Besides, Rob didn't get his prime rib this trip around and we knew that the El Cortez had a special.

    So on Wednesday, we packed up everything else and headed back over to The El. I got us a table while Rob cashed out the vouchers and we both got our prime rib on.

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    Sockmonkey got to share my soda!


    Our last stop before heading home was another visit to the Zombie Apocalypse Store. We'd been a couple of times before but we had friends back home requesting specific items, so we stopped again.

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    Shooting Gallery

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    Sorry this last one is so picture heavy, but since I don't remember much else of what we did, this will have to suffice. We left the Zombie Store and traveled the 8.5 hours home.

    Overall it was a good trip, although we did very little gambling. This trip was more about the 1/2 marathon and relaxing, and I feel both went well. In case anyone is wondering, a month or so after I got home, I did end up losing the toenail on that pinky toe that was bugging me. Apparently it's not uncommon to happen during a marathon, but I definitely botched things by trying that band aid trick. Never again.
    This was our first trip using MyVegas rewards and overall I was very happy with it. As low rollers as we were, there was no way we would have been able to afford three nights at the MGM, so it fit our needs.
    I'm sad that we only get to have one trip to Vegas a year now that we have moved to California and have limited time off on our jobs, but I always treasure the time I get to spend there. Vegas will always hold a special place in my heart as it is where I met the love of my life and eventually married him...but that is a whole 'nother trip report. :)
     

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  9. Vegasworm

    Vegasworm Finger Clicker Extraordinaire

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    That was fun to read and nice pictures too!

    My mom, grandmother, and I took a homemade Elvis-like mascot with us to Vegas years ago during a girls' trip. We named him "Sparky", and he was in most of our pictures until he fell apart mid-trip. Your monkey reminded me of that. Good times!

    Good for you doing the half marathon! I'm too chicken to try any type of race. The bus incident sounded scary and yet such a reality in today's world. I'm glad everything ended safely. Your chair story is funny!

    Enjoy those trips when you can take them! Where did you live prior to California?

    Vegasworm
     
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  10. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
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    Great report and great memory! Guessing all the pics helped a little bit. ;)

    Nice job scoring the upgrade at mgm. We couldn't pull that off last year and the West Wing King sucks vs. a grand king.

    And definitely tense moments on that bus. But actually the guy with the gun was right! You can have a gun on RTC busses. :eek:
     
  11. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Nice TR, really enjoyed the pics, thanks.
     
  12. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    Thanks!!
    Heh. Sockmonkey comes with me every trip. He's actually sockmonkey 2.0. The original SM jumped ship on a trip to New York. Just as we were heading to the airport to go home I realized I had lost her. My theory is that she wanted to dance on Broadway and so she snuck off while I wasn't looking because she knew I would never let her go. [emoji12][emoji12]

    Prior to Cali, we did a six year stint in Arizona. It was only a five hour drive to Vegas so we would go at least every other month for weekend trips.
     
  13. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

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    Thanks Tring. I wish I could credit my memory, but I did make notes at the time of the trip. Just had to dig them out and organize them.

    The gun thing. Yeah, my friend that used to live in LV told me that as well when I told him the story. I just remember the bus driver telling the guy with the gun: "not on MY bus!"
    It was really scary I'm just glad it didn't end badly.
     
  14. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    Thanks Ty. Writing the report just fed the flames of me wanting to go back. In a good way. I'm going to see if I can write one up from last years trip too.
    My hope is to do s live one when we go in November. :)
     
  15. Ty

    Ty ?

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    You guys hit up some places I've never heard of so I'll definitely be watching your TRs.
    Live in November? Yes, please.
     
  16. cvkelz

    cvkelz Extremely Low Roller- like, I barely roll at all.

    Joined:
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    Thanks Ty! We've been to Vegas so many times that we now like to try and seek out things that aren't the norm. It' becoming harder and harder to do though. :)
     
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