Trip Report 2/20 through 2/24

Trip booked through Expedia; roundtrip Continental; 4 nights Golden Nugget; $800.90. We were due to leave Cleveland airport at 5:00pm, but flight from Newark was late getting in. Continental did a great job unboarding, cleaning, boarding , & had us in the air by 5:30. Added 30min. to 4 1/2hr. flight because of headwinds. Landed in Vegas at 7:30 got luggage and headed to National to pick up rental car. Booked full-sized car through priceline for $17.00 a day. $111.27 total for 4 days. At National you go to the lot & pick out which car you want. We got a red Chevy Impala. Very comfortable car. Jim & I both liked it. On to Golden Nugget. Checked in, wanted to change to smoking room but nothing available till morning. Room on 14th floor which was fine but so far from elevators you’d better be sure you didn’t have to pee when you started up because you’d never make it. Threw luggage in room, freshened lipstick & on to Golden Gate. It’s tradition for us to start with a .99 shrimp cocktail & a corned beef for me, & pastrami for Jim. Beer for him frozen drink for me. It’s about 11:00 now. I’ve been in town almost 4 hrs. & haven’t lost a dime yet. Must remedy this immediately! Jim left for VP at bar at GN, while I got comfortable at the blackjack table. It’s now 3am., many jack & cokes latter, down about a hundred, & my eyes are feeling gritty. Time for bed. Walk back to GN. Find Jim at bar still playing VP at a frantic pace(exactly where I knew he’d be)& told him I was heading up to bed. This is the longest walk of my life. Finally get to room into jamies & slept like a rock Didn’t even hear Jim come in. 8am Tues phone rings, its Jims brother on his way from Cali. to visit us for the day. Went back to sleep till11:00. Called front desk for new room. Gave us room#729. Showered, dressed, called bell captain. He was knocking on the door in less than 10 min. Loaded luggage & on our way to 729. Got of the elevator around the corner 1st door on the left. I’m lovin it. No matter how drunk I get ,unless I get off on the wrong floor, I can’t miss this room. View of the GN self parking garage. Fine by us, we can see our rental. Double room very clean but starting to show some wear. Anyone else ever notice that the GN tubs are higher than normal? Jim banged his toe a couple times getting in. Starving, so unpacking can wait. As we are walking past Carson Street Café spot Jims brother so we have breakfast there. Eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast, juice & coffee for $7.99 Everything hot, cooked to order, and very good.. After leisurely breakfast got car & went to TI to pick up reserved tickets for Mystere. Over to Stardust sports book for final farewell. I am really going to miss this place. You can play the ponies anywhere but the Stardust is classic. I always wonder about the guys who have gold nameplates at their seats. We stopped to buy souvenires but they were out of everything with the Stardust logo. On the way out the lounge act, Next Movement , were just starting so we stuck around for the first set. Motown classics. I love Vegas! Now over to The Wynn. Signed up for slot card, both under 1 name. Jim played VP I found a 2 quarter max double diamond slot machine,(had 3 of those pop up bingo games but never won) less than 1 hr latter I cashed out $10.00(started with 20) & we had racked up 66 pts. More than enough for a free buffet. Back to GN. Up to room to unpack & change for evening. Brother in law had to get back so said our goodbyes & left for Ellis Island for dinner with ACG coupon in hand and mouth watering for a steak. Now this you are not going to believe! They only have a limited menu because the kitchen is having its yearly cleaning. Decide to stay and order the prime rib. It was not great & I am being kind. After dinner stuck around EI for a couple hours using our drink coupons & match plays. Left up about $30. Back downtown . Jim to GN. Bar & more VP while I wander in & out of hotels playing a little of everything till I end up back at Golden Gate playing BJ. Lose more money while drinking many many jack & cokes. Back up to room stopping to tell Jim goodnight. Thank the gods for room this close to elevator. (It doesn’t take much to keep me happy in Vegas) Next morning, more like 2pm. Over to Careful Kittys at the El Co. for breakfast . Afterwards Jim played the ponies while I played more BJ. That night we went to see Mystere. A special thanks to Gregrio for seat recommendations. We had 203 GG 15 &16. They were great seats! What an amazing show. From there onto MGM for dinner at Emeriles New Orleans Fish House. Started with barbequed shrimp. Jim had lobster bisque & pan fried rainbow trout topped with gulf rock shrimp I had sweet potato & green chile soup, pecan encrusted Texas redfish, and Emeriles famous smashed potatoes. He had Margaritas; I had Mohitos. The food was superb the service impeccable. My soup was the chefs choice for the day. If they serve soup in heaven this is it. I have never had anything this good. The Mohitos were the best I’ve had. Dinner was $140 ($40 of that was drinks) with a $40 tip we only spent $180. A little background here. This is our 14th trip to Vegas. We have seen big shows in the past but when tickets started costing over $100 apiece we quit going. And while we have always eaten well it has also been very frugally. More money to gamble with! This past Christmas, knowing we were going to Vegas the kids gave us cash to spend on something we wouldn’t ordinarily do. Hence the show & dinner. Of course now that I’ve done it I think we’ll need to take extra money in the future. Back downtown & doing what we each like best. He playing at the GN bar, me at Golden Gate playing BJ. In less than 2hrs I’m down over $100 & can’t hit 2 hands in a row to save my life. Went to GN & played VP with Jim for an hr. Made back about $40. To bed. It’s Thursday, our last full day in Vegas. Comped breakfast buffet at GN. Got to go in the VIP line. I have always enjoyed this buffet. Not huge but more than enough to choose from. I love omelet stations. After breakfast went to IP so Jim could get a futures bet on the Kentucky Derby. While he played the horses for a few hrs. I sat at the slots outside the sports book & played the slots. Up & down, left down about $20.Decided to check out the Tuscany. Started by signing up for slot club. When I sat down to play I had $10 on my card. We spent the entire afternoon there. I really like this place. Would definitely consider staying here in the future. Back to GN to get ready for our last night in town. Off to the Wynn for our free buffet. First we stopped at Parasols Down because I wanted to have a drink out on the patio & watch the water show. There’s a 2 drink minimum per person which was fine but after 15min in line it was looking like it could be at least another hr. Neither one of us was willing to spend that much time to spend at least $40. So we went up to the buffet. It’s a 1hr line! But this meal is comped & probably the only time I’ll try a $33 buffet. It was exactly a 1hr. wait. Food to die for. A risotto station, sushi, shrimp. Dessert so beautiful, so good I was in heaven. Here’s my tip. Eat less save lots of room for dessert. I was so full & just couldn’t try everything I wanted. Went back downtown & made Jim come with me to play BJ at Golden Gate. We both bought in for $40. He lost his in an hour but I was holding my own. He went back to GN to bar & VP. & I stayed 4 more hrs. I played the last hour standing up because my ass had gone numb. My stomach had been burning from 3 nights of jack & coke(we all know coke will eat a hole in you) so switched to White Russians. Much better. Left about 3am. Up $100 & happy to have finally had a winning session. Back to GN to play some VP with Jim. 1hr. latter head up to bed. There’s a bank of slot machines back by the elevators so sat down at one & hit for $90 on my second pull. Cashed out & went to bed. Next afternoon checked out, had the bell desk hold luggage & went for comped breakfast at Carson Street Café. Returned the car & left Vegas for Cleveland .Jim down $800, I’m down $400.We had a fantastic time . Am ready to go back .A year is really a long time! A note about the construction at the GN- The pool is closed while Landrys adds a shark tank. The casino floor is still intact. The only time I saw any workers was at 2,3,4;00 am when they were changing the carpeting from the main lobby back to the elevators. In the 4 nights we stayed they finished the whole thing. I love Vegas carpeting & the GN was one of my favs. The new carpeting is a subtle brown Persian design. Very elegant ( I got pictures years ago of the old carpeting.) I love downtown & the GN is where we like to stay. I hope Landrys does right by the Golden Nugget. This is my first trip report & I hope this isn’t to long . This board keeps me going between Vegas visits. Thanks to everyone here. Kathy

 

Violett-
Ya gotta lay off the Coke! It's evil stuff. Drink Jaeger instead....much easier on the stomach.

Seriously though, nice trip report. It wasn't too long at all.

I really wish I wasn't too hung over to enjoy the 99 cent shrimp cocktail. I'll have to try that again when I go back.

 

Great report! Glad to hear you had a good time and experienced something "new." I had to crack up about your first room...I've been in that situation before at a different hotel. Had to pee on the way up and was doing the pee pee dance before I got to the room! Glad you got a room more to your liking after the first night!

 

At the beginning of your report you mention that your husband's name is Jim. And then at the end you end it with Kathy. I thought it ironic since my husband's name is Jim and my name is Kathy but we've never stayed at the GN. Glad you had a good time.