TR - Aug 18-25

This trip was with one of our daughters & son-in-laws. They are so much fun to travel with as we all like the same things & everyone is flexible. We were just 4 crazy people ecstatic to be in our favorite place.

We flew out of Louisville on Sat 8/18 (7 am) & hubby & I were lucky to get 1st class with our air miles on Delta. The kids were a few rown back in coach. They didn't care...we were on our way to Mecca! Loved 1st class. Much more room & very comfy but very bland airline food. Loved those free drinks.....must say I took major advantage of those & by the time we arrived @ 11 am I was way ahead in the alcohol dept...
Took a taxi to Bally's to drop off the luggage. We were staying there Sun-Fri but no rooms were available for Sat nite so I found a $57 rate at Flamingo thru the HET website---great rate for the one weekend nite. We walked down to Flamingo with just our overnite bags, checked in quickly, dropped our stuff in the room & we were off....ASAP.
We had all the usual 1st day craziness...couldn't see or do anything quick enough....jumped around a lot. Went to Bill's (to sign up for their card & get our coupon books), Bally's, Paris, Bellagio, PH, Caesars, etc. Just made the rounds hitting the slots at each place. Couldn't decide where to eat & every place was pretty crowded since it was Sat nite. We happened to be at Bally's when we discovered we better eat something to soak up some of the alcohol. Went to their buffet----what a big disappointment...YUK! Never again, not much in the way of selection or quality. We won't make that mistake again - plus the cost had gone up to $23.99 a person. Continued to jump around & late in the evening went to the poker room at Bellagio to see if we recognized anyone. It was a little early to the major pro's to be in Bobby's Room but we did see David Williams & David Sklansky in the high limit area. Also, the actor James Woods was playing out the in the regular poker area near the rail where we were standing. He was chatting & kidding around with the others at the table & seemed like a nice guy.

We made the move to Bally's on Sunday morning & were lucky enough to get rooms next door to each other which made it easier to co-ordinate everything. Ours was 6923 in the South tower. Loved it! The room was so nice it had to be one of the last remodeled during the last phase in that tower. Everything was nice & clean & not worn & torn at all. We had a great view of the Paris pool, Eiffel Tower, balloon & to the right could see about 3/4 of the fountains. We could even hear the music. The kids were in a king room # 6921 which was as nice as ours. It was a lovely view with all the lights on the south end of the strip looming in the distance.
I will not bother to go into a daily recap---it would be very repetitive.....since we tend to wander & gamble nite & day. We even had free Mac King tickets & couldn't seem to tie anyone down to a time to go so never used them...of well, maybe next time. No big wins or losses....came home with about 3/4 of our gambling budget. With free airfare, free rooms & most of food free ---that is a BIG WIN!!

FOOD: (used our comps at all HET restaurants)
This trip we went to the Rio buffet & were extremely impressed with the quality & selection. (we usually go to the Rio seafood buffy once each year but since the kids don't do seafood..opted for the regular one) This is one huge buffet & were truly amazed at the selection. Everything was very fresh & tasty. Way too many things to choose from & unable to try all we would have liked to. This is really the place to"pig out". I went up to one of the stations when I noticed a small crowd around a nice looking guy.....one person even asked him for his autograph....looked closer...it was Chris Judd, J Lo's ex. He was a real cutie!

The new Burger Brassiere was on our list for this year & really liked the place. The atmosphere was a little upscale but relaxed. Hubby got one of the regular burgers & I got the "sliders". Hubby said his burger was very good & while the sliders were good they were not like our White Castles at home. They had great potato skins too.
Went to Blondie's in the Miracle Mile Shops to use our rest.com $25 certificate...it was ok. Service was very good but nothing to rave about in the food area. The boneless wings were terrible but the Caesar salad was great & big enough for 2. Sat out on the patio to people watch.
Ate 1 breakfast & 1 dinner at Ellis Island. Their breakfasts are so cheap it is crazy...thry their cinnamon vanilla french toast....sooooo yummy. Went back the next day for dinner to use the ACG bogo coupon & also had the $5 comp for signing up for their players card the day before. Our meals were all free! What a deal! Hate to waste food but the portions are so big I can't imagine anyone being able to eat everything.
On Tuesday or Wednesday their was another shooting on the strip. What's it gonna take....metal detectors? People are out of control....chill & have fun for God's sake!

Hubby played in 3 Hold'em tournaments @ TI, O'Shea's & ?. He won 2 of them. Needless to say he was an extremely happy fellow! He said it was enjoyable in general because there were so many really nice people playing in them. Almost like home. (he plays about 5 nites at week at home)
The Bill's fun book has great coupons. Used many of the $5 off HET buffets, 20% off at Burger Brassiere & did the 25 point credits at Flamingo, Harrah's & Rio to get a T-shirt at each.

Kids had to leave on Wednesday so we had 2 days to ourselves, or so we thought. While hubby was playing in one of the poker tournaments, a guy yelled at him & it was a couple that he knows from home & has played poker with. Small world...everyone loves LV. We ended up spending some time with them. They were great fun & really nice...we went to Hard Rock with them so they could get a T-shirt & "silver strikes" for their collection.

Flight home was on Friday @ noon. It left on time all was well until we tried to land in Atlanta to change planes....NO.... big storm had closed the airport! We hovered for awhile & finally diverted to Knoxville to refuel. That fiasco took over 2 hours. Finally made it to ATL & landed at 1:15 am. Went into the terminal & it as nuts. After 9 hours on that plane all I wanted was to find the smoke room. Thank God it was a smoking facility...by the crowd...so was many, many others. The airport was a zoo with customer service areas trying to reschedule people who missed their connecting flights. What a mess! All the hotel rooms near the airport were full & over 6000 people, including us were stuck lounging or sleeping in the airport itself. The next available flight to Louisville was at 10:29 am on Sat morning. Delta did give us dinner & breakfast certificates to cover the cost of some our food. The bad thing about that was only 1 restaurant was still open at that time & was running out of food....people were not happy. We managed to get a ham sandwich each but they were out of soups, chips, etc. Felt sorry for the workers.

Sat morning flight was not our original reservation so we were not able to sit together. Hubby sat next to a young serviceman who apologized for not being cleaned up---he still had sand & desert dirt on his clothes & boots. He had just been rushed out of Iraq via Kuwait & Germany after receiving news that his sister had been shot & killed. The Army did not want him to go home...told him he would not make it there in time for the funeral, so just stay put! His wife evidently went thru the Red Cross to get him home. He was basically in shock & was just learning details during his trip. He found out it was his father who killed his sister!!!
His wife was there to pick him up & they were such a cute loving young couple. He was on his 3rd tour of duty there & even though he had been married over 3 years, they have spent less that 6 months together. They have a daughter who was having her birthday the next day too. His little girl knew him from pictures & a short visit or 2. They were getting a big box for him to fit into & putting a bow on it for her to open. Her big surprise was Daddy was home for her birthday! This young may told some heart wrenching stores about life & events over there & was not looking forward to going back. He said they will just keep sending him until he gets killed. He really want to get out of the service before that happens. This young man really put it all in perspective for us & made us really appreciate all we have & our freedoms at home. One of our son-in-laws just retired from the Navy after more than 20 years. My grandson just completed basic training in the Great Lakes....for us the cycle continues.....

 

Very nice TR, Sybgal. Sounds like you were doing real well up until you departed Vegas. I can relate to your problems getting home, that's happened to me a few times also. It's pretty frustrating but after hearing the story from the young serviceman I'm sure your frustrations faded quickly and you realized it could be so much worse. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for the great trip report...they always make me seem like I'm "there"! Sounds like the hubby is quite the poker player...congrats to him! Thanks for those restaurant reviews, too...I'm looking forward to giving the Rio buffet a shot next time around...and probably Ellis Island, too.

I always try and shake the hand of our service men and women when I see them. I really appreciate all they do for us.

 

Hey, great TR, sounds like it was a great time.

2 Questions - Where is the Burger Brassiere? and How do you get a Bill's funbook? .......do you need to be a hotel guest or a new card member?

We are downtown people, but are going to spend a couple of days on the strip this year. Looking for any good deals on food, so we have more money to play with.

We will be eating at the Rio Seafood buffet, this year. Is there a good time to avoid the line? any coupons?

Thanks for giving me a TR fix until we can go!!

 

Great report and thanks for sharing!

 

Burger Brasserie is in the walkway between Paris and Bally's, right near Bally's (where Ortanique used to be).

I have been a Harrah's card holder for years, but got the fun book when I signed up at Bill's - AND at Imperial Palace.

 

Thanks for the info, we will be staying at Paris for 2 nights this time and will definitely get the funbook. Any other good coupons let me know. Food for us is just to soak up some of the alcohol for the day, so we like to keep it cheap. But we will be doing a good seafood buffet at some time, this year.

Thanks

 

Nice Tr. It's always nice to go with people who you can have fun with. You husband sounds like a real poker pro; will we be seeing him on tv soon? You know it's always a good trip when you have fun and come back with most of the money you left with.

 

thanks for the great TR!!...

 

paig...
Although we didn't hear about it until we were already in the Rio buffet....besides the $5 off per person on the reg buffet in the Bill's coupon book....one of the local magazines that you find everyhwere (sorry, not sure of the name - maybe someone else can post it) has a coupon you can present when you enter that is for a Free steak as part of the buffy. Must say the ones I saw look pretty good. Good luck & have a great time!

 

thanks for the tip

 

After my many attempts at reading your TR, I have finally finished it!

Great TR, and I wish your grandson the best of luck!