The 3-day highlight reel

A friend of mine brought her barely (last Saturday) 21 year old daughter for her "I'm legal" birthday present and I was thrilled to be able to show them the 3 day highlight reel. We managed to hit enough things on her list so she's happy, and we missed enough so that she must come back, especially now she knows how much fun Vegas is! And her mom had a lot to see too, since she hadn't been here since the 80's.

They arrived on Monday just in front of 1pm. I had planned on getting them checked into Flamingo at the airport but found that is no longer possible. No biggie. I was concerned about the lines but had forgotten there was a special Diamond/Platinum line to use.

I drove them up the Strip and they were taking pictures right and left, marvelling that they were really here and how cool is all this. Got checked into Flamingo and got a room on the 21st floor with a really nice Strip view, although it was Caesars and north, no Bellagio fountains (the front tower of the hotel blocked the south view). The room was fine, basic and clean, and not a huge hike from the elevators so it all worked out really well.

Once they dropped their baggage in the room, I sliced up limes and we cracked the bottle of Cabo Wabo and each downed a shot in honor of the trip. Good stuff. Then they decided they were pretty hungry so we walked up to Venetian to the Grand Lux cafe.

I introduced my friend to my favorite drink there, one I haven't found anywhere else. It's called a cosmojito and it's a perfect blend of mojito and cosmopolitan. She loved it. We had two each, and that combined with the tequila shot was bringing on a pleasant buzz. The birthday girl had a strawberry daquiri, and I snagged her a free 2nd one when the waiter screwed up her lunch order and she said she'd take it as he brought it.

After lunch we stopped to drop a few dollars into machines at Venetian. Steph, the birthday girl, decided she wanted to buy a shot glass as a souvenir at each casino she gambled at. Knowing what was going to go down the next 3 days, I suggested she might consider a dollar checque from each place instead. It'd be a). much cheaper and b). way easier to pack to take home. They thought I was brilliant. I love when that happens.

We decided to tour some casinos in the center Strip area with no specific goal in mind that day. I was hoping to end the day at Carnaval Court. I had warned them about the porn slappers - not that they'd be shocked but how to avoid them if they didn't want them. We passed a few of the slappers and then one of them took a handful out of curiosity. They decided that one of Steph's guy friends should be given a deck of cards made out of different porn cards. So everytime we passed one the next 3 days, we all stuck out our hands getting as many as we could so we could fill the deck of cards with 52 different ones. We decided that the aces would be called the "ass" of (hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds), the two's in the deck would all feature girl on girl, and the queens would be the ones who looked most like guys. I hope they're on the plane home picking out the ass of diamonds and the two of clubs right now.

We went to Bill's and saw Big Elvis, then went across to Bellagio. It was too windy in the afternoon for the fountains but they were able to run in the evening and they loved them! Then we went through Paris, which they were remarking looked quite a bit like the real Paris, which they have been to. They also enjoyed Caesars.

Since they were on a tight budget (and I am too), we went for cheap food. I took them to Ellis Island for the first night and they loved the value. We each had the steak special, with root beer. Around 9pm they were both showing signs of fatigue and I knew they were still on Eastern time. I had expected it, despite them trying to tell me they'd be good to stay up til all hours. I got them back to Flamingo and went home, and geared up for a long next couple of days.

 

Very cool! Sounds like you got them off to a good start. Ass of diamonds...hehe...love it! Can't wait to read the rest.

I gotta try a cosmojito!

 

We had a list of things to do on day 2, and that which didn't get done would be done on day 3. Only one thing never really did get done, so they're just going to have to come back. I'm not sure the rides at The STRAT were running all the time anyway, due to pretty high wind. That was the one thing Steph really wanted to do that we missed.

I was hoping to go to the buffet at Paris for breakfast but the line was crazy and we wanted to get going with our day. So I told them that in my opinion the best part of the buffet was the crepes, and those are sold right across the hallway anyway. So we ate at La Creperie. Steph had the Favorites (different berries), Tammy had the Bananas Foster (ostensibly to have the banana because she'd had a bad charley horse in her leg in the night, but I know it was really for the rum) and I had the Crepe Suzette. We all thought our own was the very best, which is great because then we don't have to share!

After breakfast, we retrieved the Kikkymobile and drove out to Boulder Dam. No, we didn't take the Dam Tour, but we did take a Dam lot of pictures. Steph is taking a photography class in college and was really into trying different angles, exposures, etc. She actually paid to go up in the Reclamation observation deck. Her mom & I said we'd save the $8 and just browse in the gift shop. I saw a pair of earrings I liked in there, but knew that if anyone said "I like your earrings, where did you get them?" that I'd never be able to answer "Hoover Dam" with my head held high, so I passed. We also wondered why someone would visit Hoover dam and take home a stuffed animal as a souvenir. It's got to be a kid thing. I know when I was 8 my grandparents took me to Canada and my souvenir was a Mexican hat. Go figure.

Side note on the dam: they are building a bridge to allow traffic to bypass driving over the dam itself. That Dam thing scares the crap out of me. The dam itself is like 700 feet above the river I think? The bridge is about 700 feet above the dam. DAMN! If I ever go across that, it's going to be with my eyes shut so I guess I'd better not be driving.

Anyway, after the Dam, we started talking about lunch. We stopped at my apartment to go through the phone book looking for a Mongolian Grill. Didn't find one, at least not one that was named "Mongolian Grill". I had a couple ideas, and came across a 3rd when we drove by the Las Vegas Culinary Arts building just off 215.

We went there to see about getting the culinary student's lunch special that Westie has described, only to discover that we needed a reservation, and they are currently booked up full until next Wednesday. Oh well. Plan B.

We headed Downtown where we had lunch at 777 Brewpub. I ordered fish & chips and one of their seasonal beers - a Black Cherry Stout. It was really very good! Steph ordered nachos and High Roller Gold. Tammy ordered fish & chips as well, and her beer was the Red Ale. We all were very full and happy.

We played a little at MSS after that, with Steph trying her hand at blackjack for the 1st time on a live table and winning $45. I won $65 myself. Then we walked over to the Cal, and to Binions, and did a little souvenir shopping for the folks back east.

On the way back to the Strip, we stopped at Palms so they could see that. Sitting at the bar at Gardunos to have a margarita, we were playing video poker and there was a guy wearing a cowboy hat and talking on the phone who was passing himself off as Bret Michaels. The bartender said it wasn't really him - just a guy in a cover band. But this guy was hitting on my friend big time! It was pretty funny to watch, especially since she was telling her other daughters at home what was happening.

We ate at Gardunos, just appetizers because I wanted to have something in me for the drinks tonight to land on. And I had something in mind to make the evening memorable in a good way.

Tuesday night was our night to go to Voodoo Lounge. We went back to Flamingo to freshen up and change into our going-out duds. When we were ready, I had Steph convinced we were taking a taxi since I didn't want to drive. She dutifully went to go into the taxi line (which no one was in) and I said "wait". That confused her. I quietly asked the doorman if he had a limo available and how much for the ride. He said $48 and he could get one within 15 minutes. Sold. I tipped him, and he became our best friend. Once it was confirmed, Steph squealed with joy. She'd never been in a limo! Neither had her mom! And for all intents and purposes, Main Street station paid for the ride since I had won that $65 there earlier in the day.

The bellman brought Steph a long-stemmed rose for her birthday, and took our picture when our red stretch limo arrived. Woohoo!!! It was a short trip, but they will remember it. They took pictures, drank the water, played with the buttons. They had fun. And I had a blast watching them.

So we arrived at Rio in style, and stepped in, walked through that crazy-ass revolving door and walked over to the Masquerade party area. We weren't seated there for more than 10 minutes when the lights started swirling around, indicating a parade in the sky starting soon. We went to the upper deck so we could catch some beads. It was pretty quiet there that evening so we got quite a few. I got 3, I think Tammy got 4 or 5. Steph got a neck full.

Then it was Voodoo time. We already had free passes from the monorail booklet, but the players club desk had given us slightly better ones (good until 11pm instead of 10:30). It was a little after 10 when we headed up the elevator, finding quite a bunch of people going up... and quite a few coming down too.

We entered the club and noticed the band I love was playing but no one was dancing. Huh no one's dancing on the patio either. There were four people dancing on the lower level... one couple doing a jitterbug type dance and another couple contorting themselves around a pole (looked like fun actually but they were really hogging it). We stopped at the lower level bar where I asked Elton the bartender what his specialty was. He did a mini striptease for me. Much better than I was anticipating! Then I ordered a Love Spell drink. Steph went for a sour apple martini, and Tammy had Mojo Juice, which is Voodoo's mojito. Hers was the best, although all were good. Drink prices were about $12-14. Not cheap but not as pricey as I remembered.

We went back outside to breathe in the view and look for people to dance or converse with. Lots of guys. Tons and tons of guys actually. And not one of them is paying the least attention to the 3 of us, and we were looking pretty fair if I may say so.

Gay convention at Voodoo that night. Normally that would have been fine, since anyone I know who's gay or has a gay friend LOVES to dance. But these men were just talking to the other guys. Nevertheless, we were determined to make our own fun. We actually found seats that were not reserved for bottle service - first time I've ever legally sat down at Voodoo - and got a couple more drinks and parked ourselves for a bit. The band went on break and I asked one of them about playing a particular song, and told them about Steph's 21st birthday.

While they were on break, we sat, and chatted, and drank... and I was afraid this wasn't going to turn out to be as much fun as I'd hoped. After the band returned, all 3 of us were dancing in our seats so I just stood up and they joined me, and the three of us started the dancing. Yay us! Pretty soon I saw a man dancing by himself behind a pole, and dragged him out to join us. It didn't take long before we had guys around us dancing with us. And other people up and dancing. The band called Steph to the stage and she got to shake what her mama gave her with the lead singer. It was awesome! We also met 3 nice British chaps and got to dance with them.

It seemed too early when the band said good night and the bar announced last call at 1am. The east coast girls had done real good that night. And we had a blast. We actually got pictures taken by a website called minglenow.com and I'll post those pics when I get pictures up later.

I dropped the girls off at Flamingo, where they actually stayed up for a bit gambling. I drove home, and the last ten things I said that night were all the same sentence:"I'm so tired!" But it was a good tired, and a happy tired, although I was pretty sore the next day (and still am). I Voodoo'd and I can't get up!

 

On the last full day in Vegas, they had a list of things they wanted to do and see. And I told them no way in hell are we going to be able to do all of that. We are doing the 3 day highlight reel.

Wednesday morning, the girls spent about an hour and a half at the pool (while I still slept at home in my bed). Around 11, I joined them and we headed out. There was still so much to see!

First we stopped at Paris where they went up in the Eiffel Tower. I didn't go up, since I've been before and the coupon we had was buy one get one free. I'd rather not pay full price for something I've done before. They've been up in the real Eiffel Tower, but of course the view from this one is just a tad bit different. They got some good pictures.

Then we purchased the great big Eiffel Tower drinks. I got pina colada, Steph got Strawberry daiquiri and Tammy chose the margarita. Pretty fine bargain for $12.95 I say!! We stopped at Burger Brasserie for some food, since the drinks were already going to our heads. The food there was huge and pretty good. I'd eat there again. Our waitress was really sweet too.

We took the monorail down to MGM Grand, eliciting stares and questions about our massive drinks. Heh. They were all just jealous. At MGM we watched the lioness play with a really beat up ball for a while, then walked across to New York New York. In every casino we went to, Steph had to play some money in a machine and get a dollar chip for her collection. After her success at blackjack downtown, she mostly played the blackjack game found on the video poker machines. She was doing pretty well too!

We took the free tram from Excalibur to Mandalay. That what was once Island Lounge is now called Eyecandy and it's open. Very modern looking. It looks kind of like Mix on the ground level. Same feeling anyway - not in the least tropical.

I did take them up to Mix for a drink ($18 for one of their specialty cocktails but we all agreed we were willing to pay some "rent" to take in the view). And I told them they had to go to the bathroom, whether or not they had to go. I had told them they wouldn't believe the restrooms. They came back all giggles. I told them I couldn't possibly have described it to them - they just had to see it for themselves.

We walked back to Luxor, and then to Excalibur. It was there that Steph became a genuine gambler. She put $5 in the machine and pulled out $43. Then put in $5 and pulled out $45. Then put in $5 and worked it up to $50. And pulled out... nothing. Then her hand went up to put in one of the $40+ dollar ones and I told her "you do Not want to do that". She was already regretting not pulling out that 50. I told her to be happy with the 88... don't lose that and feel worse. I give very good advice, but don't take it so well myself. Sigh. I'm so glad she listened to me. My friend has raised a good kid.

We continued north, as we still hadn't been to Mirage and TI. They wanted to see the pirate show, but we'd have had to wait for an hour, and no one wanted to do that, so they took pictures of the ships. So we toured those places, and hit a few more mostly to get Steph her coins as she'd been there prior to starting the collection. They also wanted to do more souvenir shopping so we headed back to Fremont Street to do that, have dinner and take in the light show.

We drove by Fremont Street as the show was going on so they got a very quick 3 second preview of that. We parked at Binion's and had supper at the coffeeshop. I had the $4.99 spaghetti, Tammy went for the inexpensive prime rib and Steph had french dip sandwich. She didn't really like that sandwich. It seemed a little dry, even with the au jus. My spaghetti was ok. Way too much food. It looked like I hadn't had any of it when they took it away. Tammy liked her prime rib.

After we caught the 11pm light show and they finished their souvenir shopping we sat down at a $5 double deck blackjack game at the Cal and proceeded to get beaten senseless by two different dealers. We had never seen dealers get so many 20's in a row. So Steph learned that lesson too... she may be pretty decent at blackjack, but it's all about the run of cards. I hate learning that lesson, but it has to be done.

I got them back to the Flamingo around 1am, and said "see ya in 6 hours".

 

Today my phone buzzed at 7am, about 15 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. It was Tammy saying their flight was actually at 12:50, not 11:50. "So I can go back to sleep?" I asked. She said yep.

Around 9, I left to go pick them up. One place Steph had wanted to hit was the Hard Rock, which couldn't be more convenient to the airport. So we went there for breakfast. I had them sign up at the players club, and found they've organized it in a new way, and I needed a new card. They now have different levels of clubs, similar to Harrahs, but with more levels. General Admission is the entry level, then Front Row, VIP, Backstage, All Access. We all got to draw an envelope to get some slot dollars too. They each got $3. I got $5. I found I had $15 in comps to go towards breakfast as well as $14 in cash back. I like free money!

We ate at Mr. Lucky's. It was fine. I had the cinnamon roll french toast and it was scrumptious! A little sweeter than I usually like breakfast but it'd make a helluva dessert! We played a little after eating, then I had to take them to the airport. I'm sure they'll be back. Tammy is so happy to have two more daughters she gets to bring out when they turn 21!!

 

Pics

First pic is of that by-pass bridge they're building at Hoover Dam. Looks like a really bad place to pull a Dukes of Hazzard.



The rest of the pics are from Voodoo.

 

Love it! Great report, Kikky! Send some of your mojo my way so I can make sure my girls have just as great a time as yours did.

 

hey, i could not tell which of the three of you was the birthday child!

 

To many comments to list

Very nice TR and once again I'm gonna say that you would make an excellent tour guide.

Thanks Becky!

 

Becky,
I may have been boating near Hoover Dam at the same time your were there. If I was, a belated hello from the Black Canyon.

 

Andy, I did see a couple sailboats and the paddlewheel tour boat on the lake side of the dam, and a few rafts down in the canyon. Which side were you on?

 

Damn Kikky, I gotta have you take me out next time. You guys seemed to have had such a blast, and as I was reading, felt like I was there with you guys.

Thanks for the great job on the TR! Awesome pics btw!!! I expect to see some pole dancing from you when I'm there!

 

awesome

Another great report Kikky. Sounds like you had a blast.

 

Becky...one of the best TR's I've read in a long time...sounds like 2 more VEGAS addicts were born...lol

 

From the looks of the pics you girls had a blast. The red limo was a very nice touch. Maybe you could have a second career as tour/party guide for Vegas newbies.

 

We were on the lake side, but in a 22-foot power boat. That probably wasn't us.

 

Excellent job!

 

I told you that Paris breakfast buffet line is as bad as waiting in line for a roller coaster ride.

How does it feel to not have to get on a plane to go home after the party is over?

 

Sweet! I love British boys

 

Well Done Becky You really showed the Vegas Virgin a good time. Thanks for the pics, I love to see all the fun