The December Do Over Trip

December “Do Overâ€

December 6-10th @ Planet Hollywood

The Players – Hubby GG

Myself


Saturday, December 5th – Although we don’t leave for Vegas until the 6th, to us the vacation has officially begun. Our flight to Vegas is an afternoon flight, but rather than chance starting the trip driving to Buffalo in a snowstorm (December is central Ontario can be a wild ride), we’d decided to spend the night in Buffalo and do a bit of Christmas shopping. A hectic morning of packing and we are off to Buffalo with a stop at the puppy-sitter’s along the way. Got the B-boy all settled at the sitters (we are so lucky we have such a great puppy-sitter…..the minute we pull into the drive, Buster is out of the car like a shot and standing at the front door all excited to see her). We shuffled (oh ok drove) off the Buffalo. Checked in at the hotel and decided to have a late lunch/early dinner before shopping. We were really glad we decided to try the restaurant next door to the hotel, Max’s American Grill………it was EXCELLENT! I know where we’ll be eating the next time we fly out of Buffalo late January to Aruba. We headed to the Galleria Mall and split up for 2.5 hours of Christmas Shopping. We entered the mall through Macy’s so yeah, I spent quite a bit of time there…..didn’t score much in the way of Christmas gifts, but I did get a couple of really great dresses and shoes, oh how I love shoes. I then walked the mall, shopping here and there and managed to cross a couple of people of my Christmas list. When it was time to meet GG, I was hobbling……guess my choice of footwear wasn’t the best and I’d be sporting some nice new blisters for Vegas. Stopped at Walgreens for blister band-aids (whoever invented these things is a God), back to the hotel to chill and get a good night’s rest (something that will be in short supply in Vegas).





Sunday, December 6th – I had a pretty restless night….just never seem to sleep well the night before a trip. It was nice not having to be up at the crack of pre-dawn…normally our Vegas flights out of Buffalo leave in the wee hours. We headed over to Denny’s next to the hotel for breakfast. In Ontario, there isn’t a Denny’s on every corner…. I think the only time I’ve eaten at one was in Niagara and years ago in Vegas. Holy huge portions – GG & I should have split a meal, no way could I eat my way through a huge bacon avocado breakfast burrito and GG had no hope of making it through whatever grand slam thingy he ordered, but it was tasty and we had fun trying. There was a family sitting across from us with two young boys. The eldest of the two boys (around 3 yrs old) liked to talk to his food. “Hello Mr. Toastâ€â€¦..if he said it once, he literally said it 50 times before we left. I found this hugely amusing, my eldest step-daughter is distracted by anything at meal time, a piece of lint can keep her occupied until her food is ice cold, so being on vacation and not dealing with it myself….seemed funny to me. I told GG, “Hello Mr. Toast†would be my “catch phrase†for the trip and I’d work it in come hell or high water. After breakfast we grabbed our bags and the shuttle to the airport from the hotel where we were leaving our car. I bought a cute brown straw cowboy style beach hat in the airport for $10 and came close to causing an international incident. There was no price-tag on the hat, so I took it to the checkout when I asked the price and the gal said $10….I said I’d take it and the guy behind me in line started complaining that he’d been looking at it for his wife but thought it would be more expensive so put it back. Too bad, so sad, snooze you lose. His wife should buy some really pointy cowboy boots to kick his sorry a$$ for being so cheap. Plane from Buffalo left on schedule in spite of the usual parade of idiots attempting to stuff obviously over-size bags into the overhead and near decapitating the poor helpless passengers seated beneath the bin they’ve chosen. Downsize or pay the $20 for the love of God I beseech you!! We had less than an hour between our Buffalo flight and our Detroit connecting flight to Vegas but on arrival noted that our connecting flight was running ½ hour late, so no need to make the mad dash through the airport. Got a coffee, read a bit and we were soon boarding. An even bigger parade of idiots was trying to stuff huge bags into the overheads on this leg……don’t they check carry-ons for size any more?!. I’m pretty sure a couple of those bags held Jimmy Hoffa, the Olsen twins and last year’s Christmas tree. The guy behind me got really annoyed with the young gal who, despite the laws of physics, was determined she would somehow stuff her biga$$ full-size suitcase into the bin and was moving everyone’s personal belongings in an attempt to do so paying no attention to the many barely muffled “gate check the GD thing†comments all around her. She finally conceded as the line behind her started to resemble an angry mob! We left an additional 20 minutes late (I hold both that gal and that beotch Dorothy personally responsible….. I think Spiny Norma’s onto something - that beotch Dorothy messes with air travel).


It was smooth sailing to Vegas and we made up about 15 minutes.





We had Presidential booked to pick us up at the airport……the intent was (besides avoiding the long-haul aggravation that has become the norm lately) to finally make it to the Welcome to Vegas sign. With an hour booked, the hour was almost “gone†with our delayed arrival and the wait for the bags at the “rotating carouselsâ€â€¦â€¦â€¦.the posted carousel was not the one that our bags eventually arrived at. Our driver Julie (wonderful woman, she was awesome) was at the original carousel to meet us…..GG & I scrapped the Welcome to Fabulous Vegas sign stop in favour of just getting onto Planet Hollywood and on with our holiday (there’s another thing back on the bucket list still left undone and who needs an excuse to return to Vegas soon?).





Julie had the champagne chilled, took a photo of GG & I and off we went. Yes, we managed to drink the bottle of champagne on the short drive to Planet Hollywood….a couple of troopers we are!











I couldn’t believe how long the check in line was at P Ho, especially in light of the hour, by now it was after 6:00 p.m………I also could not believe how quickly the line moved, within 10 minutes I was checked in…….great job P Ho front desk staff! The gal that checked me in was just lovely, smiling, pleasant……I asked for a Bellagio fountain view room and was offered a one-bedroom suite on the 15th floor, right over the fountains, but in an un-reno’d Aladdin style suite. I was hesitant as I’ve read some reviews about the old style rooms at P Ho so I looked around for GG to ask his opinion, but he’d wandered (what are the odds?). The gal informed me that the suites were well kept up with the big difference being old style televisions, no plasma or LCD. I couldn’t care less about the tv…..I doubt I’ve watched more than 10 minutes of tv in Vegas at any given time (with the exception of Dec ’99 trip which was mostly spent ill in bed), but wasn’t sure what I should do (GG is techie and loves his amenities), so when the gal said she had a room on the 23rd floor, full on fountain-view, I said, sold. I offered a tip (we didn’t have a fountain-view room booked), but she said they aren’t permitted to accept tips. I should have sandwiched the tip to begin with. I was given a voucher to take to the gift shop next to registration to select a bottle from a menu. GG appeared and we went in to make our selection, since they didn’t have his JD on the menu, we decided on a bottle of champagne to have a toast while watching the fountains. Normally we arrive in Vegas well before noon and the tradition has become dropping the bags and having our first drink at the bar while playing VP…..this seemed like a great new tradition for our first trip as a couple alone….we’ve always gone to Vegas together with another couple (& remember that couple once included K& her sainted departed hubby on the first of the never again trips…..the second without GG and just K & my gal pals sealed the deal). We dropped our bags; GG popped the cork, gave the housekeeper a head-start on any planned window cleaning by giving it a spray of champagne and was pouring as the first of many fountain-shows we’d enjoy began. We watched 3 while finishing the bottle of champagne…..yep 2 bottles of champagne down.





A quick freshening up and clothing change and down to the Casino we went……each of us careful to ensure we had our room key as we planned to stick around P Ho tonight. My mission, find those Sex and the City machines…..well there they were, about as handy to the elevator as you could get ….lovely and pink and sadly, occupied. That’s ok….. P Ho also has another machine that isn’t in many Casinos anymore that I’ve always enjoyed….. Elvis. R (my gal pal) & I had a blast on them on the September trip. GG deposited me there and went off to VP (weird for me not to play VP first…..it’s true….slots become addictive once you get a taste of them). I put a $20 in that Elvis machine and was still playing several hours later when GG came to check on me. He took the machine next to me and he quickly blew through $80; I had been up to $200 and change on my 20 at the Elvis machine at one point and was just over $150 when the machine ate his money, so we decided to see if the SATC machines were free yet. I’d been talking about them ever since I heard about them and was so excited to give them a whirl. Both were free at that point, GG was having no part of sitting at a big pink slot machine, but was happy to sit with me. $20 in and I literally played that machine into the wee hours of the morning; GG sat with me watching intermittently with breaks to go off & gamble….still not willing to play a big pink slot machine. I had oodles of bonuses but never the Mr. Big bonus, but had the machine hovering between $200 to a high of $350 and down to a low of $50 before back up to $300 plus all night. Definitely the most fun I’ve had on $20 and the CW came around……a lot. The third or fourth time I got it back over $300, GG suggested I quit but I told him I didn’t care if I blew it back (I’m no quitter), I was having a blast and in the end, I would only lose $20. Apparently he has control of all his appendages and had no urge to cash me out. Well, in the end I did indeed give it all back, but kept my $20.





By now somewhere around 4:00 a.m. and we hadn’t eaten a thing since we arrived, so we headed to the Dailies where I had Nachos (huge order and really good….they rivaled Margarittaville’s in my drunken mind…will definitely have to reserve judgment on that though until I’ve had them sober and not so hungry that a table leg with salsa would be a gourmet delight)…..I have no idea what GG had, but he likes the Dailies so it must have been good. I threw the $20 SATC didn’t eat in DDB VP and……there it was – gone!. I thought I’d ended the first day in Vegas down $20, but later realized I’d left the Elvis machine up, so I actually ended the first day up a wee bit. We were giggly and drunk to be sure. I laughed the next day when GG commented that perhaps the drink service had been a tad slow (it sure wasn’t at the SATC machine), we couldn’t have drank any more than we did and still be able to support the weight of our heads without drooling on ourselves. Here’s the rub…….usually GG remembers our room number the day of check-in and when he’s with me, apparently I make no attempt, up to the 23rd floor and down the hall and we can’t quite remember which room is ours. We called from the phone by the elevator and of course dumb drunk a$$es that we are, they are not going to tell us where our room is, so down with ID and back up armed with the room number, which incidentally is the room right beside the suite at the end of the hall on the 23rd floor. You’d think I would have noticed that?! Love the sight of the strip in the wee hours……left the curtains open to enjoy the view from bed….off to drunken sleepy land somewhere around 5:30 a.m.





Monday, December 7th ………..up at the crack of 8:00 a.m. and I’m wide awake. GG is awake as well, just not as wide. I offered to make the coffee run, hit the shower and sadly made a very unfortunate wardrobe choice that lasted into the evening due to time constraints. I headed down to <gag> Starbucks to bring coffee to my sleepy Giant. He was up and in the shower and surprisingly (Dear Lord, is it possible we were still drunk or just in desperate need of caffeine) the coffee was actually palatable almost to the point of seeming, dare I say it – good….not in a Tim Horton’s way, but in a I don’t want to spit it out and scrape my tongue way. GG commented on my attire so I told him today was “dress as the decade you were born in†day……I didn’t intend to hypnotize anyone at the meet and certainly didn’t intend to wear that get-up to Jersey Boys, but sh!t happens in Vegas. Did a quick unpack……..there is no closet or drawer space at P Ho, teeny closet and two drawers…..hubby let me use it all and he lived out of the case. We had decided to take a chance on getting Jersey Boys tickets from Tix4Tonight, so we headed off with our caffeine delight to hit the Tix4Tonight at Bill’s. What a fiasco set-up that one is……I’ve never used Tix4Tonight before so don’t know if they are all the same, but at Bill’s, you go just inside the door……check the board for what you want and view the discount, then go outside to the non-existent queue and hope someone remembers people are actually queuing up out there (they don’t). There was an older couple standing out there and we got in behind them…..now I knew people were milling about inside, but we were told you had to queue up outside. No one came and the lady in the line ahead of us said they’d been waiting a while, so GG went in to ask if we were waiting in the correct spot. Oh, it seems they’d forgotten the bit about actually bringing the people waiting outside who want to purchase tickets inside in favour of the tire-kickers inside who may never buy a ticket. GG saved us and they allowed him to bring us in. We did get a 35% discount on the tickets, so I guess it was worth the head-scratching at the organizational skills of the set-up. The gal advised the earlier we got to the Box Office with the voucher, the better the seat assignment, so we decided to head there first before our strip exploration to get our assigned seats. GG & I are normally in Vegas May or September (sometimes August because I still like celebrating my birthday in Vegas) and every time we’ve been together, it has been very hot (especially August….think hell just before they stoke the fire) and he isn’t a big fan of strip walking in the heat; he was loving this day…….the sun was out, it was akin to a late fall morning and he was up for walking about and had pretty much decided at this point that if this is winter in Vegas, we’re retiring here…..I reminded him about May-September (who says Dorothy gets to be the only beotch in Vegas to rain on a parade). We went to Palazzo, got our tickets….we actually got pretty good tickets, center loge, first row center stage. I spotted a WOF and it being another addiction that I hadn’t tried yet, put $20 in, hit $100 on the first spin and………no way, cashed out once I ate through the original bet. GG ran his $20 through, nada.



Did a bit of strip walking popping in here and there and playing, but I just couldn’t unload that $20……GG donated to keeping the lights on though. We left the Wynn and it was starting to rain, but we managed to “skeeddaddle†(I’m not 80 just practicing “saying†that word so I’ll be good at it when I am) over to the Palazzo without getting too waterlogged and went to the Grand Lux for the traditional Asian Nachos……I’ve got a whole Nachos of the world theme going on here. We left P and headed to the Venetian to play. I played Elvis and finally lost the $20 (but I’d made $100 earlier on WOF), so still up. I decided to give that beotch Dorothy a whirl as she is directly across from Elvis, first spin BONUS for $137.00, played a while longer…..I really like that 3-D random bonus thingy that turns points on the wheel wild…..finished up somewhere around $200 for the day. It was time to head back to P Ho to change before heading to the meet…...well now it’s pouring, and not the good “it’s raining men kindâ€. We decided to wait it out for a bit, but it never let up in time to head back to shower & change. My apologies to those at the meet that may have had difficulty focusing due to my attire or anyone with ADD that had to double up on their meds. It was pouring when we headed to the Flamingo for the meet and we arrived even more water-logged. I haven’t set foot in the Flamingo since they closed The Beef Baron Restaurant…..but the Garden Bar is a great meet location, lots of room and easy to carry on a conversation. I looked around and spotted Vegas Sun right away……she is even more gorgeous in person! We had such a great time at the meet that I never did get the chance to change or fix my rainy day head before Jersey Boys…..we were just having too much fun to cut it short. Vegas Sun and the Derminator (that’s Mr. Vegas Sun – I love that name) are such a fun couple and just so sweet…..we sure do hope we get the chance to meet up with you again soon!!!! Wish we could have gotten together again before you left. Thank you for the generous coupon for Maggianos (more on that later). We didn’t really get a chance to talk to Tobydog as he was at the other end of the table, but he was the only one who thought to capture the event for prosperity (and I’m poaching that photo). Kydds was a late arrival at the meet but worth the wait…..no doubt in my mind he’d be a blast to get out on the town in Vegas! Mr. & Mrs Vegas Sun, GG & I planned to share a cab to Palazzo…..well good luck with that…..there isn’t a cab to be had when it rains in Vegas and we had little time to wait because of Jersey Boys…..so we decided to “hoof†it (aka skeedaddle) to Palazzo in the rain, cutting through anywhere dry we could find along the way. (In the 27 years I’ve been going to Vegas, this was the first time I’ve been in town in the rain). We parted ways and headed to Jersey Boys. We took our seats; I removed and wrung out my hose (not really, but what a crazy visual that is!)….I was just two more drinks away from actually doing it. What a fantastic show; it would have definitely been worth the money at full-price and certainly worth the extra we paid above that to see Ka Ka a couple of trips ago (which to me was a sure-fired cure for insomnia). After the show we went back to P Ho so I could finally shower and change…..by the time I got out of the shower, GG was down for the count. I whispered “do you want to sleep for a bitâ€â€¦â€¦â€yesâ€â€¦â€¦.â€how long?â€â€¦..â€give me an hourâ€, so I went down to the Casino for an hour (and a bit, it’s easy to get distracted in Vegas)……back up to check on GG…..â€you sure you want to get up?â€â€¦â€¦.â€yepâ€â€¦â€¦.â€when?â€â€¦..â€an hourâ€, back down to the Casino for an hour and up to check on GG……, different tactic, “do you just want to sleep, it’s okâ€â€¦â€¦â€yepâ€â€¦â€¦â€ok I’m going downstairs, call me if you need anything or get upâ€â€¦â€¦ “ok, thanks for letting me sleepâ€. I played mostly DDB and a bit of blackjack, was up and down like a working gal’s panties before I headed up to meet my better half in the wee hours of the morning. I played all night on $100. I rolled into bed sometime before 4 a.m. and GG was still soundly sleeping; the beds at P Ho are quite comfy!





Tuesday, December 8th


I woke up when I heard GG getting out of the shower around 7:00 (total sleep since arrival for me 5.5 hours); his turn to head down for coffee. I’d invited a couple from an Aruba BB I frequent to the meet the day before as they were also in town (we’d never met) and we were meeting them for breakfast. I got up, GG brought me coffee and he headed to the casino. I showered, got ready and called Vegas Sun (their last day) to see if they could join us….too late, caught them mid-breakfast. We were meeting the couple from the Aruba BB at 9:30……ahhhhhhhh I said to myself, that gives me some time to play SATC….$20 in, $350 out…..this became a theme. SATC is my ATM for the trip. Off to meet the Aruba BB people at the Gold Coast for breakfast. They were staying at The Rio but had never been to GC for the breakfast buffet. They were quite impressed with the quality of the buffet, especially when you consider it is practically free even if you aren’t comped. You just can’t beat the value. As is custom at our first GC buffet, I ordered a bottle of wine with breakfast……..don’t judge……when children go to bed sober night after night, who am I to waste perfectly good wine??!!! The other couple is T (the husband) and B (the wife); they’d never played blackjack and wanted to learn (I still hold a dealer’s license in Ontario although I don’t deal any more but keep it current in the event I decide to when I retire). They were too intimidated to sit at the tables, so we took them to the DDB poker machines with BJ so they could play at the nickel level ($1 bet, 20 x 5 cents). I have to say, these machines can be played at 20 x $1 as well and since they pay 2 to 1 on any win……they have a leg up on an actual table game in some ways, the big downside being you can only double 9-11, I’m a big fan of the ace, little one double against a bust. $20 in each and 3.5 hours later, T had put in another $20 and was down to almost nothing, his wife B was up to around $60, G was up to $150 and I was hovering just over $100 and we’d put a “whack†of points on our players cards.



We’d wanted to play the BJ table at GC that visit (we love playing there since they don’t have the crappy HET rules), but we had to run as we had tickets for Defending the Caveman at 3:00 p.m. While at GC, the CW came by constantly…….GG & I are no lightweights and can hold our own drinking in Vegas, but oh my God……I do not know how T & B were walking, they had at least 3 drinks for every one we had and we sure weren’t feeling any pain. I’m pretty sure I could have taken my own appendix out at that point without benefit of anesthesia. T & B appeared completely sober! That’s stamina (and a couple of livers you couldn’t tenderize enough to serve with fava beans and a nice Chianti to good ‘ole Hannibal). Off to Excalibur for Defending the Caveman, I wasn’t sure about this one but GG had been wanting to see it……..it really is a fun show (for couples to attend together) and the alcohol we had prior to the show probably enhanced the fun factor. I wouldn’t pay full-price, but if you get tix from Goldstar at half-price, honestly it is a lot of fun and there’s a lot of fun to be had in watching couples “elbow†each other at the parts that hit home. Since seeing that show, GG has pointed out to me repeatedly that I am so “detail orientedâ€â€¦that’s getting a little old…..if it doesn’t stop, I may remove his appendix without benefit of alcohol or anesthesia. When we got out of the show; I turned on my cell and there were a couple messages, none of which were coherent, but I was pretty sure someone was either calling me a Dick (well that could have been just about anybody) or they were saying something about being at Dick’s. We noticed Dick’s Last Resort literally as I was listening to the third message and the mystery was solved. The Aruba folks had headed over to Excalibur while we were in the show and they used the time to enjoy a refreshing beverage or five. They were hilarious at this point albeit a little difficult to understand at times. We were starved and food seemed to be just what the Dr ordered for them as well, so we decided to try the buffet at P Ho (we had 4 comps at this point thanks to SATC).



A quick stop in the room to freshen up and change and we met up at the buffet. I can’t say GG & I were overly impressed with the quality of the food, the selection was great, but it fell short in quality; I prefer the Carnival World Buffet at the Rio over Spice Market. The food seemed to sober everyone up slightly and SATC was waiting. Since we’d arrived, they installed new seats….instead of the normal stools, there were now surround-sound special SATC seats…..I’m quite certain they put them there just for my comfort, yep that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. $20 in $350 out…..could never seem to get over $400 before I’d start to play it back so I decided $350 was the magic number. Thank you SATC ATM. I then played a slot that the others were playing, no idea what is was called but I hit it for $100 on my first spin. We decided to do a strip walk. We stopped first at Bill’s; I played BJ at a table with people who had no clue what they were doing and English wasn’t a first language…..I couldn’t get a spot at first or third, but here in the middle whatever dumba$$ moves they made seemed to save my sorry hands….I drew nothing but crap on each and every hand, but somehow left with a $100 profit and GG made a couple of hundred at the table he was playing. Odd thing this trip, we never played at an HET casino…..first time ever. Better make a point of getting some play in at Windsor soon. Next stop was Casino Royale (why do I love this dump so much?). The usual eau de stale beer and desperation was more of a stench du jour…..a combination of rancid grease and stogies. We got our coupons and settled in at DDB VP. B & T soon left (not everyone appreciates the scent of CR I guess, probably off for a quick round of dialysis and it was damn hot there). They were a really fun couple…..I’m just jealous that I’d be in a coma if I drank that much. G & I stayed for our 4OAK……4OAK 3’s for me, no kicker and 4OAK A’s for G, no kicker. Would have liked to have stayed longer, but couple the hot flashes with the actual heat in CR that night and I was just an article of clothing removal away from an indecency charge. Once we hit the cool air outside, we smelled like a french-fried cigar, so we headed back to P Ho to shower & change. A quick run at SATC and I made my $350 withdrawal. Played DDB, lost $200 and decided to call it a night. The rooms at P Ho are small (it’s been a while since we stayed in a regular room in Vegas and we’ve gotten a bit spoiled), but the tub does fit two comfortably <wink>.


......................to be continued

 

can't wait for the rest......

 

excellent read so far I never did find those SATC machines at PHo, in November lol Maybe because I was doing well on Hot Hot Penny and the blinders were on and I didn't see anything else lol

Gotta love those bonus rounds

 

Great start to the TR. I also can't wait for the rest!!

"I played mostly DDB and a bit of blackjack, was up and down like a working gal’s panties before I headed up to meet my better half in the wee hours of the morning."

That was one of the funniest things I've read in a long time evillaugh

 

Nice TR! Interesting to know Jersey Boys is 35% off at the Tix booths. What kinds of seats were they? In the orchestra or balcony?

 

Fun report

Obviously, "Hello, Mr. Toast" should have been said every time you had champagne.

 

Great TR, looking forward to more!!

 

Love it, waiting for more!

 

Great writing style! enjoying it so far!

 

Wednesday, December 9th



Up at the crack of dawn and we realize this is our last full day in Vegas. Panic sets in (for me)….I want to shop in the Miracle Mile shops, get to Macy’s at the Fashion Show, see the Polar Bears now completed at Venetian/Palazzo, go to the Bellagio Conservatory and gamble at an HET property. Looks like it will be a busy day. GG decides he’ll accompany me (love that GG). GG went down to get coffee while I got ready. Breakfast was at the Dailies and GG reminded me about my proposed “catch phraseâ€â€¦..I hadn’t used it yet….even though we’d been toasted a time or two, so told him I’d come up with a creative way to work it in somewhere. After breakfast we headed for the Miracle Mile shops. I did a bit of whining (ok some downright moaning) as we shopped……I had blisters on my blisters at this point, but wasn’t giving up on wearing heels…….I punish myself just to be brave. GG threatened to buy me comfy shoes (subliminal ugly-a$$ shoes) at every shoe store we passed. He made the mistake of taking me into a couple and I added two pair of sky-high heels to my collection! Yet more shoes to walk in and moan about on future trips. GG asked about a tattoo I’ve been wanting to get (my second) at a place in Miracle Mile, but a tattoo needs a little more research and shouldn’t be a spur of the moment decision….I know what I want, but would like to know a little something about the place and artist before getting inked. We picked up our Goldstar tickets for Hitzville really early with no problem (they had specified that for this show pick up was an hour before, but we were there hours before). After Miracle Mile we went to Macys to look for jeans….score on the Calvies, then off to the Venetian to see the Polar Bears (my feet are really bitching at this point so I tried not to; GG would have hung me by now if I did). Back to P Ho to change into an equally uncomfortable pair of shoes and checked to make sure the batteries on my camera were fully charged…. then left said camera in the room…..blonde and dumb are completely unrelated, I added dark lowlights to my hair just before we left for Vegas and I didn’t get any smarter. We checked out the Bellagio Conservatory, I love Christmas decorations! I love Christmas!!






Next, we headed over to the GC to play BJ; I sat at third with hubby beside me…..dealer busts and it hits me……this is as good a time as any for my catch phrase so I came out with a verrrry melodic “Hellllooooo Mr. Toastâ€. Now, you’d think that would earn me a few odd looks or at the very least a sideways glance, but hey it’s Vegas and people just seem to go with the flow…a couple of snickers was all I got. Next hand, dealer busts and again, “Hellooooo Mr. Toastâ€, George joined in. Everyone was laughing at this point and being suspicious as we gamblers are, guess what……the next time the dealer busted a few hands later, every person at the table (dealer included) chimed with “Helllooooo Mr. Toast†never knowing why they were saying it. Fun group and of course the alcohol never hurts. I had so much fun with Mr. Toast, I started to sing “playing with the Queen of Heartsâ€, just that line…every time I got one…..sure enough everyone who got one did the same. Really, I wasn’t so much gambling as performing experiments in human behaviour…..the government should sponsor my trips to Vegas in the future. Hubby won a couple of hundred and I came away up a whopping $20 (a couple of unfortunate doubles with no Mr. Toast and splits when I was winning ate up my hard-earned profit). It was time to leave to get ready for Hitzville at Planet Ho. We should have just stayed at GC playing with our fun people and blew off the show……don’t waste your money on this one folks! We were really crammed into this place…….the man to my left apparently purchased half of my seat as well as his own so yeah, I felt almost a little violated at times. If Hitzville were free, it would be worth a watch, but after seeing Human Nature (awesome show), this was a “Gong Show†version and some parts were just so “overdone†as to be laughable.






We had reservations at Maggianos after the show, so grabbed a cab to head there, great cabbie….lots of laughs on the ride. Vegas Sun & her hubby graciously gave us a $50 certificate for Maggianos that they didn’t have an opportunity to use. Thank you so much Dee & the Dermonator; we really enjoyed our evening at Maggianos and wish we could have all gone together!! GG & I had never been before, but will definitely be back. Go hungry folks…….there’s nothing small about the portions. The food and service were excellent! The meal came complete with entertainment in the form of a gal at the table next to us ……it was a nice intimate candlelit setting and it is just so very unfortunate that every single person at her party of eight table of co-workers was apparently deaf, what are the odds?! It must have been very hard on her to have to remember to scream ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING she said all evening for her hearing impaired friends. We know her name, the name of everyone at her table, her kids’ names, when she last got waxed and the specific time and place of her last bowel movement. If you happen to stumble on this TR Gina (damn hope I spelled her name right that’s the one thing she didn’t do was spell her name), I really hope your daughter Ariel’s (yep she spelled that one…I know I have it right, heard a whole litany about how some people spell it Arial and Oreal) isn’t so hostile toward you in the future and that your hubby Irv spends more time at home and quits bitching about how much shopping you do (stay at work or wherever it is you actually are Irv). The rest of her party spoke in normal speaking voices and a couple of times I found myself actually making hand signals to my hubby to “shhhhh†him so I could hear their replies. It was a hoot.



After dinner, we headed to the Venetian. Wow, it was cold, even by our Canadian standards. It seemed to freeze my blisters (or perhaps the wine at dinner took care of that) because my feet quit complaining and I “skeedaddled†so fast I was there and in the door before GG could open it. The Venetian has been my “home base†for a while now and I love it there. On my September trip many of the VP machines I liked, WOF machines, etc had been moved so I was disoriented. They used to have a bank of Double Diamond machines (the ones with the rockets that move up & down), but they’ve been gone for a while. GG & I found one several trips ago and I said I’d like to play it if we could find it…..didn’t he walk right to it! How is it that he can do that but we can’t find our own hotel room!!! GG deposited me there and went off to find a Star Trek machine (using the code). Well this thing was showing me no love (quarter level with the x in the middle, 5-way), but the couple beside me on some machine (also quarter level with the x in the middle 5-way and lots of clowns) were kicking butt and taking names! They were adorable…………oh to be that young again; every win was kisses, cuddles, good job and a celebration, even if the win was a couple of bucks. She’s a board member in the making….every time they popped over another $100 mark, he’d want to leave….she wanted to play off the extra (atta girl). Finally her machine made the mistake of popping over the next $100 level with only 25 cents extra….she wanted to take out a $20 (attagirl), he said no and they were off. They told me they put $20 in and she left with $800.25!! When I arrived she was only at $300 and something. When GG came to find me, I’d fed the machine $100 and didn’t hit anything exciting….the biggest win I’d had was 160 ($40) and I only got that a couple of times. George had played Star Trek the whole time he was away (he’d tried it a few times up to this point but it kept eating the money) and left $140 ahead. I wanted one more run at that beotch Dorothy before leaving. Off we went and once again, in the few times I’ve played WOZ, I hit a bonus on the first spin (14 free spins this time) for $130 something and a “Take It Before I Change My Mind Warningâ€. We played for a bit and I left with $150 something, GG with $60, $20 each well spent.



The December Do Over wasn’t really well planned, it was truly a much needed do over for me after the girl trip in September and all it’s drama so the flights were “uglyâ€. Our flight home was 7:15 a.m. and GG would be driving from Buffalo to our home north of Toronto. He really needed to get some sleep. We headed back to P Ho and I intended to pull an all-nighter, but that tub was inviting…..so we gave it another run for it’s money and I decided to grab a bit of sleep as well (but set my cell alarm so I could have another run at SATC before leaving).



To be continued……………..

 

Nice read! I think it's so cool that you guys downed 2 bottles of champagne before you ever hit the casino and ate nachos at 4 am.

 

And not just any champagne.....that first limo bottle was cheap champagne

 

Paragraphs dear, paragraphs.

 

Still spreading your usual sunshine I see; isn't it time for your meds?!

 

Enjoyed the TR.

J

 

Might be worth a shot. Our government has funded far less worthy causes in the past!

Great TR!

 

Nice report !
Thanks
T - 11....for me
.
So, you were able to get Jersey Boys tickets
at the discount joint ?
Good.....I was hoping I could do that this trip.
Anything I should know ?
I'll be buying them at the 4 Queens Tix4 tonight
for a Monday Jan. 18th show.

 

We had no problems getting JB tickets at Tix4Tonight; there appeared to be lots of empty seats in the theatre the night of the show, so I suspect there would have been no problem getting discount tickets later; that day we went in the morning.

 

Everybody loves Juice Newton.

Loved your report - looking forward to Part II.

 

Enjoyed your TR and the pictures! Thanks for posting!