Sept 17 to 24 Bally's

Sept 17 to 24 Bally's & Four Queens (very low roller, non comped)

Sorry it's so long. Please forgive any imperfections and omissions.

Without getting into it, my life was a country and western song from 2007 to 2011. Hence the 6 year gap between trips. Due to reduced stamina and a recent injury, I tried to take it easy and reduce walking. I wanted to see new stuff and enjoy ourselves. No need to sniff every square inch of the strip like a Jack Russell terrier.

My husband and I took the last 2 weeks of September off work. That would give us time to get ready and rest/relax before leaving and recovery time when we got home. We’re not comp’d and treat Vegas like a resort holiday. We booked Bally’s way back in May and I kept an eye on the prices. A poster on VMB said there was a sale on. I called them and took advantage of their price guarantee and saved a couple hundred dollars on the room. Imperial Palace, Harrah’s and Flamingo had better prices for our dates but I wanted to avoid construction. The airfare was booked in May as well. We went with the cheapest direct flight option of Spirit air out of Detroit. We booked a rental car for the week with Hotwire.

My husband gave me a hand with housework, so we could come home to a clean house. He also helped with packing and general preparations. I had my hair and nails done over the weekend. I used to get acrylic nails but there’s a new option called “gelish”. I went with gelish and it was fantastic. They don’t mess up your nail bed at all. The colour really stays on. The nails are as tough as acrylics. I didn’t baby my nails and they stayed perfect all week.

We were up early Monday and decided to just go ahead and leave. We took our time getting to Sarnia Ontario where we cross into Port Huron Michigan. We stopped in Chesterfield for a snack and some shopping. My husband picks then to tell me he needs swim trunks and sandals. We found swim trunks on clearance at the Old Navy but he’s hard to fit for footwear. We kept going to the airport. We used US Park Detroit on Middlebelt, $50 for the week (with coupon). They were quick and friendly. Security wasn’t horrible. We had plenty of time to eat dinner before boarding. The flight was for 740pm EST arriving in Vegas by 9pm PST.

I’ve heard both bad and good things about Spirit Air. They were cheaper than our other options for those dates by several hundred dollars. Even with a checked bag and a carry on. We’re not snobs. I’ve flown on Allegiant and they’re pretty dang cheap. I figured how bad could it be? For starters, they left late and didn’t seem to care. The guy next to me had to make a connection for Portland. They told him it would be fine but they weren’t specific about what they were doing. The plane smelled worse than a Greyhound bus. I’m 5 feet tall. I couldn’t bend forward enough to grab my purse from off the floor. The flight wasn’t sold out. Some passengers figured they could sit next to their friends. The flight attendants were trying to get them back into their assigned seat. The one guy was arguing with the flight attendant. It got pretty close to the plane going back to the gate. We got out of the gate and then sat on the ground a while waiting for a slot to take off. We hit turbulence right away and the seatbelt sign never came off the whole flight. They only came around for drinks once. I don’t usually notice turbulence much but this was bad. Because we arrived late, we had to wait on the ground for a gate. Well, we know what Spirit is like now.

We got our one checked bag off the carousel and headed to the rental car facility. It’s well organized and big. We booked with Hotwire and ended up with a Hertz vehicle. The guy tried to up sell us a convertible or a muscle car. We’re too cheap for that kind of thing. But, we did take the fuel option. That was nice and about the same as gassing up the car ourselves. We had a 2011 Mazda 3 in a 4 door. No keyless entry. It was fine, cheap on gas.

Check in at Bally’s was quick. I had booked the South tower for the view. Bally’s had sent me emails to get me to upgrade to North tower for $10 a night. I know it’s a nicer room but I wanted the view. At check in she said all she had was North tower with a pool view at no extra charge. Still a bummer. We had room 2168.

After putting our things down in the room we went across the street to Bill’s for their midnight specials. My husband had the steak and eggs. I had the 3 egg special. We had been to Bill’s many times in 2004 when it was Barbary Coast. We had many a cheap beer and marg there. But, we never ate there. We really liked the Victorian Room at Bill’s. On our way back to Bally’s, we checked out the Stage Door. We bought a few beers and coolers there. Despite it being late and us being tired, we didn’t sleep very well or for very long.

Tuesday morning we took our time getting ready for breakfast. We strolled over to Paris and took advantage of a 2/1 coupon for their buffet. It was very good with lots of variety. We decided to try to find sandals for my husband. After getting the car at Bally’s valet we went to the outlets at the south end of the strip. He eventually settled for Crocs brand thongs. Not his first choice for sandals but when you’ve got super wide feet with a high instep you take what fits. On the way back from the outlets my husband spotted the Fry’s and had to stop. They have some interesting general merchandise in there.

We drove around a bit after that. We came across a Lee’s Discount Liquor on our travels. We bought a large bottle of pre mixed pina coladas and a small bottle of Canadian Club. We drove around some more and eventually ended up downtown. My husband wanted to go to the pawn shop featured on “Pawn Stars”. I like the show too but I didn’t care about going in. I found a cool vintage place next door though. It’s called Lost Vegas Antiques. They aren’t open Mondays. The line up at the pawn shop was long. My husband said he’d come back when the vintage place was open and we’d both have something to do. Our last stop was a Food 4 Less for snacks. Nothing serious, just some granola bars, bananas and diet pepsi for the room. I brought a folding cooler with me. We went back to Bally’s to drop off the car and figure out what we wanted for dinner.

I had fallen in love with Ellis Island on my last trip in 2006. I knew he would love it. We walked over and took our spot in line for dinner. We took advantage of some drinks coupons while waiting. While sitting at the bar with our drinks playing some bar top vp, I chatted with an older lady who had retired in Vegas. She was originally from Michigan and very chatty. I don’t know if she was full of crap or not but it was fun hearing her stories. She said she started going to Vegas in the late 1950’s and ended up on the poker circuit in the 60’ and 70’s. She says she remembers the Rat Pack days very well and hinted at having a fling with one of the Rat Pack. She said after retiring in Vegas something happened and she had to go back to work, so she took a job as a manager at a brothel in Reno. They called our number for dinner and she said she had to get home. So we said our goodbyes. I love talking to characters like that.

We had the steak special. My husband is a butcher. He’s fussy about meat. He loved the steak special. He fell in love with Ellis Island in general. He said it reminded him of our beloved Westward Ho. You can’t use the coupon for it but the bill was under $25 even with drinks. We stayed at Ellis Island a while longer, playing bar top vp and letting the bartender liquor us up. It would have been a perfect time/place to keep drinking. But, we just can’t drink like we used to. We headed back to Bally’s and tried to get some sleep.

Wednesday we went to the Palms to pick up our Joe Walsh tickets but the box office wasn’t open yet. The buffet was closed for changeover to lunch. We went to the Gold Coast to have lunch and kill time. By the time we got set up with slot club cards the buffet opened for lunch. I know it’s not a buffet that gets a lot of respect on the boards but we thought it was fine. There was variety and everything was fresh. Good enough for lunch, especially with a 2/1 coupon.

We swung back through the Palms for our tickets and headed back to Bally’s. My husband went to the pawn shop while I went to the pool and spa. I bought the 3 day spa pass. I had a 20% coupon but they said it was only for spa services not for the spa pass. It was still a good enough deal. I bought a pool noodle for $4 and enjoyed the pool. It was quiet. Not a pool party or day club scene. I’m allergic to sunscreen, and I’ve got the sensitive skin of a redhead, but, I’ve never gotten a sun burn in Vegas. I got a little bit burnt on my nose and shoulders. I put plain old Nivea cream on it back in the room. The next day it was tanned. I don’t enjoy our summers here because of the humidity and bugs. Laying out in the sun in Vegas is pleasurable. The heat felt nice. It got up to the high 90’s every day and I never felt it was stifling hot.

After the pool I went to the spa. I enjoyed the hot tub and steam room (I like being able to leave the humidity behind when I leave the steam room). I discovered their shampoo and body lotion are much nicer than the stuff in the rooms. They had all kinds of non alcoholic drinks, fruit and trail mix. I would sit on their couch with a juice, water, a banana and some trail mix. It was actually pretty filling. I tipped $5 each day I went. I’m not sure if I under or over tipped.

I met my husband back at the room and we took a nap together. (He said the pawn shop sucked, they’re not friendly at all) We were still having trouble sleeping. Kind of a bummer. Can’t drink like I used to, can’t eat like I used to, can’t sleep like I used to. I guess we’re getting old. My sinuses were bothering me for the first time in Vegas. We walked through Bally’s and Paris to get to Planet Hollywood. We had a 2/1 coupon for the buffet. Shimoni in the Miracle Mile shops had been recommended to me by another jewellery lover. I found a cocktail ring I liked for $10. Nothing else really grabbed me and I don’t usually buy jewellery with my husband right there. I figured I would go back without him and have another look. The buffet at Planet Hollywood was pretty busy. The food was excellent with a huge selection.

I’ve been on a gluten free diet since February. I gave it a try because I have stomach issues. It’s been great. My stomach has really settled down. I’ve lost weight with it. I knew I wanted to go off the wagon for Vegas so I did a trial at home. My stomach doesn’t like gluten. But, it wasn’t horrible. I figured I would eat small amounts of the things I really miss like real bread, cake, and breaded fried things. Planet Hollywood has that cupcake bar. I took 2 of their offerings and they just weren’t that good. I don’t know if I built it up in my head because I haven’t eaten it in so long? The cupcakes were a letdown. But, eating real bread and breaded fried things was nice. I paid for it but, it was nice.

After dinner we got drinks at one of the Mexican looking bars in Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood. My husband got a cheap beer, I figured the margs were also cheap. I was wrong. I paid $10 for a marg the size of the old Westward Ho margs. And it wasn’t very good either. Bummer. Anyhow, I stopped at Sephora on the way out. I was looking for a good pair of tweezers (I’m French Canadian, hair removal is a part time job). I’ve been faithful to Tweezerman the last 20 years. I even took them up on their offer to sharpen your tweezers. I sent my old pair away and they came back worse. I bought a new pair and they just aren’t that great. I figured I would hit the Sephora in Vegas or the Ulta in Michigan for a better pair. I talked with the sales guy at Sephora and he got me a pair of Anastasia of Beverly Hills for $28. Something like this would be over $50 in Canada and our local Sephora doesn’t even have them.

We took the pedestrian bridge across the street and went into Cosmo. Cosmo was a construction project on my last trip in 2006. They took down the Boardwalk the week I was there. I really wanted to hate Cosmo. I don’t like the outside of City Center at all. It’s boring and could be in any city. It just doesn’t say Vegas to me. It is better than the hole in the ground that was Stardust, Westward Ho and Frontier. We walk in there and I loved the inside. The outside stinks but the inside is gorgeous. We went back out the way we came in and took the walkway to Bellagio.

Bellagio had their autumn set up in the atrium. It’s not the queen of the strip anymore but we still love it in there. We went back across the street to hop on the Deuce. My husband hadn’t seen Wynn or Encore yet. I saw Wynn on my last trip in 2006.

The Deuce isn’t as convenient to use as I had hoped. The stops are at odd spots and very spaced apart. I was hoping it would reduce walking for us and I don’t feel it did that. It’s good if you’re at one end of the strip and you’re headed to the other end. But, to hop around and not have to walk as much, no.

My husband loved Wynn and Encore. We kept walking through Palazzo and Venetian. My husband loved Venetian in 2004 and still loves the outside. But, the inside didn’t grab him this time. Then we spent some time at Casino Royale. We love to walk around and take in the beauty of the expensive places. But, we love to hang out at the low roller places. Casino Royale is more our speed. We tried to stick with it but wuss’d out and went back to the room.

Thursday was a busy day. We had the breakfast buffet at the Sidewalk Café at Bally’s. It wasn’t very good. We had planned to visit Valley of Fire but my husband found out the main road through there was closed. We went to Red Rock Canyon instead. It was beautiful. Due to luggage restrictions, we had planned to do laundry around the middle of the week. We went to Wizard of Suds because of the good reviews from some board posters. The washing machines themselves are immaculately clean. The rest of the place has seen better days. But, they had everything you need at a Laundromat and our clothes got clean.

We felt bad about not spending more time exploring downtown on our first trip. I had gotten us a good enough deal at Bally’s that I didn’t mind paying for another room downtown. I found the 4 Queens for about $30.

On our way downtown we noticed Lost Vegas Antiques was open so we stopped in. I could have really lost my mind in there. I stayed focused on hard to find items I don’t have in my collection. It’s very jumbled in there, and hard to take it all in. Anybody that loves old Vegas stuff would love this store, it’s worth the effort to visit. There’s a lot of tourists because it’s next door to the store on Pawn Stars. They tend to walk in, take a quick look and walk out again. I went past the first row and kept poking around. I asked the guy behind the counter about items from the Hacienda. They introduced me to the owner who was very friendly. He found a few Hacienda items for me and I bought one of them. I need to put together a better shopping list before going back to this store.

We found the valet for the 4 Queens and checked in. Very quick to check in but I forgot to ask for a quiet room. We ended up on the 5th floor, #512, right under the FSE canopy. The music never stops down there. I was glad I brought ear plugs. The room was tiny, crammed with furniture, but very clean. The one bedside table has a safe inside it. I wanted to freshen up without having to do my hair again. No shower cap. I had to improvise by using an ice bucket liner which worked.

We went outside to the FSE and wandered around. We got to the Golden Nugget in time for dinner at their buffet and took advantage of a 2/1 coupon. We thought it was a good buffet. The cocktail service was good too.

We went back out to the FSE and walked over to the Plaza. The inside of the Plaza looks so much better. Unfortunately, I stopped for the skin care guys. I’m pretty good at saying no thanks and keep walking when somebody gets in front of me. Like the skin care people, the pearl jewellery people, the timeshare people, the porn slappers, and the assorted I don’t even know what they’re selling people. This guy managed to get right in front of me and he was super nice. I figured OK I’ll stop for a second. Big mistake. He was friendly. But, when I said no thanks the other guy got really rude with me. I don’t even want to discuss the details it was so bad. It really upset me. We walked right out of the Plaza after that episode.

We went over to the California and I was still upset about the guy at the Plaza. I actually had an anxiety attack. I’ve never had an anxiety attack in Vegas. I left my medication for it at the hotel. I only brought enough from home to feed my husband a few pills for the plane. We started walking back to the FSE and I decided it wasn’t going to wreck my night. I took out my phone and found the number for the Plaza. After a few tries I spoke with the hotel manager on duty and told her what happened. She was very nice and apologetic. She says the guy had been aggressive with her and she didn’t like it. I gave her my email address. She sent me an email right away and offered me comps to apologize but wanted me to “document” the incident in writing. I figured I would let it sit and deal with it further once I got home. I ended up not taking it further. I’m not at work, I don’t need to document the incident in writing. I gave her all the info verbally less than 20min after it happened. She said herself they’ve been aggressive with her. That should be enough. Those skincare people are all over Vegas and have been there for years. I really don’t think anything will change. It’s nice of her to offer comps but I don’t want to go back to the Plaza now.

I felt better after talking with her though. We went to the Vegas Club to take advantage of their free play offer and some coupons. Wow, the place really is in rough shape. The rest of FSE is doing well though. I hope they can turn it around. Then we went to Binion’s and Fremont and generally enjoyed FSE.

I told my husband that I would do the zipline. I’m not crazy about heights and open stairways. The set up they’ve got to get up to the zipline is all open and looks like scaffolding. I chickened out. On the way back to my husband I got distracted by the turquoise Native American jewellery and didn’t realize my husband was being a creeper weirdo getting video of everybody on the zipline. Poor guy. I didn’t buy anything at least.

Around that time we discovered the ABC store and their cheap booze. My husband got carded. We both had a good laugh about that. He’s 42 and looks it. We wandered over to the Golden Gate and had a look at their historic artifacts. I know we’re not using the word “******bag” anymore but there was a concentration of them in there.

We headed back to the 4 Queens for their prime rib special dinner. They gave us coupons when we joined their slot club. It was a good deal even without the coupon. I bought their “learn to gamble package” where you give them $10 and they give you $15 in chips and info on how to play craps, roulette and blackjack. I wanted to learn craps and/or blackjack. I never got a spot at a $5 blackjack table, but the craps table was $5 and quiet the next morning. We settled in at the 4 Queens and took advantage of their wonderful cocktail service until we had to go up to bed. The bands along FSE were excellent. It was fairly busy along FSE. There was some kind of race that weekend at the speedway and the racers were all there promoting the race. I think it was an off road thing with trucks.

The next morning we had a miscommunication. I went to play craps while the table was quiet and $5. My husband thought I would be there for hours and got himself breakfast. I only played craps at the 4 Queens long enough to know it’s not my game. The 2 players and the stickman were very helpful. I walked away with some money but I still don’t know how to play. On top of that I’m a “wild thrower” (I hit the one guy). I found it hard to have the dice land nicely and still hit the back wall. I found my husband at the Fremont eating his breakfast. They didn’t have any good gluten free options and I was trying to be smart about when I was going off the wagon.

We headed back to the strip and stopped at Mirage to use our 2/1 coupon at the buffet for lunch. It was our first kind of crappy buffet in Vegas. Everything looked good, looked fresh, there was variety. But, quite a few things were too salty. Kind of a bummer. We brought the car back to Bally’s valet and tried to rest in the room. We were both having trouble sleeping still. Also a bummer.

After giving up on naps we hopped the Deuce up to Stratosphere . We got up to the enclosed observation floor in time for sunset. We watched people doing the Sky Jump. It was pretty crazy. A lady chickened out while we were there. Poor thing. They don’t give refunds but somebody in your party can take your place. Her husband did the jump for her. My husband would go pretty far not to waste money but I don’t think he’d jump off a tall building like that. Sunset up there was very cool. I got to watch the lights come up on the strip. I got some nice pictures and video.

We got back on the Deuce and got off at Circus Circus for our first visit. We can check it off the list as having seen it. They have a $10 store and an under $10 store. I love those kinds of stores. On my last trips there were $10 stores in almost every hotel on the strip. I would get a purse and a few other things. I’m easy to please. Anyway I didn’t buy anything in there because I still thought those $10 stores were all over the strip. I was wrong. I hadn’t seen one in any of the hotels I’d been in yet. They still have a bunch of them listed on google maps. But, the Bijou Terner chain looks like it’s gone. The one at Circus Circus was the only one I found. I did buy at $10 purse eventually, but it was in the $10 section of one of the stores at NYNY. If anybody has more info, I’d love to hear it.

We had dinner at the Riviera buffet to take advantage of the 2/1 coupon. It was pretty good. The waitress gave me a small unopened bottle of wine another table had ordered but not touched. I drank it. My husband had a free t-shirt for signing up with the slot club but he forgot it at the table. We didn’t remember until we were back on the Deuce.

Anyhow after Circus Circus we stopped at the souvenir place next door. My husband found these massive plastic mugs with lids and straws. He got the idea we could fill those with our pre mixed pina coladas and walk around a while. It was a good idea but we just weren’t able to drink like that. Hopefully we can make something like that work next time. After buying those sippy cups we got back on the Deuce and went in to Bally’s. We tried to get ourselves together to go back on the strip but it just didn’t happen.

Saturday morning we walked over to Imperial Palace to use their 2/1 buffet coupon for lunch. I told my husband it’s not a board favourite but he took that as a challenge. It wasn’t bad. We walked back to Bally’s and stopped at Casino Royale on the way. We tried to get a nap. My husband actually fell asleep. I didn’t. I left him to sleep and went downstairs for a bit. I played a few machines and walked around. The one jewellery store on the basement level at Bally’s was closing. I bought 5 chunky semi-precious stone bracelets and a necklace for $37. I’m really happy with everything I bought and it was such a bargain. I went back upstairs and we got freshened up for the night.

After much browsing I decided to buy souvenirs for my nephews at the ABC store. We grabbed the rental car and hit the ABC store downtown on our way to the Rio for dinner. We used our 2/1 buffet coupon. It’s still a favourite of ours. We played slots a little bit and went over to the Palms for Joe Walsh. We went for my husband. He was really excited about it. He puts on a good show. His backup singers can really sing. We stayed at the Palms a little while using up free play for signing up for the slot club. My husband has turned into the free play monster. I drove us back to Bally’s (I let my husband have a few drinks) and we stayed up a while longer playing slots. I got bored of playing vp next to my husband so I moved over to a penny machine. The goldfish machine caught my eye because it had been a favourite of another board member. I won $120 on it. Lots of bonuses and the cocktail service was good. I lost track of time on that machine. I cashed out at $100 and went to Paris. I had promised somebody at work a $1 souvenir chip from the Venetian but I wasn’t going back up there so Paris would have to do. After that I went to bed and my husband came up a little while later. We were still not sleeping well.

Sunday morning came around and I had to use up 2 more spa visits. I got myself together to hit the pool but it was cloudy. I never thought I would say it but it was too cold for me to swim and lay out. I went back in to the spa instead. On the way back to the room I stopped at the leather place that was also closing on the basement level of Bally’s. He had t-shirts on clearance, 5 for $10. I got some t-shirts for myself to use as PJ tops. The guy behind the counter was putting on the charm, trying to get me buy more. He said these t shirts are too big and he’ll get me the right size. I said they’re fine because I’m using them as PJ tops. He said a beautiful woman like you doesn’t need pj’s. What a greaseball. I tipped him.

My husband was still passed out napping. I freshened up and got the car out of the valet. The valet at Bally’s was very helpful. I asked him about those elusive $10 stores. He said the easiest one to get in and out of was at NYNY. I drove up there and all I found was a $10 section at one of the stores. The whole $10 thing had gotten silly and I was over it. So, I picked out a purse and went back to Bally’s.

I think my husband could have slept straight through if I had let him. But, we had tickets for the early show of Jubilee that night. We strolled through Paris and Planet Hollywood but weren’t hungry enough for dinner yet. I bought my mother in law a gift at Paris We got a snack and went back to Bally’s to kill some time before the show. My husband had taken a liking to a particular bank of video poker machines by the keno. I used a 2/1 coupon for the Jubilee tickets. They don’t let you use it on the nose bleed seats. I had to buy mid range seats. We took our seats and within a few minutes an usher came and moved us up closer. I tried to tip her but she was too fast for me. She came back and moved us closer again, one of the small tables by the stage. We were pretty happy with that spot. A lady came up to us with her tickets and said we were at her table. The same usher who moved us put them in a booth. I don’t think they liked the booth and wanted their table. My husband went over to our usher and explained the situation, she moved us again, even closer to the stage and towards the center. I finally managed to tip her but she was so fast, I think I was only able to grab $2 and kind of chase her to give them to her. Crappy tip for what she got us but I never found her again to tip her better.

You have to take Jubilee for what it is. It’s a time capsule. If you like that kind of thing you’ll enjoy it. We weren’t expecting the acrobats and jugglers in between scenes. That was a bonus. We had a good time.

After the show we walked to Ellis Island for dinner. This time we ordered off the menu and were able to use that 2/1 coupon. We also used another drink coupon I had. It was a good dinner. The karaoke bar next to the restaurant was busy. It wasn’t really dinner music but we got a kick out of it. We walked back to Bally’s for bed but we were still having trouble sleeping.

Monday was our last day. The hotel was booked right up until Tuesday to accommodate our red eye flight home. I used my last spa visit and we packed up our stuff. We ate at the Mexican place beside the Sidewalk Café at Bally’s. I wish we had known about this place. They do an all day breakfast and a lot of “regular” food, not just Mexican food. It was very good and reasonably priced. We took a short ride to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign for our first visit to the sign. The staff was very helpful and took excellent pictures. Our next stop was the post office to send t-shirts to my nephews and mail my left over coupons to the contest winner. Mail service in Canada is expensive and crappy, might as well ship this stuff rather than haul it home. We killed some time at Bill’s. They gave us $5 in comps for signing up with the player’s card, I used mind on another cocktail ring at the gift counter. We weren’t that hungry but we figured we should eat. I had my last gluten in a club sandwich. It was way too big for me to finish. The waiter brought me a to-go box and I gave half the sandwich to the homeless guy who had been hanging out between Bill’s and the Stage Door. He was happy to have it and started eating it in front of me. I’ve had homeless people turn down food from me so that was nice. We took one last ride up the strip and headed to the car rental drop off and airport.

The trip home was crappy. Even worse than the trip out. We left over an hour late. There were several cranky babies and toddlers on the flight. The takeoff was scary. I actually felt unsafe and I usually love take off. The seatbelt sign stayed on the whole flight again. Spirit is just plain terrible. My husband says he would fly them again because he doesn’t think the other airlines are any better. I would have to think really hard about it before flying with them again. It’s motivation to work harder to find better prices on other airlines.

We had a good time. I’m glad we were able to go. It was a different trip for us because I picked the hotel on location and not on price. We weren’t watching the pennies as closely this time. We weren’t able to drink or eat as much. We had trouble sleeping. Our feet and hands swelled up for the first time. My sinuses bugged me for the first time. We could have reduced our walking further if we had thought things out a bit more. I learned not to buy things ahead that you think you’ll need like the bus pass for the Deuce. I bought enough for 2 people for 6 days. We only used 1 pass each for 3 days and didn’t get much use out of the pass. That was kind of a waste. I have to make sure my husband has what he needs before we leave. We can go to an outlet mall and look for footwear for him anywhere. We don’t need to do that in Vegas. I really enjoyed the spa. I was OK with not hitting every single hotel on the strip to say I did it. I liked Bally’s, I would stay there again. My knee held up throughout the entire trip. I went downstairs to start laundry when we got home and it went out again. (I sprained it in July)

 

Glad you had a good time. Thanks for sharing.

 

Nice TR - thanks!

 

Enjoyed the TR. Thanks!

 

thanks for the detailed report!

 

Nice TR. Could you explain to me what skin care people are? I think they're people that try to warn you about skin cancer and stuff but I can't imagine them getting aggressive.

 

Great report! Thanks so much for posting!

 

I've had problems with the skin care people before too. Glad I'm not alone.

Thanks Lola, I enjoyed your report very much.

 

Thanks for your trip report

 

Great report!! I love all the details.

 

Great job on the details. Bummer you couldn't sleep good. Sounds like you two still had a fun time.

 

Funniest TR quote ever!

I'm glad you had a nice time. Thanks for posting such an informative trip report.

 

Thanks for the trip report Loladoggie. I thought I was the only one trying to hold myself together for a trip to Las Vegas. The swelling hands and feet thing is really annoying. Glad you had a good time anyway. Sounds like you really got around.

 

Wow, a TR I can relate to. Cheap flights, Victorian Room, coupons, medical issues, sleeping issues...sounds like our trips. I had trouble at the miracle mile shops a few years ago and last year at the south outlets with the hand cream people. Due to hand exzema I stopped to check out their cream. They keep you there for 20 minutes and in the end try to sell you the cream for $80 and when you say no, their boss comes over. I will never stop at one again. They get mean. I thought in both instances that I would see how my hands were hours later and if I liked the result I could go back and buy it. Result was it did nothing to improve my hand exzema and within 2 hours the softness had gone away. So never went back to buy any. Thanks for the report.

 

Great details! I started with our trip last year and this year, with swollen ankles and feet. Forgot that last year, I swore to start some diuretics before the trip. Glad you had a good time and thanks for the report!

 

Great TR. Thanks for posting!

 

Sounds like a fun trip indeed!! way to make downtown quite the destination!

 

Thanks to everybody who read the report and special thanks to those who replied. I love to hear from my fellow low rollers and coupon users.

 

A friend of mine was caught by the "skin" people in Paris and spent somewhere in the vicinity of 300 bucks on their products..I of course thought that was a heck of a lot to spend a a cpl little jars of stuff.
But she thought my gambling budget of 300 per day was an obscene amount!
So different strokes and all that.

Thanks for the TR I always enjoy Ballys.

 

Great TR

Thanks for a great TR. Loved hearing about the Vegas Antique Store. Wonder if they have a website.