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10 day Vegas adventure 8/18 to 8/27

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by da1chifan, Sep 7, 2013.

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  1. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Messages:
    824
    Location:
    MSP
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30

    My Trip Report

    Well, this is my 1st trip report and probably my last. I like to include everything, which makes it very long! Hope it is fun to read though. You will probably get drunk just from reading it! ;)

    (Hope my formatting doesn't get lost)


    Sunday the 18th – I flew SWA, plane change in DEN. My husband, Bill, flew Delta direct from MSP on a later flight because he had to work until the afternoon. He was supposed to get there 2 hours after me. He got there 2 hours BEFORE me! While in DEN, we had a huge delay because the ramp in LAS was closed due to lightning. They wouldn’t allow us to take off until the ramp was open again. However, Bill’s flight took off from MSP on time and his flight arrived on time. My flight was 4 hours late. SWA gave numerous excuses, but I have no doubt in my mind it was because SWA has many more flights into LAS and needed to stagger the landings in order to have gates available.

    We just wanted to get there after the long day we both had so we took a cab. We should have taken the WAX as we originally planned. The cab line was the longest I’ve ever seen it, probably due to all flights coming in after the ramp opened. It was sprinkling outside but made it through the line in about 20 minutes. The cab driver was nice and we were fine with taking the tunnel/highway since we were going downtown and with everyone coming in at once plus rain, it would be the fastest way. He completely f***ed around when we got downtown, fare was $42. Ridiculous. I only tipped him about 10% because I was not at all interested in arguing after the day I’d had so far.

    Check-in at Four Queens (had 3 nights comped) was very easy. No one in line, however they said the hotel was sold out. We got to room and it was so-so. It was well worn, but seemed clean. I was already buzzed from 2 drinks in MSP, 1 drink on plane to DEN, 2 martinis at DEN, then 2 drinks (free from FA) on flight to LAS. We ate something quick at Magnolia’s (BOGO from American Casino Guide book) but can’t remember what. We drank a ton and played a ton. Four Queens does give you $10 in free play for showing any other downtown casino’s players club card. We each got that and Bill used another $10 free play coupon (from the LVA book). I went upstairs with a $250 TITO. We crashed in our room.



    Monday the 19th – We woke up early and got dressed to walk over to Binion’s to go to the pool and get some sun. (If you are staying at the Four Queens, you can use the pool at Binion’s.) The pool didn’t open until 930am, so we played some VP (8/5 JoB non-progressive was best we found there) downstairs. At 930, we go to the dedicated pool elevator (since the hotel there is closed) and it isn’t working. The security guard takes us and 2 European girls the back way to the pool. It felt legit like we were in the movie Hostel. It was well worn, narrow hallways, old stairwells, etc. It was a little unsettling. LOL. We finally got up to the pool and the reviews are correct, the pool is lame as hell. However, it is a rooftop pool with plexiglass all around it so the views are pretty cool. We were fine with the heat, but there was still residual humidity from the night before so that made it a little uncomfortable. We left the pool after about an hour.

    We went back to our room and took showers and got ready for the day. We went to Chicago Brewing Company at Four Queens and played bartop VP (8/5 JoB with royal progressive) for the next several hours there. I had a couple Goose dirty martinis and a couple lemon drop martinis and Bill had their craft beers. All comped except for our food.

    At 5pm, we went up to our room and got dressed for dinner. I had won a $100 gift certificate plus bottle of wine from Casa di Amore (from a trivia contest on Vegas4Locals). They also provide limo service (with gratuities) to and from the restaurant. The driver picked us up exactly 540pm and we were at the restaurant by 6pm. We were warmly welcomed and given my gift certificate. Our waiter, Tony, was awesome. We got the hot sampler appetizer (fried mozzarella, ravioli, calamari, and shrimp), Bill had the Steak Sinatra, I had chicken parm, both had salads, Pellegrino, coffee, I had a martini, Bill had a bloody mary, a bottle of Malbec, and tiramisu and cannoli for dessert. We didn’t eat half our food but at least got a little of everything. Total was $166 plus tip but we only had to pay $36 plus $41 tip and I got a free t-shirt. Good time.

    We got back to hotel about 8pm and totally crashed. We both woke up at 2am when the FSE music stopped and were thirsty as hell. I told Bill I would give him $100 if he went downstairs and got us something to drink. He came back with a vitamin water and a bottle of Fiji for me. Yay! We sat up talking for a while and then went back to bed.



    Tuesday the 20th – We got up and got ready. We played a few slots at Four Queens then needed to get something to eat. We went up and had lunch at Magnolia’s (BOGO from ACG). We went over to El Cortez to get our $10 free play (from ACG). Slotzilla has made it very cramped to walk through that area. There is only room for 2 to walk through there so panhandlers can really impede your progress. We just moved on through. We could not find any good VP JoB machines at ElCo, so we played our free play and I won $20, Bill lost his. I took my $20 win and put it in a KISS machine. I didn’t have one winning spin. We left.

    We walked back to Four Queens and played slots there for a little while. I was at my favorite Hangover machine and Bill was all over the place. He finally sat down at a Quick Hits machine and was playing 90c a spin instead of the max $3.00 a spin. About 3 seconds after I walked up to him, his machine started doing the musical winning sound and it kept going and going. He ended up hitting 8 quick hits and won $900.00! Yay!

    About 7pm, we went to the Main Street Station buffet for t-bone night (BOGO). I didn’t have a t-bone but Bill did and he said it was overcooked and dried out. I was surprised that with all of the rave reviews of the place, the selection there was pretty small. I had a salad and a piece of pizza, plus a couple desserts. There wasn’t anything really up my alley there. We left and went to the bar overlooking the buffet and played more bartop VP. They were all 9/6 JoB machines. I got a Red Bull/vodka but it was so strong. I asked for some more Red Bull for it. They said they could comp Red Bull/vodkas or Jag bombs, but couldn’t comp straight Red Bull. I said I don’t care, I will pay the $2. LOL. Then we each had a Jag bomb. We played for about an hour then we left.

    We stopped at the Plaza on the way back to get my card matching done and to cash a $10 matchplay coupon (from the ACG). We put our $10 and our $10 matchplay down on even on the roulette table and won. We took our winnings and left. The smell they pump in there is worse and stronger than any other casino in Vegas. It smells terrible. We went back to the room to sleep. Tomorrow is my birthday and I want to get a full day in! :)



    Wednesday the 21st – My Birthday! We got up and ready early and were out of our room by 8am. Bill asked what I wanted to do first. I said I wanted to walk across the street for some $4 Jag bombs and I wanted ONE donut hole from Dunkin Donuts. LOL. Well, they don’t sell just 1, so Bill got the rest. We wandered between Fremont and Four Queens playing slots. I decided we should eat something if we wanted to make this day last, so we went back to Chicago Brewing Company at 4Q. We played bartop VP again, had a small lunch, and I had several Fireball and Lemon Drop shots. At 2pm, we got our bags and got a cab to the Monte Carlo. We had a fantastic cab driver this time. We were able to immediately check-in for our 2 nights. (We got 2 nights free from the Facebook game MyVegas and also had resort fees waived.) We got into our room and changed into dress clothes.

    We went downstairs and played a little at the Monte Carlo casino. We saw a sign in the casino for a happy hour at Andre’s so we went there at 5pm. I had the pomegranate lemon drop martini and the cucumber collins, Bill had the cucumber collins, and we had the French olives and spiced and smoked nuts snacks. The bartender was so great, he brought me a plate with 4 chocolate truffles and had written Happy Birthday in chocolate on the plate. So sweet! We played a little more at Monte Carlo.

    We walked to Excalibur to take the tram to Luxor but just ended up walking through. We went to the MLife desk at Luxor to spin the birthday wheel and redeem my Tender Steakhouse reward from MyVegas. I only got $5 free play from the birthday wheel, but since I am so sweet and adorable, she gave me $25 free play. We played there for an hour or so.

    We went to Tender for our 8pm dinner reservation. The restaurant was nice and dark, however the music was top 40 and too loud to fit with the ambiance. I had the Black Angus Omaha filet, Bill had the 2lb Maine lobster, we shared the Yukon gold mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. I had the High Level martini, a Cosmopolitan, a glass of champagne, and an Espresso Martini for dessert. Bill had Pellegrino and a Tequila Sunrise. They brought a NY style cheesecake with candles and Happy Birthday written on the plate. Total was $268 (included a $50 tip), minus $150 (from MyVegas credit), we only had to pay $118! :)

    We walked back outside from Luxor to MC. We completely crashed when we got to the room at like 11pm. It was a long day. LOL



    Thursday the 22nd – We were a little hungover in the morning. We got up and got our swimsuits on and went downstairs. I thought the pool opened at 8am, but it opened at 9am. We had to get our keys reactivated for our 2nd night so we did that early. Then, we went to the bar at the sportsbook. We each had a couple Screw-Ups (if you aren’t familiar, it is a screwdriver but half OJ and half 7-up). We went to the MLife desk to have my $50 food/drink credit activated (free from MyVegas) and Bill’s bucket of beer and lunch (free from MyVegas). No paper now, they put it on your MLife card.

    We got to the pool about 915 and secured our chairs. We were in the shade for the first hour maybe, but then it was perfect. We ordered a couple pool drinks (best option is always to get the 32oz drink with collector cup) and they didn’t know how to access the credit, so they ended up using my express comps. I went back to the MLife desk and they said it was on my card and the pool people just didn’t know how to use it yet. On our 2nd round of drinks, they were able to access the credit and actually took off $54 instead of just the $50. We hadn’t eaten anything all day so we got the bucket of beer (Bill got 3 Newcastle but they didn’t have the Red Stripe I wanted, so I was stuck with 3 Bud Light Lime) and chicken nachos (all free from MyVegas reward). We stayed at the pool all day long and rented intertubes for the lazy river. They were $10 each, but you couldn’t bring your drinks in the lazy river. Bummer! The pool area was good and it was a huge plus to have lids on the drink cups (this will make more sense later). We fell asleep in the sun for an hour or two, gave our intertubes to the couple next to us, then we went up to the room.

    We took a little nap upstairs then took showers and got dressed for the evening. We took the tram over to Aria and went to the MLife desk to get Bill’s 2 dinner buffet credit (free from MyVegas). They didn’t put this one on the card, they handwrote it on a little piece of paper. LOL. Well there was no wait at the buffet line at 630pm, surprisingly. We stupidly added on the unlimited drinks option for $12.99 per person. Bill got a few bloody mary’s and I had a few bellinis. The Aria buffet had a decent salad bar but the buffet was overall 90% seafood. I hate seafood so I had a salad, some vegetarian sushi, and tried a couple of the little desserts.

    We left Aria and took a cab to the Riviera. I had 2 free tickets to the comedy club (from the ACG book). We got there about 8pm and they opened the doors about 810. They didn’t have cocktail service in the “theater” but there was a bar just outside the doors. The comedy show was decent (especially since it was free), but probably wouldn’t have been disappointed if we had paid the $20 each for them.

    After the show, we walked over to Circus Circus because I had never been there in all of my Vegas trips. It was, as I expected, full of kids. The carnival games were pretty funny and all cheaper than any carnival I’ve ever been to. Bill won me a large prize at SkeeBall. I chose the orange “weinerman”. The guy handed it to me and said “I have worked here for 8 years and I have only seen someone choose a weinerman once before you”. I explained that my favorite color is orange and I like weiner. LOL!

    It was a beautiful night so we just walked from Circus Circus to Harrah’s to see if we could find my friends that had arrived earlier in the day. I knew they had been traveling all day and then drinking once they got to Vegas (they’d been texting me all day). Well, I checked out the spots where I knew they liked to hang, but couldn’t find them. I texted all of them and Dave responded that they had all gone to their rooms and the other 2 had dead cell phones. I said I’d see them tomorrow. Bill and I got a drink outside the Harrah’s piano bar and watched the piano show for about 5 minutes, then continued on. We walked to Flamingo and each had a drink at the Margaritaville Casino bar. Then we left and walked back to the Monte Carlo and went to bed.



    Friday the 23rd – I woke up hungover, Bill was okay. He had to get ready early as he was taking the 1130am flight home today. He wouldn’t go get me a Screw-Up from the bar downstairs since he had to go so I called room service for a bagel and a Screwdriver. I was so sad to see him go; he is the best Vegas buddy ever! He left and my room service came. I called and got a late checkout and got ready and packed up again. I checked out on the TV and took a cab to Harrah’s.

    They have a platinum/diamond/7stars check-in room which I was very thankful for since the regular line was huge. Two of my friends, Dave and Tami, came in right as I was checking in because they said they knew I’d have access to the “special rooms” around here. LOL. (I only used 2 of my comp nights here, to be explained later.) I got a premium room, Mardi Gras tower, overlooking pool and first room off of Carnaval Tower elevators. (Room M443, I would absolutely request this room if I stayed at Harrah’s again.)

    I waited about a half hour for my bags to be delivered, but then texted everyone to meet me downstairs. They wanted to go grab replacement player’s cards at Venetian and Pat wanted to go to Lagasse’s Stadium at Palazzo. Dave wanted to stop and grab a couple $1 Michelobs from Casino Royale on the way so I got a Screwdriver and sucked it down while I stood at the bar. Hey, these people had been drinking all morning, I needed to catch up! We played a bit at Venetian and then walked through to Palazzo. Some of the Carnavale dressed up characters were just frightening. There was a chick dressed up as an 8-foot tree that reached down with her branch hand to touch a little kid and it was just scary. We made our way to Lagasse’s Stadium and decided to just have some lunch here. I had pretty much run out of things I hadn’t drank in Vegas so far, so I just went for the Absolut Mandarin/Red Bull. I had the mushroom and swiss burger, it was just okay.

    We went back to Harrah’s and played a while. Then about 5pm (on a Friday, huge mistake) we took a cab downtown. Traffic was a b***h and cost more than it should, but it was an interesting ride. We grabbed a couple drinks outside of Four Queens. Dave and Tami wanted to go to the Harley store so we walked down there. We went back to Fremont and since Dave and Tami had never had a Jag bomb, I said we were all going to do one. Tami took a sip of hers and I thought she was going to cry. She said it was the nastiest thing she’d ever tried. We cracked up! We sat down and all played 3 card poker. I ended up winning $15 over the hour. Everyone else lost $100. Pat asked about the 777 microbrewery at Main Street Station so we walked down there. They got sushi there which they said was actually pretty good and the guys did the beer flights. I didn’t feel like eating anything so I grabbed a drink and left to play video poker.

    We walked back to FSE and watched the Heart light show. Then, the guys saw the good-looking girls outside of the Glitter Gulch (strip club). I quietly told Tami that I had heard all kinds of bad things about the place and the girls were not Grade A. I said that since I had never been to a strip club (she had), we should totally take the guys and it would end up being hilarious. She agrees. So, I tell the guys we can go if they want. Oh hell yeah, they are excited like little kids on Christmas. However, I said if there was a cover or drink minimum, they’d have to pay for ours. Yeah, sure, okay, they say. We walk in and the bouncer gives the spiel, 2 drink minimum per person and drinks start at $9.25. Okay, yeah great. We get the wand and pat down and we go in and all sit at a half-circle booth (behind sniffer’s row). I won’t go into great detail unless someone asks, but let’s just say we only stayed for as long as it took for us to drink our drinks. 3 girls, a half hour at best. LOL. The guys b***hed for the rest of the trip.

    A guy on FSE was handing out passes to Gold Diggers. I had actually never been there either, so I said let’s go. We watch the Bon Jovi light show and then go up. The place was dead and this is at 9/10pm on a Friday night. We had free cover passes plus BOGO drink coupons. We only stayed for one drink, but it was a cool place to check out once. It had a great balcony view of the FSE.

    We are all pretty toasted so we decide to get closer to “home”. We take a cab back to Harrah’s. The guys are drunk as shit, we are less drunk. We ditch the guys as soon as we got in the door. Tami and I go play 3 card poker. There was no problem finding a $5 table here, which is really $15-20 a hand (including the $1 million bonus). Tami was doing okay, but I was losing nearly every hand. I was still having a great time since we had a fun dealer and a great pitboss that hung around talking to us. Tami decided to go to bed, so I went back to my room. I decided I didn’t want to go to sleep (stupid), so I texted everyone that I was going to Toby Keith’s. I went there and sat at the bar, having a few beers while listening to the live band. Dave comes in and has a beer with me, all the while reminding me he f***ing hates country music. LOL. We decide to go play cards downstairs again. I am doing a little better this time, only losing about $50 that hour. Dave walks me to the elevator and we go to our rooms, this was probably about 2am.

    I wake up at 430am and I am thirsty as hell. I head downstairs in my PJs and bed head, I do not care. I get a couple water bottles and a Gatorade. I get back to bed.



    Saturday the 24th – Everyone starts texting me at like 9am. I get room service again, as it is another bagel and Screwdriver morning. I go back to bed and feel much better when I wake up the final time. I get ready. I go downstairs and start playing VP. (If I didn’t mention it before, the best I found at Harrah’s was 8/5 JoB with royal progressive.) I had a couple Screw-Ups and now I feel like a million bucks. Dave came down and played VP with me for a while and then went upstairs to see if Tami was done with her nap. Pat came downstairs and it’s about 2pm now so we go get something quick at Harrah’s Café. I get a BLT Club and he gets some other kind of club sandwich. He is very hungover, won’t drink anything except water. Haha. I play a couple Keno games from the runner and won a couple bucks which I just told her she could keep.

    Dave and Tami were at Planet Hollywood so Pat and I meet them in the middle at Bally’s. Everyone wants to watch the Nascar race so we go to Bally’s sportsbook. Dave does his normal beer drinking all day, Pat is still refusing to drink anything but water, Tami is getting hammered, and I am drinking vodka drinks slowly. They are fairly generous with drink tickets when you are betting the ponies. 3-4pm in Vegas is the beginning of the bad times for horse betting, as tracks on the other side of the country are wrapping up for the day. We sit there for a few hours. Pat had bought Groupons for him and Dave to a craft beer festival at Ellis Island, which is behind Bally’s. Tami and I were going to have some drinks and play slots. We get halfway to EI and see that it is either a packed outdoor tent or it is a huge line. Either way, we completely blow it off and turn around and walk back to the Strip.

    We go into the Flamingo and pee. There is a line in the women’s restroom. It is only a 6-stall restroom, but one of the stalls had been apparently occupied a long time. The restroom attendant was trying to talk to the person inside, but no response. A female security guard comes in and tries as well. No response. I look under the door and I see TWO pairs of shoes. I tell them they are probably f***ing in there but they say there has been no movement for a while in there. I’m like WOW, they are either both passed out in there or one has murdered the other. LOL. They are getting ready to remove the door, but we left. I am still curious about what happened.

    We play slots there for another hour or so. Everyone else gets something to eat from the food court, but I do not since I know it just reopened after being closed for 2 months. LOL . Everyone goes to their rooms, I play slots for maybe 30 minutes, then go up to bed. We have our Fantasy football draft tomorrow so I need to be in decent shape!



    Sunday the 25th – I woke up about 7am and got ready. I walked over to Hash House A Go Go at the Quad and have one of my favorite breakfasts (with 2 tangerine/Asti mimosas) while I finally look at my fantasy football papers. (Thank God I had a decent breakfast at 8am as I would do a lot of drinking before eating again at midnight.) I go over to the Mirage and check-in (I was given complimentary guaranteed 10am check-in). I would have stayed at Harrah’s for my last days, but I got an offer for the Mirage that I absolutely could not refuse. My 2 nights including room cost, resort fees, and tax was $190.40, but that came with a $150 resort credit that I knew I’d easily spend at Tom Colicchio’s brand new restaurant. Fantastic.

    I walk back over to Harrah’s and played some more VP. Then, I met Dave and Pat for alcohol shopping for the draft. I didn’t really feel like drinking right then and I hadn’t prepped at all for the draft, so I just got a bottle of water. The guys had gotten the travel router set up and working so we did the draft in Pat’s smoking room. Ugh. Luckily, the room had a window that could be opened and they sat at the table next to the window and I sat at the nightstand table. 22 rounds, 10 owners, draft completed in 1 hour and 36 minutes!

    It was 2pm now and Tami wanted to go to Voodoo at the Rio, so we went downstairs and caught the shuttle that came at 2:15. We had some time to hang before Voodoo opened at 5. Tami and I went to the Masquerade bar and I got a GG dirty martini. I wanted to catch up to everyone else who had been drinking all through the draft. We played some slots for nearly 45 minutes and saw zero cocktail waitresses. We finally said f*** this and went to the front bar and played bartop VP (8/5 JoB). We had some really fun bartenders and kept the drinks strong and flowing. (This will prove to not be a good thing in a few hours.) We met some guys from California that had their draft that morning too, except theirs was an auto-draft on Yahoo and one of them got Aaron Hernandez. We all had a good laugh about that one.

    It was about 4pm so we start heading towards Voodoo. The bar in front of the seafood buffet had just opened so I played VP there while everyone else went to find some food. The bartender had Minneapolis on his name tag so we talked for a while about that. It turns out he works between Vegas and Minneapolis and happened to know a few people I know. Small world. Well, he got me another 3 drinks in while I played VP and at 5pm, we go up to Voodoo.

    The rest of the night is extremely hazy…… We get up to Voodoo and the (very hot) bartender, with whom I’ve spent some time over the years, is working. I introduce him to my friends and I say of course I want a “Witch Doctor” drink. Thank God, Tami shared it with me. I took them outside to see the rooftop patio and everyone loved it. I sat down and a couple came in. The woman asked me about my drink and I told her to get one. She did and we sat there chatting for a while. Her son is in TV (don’t ask me to remember his name, but he is on Breaking Bad for one show) and her ex-husband was a pilot too. We ended up exchanging phone numbers as she wanted to show me around LA next time I was there. Okay… Time to go, Stephanie is drunk.

    I do not remember leaving Voodoo. I do not remember taking the shuttle back to Harrah’s. I wake up about 4 hours later half dressed in my friend’s room. I wake up and throw up. LOL. I am a little more sober now so I get dressed. Just as I was about to leave the room, Tami comes up. She asks how I’m feeling and where I got the banana from. I ask her WTF is she talking about. She shows me outside her hotel room door there is a banana peel on the floor. I said I have no idea so we just crack up about how random that is. I say good night and walk back to the Mirage. It is now midnight and I hadn’t eaten anything since 8am. I grab a reuben from Carnegie Deli. I go upstairs, eat half my sandwich, and watch tv for 2 hours or so. I fall asleep but during the night, the smell of the rest of my sandwich was making me nauseous so I put everything in the bag and set it in the hallway. LOL.



    Monday the 26th – I got up and got ready and everyone came over to get me out of the room by 1030. The minute we left the Mirage, it was raining. Ugh, and of course I didn’t listen to Bill and bring an umbrella this trip. (We seem to buy an umbrella every summer in Vegas.) We cut through the Forum Shops and Caesars. We went through Bellagio to take the tram to Aria. We all get pizza and beer at the new Five50 at Aria. The best part is they have my favorite beer ON TAP, Goose Island 312! I get a slice of the Forager pizza (spinach, mushrooms, rosemary, and whipped ricotta) and 2 312s. It was great. The guy at the counter tells me to come back for their 50c happy hours of 312 beers, daily from 5-550. Awesome.

    We walk over to Planet Hollywood to play for a little while. I find a 8/5 JoB machine which isn’t my ideal choice, but hey, I love playing here. I play VP and some other slots for an hour or more, I leave a fair amount up. We walk over to Bally’s so we can take the monorail back to Harrah’s. (Two of us have free monorail passes from MyVegas.) We quickly redeem those and are on our way. We get to Harrah’s, everyone goes up to their respective rooms and we all agree to meet downstairs at 5:30 before our 6pm reservation at Tom Colicchio’s brand new restaurant at the Mirage.

    Well everyone comes down to the casino at 530 and there I sit at my VP machine. Everyone, especially Pat, starts freaking out saying there’s no way I am going to be ready for dinner at 6. I tell them to chill and I play while I wait for my last beer from the cocktail waitress. We all walk over to the Mirage and they play in the casino while I go up to my room. I change, run a flat iron through my hair, touch up the makeup a little, and I am in front of the restaurant at 555. Booyah! LOL

    It’s time for dinner. It is opening week at Tom Colicchio’s Heritage Steak. We have a reservation and are seated immediately. Our waitress was nice and knowledgeable. She informs us the key element to Heritage Steak is the wood-fired grill. She said tonight they were using almond wood or something like that, but that didn’t mean anything to us. Tami and Pat both got the onion soup, I would have, but it had a skewer of escargot and bacon in the middle. Yuck. They both loved theirs. I had the filet and I ordered it medium well. I said that if it needed to be butterflied, I was fine with that. She said no, it would be okay. I had some skepticism because I know filets are hard to cook though without butterflying them. Well, I received my steak and it was 4-5 inches tall. I immediately cut through the middle and it was perfect. I was shocked. The steak was fantastic. Pat and I shared the potato puree and grilled asparagus, I forget what Dave and Tami had (we had separate checks). The potato puree was to die for!!! The total for my 4 drinks, steak, and half of 2 sides with tax and 20% tip was $155. Pat had a beer, a glass of wine, onion soup, the ribeye, and half of 2 sides with tax and 20% tip was $126.82. (Just to give a point of reference for those interested in going there.) I was very pleased.

    Dave and Tami have an early flight so we play a little in the casino and they go back to their room. I have a Groupon for Rhumbar at Mirage for 2 Mai Tais. Pat and I each get a Mai Tai and sit at the inside bar. I had been to the outside patio before and I do like that much better. I got a 2nd Mai Tai, this was the best drink I’d had there yet. Pat has a noon flight so he goes back to Harrah’s and I go grab a bottle of water from the gift shop and go up to my room.



    Tuesday the 27th – I woke up feeling fantastic this morning. It was going to be sunny and warm and I was excited to spend my last day pool side at the Mirage. I was taking the 105am redeye flight home on Delta so I wouldn’t have to leave for the airport until 11pm. I called downstairs and asked for a late checkout, knowing I could pay for a much later checkout. They said noon checkout is free, 3pm is $39, and 6pm is $69. I chose the 3pm one as I only wanted the room to be able to take a shower after the pool.

    I get to the pool pretty much right at 8am. I choose a chair, but not yet in sun, so I sit there and relax for a bit. The poolside café opens at 9am and my chair is still in the shade so I go grab a bagel and grapefruit segments. I get a 32 oz with collector cup John Daly drink, it’s like an Arnold Palmer with alcohol! LOL. (Belvidere sweet tea vodka and lemonade). I get my drink and it is a nice cup but NO LID. This sucks at the pool because you seriously have to hold it the whole time or it will easily get knocked over.

    I go back to my chair and I am still not in the sun but have a great spot, so I just go up and pack so I won’t have to do it later and will get that much more time in the sun. I come back down and am minutes from being in the sun. This pool day was much warmer, not because of the temperature, but because of the residual humidity from yesterday. I only last about 2 hours and 2 more John Dalys, but am pretty red in the face. I go upstairs and shower and call the bellman to come take my bags. I go to the desk to checkout to make sure that my resort credit and express comps get applied to my large final bill.

    I walk down to Planet Hollywood again and play there until about 415. I leave to walk across the street to Aria for the 312 happy hour at Five50. I have 2 regularly priced beers and then it is 500 and my buddy from the other day hooks me up with 5 50c beers. Nice. You can’t get single slice service at the bar during happy hour but right at 550, guy brings me the slice of the Gotham pizza (pepperoni, sausage, salami, mozzarella and grana padano) that I wanted. It is fantastic.

    I still have a $150 TITO from the Rio from the other night and I could save it for the next trip, but with my luck, I would wash it or something. So, I walk to Ballys and take the shuttle over to the Rio. I walk in, cash my ticket, pee, and then wait for the shuttle to go back. I only had to wait about 10 minutes. I get off the shuttle and walk back to Harrah’s. I play VP for a couple hours and I could not win anything.

    I walk back to the Mirage and play a little there. It’s about 10pm now and I figure that anything good would be closed by the time I got to the airport so I went to Japonais to get a drink and some sushi. I got shrimp tempura, sweet potato tempura, and avocado rolls. I only ate about half because they were all very bland and I hate wasabi.

    It’s a little after 11 now so I have the bellman retrieve my bags and take a cab to the airport. There’s no one in line at ticketing and no one in line at security, as usual this time of night. The redeye is always the best flight out of LAS.

    I am now through security and have well over an hour until my flight leaves. I go to CPK and grab a beer. They give you a shot for half price if you get a beer, so I got a Stella and a lowball of Disaranno on the rocks. There’s only 1 other guy at the bar and we chatted a little bit. Then his friends came in, 2 guys and a girl. I talk to his one friend for a while because he was originally from North Dakota then I talked to the girl for a little bit because she had fake glasses that were cool. Those 3 leave and the original guy asks me “do you know who they are?” I said I had no idea. He said they are WWE wrestlers and she is a WWE Diva. The guy I was talking to was their chef. Wow, cool, I had no idea. I go get on my flight and I fall asleep before taking off and wake up when we touched down. Yay! Home!

    Since I was pretty much awake when I got home, I caught up on some DVR stuff. I don’t remember what I was watching but some show called Total Divas came on after it. The beginning credits roll and here is this girl, Ariane, I had just talked to 12 hours earlier at the airport! LOL. I still haven’t figured out who the one guy is so if anyone is huge into WWE, let me know and I will send you his photo.

    It was definitely a trip for the books and although a losing trip overall, it was a blast from start to finish!
     
  2. crazyru07

    crazyru07 Newbie

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    Nice TR, sounds like it was a hella time...Glad to see there was plenty of drinking going on :beer:
     
  3. kel3420

    kel3420 VIP Whale

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    "I wake up at 430am and I am thirsty as hell. I head downstairs in my PJs and bed head, I do not care. I get a couple water bottles and a Gatorade. I get back to bed."

    Been there, done that. Lol

    MY kind of trip report. Loved every minute!
     
  4. ronc

    ronc VIP Whale

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    Enjoyed the trip report...hope it isn't the last one!!
     
  5. aliasyoshi

    aliasyoshi Low-Roller

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    Great report. I admit to being a huge wrestling fan, so I think I have an idea of who the wrestler was you mentioned. But if you have pics, I could confirm for you. :thumbsup:
     
  6. DrLect

    DrLect Winning!

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    Hilariously detailed trip report! My favorite excerpts are below:

    We got back to hotel about 8pm and totally crashed. We both woke up at 2am when the FSE music stopped and were thirsty as hell. I told Bill I would give him $100 if he went downstairs and got us something to drink. He came back with a vitamin water and a bottle of Fiji for me. Yay! We sat up talking for a while and then went back to bed.

    What a good guy. Did he ever get his $100?


    Funniest scenario: Bill won me a large prize at SkeeBall. I chose the orange “weinerman”. The guy handed it to me and said “I have worked here for 8 years and I have only seen someone choose a weinerman once before you”. I explained that my favorite color is orange and I like weiner. LOL!

    Did weinerman go home on the plane?

    We go into the Flamingo and pee. There is a line in the women’s restroom. It is only a 6-stall restroom, but one of the stalls had been apparently occupied a long time. The restroom attendant was trying to talk to the person inside, but no response. A female security guard comes in and tries as well. No response. I look under the door and I see TWO pairs of shoes. I tell them they are probably f***ing in there but they say there has been no movement for a while in there. I’m like WOW, they are either both passed out in there or one has murdered the other. LOL. They are getting ready to remove the door, but we left. I am still curious about what happened.

    Curiouser and curiouser.


    Stephanie is drunk.

    I do not remember leaving Voodoo. I do not remember taking the shuttle back to Harrah’s. I wake up about 4 hours later half dressed in my friend’s room. I wake up and throw up. LOL. I am a little more sober now so I get dressed. Just as I was about to leave the room, Tami comes up. She asks how I’m feeling and where I got the banana from. I ask her WTF is she talking about. She shows me outside her hotel room door there is a banana peel on the floor. I said I have no idea so we just crack up about how random that is.

    Assuming it was Tami's room.

    (We seem to buy an umbrella every summer in Vegas.)

    It is counter-intuitive that there is high demand for umbrellas in the desert, sun-shades maybe.

    A very enjoyable read, thanks for the one-time effort!
     
  7. techie223

    techie223 High-Roller

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    Thanks for posting such a detailed trip report. It was a great read :beer:

    Finally discovered last month that Saturday night is the best time to leave Las Vegas. NO lineups.
     
  8. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    Thanks everyone! I am glad my trip report is enjoyable to read. Maybe I'll end up doing another one in October.

    DrLect, he didn't make me give him the $100 because he knew I would just end up getting it back from him so it would be a wash. LOL

    I attached the pic of Weinerman. He was about 2 foot tall but skinny and straight (that all sounds weird) so he fit at the front of my suitcase just fine! :) (I attached a photo)
     

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    • Wow! Wow! x 1
  9. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    Photos of my Premium room at Harrahs
     

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  10. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    My basic room at the Mirage. It was a great view, hard to capture with cell phone camera.
     

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  11. Terry Benedict

    Terry Benedict VIP Whale

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    You figured out the way to cure guys of strip clubs: take them to a crappy one. Bravo.

    I never understood why they don't increase the quality of dancers at Glitter Gulch. It is in a prime position to be a premier club. I've never been in because of its reputation.
     
  12. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    I know what you mean. I am obviously not a strip club goer, but even I have some common sense. Our waitress was the best looking girl we saw. One of the dancing girls was attractive, but she danced in her bikini. The guys were not pleased. If they ever want a successful business, they might consider having the most attractive ones be topless and not the unattractive ones. LOL

    This was a Friday night too. You'd like it would be better on the weekend. Yikes.
     
  13. USCHawks

    USCHawks High-Roller

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    Excellent trip report! I saw a few of the things you posted on facebook (we're friends on myvegas) and it was nice to read the detailed trip report.

    Also, what exactly is the 50 cent happy hour at Five50? I went to their website but didn't see anything about a happy hour. I'll be staying at Aria in November and you definitely caught my interest in going there.
     
  14. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    I can see why you might not ever do another report... tough to beat that one! What a great Vegas visit!!! Thanks for takin' the time to share with us!
     
  15. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    Five50 is right in front of the sportsbook at Aria. They have a to-go counter at the front and further back they have the actual restaurant. They have beers for 50 cents during happy hour (only at the bar) between 500 and 550. When I was there, it was Goose Island 312. Not sure if that changes or not.

    You do need to be there about 445 to get a seat at the bar because once 500 hits, all the cockroaches (the ones that come all the way to Aria for 50 cent beers and then pick up their remaining change off the bar and never tip) come out of the woodwork. LOL.
     
  16. D in the D

    D in the D Oldest ride, Longest Line

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    Awesome report, thanks for sharing. Still wanna know who the WWE folks were....
     
  17. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    That was some funny shit...:nworthy: And you're right, it does just about make you feel drunk:drunk: Sounds like you had a great trip....I'd need to take a week just to recuperate!

    Thanks for posting:beer: - Dino
     
  18. USCHawks

    USCHawks High-Roller

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    Thanks for the heads up!
     
  19. RAWDAWG33

    RAWDAWG33 Low-Roller

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    Amazing TR. thank you for putting in all the effort for all us readers.
     
  20. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    Fantastic trip report with lots of laughs along the read. Pretty sure I'd have stayed until the door was removed from the stall!:eek:
     
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