Annual Pre-Christmas Trip Report 12/21-12/24

For the last few years the SO and I have made our annual trip out to LV during the period right before Christmas. Generally slower than usual and great deals to be had. Our focus this trip was on trying to some new food places and some relaxation.

Drive in Sunday 12/21, arrive at Caesar's around 2:30. We are booked in the Augustus Tower, so we check-in at the Octavious/Augustus desk. I put a $20 in with my CC and ID. The lady helping immediately puts it to the side. We are booked in a Deluxe King, so I ask if there are any upgrades or rooms available on a high floor with views of the Bellagio fountains. After about 3 minutes of checking, she says she's put us in a room on the 45th floor (out of 46). It was an even room #, so I knew we were on the right side of the tower. She then asks if I need any change for my $20 - of course I say no and we're off. We get to the room and it is directly overlooking the fountains. Great location within the Tower and as always, the Augustus rooms are very spacious.

Was it an "upgrade"? Did the $20 trick work? In my opinion, yes. For $6.66 extra per night, I got a great view from nearly the top of Caesars, looking down the south strip and over the fountains. Money well spent for me.

The first night we made it over to Harrah's were we always enjoy the Oyster Bar. As usual, we get the seafood platter and the french fries (made with funnel cake batter). The chef's makes us a few extra dishes on the house, as well as a few drinks - they are always taking care of customers. Another great meal.

We get into a few craps tables at Harrah's - SO and I both walk away after a few hours at about even.

Night one comes to a relatively end early, as I am beat from driving.

We start day two by walking over to check out Cromwell. The casino is empty and the workers look bored. The decor is very nice - and my SO says she wants to stay there in the future (noted). We play a few penny slots - win a few dollars and head up to try out Giada's for breakfast. An absolutely great experience is had here. We are seated along the large row of windows overlooking the Flamingo/LV Blvd intersection. Very nice views. SO raves about the Rise and Shine juice. We order the salmon cake benedict and the carbonara pizza. Both are exceptional. The salmon cakes were my favorite.

We end up walking south through PH and on to MGM. SO does a little shopping. We cross and start walking back toward Caesar's on the west side of the strip. We end up at Todd English PUB near Aria for a few beers and some more oysters. After a couple of hours, we're back to Caesar's. We stop by the Hangover $.01 slots - long story short, I get a bonus and win a $150 progressive. SO goes back to rest, while I play some craps. Make my donation to CET and go back to the room .

We head out for dinner off the strip. I find out my college b-ball team is playing in a tourney at the Orleans that evening. We are eating blocks away, so we decide to check out the game too. We stop at The Boiling Crab for dinner. This is a butcher paper on table, eat with your hands kind of place. It did not disappoint. My goal is to have my SO try and like crawfish. She's never had them. We order crawfish, mussels, oysters and sweet potato fries. Again, everything was really good. While a few items were not in season, the stuff we ordered came out perfect. We went with the medium sauce - it was spicy, but not real hot. Meal was exceptionally well priced. This will be a return stop on a future trip.

Off to the Orleans Arena. Grabbed a few beers and a couple tickets directly behind the team's bench. Enjoyed seeing the team play, but they got blown out by a much smaller and less talented team. Oh well.

Back to Caesar's where we played some craps and called it a night.

Next morning I am up early for a round of golf at CET-owned Rio Secco in Henderson. About a 15-20 minute drive from the strip. Only a few people playing - it's a little windy and about 50 degrees, but bright and sunny. There is no one to pair me with - so out I go on my own. The course is well maintained and challenging. The one down side is there is a ton of home construction going on right now along the course - so almost every other hole, you get a backloader moving dirt or other construction-related noise (not that it makes a difference for my game). Spent a very relaxing three hours on the course before heading back to Caesars.

SO and I head to Gordon Ramsey's for a light snack and a few drinks. After a few hours of walking around, we shop and play a few slots. Dinner time comes and we head to Joe's Prime Steak and Seafood in the Forum Shops. I order the stone crab and SO gets a steak. The crab are excellent. I highly recommend them when they are in season. SO's steak is perfectly cooked, however is warm, not hot when served. We get done there and I head to the craps table, SO heads off to the room for some R&R. After a few hours, I head back to room, grab a drink and head back down to round out the night at some craps tables.

We wake up early and are over to the Fashion Mall (or whatever it's called, across from Trump). SO does a few last minute shopping runs and we are on the road around 11 a.m.

Another great Vegas trip - a little less rowdy than previous trips, but in a very good way.

Merry Christmas!

 

Joe, thanks for the trip report, sounds like you like Oysters! I read that gulf coast oysters are in short supply, so I'm curious as to which style was more prevalent. I'm partial to those from Virginia.

 

Glad you had a good time! Remember about the Cromwell for the future...half the rooms have a worthless view.

 

Craps and seafood in Vegas. My kind of trip!! Enjoyed the report. Thanks for sharing!

 

Sounds like a great time for you seafood lovers! Thanks for sharing.

 

Nice report and happy to read that you were able to sneak away for a round at Rio Secco!

 

Just curious, did you need a reservation for breakfast at Giada's??

 

The day we went there was no wait at all. We actually walked over to Cromwell and on a whim decided to eat at Giada's around 9:30 a.m. We were seated right away and there was maybe two other couples in the whole place (it was the week of Christmas, so this is not unexpected). I could see how the place would get busy and I do believe they take reservations on the web site.

 

Thanks for the tip on Giada's for breakfast; putting that on my list of things to do.