Caesars Palace, 7/27-8/1, trying some new stuff!

Hi everyone. This is my first attempt at a trip report. I’ve always enjoyed reading other TRs and have found them extremely helpful when looking for fun things to do in Vegas.

About us: Married couple, me 36 and her 30, from central Illinois. Travelling with my mom and stepdad. We’re all four Vegas veterans… this is my seventh trip and their thirteenth. Despite most assumptions, my mom and stepdad are probably the two best travel companions in the world.

I always function as the official ‘planner’ for any trip that I take with others (I put together a trip for our bachelor/bachelorette parties for us and 24 of our best friends in 2012!) Since the four of us have all been to Vegas multiple times, I wanted to put together some evening plans that took us to some places we’ve never been. It ended up being a really fun time… I hope you enjoy the TR!

Sunday 7/24

We’re taking the 8:20pm flight out of Peoria, IL. Apparently, there were a lot of storms in Vegas on Sunday afternoon, so everything was grounded. I get a text during the drive to the airport that the flight is delayed 90 minutes. Ugh We get checked in, and I get another text saying it’s delayed another hour. Double UGH On top of all of it, the tiny bar in the tiny airport is closed for the evening. Triple UGGGHH The plane finally gets there and we quickly board, since the pilot is minutes away from ‘timing out.’ This means that if we don’t get in the air quickly enough, we won’t get to leave until tomorrow. Luckily, we speed through everything and take off around 11:15pm. I’m a little peeved that my vacation is starting 3 hours late, but mostly I’m just bummed that I’m pretty much missing out on that first night in Vegas.

We land at about 1:30am Vegas time. Since the airport is mostly empty, we get our bags quickly and there is virtually no line for a cab. The cab ride to Caesars is exceptionally quick, too, since Koval is traffic-free at 1:30am on a Sunday/Monday. We get to Caesars Palace, and somehow the check-in line is longer than I’ve ever seen, and there are only two clerks at the counter. Sigh… more waiting… about thirty minutes. I finally get to the counter and check-in is easy. I know this is my seventh trip, but I’ve never tried the $20 trick. I’m half-asleep and kind of delirious at this point, so I give it a go. I mess it up, though. I just kind of hold the twenty and wave it around like some dumbass air traffic controller. The girl at the counter didn’t upgrade anything, I still got a Palace Tower room, but we got it on the top floor and I’m just thankful to have a bed, so I give her the twenty anyway.

So, we get to our Palace Tower Deluxe room. The view is facing north toward the Mirage and if you crane your neck just right, you can get a good look at Wynncore and Venetian/Palazzo. The bed is extremely comfortable. The bathroom is huge… the tub and the shower are both big enough for two, maybe three people (if you’re into that).

We unpack and DW is starving, so we head down to the Cypress Street glorified food court. The only thing open is Slice, and their pizza has been sitting out for god knows how long. Nonetheless, it’s 2:30am (4:30am our time) so it’s the best slice I’ve ever had. Even though I’m dog-tired, I’m able to get a gin and tonic nightcap and some DDB. I almost immediately draw four to a royal and think I may be dreaming. I quickly come to when, of course, it hits nothing. I get down quick, but hit a couple of full houses in quick succession to break even. We stumble upstairs and pass out around 3:30am.

More to come…

 

Hope the rest of the trip goes better!

 

Bound to get better! Fellow Central IL here, my wife and I are flying out of Champaign in 19 days and can't wait.

 

This. At least the pilot didn't "time out" though. The one time that happened to me, my former coworkers and I decided it was better to drive back to the University of Illinois from Philadelphia after a conference via rental car because we could make it back to Champaign faster doing that than waiting for the next available flight out. We also would have had to stay in the airport overnight if we didn't. :confused2:

 

I'm in Champaign myself. I missed that one year that we could actually get a direct flight to Vegas! I'm back to using Peoria or Midway since I'm not a fan of connecting/layovers/etc.

 

Monday 7/25
Amazingly, I’m up and raring to go at 8:30am. The shower is so big I feel like dancing, but decide against it for the sake of my health. While DW is getting ready, I head downstairs to get my bearings. I haven’t stayed at Caesars since ’05, and I rarely play here. It’s such a huge floor that I feel like I should get to know my way around. Since I’m the ‘planner,’ everyone will undoubtedly be asking me where everything is located. I do a couple of laps, and then I find a 9/5 DDB machine. I figure this’ll be the best I can do here, so I sit and almost immediately I’m dealt another four to a royal. Again, nothing. I lose a quick $40. Alas… I head over to Starbucks to buy DW an $8 mocha.

We head to Mirage where I cash in a Myvegas 2-for-1 buffet. We get two lunch buffets for about $28. The variety isn’t huge, but everything I tried was good quality. I’ve had a lot of prime rib at a lot of Vegas buffets, but I think this one is the best. One bonus is that it’s all the beer and wine you can drink, so I get a few Goose Island IPAs to wash everything down. We leave and on the way out of Mirage, I stop by the sports book to check NFL futures. I’m shocked to see that the odds to win the Super Bowl for my beloved Bears have dropped from 20/1 to 6/1! Eeesh… too much pressure for a Chicago sports fan.

We head back to Caesars to change for the pool and slather our lily-white selves in sunscreen. The Caesars pool complex is kinda ridiculously huge. The best deck chairs are taken, but it’s a weekday, so plenty of chairs are left. We hang out by the Apollo pool, since it’s the least crowded and there aren’t any kids running around. Also, the loud music from the main pool area is pretty soft back here. I don’t mind the music all that much, I’d just rather listen to my own headphones. We settle in to relax and read and sip a $9 beer. I need to take a dip every 10-15 minutes or else it feels like my skin is gonna burst into flames. We’ve had a pretty mild summer in Illinois, so the heat is a bit of a shock at first. The pool is the absolute PERFECT temperature for a hot day. Cool but not freezing.

After a couple hours, I’m feeling drowsy from the sun, so I head back upstairs for a power nap. While I’m napping in my underwear, DW takes a bath and is walking around in a towel when the maid opens the door and barges in. DW had turned off the do-not-disturb light, incorrectly assuming that maid service only came by in the mornings. DW asks the maid to just drop off towels and leave, since I’m sleeping. There’s a severe language barrier, however, so the maid apparently misunderstands and commences scrubbing the entire bathroom while DW waits in her towel. I slept through the whole encounter, but DW said it was awkward as hell.

I wake up refreshed after a 45 minute power nap during which I dreamed that some lady was in the room, speaking Spanish and wandering around the bed. Weird. I shower up and we head down for some pre-dinner drinks and gambling. DW insists on playing blackjack on a VP machine, which has god-awful rules. No doubling, no splitting, no winning allowed. I win a quick $20 on DDB after a couple lucky hands. We meet mom and stepdad and head out.

Dinner tonight is at Casa di Amore. For those of you wondering, YES, they do indeed come and pick you up in a limo and give you a free ride to the restaurant and back. We tipped $15 each way. The ride is a long one, so a cab would probably be at least $30 each way from the strip. The limo is not nice, by any means, but free is free and it comfortably fit all four of us (and stepdad and I are both pretty big gents). The driver, Oscar, was incredibly sweet, too. Monday is half-price bottles of wine, so we get a chardonnay for the table and order some wrapped prawns as an appetizer. I order the stuffed pork chops and they are TO DIE FOR. The service and atmosphere at the place are excellent. Two older gentlemen were playing some lounge standards on keyboard and drums. Both were good singers, and they knew the perfect volume to play at that added a ton of atmosphere but didn’t disrupt conversation. This place was several miles east of the strip, but it was packed. I imagine the half-price wine probably draws a ton of locals…

Instead of heading back to Caesars, I ask the limo driver to take us downtown, which isn’t a problem. He drops us off at Downtown Cocktail Room. I’d never been here before, so I take a good look at the menu before ordering. End up deciding on The Redeemer, which is really tart and delicious. The music is excellent downtempo, good for conversation. It really is a good location for kicking off and/or ending an evening downtown. Service is a little slow, but the drinks are so good it’s worth the wait. Also, we got there before 8pm, so most drinks are a few bucks off.

Allegiant Air has a $50 match play deal going with Golden Gate, so we walk the length of Fremont to start there. We show our boarding passes (they're on my phone) and receive two $25 match play chips apiece. I hit two straight $25+MP bets at the blackjack table and walk with a quick $100 profit. Thanks Allegiant! It almost made up for the poopy Sunday night they gave me! DW, stepdad and mom all get some nice wins from their match play, too. Stepdad hits a couple $200 spins at a Monopoly machine, then sits down at the DDB machine next to me and is almost immediately dealt four aces for another $200, so he’s nice and happy at this point.

We cash out and head next door to Le Bayou. I’ve never been here, but I’ve heard it’s a hot mess. I really wanna check it out. We get our beads and lottery card at the door. Someone immediately takes my drink order when I walk in. I sit and put $10 in a machine and someone else takes another drink order from me. Neither drink comes and I lose my $10. Meanwhile, DW goes into the bathroom and a blonde twenty-something puke monster is ravaging the place with hot-pink chunks, so she quickly backs out. She just as quickly decides against purchasing any of the hot-pink drinks they’re hocking in the back. We last about 10 minutes here, overall, and I walk out and check it off my list.

It’s midnight. We very slowly make our way down to The D. There are SO MANY people out on a Monday night on Fremont. There is a live band every block and more kids than I’ve ever seen anywhere in Vegas, so foot traffic is slow-going. We head upstairs to the Vintage Vegas room at The D because I wanna yell at the Sigma Derby machine for a little while. I get sidetracked by some 9/6 odds on a DDB machine and drop in a $20. A few hands in, I hit four kings and cheer. I figured I’ll walk at this point and hit cash out, forgetting that in Vintage Vegas, everything pays out in coin. The hopper fills up and then, of course, the machine jams. It still owes me $18, but they can’t get it fixed, so an attendant walks over and I get my very first ‘hand pay’ in Vegas. Sure, it’s only $18, but it’s still a hand pay and it somehow makes my night in my drunken haze. :Þ

I never get to the Sigma Derby machine, since everyone in my party is pretty much checked out by this point. We catch a cab back to Caesars. Once off the interstate, the driver took the weirdest route through service entrances behind the Mirage and the wrong way down a couple of other driveways. I don’t think it saves us any money, but almost definitely saved us some time. It’s after 2 by the time we’re back so it’s upstairs for bed.

More to come!

 

Me either. We have flown out of Peoria before but my wife's company now uses American so there is always a layover somewhere when using those free miles. The free drinks at the Admiral's Club help balance the inconvenience.

 

great trip report...looking forward to more!

 

Nice report so far - keep it up!

The maid in the room was funny when you mentioned dreaming it. That could have been a fun...dream!

 

Great report....more please

 

Appears the trip is taking off and much better than your initial day.

 

Enjoying the report. Looking forward to the rest of the trip!

 

Good read!

 

Tuesday 7/29

Again, I’m surprised that my eyes spring open right at 8am. I hop out of bed wide awake, and I’m showered and ready to go by 9. Today is our guys/girls day. DW and mom are gonna hang by the pool, have lunch at Spago and hit the Forum Shops. Stepdad and I are hitting some more old/new places we’re wanting to see.

First off, I want to get the Bellagio buffet Myvegas reward, but for some reason, it’s not available on mobile. I don’t have a laptop or anything with me, so I get ahold of my buddy back home who is another Myvegas fiend. He logs onto Facebook for me and grabs the free buffet and I immediately see the email pop up on my phone, so I’m good to go. I head over to Bellagio with stepdad and we find the line to only be about 10 minutes. We get to hop ahead of a lot of people because almost everyone is in groups of eight or more. This is my first trip to the Bellagio buffet, and I’m kind of underwhelmed. We get there just in time for the breakfast/lunch turnover, so there is good variety. I’m just kind of okay with the food overall, especially so soon after the Mirage buffet which had less variety but much better quality, in my opinion. Ho hum… at least I’m full and ready for another long day, and a free buffet is good in my book any time!

We start to walk out of Bellagio, when I see one of those solo roulette machines. One of my buddies gave me a $5 to put on 14, so I sit down and fire up my video camera on my phone. I put down the five spot and spin. It lands on 19 quick and I send the video to my friend with no note. He quickly gets back to me that the suspense got his heart beating. Even though he didn’t win, I’m glad to dole out some vicarious Vegas excitement to a friend.

Stepdad and I cross the street to the Tix4Tonight booth in front of Ballys. There’s quite a line, and it’s outside, but they have a canopy and misters so we stay pretty cool while we’re waiting. I take the opportunity to update my travelogue and purchase a groupon for tomorrow night’s show at Riviera. After a 20-minute wait, we reach the front of the line and quickly purchase our half-price tickets for Harrahs comedy club tonight… two for about $35, I think.

We then walk over to check out the new Cromwell. I haven’t been inside since it was Bill’s and I wanna see. The inside is kind of trippy if you were a fan of the old Bill’s like me. The shell is essentially the same. The main bar is in the same place and some of the light fixtures even look the same. But gone is the smoke stained carpet, the dingy walls, the beer spots on the tables. We belly up to the bar to play some 9/5 DDB. Great service by Chris, the bartender. Cold draft beers on a really hot day taste SOOO good… we pound quite a few. Of course, a few hands in, stepdad is dealt ANOTHER quad for a quick $50. I start to believe his theory about the ‘hooker seat.’ Every one of his big-pay pat hands have come at the second seat from the far right side of the bar. I’ve never heard of this called the ‘hooker seat,’ but he swears by it, and even the logician inside of me is finding it hard to argue with the results that I’ve seen so far.

We cash out after I’ve only lost $10 and head next door to the Stage Door, another place I’ve walked by a million times but never been inside. We sit and order a shot and a beer each for $4. Fireball and a cold Michelob are quite tasty. I refuse to play 6/5 DDB even for quarters, so I sit and cheer on stepdad. Amazingly, he doesn’t get a single good hand dealt to him. I enjoy the mid-afternoon atmosphere of Stage Door so we have one more shot and take a beer for the road.

I can say that the walk to Ellis Island from Stage Door, while not long, is pretty brutal in my current state (i.e. drunk). It’s about 105 degrees out and there is no shade during the 1/3 mile or so. By the time we get to Ellis Island, we’re soaked through. Nonetheless, I’m excited. Ellis Island is another place I’ve heard good things about but have never visited. Stepdad commences losing his ass on slots, while I search around for good paytables. The best I find is some 9/5 JoB. It was finally my turn to be dealt a quad. It’s only JoB, but I’ll take the quick $20. Surprisingly, the drink service is totally non-existent in this place. I end up cashing out and taking my ticket up to play a bartop just to get a beer. The in-house IPA is excellent, if you’re a fan of IPAs in general. After an hour or so, stepdad is grumbling about how tight the machines are, so we take off.

We hike the desert sands back to the Stage Door for another quick shot and a beer for the road. Then we take the back way through the Flamingo to casino-hop over to Harrahs. We sit at the casino bar near Toby Keith’s place, and I burn through $35 on 9/5 DDB. I’m amazed at the bizarre nature of the music that’s playing. It’s all 70’s folk, kind of obscure, and it hits the spot while I nurse three or four Mike’s Hards.
We start to make our way back to Caesars, but I hear the dulcet tones of Big Elvis in the Harrahs Piano Bar. I can’t believe my unbelievable luck that I finally get to see his show, another first for me. I grab a seat and watch him belt, shimmy, and sweat his way through Sweet Caroline and Blue Suede Shoes. I only got to see the two songs, but I shoulder my way in to get a picture with the man, and he happily obliges. I’m positively glowing at this point…

We head back to Caesars and I run a bath and fall asleep in the tub around 4:30pm. DW gets back and is afraid that I’m gonna drown, so she wakes me up and we hop in bed for a power nap. We get ready and meet mom and stepdad at the lobby bar at 7:30pm. We go across the street to Chayo (in the Linq) for our 8pm dinner reservation. It’s 2-for-1 tacos and margaritas on Tuesdays! I have the steak tacos (SO GOOD), DW has the fish tacos (SO GOOD), mom and stepdad have the lobster tacos (SO GOOD). Margaritas are excellent, and the service is great. Also, we get a show as there is a line of drunk twentysomethings constantly hopping on the mechanical bull right next to our table. They look so damn confident climbing up there, only to have their pride dashed on the mat below within 5 seconds. It’s one of the most entertaining parades I’ve ever seen. Dinner totals to about $35 after tip… a great deal!

We head to the Quad and check out the new TAG bar. It’s all video gambling. I was expecting more new-ish machines, but it’s mostly just the old standards. They do have some cool coffee-table sized tablets that you can use for internet access or video gaming. I get in a quick game of checkers against DW while mom and stepdad try out the giant multi-hand blackjack rig. I also note that this would be an excellent place to camp and watch NFL when I'm back in December. They have tappers at the table, so you can serve yourself... Look out, future me.

DW and I sit down at a nearby blackjack table to play some quick $5 minimum before the Harrahs show starts. I commence one of the weirdest, quickest losing streaks I’ve ever had. I put down $100 and was planning on killing about 20 minutes before the show. I last only about 5 minutes and have lost $80. I seriously can’t catch anything. The dealer has SEVEN six-card 21s during this streak. I was dealt 13-16 on EVERY hand, except for one 10, which I doubled, received a ten and the dealer had a six-card 21. It wasn’t the money, really. It was just the shock of losing that many hands so quickly that kinda throws off my chi. I stagger away from the table with my leftover $20 and limp into the Harrahs comedy club next door.

The 10pm show is unfortunately pretty low-energy. DW and I are both actors, improv comedians and appreciators of good stand-up. Good comedy is kind of the backbone of our relationship, so we’re hoping for a good show. The opener and feature comedians, however, just seem tired. They each have about a 15 minute set, and neither really seems to have even a solid 5 minutes of good material. I know a lot of local and Chicago-based comics who have a good 20-minute set under their belt at all times, so I’m kind of shocked at the lackadaisical performance by these two pros who have secured an entire week at a major club on the Vegas strip. Anyhoo, the headliner, Skylar Stone, makes up for everything when he enters. Mostly pretty simple comedy… some impressions, a lot of ‘crowd work.’ But here’s the thing: HE’S FUNNY. Funny trumps everything. So we leave happy after his 30-minute set.

We all walk over to Cromwell. DW and I sit and play the bartops while mom and stepdad hit the slots. None of us have any luck tonight… alas. I drop another $70 into the DDB and can’t catch anything. DW loses another $40 on that damn video blackjack. Bartenders here are really fun, though, and the draft beer hits the spot at the end of a long day. We head back to Caesars and play the virtual blackjack machine for a bit. Much better rules there… it even lets you surrender. I win a quick $30, which serves as a bit of a morale-booster at the end of the day. We have the munchies, so we stop by the gift shop and get some grossly-overpriced snacks. We head upstairs, eat crackers in our giant bed, and are both asleep by 1:30am.

More to come!

 

Great report! Hitting those two match plays at GG must've felt good.

 

The reason you didn't see the buffet reward was because buffets along with all to good stuff is blocked for locals. You wouldn't have seen them even if you had your laptop with you. Also if you're planning on using more buffets from MyVEGAS, you can just skip the line with it. That it unless you waited 10 minutes in the "better queue".

Enjoying your report so far!

 

That's good to know about the locals restriction. Freebies were out, but the two for ones at mirage and aria still worked.

How do you mean "skip the line?" I can use the mlife fast line even though I'm just gold level? I didn't see any significant lines this trip, but that'll be good to know for the future!

 

Wednesday 7/30
I wake up at 9am and can tell DW is really dragging this morning. So I shower quick and head down to walk the floor for a bit. I play some 9/5 DDB and still can’t hit anything significant and drop $50 pretty quickly. I head over to the sports book and am shocked to find that my Bears are still at 18/1 to win the Super Bowl here. I find it weird that two separate sports books have such drastically different odds, but I still jump in and put a $20 on them. I’m afraid I may have cursed them by doing so, but shake it off quickly. I also briefly consider putting a bet on the Cubs game, but I’ve never bet baseball before and figure it’s not really worth it.

DW is downstairs by 10:30 and we head over to the Quad to hit Hash House for breakfast. We’re amazed that there is absolutely no wait for a table. Instead of getting my standard chipotle chicken haystack, I keep to my theme of ‘new stuff’ and try the French toast. It’s really good, with cinnamon, bananas, and pecans, but it’s still not as good as my regular. Oh well…

We head back to Caesars and change for the pool. I find a nice shady corner of the Fortuna pool where I can sit in the water, sip from a bucket of beer (stepdad’s treat!) and read my book. The next three hours are the most relaxing part of my entire vacation. I’m normally so GO GO GO during a trip that I really try to soak up these rare times when I’m completely still and unplugged. It’s SO worth it!

We head upstairs to rinse off and meet back at the casino bar at 6pm. Lagunitas IPA is flowing freely and tasting good while I’m just playing quarters at the 9/5 DDB for a nice slow burn. Of course, stepdad sits directly to my left (in the ‘hooker’ seat), and is almost immediately dealt four 4s with a kicker for a quick $200. I about faint from the extreme déjà vu as stepdad dances around like the lovable lucky idiot that he is.

We all cash out and hop in a cab to head to Riviera at 7pm. I’ve never been to Riviera before, so when we arrive, I have to take my obligatory picture with the butt-line out front while intentionally looking as bored as possible. I post it to Facebook, #boredbutts.

I purchased a $47 groupon yesterday for the Wicked Vicky Tavern at Riviera. It includes SIX appetizers, four beers and four tickets to the comedy club. It really is an amazing deal and I highly recommend it. We arrive at Wicked Vicky and order six full appetizers, which serves as a good meal for all four of us. The wings, pretzels, cheese sticks and other pub fare are all good, especially for the price.

We head into the comedy club at 8:30. Both comedians tonight are excellent. Derek Richards is opening for Mitchell Walters. They’re two old-school guys that I’ve seen on TV a few times over the years. Lots of energy, good material and good crowd work… especially considering that there’s a group of women in the front with ZERO sense of humor who keep heckling and generally acting like assholes. It really is a thing of beauty when bad audience members are taken down by a comedian as beautifully as these people were.

After the show, I talk everyone into heading next door to the Fireside/Peppermill, another first for me. We aren’t able to get a seat directly by the fire/water pit, but we’re near it. Each couple orders an $18 scorpion, which comes in a 64oz glass roughly the size of a volleyball. The scorpion is some sort of rum drink poured over ice and blended with strawberry ice cream. It’s frigging delicious and hits the spot. The atmosphere of the Fireside is so intentionally campy and over the top that it is somehow perfect. I tell DW that if our next house has a basement, I’m making it over to look just like this place. She’s all for it.

OK, this next part I’m not proud of… :confused2:

My plan was to head back to the Riv and play some $3 blackjack, but, somehow, stepdad talks me into crossing the street and walking through Circus Circus (I’ve never been). Ohmydeargoodlordgod… Upon entering, I feel like some sort of cultural anthropologist who has stumbled upon the most depressing place in the developed world. I’m compelled to study it and its people, but I’m also just as compelled to run away screaming. DW and I stand slack-jawed and stare at a huge crowd of parents and children as they watch a hula hoop dancer do amazing things. Like, she's REALLY good. I could devote my life to trying to learn this, and not even be 1% as amazing as she is. But here’s the thing… whenever she finishes a trick: NO ONE CLAPS. Not one person even reacts. It’s midnight in Las Vegas, and I’m watching a silent room full of families who are totally and thoroughly unimpressed with this woman who has surely put so many hours of her life into honing her craft. The whole scene is so tragic that DW and I can’t help but stand on the sideline and laugh like a couple of uncouth hyenas. Yep… not proud, but GOD I love this city.

We back out of the circus that is Circus Circus and make our way over to Slots a Fun… yet another first for me. The place is almost entirely empty, so DW and I sit for some $1 blackjack. Wouldn’t you know it… I finally get on a good run, and it’s for dollar stakes. Alas.

We finally cab back to Caesars around 2am. The four of us hit the Seahorse bar and play the bartops while we exchange stories from the circus. There is a forty-something man and a woman sitting near the bar. They’re making out more passionately than I’m used to seeing in public. DW and I giggle a bit, but really, it’s nothing all that out of the ordinary in Vegas. However, after 3 minutes of playing VP, we turn back around and the two of them are just sitting there, totally ignoring each other while they flip through their phones. The sudden juxtaposition makes me honk with laughter and it is at this moment that I realize I’m drunk. Ahhh, vacation. Somewhere in my haze, I hit a quad 4 and take a picture so I don’t forget. That plus my Slots a Fun winnings put me back even for the day, so I take the opportunity to cash out and we head up to bed at 4am.

More to come!

 

I love all the shot + beer combos. We're about the same age and I'm impressed you can pull that off with such regularity and bounce back quickly the next day.

 

Yep, the people that do the circus shows there are pretty decent and terribly underappreciated. Something about Circus Circus makes me not hate the place. Not sure what it is though. The one time I stepped in Rivera though (a Tuesday about 8pm just coming from CC), now THAT depressed me. I felt like we were the only ones there.