Active November trip report

Not too much drunken buffoonery, but did alot of the things that are always on the list and never actually get done. My wife and I are 41. Not clubbers or high rollers. But we do like to have fun.

We arrived late morning on a Wednesday for a professional conference that would take up most of the day on Thursday and half day Friday. I had arranged for a limo to pick my wife and I up. A1Worldwide. Not good. Driver couldn't find us, we couldn't find him. When we found him he was a scruffy looking dude. Limo was okay, but no rose for the wife and no booze for me. Driver rolled divider down and apparently wanted to keep it down for the duration. We prefer some privacy. Anyways, I should have used one of the suggestions from this board.

We arrived at the Wynn, decent convention rate of $209. Wow! Very cool. Lobby was great, good feel right away. Bill Romanowski was checking in at the same time, so it seems like there would be some good celebrity spotting opportunities. Room was super as well. We had a more or less Strip facing room. It really looked out at the Fashion Show Mall, but ea also had good views of the Venetian, TI, and down the Strip. We could see the Mirage volcano eruptions at night. Flat screen televisions were cool, even in the water closet. Remote control curtains were also fun, I prefer the open and my wife wanted to close them, so we had ongoing fun that way.

Went to TI to pick up tickets for the evening 'O' showing. Had margaritas and appetizers at Kahunaville. Probably should have gone to Islas if we were going to drink tequila, but everything was good. The 'flair' bartenders were not as exciting as advertised, but still entertaining.

From there we took the tram to the Mirage. This is still the classic and the standard by which all other resorts should be judged. We played a little $5 blackjack and made sure to finish up. Modest win, but at a $5 table $40 and $20 bucks up are good starts to the trip.

From there we went to the Venetian to ride the Gondolas. Hokey, but fun! Had the whole boat to ourselves and a pleasant female gondolier with a good voice. My wife spent some time studying in Italy so she sang along. Definitely glad we did it.

Then went to the Imperial Palace for the free picture with Elvis. My wife was definitely opposed to the idea, but I begged and pleaded so she relented. We picked up the picture at the back of the casino. I thought they were going to make us sign up for a players card, but they didn't. I would not mind playing, but my wife prefers an atmosphere not so clogged with the smoke of retirees. I did play my LVA matchplays at the the blackjack table and won both times. So up another $20. The celebrity dealers looked interesting to me, but not interesting enough to keep us there.

By that time it was almost 4:00! We had to race! Okay we didn't actually run, but we definitely wanted to get there in time for Big Elvis. Watched an hour's worth of his show which is always enjoyable. I think we played a little more blackjack here, but must have stayed about even because I don't have any strong memories of it.

Headed back to the Wynn to get changed for dinner. We are kind of cheap so we walked almost everywhere. Were almost lured in by Carnaval Court, but couldn't find an outdoor blackjack table which I thought people discussed in the MM2 or S&M threads.

We did take a cab to the Stratosphere . I cannot recommend the Top of the World highly enough. It was great. Steaks were excellent. Lobster superb. They could add a ribeye to the menu, but the filet was perfect. The views were incredible. It turns, so after an hour and a half dinner you have seen it all and then some. Decent wine list. I have not been to Delmonico's, but as a rule I am finding that I would rather be at a gourmet room with a gimmick, like Top of the World or VooDoo, than Olives or Fleur de Lis. Anyways, it was great.

Cabbed it back to the Bellagio for 'O'. This show has been reviewed by more capable reviewers than me, so I'll just say that I'm glad I went and I was very impressed with the stunts. I would probably prefer a more linear story, but I was very glad to have seen my first Cirque show. My wife liked it more than I did, which probably means that it was better than I gave it credit for. After the show tried to have cocktails at Fontana's, but it was closed for a private party so had cocktails at the Baccarat bar instead. Lots of fun, good people watching in a very pleasant atmosphere.

That's it for day 1, I'll post more in a while.

 

I like it so far Danny! Carnaval Court's blackjack tables generally aren't open prior to the dinner hour. They're usually covered up until about 7:30-8pm or so. That's probably why you didn't find any.

Looking forward to reading the rest!

 

I'm into it, keep going............

 

The next morning I had to go to my program, but my spouse used the $50 LVA coupon at the Palms to get a massage and other spa treatments. Confirming that we are both a little on the cheap side she walked to the Barbary Coast to take the shuttle to the Gold Coast to walk across the street to get to the Palms. At any rate she that the massage was one of the very best that she's had, but was disappointed with the facilities. On her return she stopped at the Mirage and found a $5 blackjack table in the nonsmoking section and played for a couple of hours. She finished up $65. Her favorite dealer was an older, overly made up asian woman. When my wife expressed her frustration at another push the dealer wisely reminded her that, "push push is better than take take." That became a running joke for us and has even followed us home when we have our family blackjack games.

When I got out of my meetings at about 4:45 the wind was coming up. As I assumed that it would only get worse, we decided to see the Sirens of TI early show. When we got there it was, as usual, packed. We decided to go into Tangerine and get a seat by the window. The cocktail waitress told us that the seats were reserved. I asked for who and she said that I would have to speak with the bouncer. So I slipped him a $20 and he seated us immediately, the cocktail waitress was more attentive, colors more vivid etc. About the time my cheaper nature was questioning my $20 investment to see a free show that is routinely panned here the show started. Two or three minutes into the show some pushy broad wedges herself between my wife and one of the window mullions. At about the same time that my wife and I were exchanging glances, the bouncer was at her side, moving the interloper out of the area and telling her that the area was removed for VIPs. Best $20 we spent all trip.

We had a dinner to attend as part of the conference in a meeting room at the Wynn. Dinner was fine. The waitstaff was wearing the same outfits as the cocktail waitresses on the floor and was very easy on the eyes. After dinner we went with a group to the Frontier because I had boldly proclaimed that I was going to ride the mechanical bull. Stupid. But fun. I didn't get hurt and lasted long enough to avoid complete embarrassment. However, I did not expect one of my partners to email the firm back home and relate my adventures. Stayed and people watched and even danced at Gilley's. Good time. Lost my matchplay bet at the Frontier.

That was it for our second day.

 

I forgot to mention looking for a craps table at the Wynn on Thursday night. Nothing under $25 on a Thursday night. A little too pricey for me.

Anyway, I had a half day's worth of work commitments then we took off to hit some more sights. Our first stop was Madam Tussaud's. I would not go without a two for one or other deep discount coupon, but it was fun. The statues vary in quality, but there's something in there for everyone. Singers, Movie stars, athletes, etc. J. Lo's invites people to squeeze her best asset. I declined, but only because my wife was watching. There's a basket so that you try to make a layup agains Shaq. That was cool. And then there is a haunted movie theatre. Very fun, stupid scare tactics that work. Of course there is an opportunity to take your picture with Elvis, good looking Elvis, and the tour ends at the gift shop. Silly, but overall a good way to spend forty five minutes.

From there we went to the Paris. We picked up our tickets to We Will Rock You and had lunch at Mon Ami Gabi. We love that place. Food and service are high quality and the people watching is unbeatable. There was an hour wait, so we played some VP at the sports book bar. I hit four of a kind and was pretty happy. Drinks were good with the bartender using Patron for his margaritas.

Even pleasantly buzzed we couldn't find cheap blackjack or craps at the Paris, so after lunch we went back to the Barbary Coast. Had fun at a $5 blackjack table for a couple of hours. Up, down, repeat. Except at the end, they ran us off the table with an awful losing streak. Together we probably lost $150 in the last fifteen minutes. Decided that we had had enough and headed over to the Bellagio for a buffet dinner.

I like to eat. Growing up, I had a couple friends that every special occasion we would get our parents to take us to a buffet. They called it a "smorgasbord" back then. Any way, as I get older, the buffet is starting to lose its appeal. I was disappointed in the Aladdin buffet a couple of years ago, thought Caesar's was affirmatively bad, and have regretted any number of less memorable places. For $35ish a person, you can find a pretty good dinner and it will be better. However, there is something about Vegas and the buffet, so I had to try the Bellagio's. It was good. The crab legs, Kobe beef sirloin steaks, everything was very good. The pizza was very good. Service was above average. The desserts were not as out of this world as I had been led to believe, but very good. We were happy we went, but next time would go to Olives or Circo (I think Circo is the less expensive).

WWRY was very enjoyable. Maybe not quite as good as Mamma Mia, but very entertaining. Is it gone now? What will replace it? I was trying to count at 'O': maybe three or four thousand seats in the theatre? At $150 each? twice a night? five days a week? They must bring in $250 million a year! WWRY was not quite packed, but was still pretty full, we used our Auto club discount for 1/3 off. Had a ball, but hadn't really done the math on the Vegas shows. No wonder the Coliseum penciled out for Celine.

From there we headed back to the Wynn, still saw no blackjack tables at Carnival Court. We hung out at the Up Parasol lounge. Very similar to every other upscale lounge. Good drinks that they charge for plus very good people watching that's free. Apparently one of a group of these 45-50 year old wives, attractive, aerobics (or pilates) plus surgery types had purchased a $4,000 pair of shoes. The other three were drunkenly taking turns trying them on, screaming and generally making spectacles of themselves, which is presumably what one wants to do if one buys a $4,000 pair of shoes. It went on for a long time and actually got funnier as it went along. Security didn't know what to do with them, but they were literally on the floor as they tried the shoes on and they were very loud. We also saw a salt and pepper hooker team working. After much groping and a little show and tell, we saw them leave with one guy, and in about thirty minutes were back down working some other guy. As we were heading back to the room we saw them working an older asian guy at a $100 blackjack table. They weren't really that attractive, a little overweight and were dressed like they belonged at O'Sheas more than the Wynn. But I guess Steve doesn't really care.

Anyway, that was pretty much the end of the trip. We got up early the next morning, uneventful cab ride, uneventful security line and uneventful flight. Can't wait to do it again. Next time we will do more gambling, but we got our short term fix. Thanks fo reading and sorry for the delay.

 

Nice report. Covered a little bit of everything and it seems a good time was had. WWRY closed the end of November. I haven’t gotten word of what will take its place.