Robinson After Action Report, Aug 4 - 7

This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein belong solely to the author – deansrobinson - and not necessarily to the author’s absolute favorite Vegas related website, CET, Nevada Gaming Commission, or any other group or individual. This was one of those ‘just show up’ trips that are so relaxing. We’ve reached the point where there is no sense of urgency. So there!


Leaving Tampa, dark and early last Sunday morning. We transit Houston and arrive in Las Vegas somewhere ‘round ten or so in the morning. Breaking with a long-held tradition of having to while away the hours, our room was, in fact, ready upon arrival. We checked in, got to the room, got decked out in full Florida pool regalia with Coppertone accent, and ambled down to the pool. It was crowded, with the only available chairs being ones with rental ($59/day) umbrellas. So, we rented one and ordered 32 ounces of Paradise Punch. Followed by 16 more ounces of said libation. The pool population was adult in nature, not a lot of kids. Not a lot of shenanigans (see Flamingo Go Pool), just cooling off. As for chair availability, you do have to come early if you want two together, but there’s always umbrella / cabana rental. Good place to work on your tan and lounge about. Wait service was very good. Much better than in the casino.

After about five or so hours, we went back up to the room and headed to Caesars for dinner at the Old Homestead. Started with the best crab cake I’ve ever had. Dinner was the 38 oz Lollipop Ribeye for two. Every trip to Vegas we do one “good” dinner, and this was the 2019 winner ( https://www.caesars.com/content/dam/clv/Dining/Upscale/Old%20Homestead/menus/clv-homestead-dinner-menu-41019.pdf). We hung out and played slots in Caesars for awhile then went to Cromwell to play for a few hours. By the time we went to bed, we’d been up for 27 hours, so lights out.


Monday, I got up and went downstairs for the standard croissants & coffee to take back up to the room. It was around nine thirty or so, and the line at JJ’s Boulangerie was up to the door. Fortunately, it moves quickly due to attrition (tourists tire of waiting and just step away). Something we need to make clear to our guests…those coupons you get for your first stay at Paris…complementary / money off stuff…let’s make sure we all understand that they must be used PRIOR to checking out. Can’t use them once you’ve checked out, as is often the case, and you’re just idling waiting on the airport ride. I’d say half a dozen people in front of me faced this issue, and the staff had to explain it time after time. I’m just guessing this is unique to Vegas, and may not be an issue in other parts of the planet, as another common denominator was that most were international visitors.

Filled the day by walking up to MGM, walking around Tropicana, checking out Mandalay Bay, Excalibur and Eately. What about Eately? We stopped in for some gelato but didn’t pick up anything for lunch. It’s interesting and probably a good break from the standard Vegas casino cuisine (food court). We might go back for lunch one day, maybe a pizza, but if we don’t – well, there are worse fates.

Tuesday was spent monorailing up and down Las Vegas boulevard. For some reason, I had in my noggin that Margaritaville was being dismantled. Not the case. The restaurant, gift shop and micro-casino is still there. Don’t know if it’s still the same name, or if there have been unnoticeable changes made since I was there last, but it looks the same. What has disappeared, much to Cindy’s chagrin, is “Sprinkles”. She was so looking forward to a cupcake from there. OWSH. I suppose it’s all about how the spreadsheet shakes out. Perhaps the strip demographic leans more towards frozen drinks than cupcakes.

We rode the monorail down to SLS. They had some promotion where you show your monorail ticket and you get $5 free play (non-progressive) on slots. You basically must get a player’s card, but it ain’t no thang. My $5 free play was exhausted in just a few spins of Goldfish. Cindy, on the other hand, managed to turn her $5 into $100! Unfortunately, this just reinforced her belief that if you’re holding a new player’s card then the slots are rigged to payout just to keep you hooked. This is where I live.

Lunch was at Shake Shack up near NYNY. More afternoon slots and ambling about…nothing worthy of note. Played some of the ever popular 6:5 blackjack at the Flaming Oh. The draw being that it was just $10 hand (and of course the side bets of bust or variations on trip-sevens), which is what Cindy’s comfort level is. She gets all stressy at $25/hand. And those side bets, interestingly, I didn’t see too many of those hit during our four-hour session. Gotta remember, they’re $5/play so a hand of $10 is really $20 if you include the side bets. I just figured I’d keep an awareness of how many times one of those would have paid off. The correct answer is “hardly ever”. After the cards it was pizza back in the room, nod out, pack and check out the next morning. The route to the peninsula was Southwest Vegas to Houston to New Orleans to Tampa. Truthfully, it was kind of nice to break up what would have been a 4.5 hour non-stop.

So, not eventful at all. Very little excitement. But it was great to just hang out with Cindy. This is the first time, in ages, she’s gone to Vegas and not lugged around work, or at least been pre-occupied about work. No schedule, just meander as we saw fit. Hopefully that’s the template for future trips.

Technical details:

a) Airfare – used accrued miles, only paid taxes, $125 total

b) Resort – comped room, resort fees excluded, $125 total

c) Bankroll out: $4.5K, funds returned $2.6K, losses @: $1.9k gross (average $315/day/person).

d) Average surface temp of Las Vegas Boulevard: days: 5,700 degrees Kelvin, nights: 5,600 degrees Kelvin

e) Observations: witnessed a lot of high volume in-public marital / relationship confrontation. I guess we can’t defer these conversations until we get back to the room and I’m guessing heat and alcohol might play a part as well. The porn slappers have been replaced by “Wanna buy a joint? 40% THC, the highest you can buy?”. Still can’t wrap the ole noggin around kids in Vegas. Construction still going hot and heavy, can’t wait to see the final product. Places we might put on the agenda would be Westgate sports book during football season, Caesars or MGM Grand on the next trip out. This was probably our last summer trip to Vegas. Since Cindy’s retired, we’re no longer tied to the school calendar.

That’s it kids. Sedate Trip #9 is in the books.

 

thanks for the report

 

We prolly crossed paths. I checked in to PH on Tuesday and played (mostly sober) at Paris that night.

 

Thanks for posting. I will do my best to get some of yours and @dmr 's money back from the Paris casino starting on Monday.

 

Great report! It looked like it was a nice relaxing trip for the both of you.

 

'could be. Tuesday night was our "late night". We spent our Pairs time playing Ultimate X, Deuces Wild Spin & JOB poker machines. Had you spotted my ever-so-stylish VMB bracelet we could have done the "Hey...I know you!" routine.

 

Uh, to be totally honest, I don't know what a VMB bracelet looks like. {blush}

You might have identified me by all of the Defcon regalia, which I'm sure you saw.

Oh, when I go to Paris, I'll often take a few and hang out where the band is playing, often enjoying a beverage at the rail ramp thing.

 

Thanks for the report

 

Sold! This is being added to our to do list.

Our kind of trip.

Yep, gotta do Shake Shack or Earl of Sandwich every trip for us.

Best sentiment for sure!!

Debriefing complete.

 

Good stuff! Glad you had a good time!

 

Yep, lots of Defcon / Blackhat accoutrement on the strip during our stay. We did hang out at the bandstand for a song or two. All the seats were taken, so we just leaned up against a slot machine, takin' it in.

 

LOL, I was probably playing the Lovely Outlaws machine right there as you were leaning against it. This was the session where I saw NO cocktail servers at all.

 

Nice report!

I stopped by the Westgate when I was staying at the Wynn at the end of June. I hadn't been there since they remodeled the Superbook. I was very impressed. It's got the best screens and a great layout, yet the casino has an "hard gamblin', old school" edge to it.

 

Nice info on what you did, thanks for sharing!

Back before I quit teaching, we were tied to the school calendar too for all of our trips. Nice you and your wife have travel flexibility now. Enjoy!

Vegasworm

P.S. I promise to keep my kids out of the way if we ever cross paths in Vegas!

 

Nice Report

 

Great report!
[emoji106]

 

Nice report-thanks for sharing. I was there last week as well and agree that it's too hot in the summertime to visit. From now on it will be fall or spring for me.

 

I love trips like these and look forward to it with my wife. Currently I'm retired but my wife still works so when we go to Vegas the trip length and day arrivals, departures will be worked around her work responsibilities. I love Vegas trips where we can just hang out and play it by ear.

Enjoyed your TR in after-action form. Mentioned to my wife we gotta try that Rib-eye for two.

Thanks again for a great report!

 

Great report. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be in that heat in about a week. But I think I may be well acclimated since our AC has been out at home for almost a week in this 100 degree heat.

 

Thanks for the great report, but boy that is some flight itinerary to get from Vegas back to Tampa, considering it's only a 4 hour direct flight.