1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

October 10th - 13th Very Long

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Todd Hart, Oct 19, 2007.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Todd Hart

    Todd Hart Tourist

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2002
    Messages:
    36
    Location:
    Bay City
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    27

    My Trip Report

    My trip report for my 28th trip to Vegas. October 10th - 13th.

    Rating system 1-5 with 5 being the best.


    My non-stop flight to Vegas leaves at 12:55 p.m. from Flint, so I have to work a half day before driving the 50 minutes to Bishop airport. I go into work an hour early so that I can leave an hour early. Work is going really well, I am having no problems and I am getting everything caught up for the day. 10:15 and I am ready to leave, but I have 45 minutes to go. I grab my traveling clothes out of the car so that I can change into them before I leave. With that done, I check my e-mails print my boarding pass and read some more threads at the LVA forum. 10:40. It's time to change my clothes. Before I do this, I shut down all my equipment and put all my chemicals away because no new orders have come in during this time. I change clothes, put in my lenses and I have 15 minutes before I can leave. I check e-mails one last time and sure enough, a customer sends in an order requesting that it be shipped with another order of his that was also shipping that day. I call the boss to my computer and explain to him the situation. He's not too happy! I quickly draw up some artwork and e-mail it to my customer for his approval and print the file so the boss can get the job out today. 11:03 Time to go. I grab my work clothes, throw them on the floor of Peter Parker (Peter Parker is my MR2 Spyder with a vanity plate SPDRMAN) and I am off to Flint.


    It's a perfect drive. No traffic and a nice sunny day. I have plenty of time to pick up a sandwich to eat on the plane. I park in the economy lot across the street and the shuttle is waiting for me. The driver gets out and hands me my lot slip and comments about my car. I thank her and it's off to the terminal across the street. Because I only have a carry-on and already have a boarding pass, I head up stairs to security. There are two ladies ahead of me who obviously haven't flown for awhile and didn't know about the new security regulations regarding water bottles, etc. Too bad for them, they had to toss two brand new bottles of water. I put my my zip-loc bag of toiletries, DVD player (Vegas Vacation already to play inside) and shoes in the gray tub and slide them to the x-ray machine. I walk through the detector with no problem and I see that something in my bag is confusing the lady watching the monitor. I am guessing that it's the light up pilsner glasses that I am bringing to the meet and greet tonight. Yup, it's the glasses. The security guy pulls my bag and goes through it and I show him how the glasses work. He puts the glass back and runs it through the machine again and points out something to the lady watching the monitor. He hands me my bag and I am off to gate 5 where my flight is already boarding.


    I am in seat 2-F in business class. There is only one other person already seated and he is in 2-C. The other 10 people in business class haven't boarded yet. I pull out my DVD player and my sandwich and hand it to my seat mate to put on my seat while I put my carry-on in the overhead compartment. I get seated and the flight attendant offers me a beverage, I order a rum and diet coke. Air-Tran serves coke products! I eat my sandwich (2 bellyrubs) and out comes the DVD Player. Air-Tran also offers free headsets to be used with their FREE X-M Satellite radio. My headset also works, so I plug in and listen to some 80's music until we are airborne and it safe to bring out "Personal Electronic Devices". It's time to watch Vegas Vacation. I see my neighbor is kind of watching, so I turn the screen and offer to pull my headset and listen with the speakers. He declines and says he is fine just watching the screen. It's cocktail time again. I order another rum and diet. This time I get the whole can and I still have half of my rum leftover from my first drink. I mix that in the can and I have a pretty potent beverage. At one point, I pause the movie. It's the scene where the Griswolds are going into the MGM. The entrance is the original one where you walk into the lions head. I tell him about the MGM having to change that entrance, because it is bad luck to walk into a Lions mouth. I restart the movie and I pull my headset. My speakers on my player aren't very loud and it is kind of hard to hear the movie. After about 15 minutes, I paused the movie and my neighbor and I started chatting about Vegas. A few minutes after I paused the movie, the flight attendant asks me to turn it down because it was too loud and distracting the people behindus. I told her that I had it paused and wouldn't play it again. It was Ok for them to talk loud enough so that we could hear everything they were talking about very clearly, but I couldn't play Vegas Vacation. What kind of people go to Vegas and don't want to listen to Vegas Vacation? My neighbor and I both order Amstel Lights. Buzz Level by now. 2 smiles. I don't really like the Amstel light. so I ask the flight attendant for a Vodka, Kahlua and some cream. White Russians. Buzz level. 3 smiles.


    After talking about his new house and living in Vegas, my neighbor reads a magazine and I grab the in flight magazine to do a Soduko puzzle. Did you know that it takes 1 1/2 hours to do an easy Soduko when you have a 3 smile buzz going?


    Our plane lands early, but our gate isn't ready. 10 minutes later, we pull up to our gate. Why is it that all the flights that originate in Michigan pull into the gates at the end of the terminal? Do we Michiganders need the exercise? Onto the tram over to baggage claim. Baggage claim is a breeze as I breeze right through with my Carry-on. I take the down escalators and I exit the terminal. My white stretch limo hasn't arrived yet. Oh, there it is! I love the fact that this company gives all it's Limos names. This one is called "Paradise North" I pre-tip the driver $2.50 and I get a business card, knowing that I can use this card on any of there other Limos for the next 24 hours. I finish watching Vegas Vacation on the ride to downtown.


    I walk the two blocks down Fremont to the El Cortez. Fremont St. East is cool with the wider sidewalks and the added neon. At the check-in desk at the hotel, I hand the lady my LVA Buy one night get one night for free coupon. She tries adding it to the computer but something is wrong and another lady comes over and shows her what to do. In the meantime, I overhear her say that the Pavillion rooms are full. I ask for a non-smoking room and she hands me my key folder with the numbers 3303 written on it. She gives me these directions.
    "Now in order to get to your room, you need to go this way to through the casino. Veer to your left.
    Take a sharp right at the first giant palm tree. You'll see a group of blackjack tables.
    Not baccarat, not craps, blackjack. Keep going, and wind around to your left.
    If you get to the pool, you've gone too far, back up and take another right.
    You'll see a bank of elevators. Those aren't your elevators, stay away from them.
    But keep going, you'll see another bank of elevators, the gold ones, those are yours.
    Take them up to the tenth floor, take a right, and at the end of the hall you'll find your room.
    Any questions?"


    Just kidding! All I have to do is walk back to the stairs up to the third floor to my non-smoking room 3303. I open the door and I am pleasantly surprised. This is the largest room that I have ever had in Vegas. It is two smaller rooms made into one large room with a Huge King sized bed, a huge sectional sofa, coffee table and a TV in it's own entertainment center , a separate sitting room with a desk and an extra closet with and iron and board inside. The other closet has a safe that is already locked. I wonder if the previous tenants left something in there. I never did find out. The bathroom is small, but well supplied with nice thick towels and almost full size bars of soap and the normal hotel size of shampoo, lotion and mouthwash. There is also a plastic bag with some samples of body washes and facial scrubs. I'm not sure if the hotel put it there or if the previous tenant left them. Either way, the next morning, I am happy they were there. I don't realize it until the next morning when I take a shower, but the shower head is above my head and I am 6'3" tall. How cool is that? This room gets a 4 pillows rating.


    I go back downstairs and ask when Roberta's opens for dinner. I am told 4:00 p.m. and it 3:45 p.m.. My plans are to use my LVA coupon. I run $20 through a video poker machine at the bar next to the restaurant. I order a white russian and tip the bartender $1.00. I finish my drink and walk the 30 feet to the entrance of Roberta's. I am seated in a booth with a tablecloth that is too large for the table. When I sit down, I almost pull the place setting off the table by sitting on the tablecloth. I hate when that happens. I am told by the hostess as she hands me the menu that Shirley will be my server. The server assistant fills my water and removes the extra setting. I scan the menu quickly and order as soon as Shirley arrives. I start off with a shrimp cocktail. It comes with 5 large shrimp on top of some lettuce on a plate. There is also a lemon and a souffle cup with cocktail sauce, but no shrimp fork. I don't know what it is about the horseradish in Vegas, but it is hot and the sauce is tasty. The shrimp are cooked just right. My salad is next. It is called a Garbage salad that is part Antipasto and part salad, It has lettuce, cheese, olives, artichoke hearts, salami and other things that I can't remember in a lemon vinaigrette. It is tasty, but nothing I will order again. Shirley also dropped off a bread basket with my salad with three slices of warm bread. One white, one raisin and one with cheese baked on top. The butter chips are round with the initials EC on top. Very cool looking, but hard as a rock. Why don't restaurants know that butter is supposed to spread! I put the cold butter between the bread so that it would spread. The bread was excellent. I order a filet rare with king crab legs for dinner with a side of the green peppercorn sauce. Shirley drops off my plate and I am a little disappointed with the portion of crab legs. There is only three halves of split legs. The green peppercorn sauce is in a gravy ladle by itself. My garlic mashed potatoes are also on the side. I taste the potatoes and they are very hot and very good. My filet and crab are cooked perfectly and the green peppercorn sauce is excellent. I finish my dinner and I ask for a dessert menu. I am disappointed when I don't see carrot cake listed. Carrot cake is my favorite dessert to order in a restaurant. I pass on dessert. When I pay my bill, Shirley won't let me use my $5 food comp along with my LVA coupon. Bummer, but no problem. The bill is $54.95 + $10 tip - $25 LVA coupon for a total of $39.95. I charge it to my room knowing that I have at least $30.00 in credit because of the LVA free room coupon. This dinner gets a 4.5 bellyrub rating.


    After dinner, I sit down at a BJ table to use my $5 matchplay from my funbook. There is one other player at the table. I win the matchplay and a few more hands. The other player leaves as do I. I hate playing against the dealer alone. I am up $40.00. I decide to play some video roulette to put a few points on the cards. 100 points for $10.00 I sit at a Deuces wild poker machine and lose $45.00. It is now time to walk over to MSS for the meet and greet at 7:00 p.m.. I go upstairs to my room and grab the light up pilsner glasses that I brought for the people that show up. Mike is the only one there, so we sit and have a beer. We head back to the El Cortez. I have an extra fun book coupon and Mike signs up for a card and gets his book. We head over to the craps table. I buy in for $80.00. There are a couple of decent rolls and then a couple of bad ones. I walk away ahead maybe $20.00. Mike and I sit at a BJ table. I end up winning another $40.00. Mike decides to leave. For my do "something different on this trip", I sit at a Pai Gow Poker table. I lose $40.00, but had a good time learning the game. It is time to go to bed, It is only 11:00 p.m. or so, but I am still on EST and it is 2:00 a.m. back home.


    It is Thursday morning and I wake up about 6:00 a.m.. I take a shower and use the samples of the Tone Sugarglow Exfoliating body wash and the Biore pore unclogging scrub that are in the little bag that was left in the bathroom. (What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas) These two products really wake you up. I feel great after this shower. I can feel my pores breathing easier. My plans are to use my $5.00 funbook food credit at the Express Breakfast buffet. I go downstairs and I see that they don't open until 7:00 a.m.. I have about a 10 minute wait, so I buy a $1 keno ticket for 50 cents using a coupon from the funbook. I do an easypick and match one number out of ten. Loser. The doors open to the restaurant and the total cost with $5.00 coupon from the funbook is $1.05 plus a $1.00 tip. I am seated at a table with a vinyl tablecloth. This reminds me of the many Greasy Spoons that my dad use to take us to when we were kids. This buffet is your average breakfast type food. Everything is hot and fresh since they just opened. I rate this buffet 2.5 bellyrubs with the coupon. 2 without. It takes me about 30 minutes to eat, so I go back to my room until 8:30 a.m..


    At 8:30 a.m., I walk down to the second floor to the barbershop. Getting a haircut is the second new thing that I do on this trip. I get an excellent haircut. He does everything that I ask. $12.00 and $3.00 tip. I rate this haircut 4 clippers.


    After my haircut, I go back to my room to grab some coupons. I stop at the Streamline Tower sales office to pick up a brochure for a friend of mine. I told the sales rep that I personally couldn't afford a unit, but he was still friendly and answered all my questions. I stop at Binion's to play $10 that I have on my account from my previous visit. I lose that ten and ten of my own on a video poker machine. I head on over to the Golden Gate for a free deck of cards. I love free cards! I stop at the slot club and ask if they are still giving away free pop or beer for signing up. The nice lady say's no, but if you earn 50 points, you can get a free calender. I sign up and put 90 points on my card. I pick up my $40.00 calendar. I think somebody in my family is going to get a $40.00 calendar for Christmas this year. Did I mention that the end cost of this calendar was $40.00? I head back to the El Cortez to drop off my $40.00 calendar and my free deck of cards. I love free cards.


    I head out to the Deuce and stop off at Slots of Fun to redeem my coupons for a Free Hot Dog, Free Margarita, three Free Decks of cards and six spins on their promo slots. I stop at the promotions booth and get my voucher for the Hot Dog and beverage. Next, I go and do my six free spins. I don't hit a thing. At the gift shop I pick up my three free decks of cards. I love free cards. I pick up a Strawberry Margarita. I tip the guy $1.00. I don't taste any alcohol in this drink at all and boy is it red. I go and get in line for my free hot dog. Is it my imagination or has the quality of this dog actually improved. I finish my red margarita and I have one more coupon and decide on a green one this time. This drink tastes like it might have some alcohol in it. I stand and play at a $3.00 6 deck Black Jack table that pays 3-2. I thought the last time I was here all there tables paid 6-5. Maybe I was wrong. After winning $15, I go out front to get back on the deuce.


    The deuce pulls up and there are so many people waiting to get on that it fills up. There is another bus coming and I end up being the first to get on this one. I go upstairs and sit in the fourth row from the front. There is also foreigners up here and this guy sitting behind me makes a comment to the lady about stepping on his kicks. He is quite perturbed and going on about it not realizing that the lady doesn't understand English or she doesn't realize that this guy is talking to her. I get off at the stop for the Imperial Palace. I am going here because I have $25.00 in my comp account that I want to use before they switch to Harrah's points. I sit down at a Black Jack table to use my LVA match plays. Charo is nice and I win on both. I leave the table and go to a Pai Gow table. I play Pai Gow for about 30 minutes and I wander over to the Video roulette table. After sitting there for awhile and losing $10 I sit and watch some 3 card poker before heading upstairs to the Pasta Palace to use up my comp $.


    Up stairs in the restaurant, I order the Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella appetizer and a Calzone for dinner. The appetizer comes and it isn't prepared correctly. The three items are supposed to be layered so they can be eaten together. On this plate, the basil is on the side along with some red onion slices. My calzone comes and it is big and toasty brown. I cut in half and take a bite. The middle is still cold. Not even warm but cold. I ask to have it cooked some more and the cook microwaves it instead of sticking it back in the oven. The waiter brings it back and it is hot but not because of it being microwaved, it is soggy. I should say something but I don't. I eat half and ask for a carryout. I order strawberry cheesecake for dessert. The cheesecake and the strawberries have a strange taste to them. I don't finish eating this either. I pay with my card and leave a $3.50 tip. I rate this meal 2 bellyrubs.


    I leave the IP and walk over to Flamingo and catch the Flamingo East limo to Paradise. I walk over to the Hard Rock to use my $10.00 in free slot play and 2X points. I play there $10.00 and $5.00 of my own in a couple of video poker machines.


    I walk back to Flamingo and catch the Flamingo West limo back to the strip. I walk over to the stop in front of the Flamingo. There is large group already waiting. The first limo comes and it's full, The next limo comes and a lot of people get off and a lot of people get on. At the next stop, a large group from the top gets off and I move to a second row seat upstairs. 8 people from Germany also come upstairs. Two of the German ladies are probably in their late 40's early 50's with platinum blond hair (no dark roots, so I assume it's natural) with spiked haircuts and designs shaved in the back of their heads. They have to be sisters. These two gals are having a ball with their cameras and looking at everything. The front seat vacates at the next stop and one of the gals and another one of the germans move to front seat. Hearing them talk makes me regret that I didn't continue my German lessons in grade school. After about 15 minutes on the bus, there is some excitement downstairs. We hear the bus driver telling some lady to Shhh. I'm not sure what is happening but it sounds like a passenger is telling some other passengers that they are going to hell for some reason or another. The driver handles it well and tells the lady that they are on vacation and to leave them alone. There is more excitement downstairs as two really drunk young people get on and the driver has to stop and tells them to get off. She doesn't want them to get sick on her bus. I admire this driver, because she is handling everything really well. For the rest of the drive, she makes a few jokes to relax everybody from the recent excitement. The two that I like the best are the comments she makes when she is passing Gas Avenue and one about the courthouse or some building where you buy a marriage license, get marriage counseling and file for a divorce. This woman likes her job!


    Back at the El Cortez, I play some Pai Gow. This Asian guy sits next to me and on his first hand he bets $20.00 and $5.00 on the bonus. His next hand, he doesn't play the bonus and he is dealt a Royal Flush. The payout for this I think is 125 to 1. He just keeps shaking his head. I win $10.00 and sit down at a BJ table. I lose $35.00 and go to bed.


    On Friday, I wake up and take my Vegas shower. My plans are to take the Boulder North Limo to Arizona Charlies for the $100.00 slot promotion. I walk over to the Station and I am looking at the signs for the Boulder Limo. I'm in luck and it's still in its bay. I walk up and the door is closed and the driver doesn't let me on and starts to back away. This is the first rude experience I have ever had with a driver. I almost felt like reporting him, but I don't. I buy a cup of coffee from the vendor out by the bays. I go inside and get a route map. The lady in the glass cages tells met that some of the routes are going to change in a few weeks. I take the map. The next Boulder limo shows up and she has to wait for nine minutes. We finally leave and I ask her a couple of questions about routes and tell her that I want to get off at Arizona Charlies. She is very friendly and I thank her when I get off. The stop is right across the street. I cross Boulder and I enter the casino.


    I follow the signs to the buffet upstairs. I pull out my LVA coupon book and walk up to the register. There is lady there by herself and I offer to use my coupon with her. She hands me $2.00 and I pay the $4.62 for breakfast. She asks me about LVA and I give her one of the tear out coupons in the back. The hostess comes over and tells me that I could have used the coupon by myself for half off the price. I order a water and a diet from the server and check out the buffet. Again this is just a basic breakfast buffet. They do have an omelet station. I order a Ham, Cheese and Mushroom omelet. I walk down the line while my omelet is cooking and grab some bacon and some bread pudding. I toast a bagel, grab some strawberry jelly and cream cheese and wait for my omelet to finish. I don't like my scrambled eggs and omelets over cooked. That is, I like them bright yellow with no brown at all. My omelet has passed the perfect stage and he hasn't put the cheese on yet. I am getting nervous. He puts on the cheese and folds over the omelet. He pats it a couple of more times and I hold out my plate. It was a good omelet. A little overcooked but still very tasty. I don't like the bread pudding at all. I go back to the line and grab some melon and a cheese blintz. I top the blintz with strawberries and whip cream. The melon is fine, but the cheese in the blintz is very grainy. I tip the server $1.00 and the omelet chef $1.00. Total cost $5.62 3 bellyrubs because the omelet was good.


    I go downstairs to the Slot club to sign up. I hand the lady my license. My middle name is Alan, and she says that I am in the computer as Ellen, I don't now how she came up with this, but I told her that I have never been to this casino before. She keys in my information and I comment on her being from South Milwaukee. I tell her that I have a good friend in Oak Creek and where he lives. She lived not too far from my friend. A lady standing next to me comments that her son also lives in Oak Creek. It's a small world.


    I grab my card and walk around the casino and check out the slot machines. I decide to play a Double Double Bonus Poker machine. This is a progressive nickel machine with a $406.00 payout for the Royal. There are twelve machines, six on each side. I pick the fourth machine on one of the sides. I feed the machine a $100.00 bill. After a few hands, I hit a Straight Flush. How cool is that. After awhile, I hit a four of a kind. I don't remember which one I hit first, because I end up playing this machine for 8 hours. During this time, I hit two straight flushes, Quad Aces twice, but no kicker and I lost count on how many other quads. I am having so much fun. I am talking to other players and drinking Bloody Mary's. It's a good thing the drinks aren't that strong, because I drink about 15 of them while playing this machine. I catch more of a headache then a buzz. The cocktail server is really nice and she gets a $1.00 for each drink that she brings me. Her shift ends and I ask her what time she started. I started playing 15 minutes after she did and I am still playing after her shift ends. This is a first for me. I finally lose my $100.00 and I head to the slot club and swipe my card.


    My $100.00 is back on my account, I go back to my machine and it only takes me 20 minutes or so to run through this $100.00. Each time I win something, I print the ticket. The machine runs out of paper once and I have to call the attendant a couple of time. I take my stack of tickets and cash out $92.50. I put 1,200 points on my card and it only cost me $7.50 cents. It takes $2.00 for one point, so I ran $2,400 through this machine. If you figure it out, I average 600 hands an hour. Yikes! This is another Vegas first for me. My big mistake of this trip is not understanding the promotion that Arizona Charlies is running this month. I was told to come back on Saturday to swipe my card again for a chance to win some prizes. I am leaving on Saturday and I find out later that I had enough points for two drawings. I should have gone there early on Saturday before heading to the airport. I learn a lesson here.


    Once I am outside, I look down the highway and I see that Sam's Town isn't that far away. I have wanted to eat at Billy Bobs for awhile now, because I have heard really good things about this steak house. I walk the five or six blocks and enter through the doors by the keno lounge. I follow the signs to Billy Bobs. I am told at the hostess stand that it is going to be a 15 -20 minute wait. I am handed a pager device and I go and sit in a really nice chair in the lounge.


    After about 20 minutes, my device starts flashing. I am seated at a booth and told by the hostess as she hands me a menu that Toni will be my server and that she will be right with me. The atmosphere here is very rustic. No tablecloths on the tables, only plates with napkin rolls (silverware wrapped in a cloth napkin). My server assistant fills my water. I look around and notice a tray full of dirty dishes sitting on a tray jack not 5 feet from my table. Toni comes over and I ask her for a dessert menu, because I have heard great things about the desserts here. I order the Six Layer Carrot Cake.


    After a few minutes of looking at the menu, the server assistant brings me a bread basket and some whipped butter. He doesn't refill my water even though my glass is half empty. HMMM! The two breads inside the basket are excellent. Toni returns to take my order. I see that she dropped off a shrimp cocktail at one of her other tables. I ask her if there was a shrimp fork on the plate. She say's no. What is it with restaurants that they don't want to serve a shrimp fork with a shrimp cocktail. Even if the customer decides not to use, it should still be on the plate.


    I see that dinners come with soup or salad and a side. I really want the Spinach salad with the bacon dressing that costs $7.00. Since a salad is coming with my dinner, some restaurants will reduce the price of a premium salad. Not here. I still order the salad and opt for the Clam Chowder which comes with the dinner. I order a Ribeye Rare with a Sweet Potato and a side of the Green Peppercorn sauce for my meal. Toni brings my salad and the dressing is on the side. This is the first time that I have had the dressing come on the side of a Spinach Salad. I really like my salads dressed, and that is why I order a Spinach or Caesar Salad at a nice restaurant, because they come to the table dressed. Also, the stems of the Spinach are not removed. Granted, it is baby Spinach which I personally use when making a Spinach salad, but I always remove the stems. For $7.00 they should remove the stems. Do you see where this is going? The dressing is different but good. It has tabasco in it that gives it a bite that I am not used to on a Spinach Salad, Toni comes to remove my salad plate and I ask her how many Spinach Salads she serves in a night and she says one or two. I tell her they should remove the stems.


    While I am eating my salad, the server assistant finally removes the tray of dirty dishes. I look around again and I see quite a few empty tables, so the dinner hour is over. The table next to me is set with four plates and four napkin rolls. Three of the rolls are on the right side of the plates and the fourth one is on the left side. I don't know why, but this bothers me. Toni brings out my Clam Chowder next. It is very obvious that this chowder is purchased and not homemade. Way too many potatoes and the tiniest pieces of clams. I comment to Toni that it wasn't very good. I think she thinks I am one of those customers. I am one of those customers when I am paying for something and I am not getting what I pay for. Toni brings my Ribeye and sweet potato with butter and brown sugar on the side and my green peppercorn sauce. I look at my plate and now I am even getting more upset. I order my steaks rare and a rare steak is barely warm on the outside and almost cool on the inside. On top of my $27.00 rare ribeye is a big rosette of butter. What's wrong with that you ask? A big chilled rosette of butter on a rare steak doesn't melt. In fact, what little warmth the ribeye has on the outside is now totally cold and what butter did melt is already set up again from the chill of the rest of the rosette. I remove the butter and set it on my bread plate. I cut into the steak and try it and it is excellent. I try the green peppercorn sauce and all it tastes like to me is a Kitchen Bouquet sauce with green peppercorns inside. I am really upset when Toni comes back to check on my steak. I ask her what the butter is and she tells me that it is Herbed Garic Butter. I ask her why they would put a chilled piece of butter on a rare steak. I also tell her that the green peppercorn sauce has no flavor. I ask for a carryout container and my carrot cake. The menu says that the Carrot cake is six layers. Carrot cake is my favorite dessert to order in a restaurant. If you remember, I ordered this before I even ordered my meal, so I am really looking forward to six layers of cake covered in six layers of cream cheese frosting. My cake comes and it looks nice, but it's only three layers. Now I am really mad. I don't touch the cake. Toni comes back to the table and I tell her that I don't want the cake because it's not as described on the menu. I ask for my check. When she brings my check, I tell her that I came here because I had heard really good things about this steakhouse and that my experience here was really disappointing. I also point out that when a customer is only drinking water, they would like there water kept refilled often. She blamed the server assistant for that as she refills my water while I am signing my credit card slip. Like I am going to drink the water now. I am only charged for the Spinach Salad and the Ribeye. My check is $33.00 and I leave a $6.00 tip for Toni. I tell her she is still getting a tip, because the food isn't her fault. I cannot leave this place fast enough.


    I head back through the casino forgetting to use my match play and exit through the same door I came in. I get back on the Boulder limo back to the El Cortez. I take my take out box with my steak up to my room. I grab my flight information and go to the front desk and ask if they will print out my boarding pass for me. They print my pass and tell me that they do it for hotel guests only. This will save me a lot of headache at the airport in the morning.


    I sit at the Pai Gow Table, buy in for $40.00 and play a few hands. There is one other player sitting at the table with me and he tells me that he wrote a book about how to play and win at Pai Gow. I nod my head and play a few hands and win $35.00 and head over to a Black Jack table.


    I play at two different tables and I leave pretty much even. I might be ahead $5.00. I place $5.00 on the pass line on a craps table. The shooter rolls and makes a point. I place $10.00 odds on my pass line bet. The shooter rolls a 7. I am the next shooter. I place $5.00 on the pass line. I roll a seven. Front line winner. I shoot again. 12. Front line loser. I roll again and make a point. I place $10.00 odds on my pass line bet. I roll a seven and I leave the table and cash out the $32.00 that I have left in chips. I am thinking that I should just go to bed, but I am thinking that it's my last night here and I still have money in my wallet so I sit down at a 50 play Video Poker machine. I put in my $32.00 and lose it in about 5 minutes. It is now time to go to bed. I have to leave in the morning.


    I get up on Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m.. I take my last Vegas shower. Pack my bag and head downstairs to check-out. I owe $13.00. I sign my slip and head out the North entrance on Ogden to walk the one block to the bus stop. I'm not sure if I can catch a bus to the airport at this stop or if I have to walk all the way to the station. I check out the sign and this is a stop for three routes. One of the routes is the 109 which goes to the airport and I see it coming up the street. I get on and it takes about 40 minutes to get to the airport. It wouldn't take so long, but at every other stop the driver has to wait 2 or 3 minutes to stay on schedule.


    I take the escalator upstairs. I go through security and take the tram to the D Terminal. It is now 8:20 a.m.. I walk down to Gate D24 to see if there are any upgrades available. Nope. Bummer, I have to fly home in coach. I walk back to the Cinnabon store for a Cinnamon roll and a water. On my way back to the gate I play $5.00 in a 25 cent Wheel of Fortune machine. It is the only time play a WOF machine this whole trip. This is unusual, because WOF is my favorite machine. It is time to board, I am in seat 14 F. A window seat, but no window. I don't mind, because I know that I will sleep most of the way home, which I do. I am back in Flint and I have a 50 minute drive home. Trip number 28 to Vegas is over. I can't wait for number 29.
     
  2. sunni

    sunni VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2003
    Messages:
    1,620
    Location:
    Sunshine State
    whew

    Whew...great report. What did you do with the lighted pilsner glasses you brought ?:)
     
  3. Todd Hart

    Todd Hart Tourist

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2002
    Messages:
    36
    Location:
    Bay City
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    27
    Glasses

    I brought them back home. Why, do you want one?
     
  4. sunni

    sunni VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2003
    Messages:
    1,620
    Location:
    Sunshine State
    pilsner

    ummm..no thanks, I was just curious what you did with them. :wave:
     
  5. tcocona

    tcocona Low-Roller

    Joined:
    May 16, 2007
    Messages:
    147
    Location:
    Virginia
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    wow

    Fantastic trip report!!!I like you style!!!!!
     
  6. hula96717

    hula96717 Tourist

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2007
    Messages:
    86
    Location:
    Hawaii
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    17
    Great trip report... i was SERIOUSLY going to ask about the $2.50 tip for the Limo Driver and the business card. I seriously thought "gee only 2.50 tip?" :eek: LOL!! and then i read on and realized you were referring to the bus...

    Could you elaborate a little about your system above? Does this mean that each time you cash out a ticket you would put in cash to continue playing?

    I have to say i truly enjoyed your report!! :nworthy:
     
  7. OK Pabst

    OK Pabst Grinder

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2007
    Messages:
    328
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    59
    Limo

    Where by the airport is the "limo" service?
    thanks
     
  8. gmoney590

    gmoney590 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2006
    Messages:
    1,757
    Location:
    Tacoma, WA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    24
    You had me cracking up about catching the "limo". I've got to agree with you when you order something and it's not as "advertised" it shouldn't be advertised as that.
     
  9. Todd Hart

    Todd Hart Tourist

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2002
    Messages:
    36
    Location:
    Bay City
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    27
    Could you elaborate a little about your system above? Does this mean that each time you cash out a ticket you would put in cash to continue playing?



    Once you lose $100, the slot club will put $100 on your account. At the slot machine, you insert your players card and punch in some numbers and $100 worth of credits shows up on the machine. You can't cash out the $100, you have to play all the credits through the machine, but whatever you win, you can cash out. You can probably cash out one ticket at the end of the play, but to resist temptation, I print a ticket each time I win something. I won $92.50 back so I had a lot of tickets.



    To answer the question about the bus.

    Just beyond baggage claim and to the right, there is an esclator that goes down one level. Take this and exit the terminal. Across the lane and to the right about 50 yards is a covered bus stop with a bench. The 108 and the 109 both stop here. The 108 heads back downtown, so that's the one I always take and I am told that it's faster. The 109 South heads to the South Terminal. The 109 North heads back downtown.
     
  10. sin

    sin VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2004
    Messages:
    4,179
    Location:
    Albuquerque
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30
    Great report Todd!:thumbsup:
     
  11. hula96717

    hula96717 Tourist

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2007
    Messages:
    86
    Location:
    Hawaii
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    17
    DARN !!... WHAT A SMART THING TO DO!!... i should have done the same!... thanks so much for the tip... im definately doing it on my next trip...
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.