So I went to Vegas for Supper...

I watch the Allegiant Air website everyday and one fine day I saw $29 out and $29 back on 4/1-4/2. Plus fees, that is less than $100. How could I afford not to go? I made an attempt to call the wife, but she did not answer, oh well, Chris is headed to Vegas! I have done every conceivable trip from 8 days down to two days, but never had I gone to Vegas with no luggage, no hotel and just 17 hours on the ground. So I was excited about this new first. That it occurred on April Fool’s Day, was just icing on the cake, as everyone thought I was joking.

I arrived at the airport and the ticket agent said, “Just carry on?â€

I looked around at my feet and said, “Well, no, actually, it is just me. What you see is what you get.†He laughed and said I was the 3rd person that day that had gotten in on the $29 fare. I headed to the gate and started looking around for two guys who looked like they might be as much of a degenerate as me.

The plane was delayed, but we made most of it up in the air. Boots on the ground, and where to go first? There was a snafu in the cab line and the guy the airport pays to figure things out was having an off day. So I asked the guy next to me where he was headed and we split the fare to the Mandalay Bay, thus putting things back in sync.

I had about two hours to kill until my dinner reservations, so I wandered around the south strip a bit. I checked the lines at various Sportsbooks and ended up at the MGM watching some hockey. At 5:25 I headed over to my much anticipated “Supper in Vegasâ€.

I had debated what the one meal would be. I started off thinking fish tacos at La Salsa Cantina, so as to not waste much precious Vegas time, but then I decided, if it is a trip, specifically to eat supper, it should be noteworthy. So I decided on L’atelier de Joel Robuchon at MGM. I asked for a seat at the counter. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the restaurant, think sushi counter with French food and one Michelin Star. I got seat #1 over on the right hand side, in the corner. This is the area to sit in my humble opinion. You are close to the action; you have an unobstructed view of the kitchen. If you get seated in the middle of the counter, you don’t get near the show; at that point it is kind of like sitting at a bar.

(Warning, giant foodie post ahead…)

The waiter brought me two menus, the $148 nine course tasting menu and the regular menu. The regular menu had a tapas section (small plates) and a regular section where you chose an appetizer and a main course. On the website, I had seen a spring tasting menu, so I asked about that. The waiter quickly brought me over the Club Menu. It is a $75 five course tasting menu. I commented to the waiter that was more like it as it had not a single piece of foie gras on it. He was surprised that I was not a fan of such a delicacy. He answered all my questions and gave me time with the menus.

I settled on the tasting menu with an add-on of one of the tapas. Then I settled in with my artisanal bread and what turned out to be the first of three $5 Diet Cokes. The bread was cool instead of warm, but did the job. I am a bit of a “foodie†so watching the chef and his crew work was a real treat! I had questions from time to time and simply blurted them out and the crew would answer them.

As I was watching them prep, my server came over with what looked like a big round votive holder. He said since I did not like foie gras, the chef made this up for my amuse-bouche. It was a little cup of apple jelly with tiny diced apples and an apple/ginger froth (like cappuccino froth sort of). At this point, I stopped eating the bread as I did not want the taste to get covered up or replaced with simple bread.

The first course was a dish with seared egg plant, zucchini, buffalo mozzarella and what I think was sun dried tomatoes that has been re-hydrated and seared. Basically they just melted in your mouth. Very good starter, but as is mostly the case, it just got better from there. Next came a langoustine tail wrapped in a spring roll wrapper and fried. On the side was a mixed field greens salad with grape vinaigrette. It has been lightly seared, so it was warm, but not wilted. I am not a salad eater and I don’t like vinaigrette, but I had vowed that I was trying everything. The salad was actually good. The grape killed the vinegary taste and gave it a nice balance. The Langoustine was out of this world.

My add-on was next. I thought I was ordering lobster pasta, but actually it was a couple pieces of grilled lobster and tarragon, surrounded by a ring of little pasta about an inch long and about the shape of straw. The bowl then had a lobster broth and lobster froth in it. So basically it was lobster soup with macaroni. It was delicious and worth the additional money.

My main course came next. I had agonized over this choice. It was a braised pork belly. Back here in Iowa, pork belly is bacon. Bacon is delicious, but a main course in a hoity-toity restaurant? Well it was steamed in a vacuum sealed bag and then braised on the grill with a honey glazed. I don’t want to sound like a little girl, but I almost wept. It was incredible! Think the tenderest and most fatty pork chop you have ever had (but in much smaller portions). On the plate was also a caramelized onion and a dollop of their mashed potatoes, almost too pureed, they too just kind of melted in your mouth.

This is the point where the meal took a bad turn, the cheese course. Three different cheeses (two VERY pungent cow’s milk cheeses and one triple cream cheese) accompanied by some fruit and nut breads. It stunk, but I said I would try it. One little taste of each and I was back to eating bread to get the taste out of my mouth!

Dessert arrived in the form of six little tarts. The first was kind of this mascarpone tart, tasty. The second was a cinnamon tart. It reminded of when grandma used to put cinnamon on top of the pie crust scraps, only better. The third tart was the best. It was kind of a Key Lime tart with edible gold foil. The gold has no taste or texture really, but it was certainly unique and the lime was light and refreshing. Next came a raspberry tart, second best but still terrific. Fifth was a crème brulee tart. Had I started with it, I would have thought it was great. But after the others, it did not hold its own. The final tart was a snickers tart, chocolate ganache, caramel and peanuts. Tasty, but again, it paled compared to the middle two.

Total bill was $129 before tip. And I can say, without a doubt, it was worth it and I will be back.

(OK foodie post over, back to rambling Vegas wandering)

At this point, I had just over 12 hours left in Vegas. What to do, what to do? My only plan was to be at the bottom of the escalators coming down from Tao between 1:00 am and 4:00 am. As this Drunk Parade is about the best I have found. So with only a vague plan, I headed north. City Center is coming along. The exterior signage is on both the Mandarin Oriental and Aria. And there is a about an 8 foot tube of neon hanging on Vdara.

As I was walking I ended up behind this family. Now I make no bones about NOT being a fan of bringing crumb-crunchers to Vegas. But this is a bit of a different kind of rant… What kind of parent allows their twelve year old daughter out the door with a backless shirt? Let alone wander the streets of Vegas in said shirt?

Anyway, I wandered through the Miracle Mile to see if Michael Godard had anything new that I just had to have. The recession must be hurting a bit as 12X12 originals can now be had for under a grand. Those were not my style and since my “art consultant†was not around that night, I just looped through the store and left. Through Paris and Bally’s and then it was on to Bellagio. The conservatory has a butterfly theme. It was pretty busy so I did not go through it all, but it looked like they had a little greenhouse, so I don’t know if they had live butterflies there too or not. I dropped a few bucks into one of the Monopoly machines and left unsatisfied.

Crossing back over the strip and intentionally skipping Caesars’ (I have yet to win a stinking dime there!), I worked my way to Carnaval Court. I really like The Crashers, so I stood around and listen to their set before working my way over to the Mirage. I contemplated sitting down in the Poker Room, but since my brother was not with me, I did not think it would come close to topping the fun we had last trip, so I passed. The Wizard of Oz Penny machine I hit for a quick hundy last time is gone, so I headed for the door.

I worked my way over to Encore since it had opened since my last trip. It is a continuation of Wynn with one huge exception… Someone must have been watching the Travel Channel because the casino floor is chopped up into sections by columns, drapes and tall plants. I am not sure how big the casino is, but it feels much more intimate. I decided to try to win the Megabucks so I would not have to catch my flight the next morning or return to my life in Iowa. I turned my $20 into $60 in short order and cashed out. Putting the profit into my pocket, I hit a Monopoly Machine and pulled another $40 out. Back over to the Megabucks for another quick $20. Not wanting to prevent Steve from making his next mortgage payment, I decided to stop and head south.

It was at this point that I realized I had broken my cardinal rule of Vegas, “wear comfortable shoes.†A word to the wise, shoes that are very comfortable around the office can kill you in Vegas! With three blisters on one foot and one on the other, I shuffled my way over to Palazzo and took one of many walk breaks.

Next stop, the Venetian. I found a Star Wars Dark Side penny machine and took a seat. It was on fire! I had a couple great bonus rounds and cashed out for $70. I then took a seat outside La Scena to listen to the band. They were mostly an 80’s and 90’s cover band. But since that is “my youth†it was a lot of fun. If you can’t be entertained by the nuevo-riche, I highly recommend drunken 35-45 year olds trying to recapture their youth by throwing up the rock n’ roll/devil signs and bouncing around. Once lady threw up the sign while fading backwards, lost her balance and hit the floor. Everyone expected her to pop back up, but alas it was just too funny for her and she just laid there laughing.

Eventually the band had played their last song and it was time to head over to the escalators at the bottom of Tao. But nothing was happening. What the heck is this? Where are the drunken people to entertain me? Apparently Tao was closed, so I would have to seek out entertainment elsewhere. So the Bataan death march headed south. I eventually found a seat outside the piano bar at Harrah’s. That entertained me for a few minutes, but they too where wrapping up the evening. On to the Barbary Coast (Screw You Bill, it’s the Barbary Coast). Their lounge act was LAME!!!! But me feet hurt so bad, I didn’t care. 30 minutes later, they called it a night. My last great hope was The Bank at Bellagio. Certainly there would be young, pretty and drunk nuevo-riche to entertain me. Nope. Closed. So I circled the Bellagio looking for pros closing deals to entertain me. All I got the see was the second scariest pro of my life. Six foot something, 200+ pounds of what had to be a dude. “She†was walking in with a 20 something drunk, but he eventually lost “her†and “she†started to circle the waters looking for that smell of drunken desperation. “Sorry, headed to the airport, gotta run, you have a good night!†And I hit the door for Bally’s.

Nothing there, so I headed for Paris. Along the cobblestones, I saw another pro sitting there. She tossed out the tired line of, “Where you headed baby?†I stopped, turned and pointed south. “I’m walking towards the airport. I figure the closer I get, the cheaper the fare.†And I was off again. While taking another a break at Paris, a couple more pros walked by. One of them hit the inside of my leg with her giant purse. Not a smart business decision. Another two inches higher and no matter how hot she was, how much I had won, or how big the bargain, that transaction could not have been closed.

By this point it was 4:00 in the morning and I had about another hour to kill before heading to the airport. I crashed by the lounge at Planet Ho and watched TV and people. Both were entertaining and gave me the time to reflect on my crazy idea of a no hotel, no luggage, go to Vegas for the night trip. It was then that I realized that I really needed a wingman. There were far too many funny moments that I really wanted to share, but were only funny if you were there. Plus, I have done the Vegas thing so much, that unless I am entertaining someone, or hardcore drinking or gambling, I have kind of been there done that. SH*T!

Anyway, the time finally came and I shuffled off to the cabstand. I crawled in and said airport. The cabby hit the brakes and asked where my luggage was. I told him I had flown in for supper. He responded, “Oh you’re from LA?â€

“No, I flew in from Iowa.†I smiled one more time at the “payoff†from my trip, the utter disbelief in someone’s eyes as they contemplated what kind of a degenerate flies halfway across the country for one night?!?! That would be this guy!

As a final note, I ran into the other two guys as we waited at the gate. They were a wreck, but had gotten their money’s worth too. That is one of the great things about Vegas. Lots of stories, lots of variations on the theme, but in the end, it always delivers!


Hab
(Sadly, no countdown)

 

That. Was. Awesome!

 

Sounds like fun but pretty tiring...I give you credit for doing it, but I dont think I could go alone...I would get bored eventually.....

 

LOVE IT!!

From a fellow Iowan (originally).

 

Great TR!!!

 

Great TR, sounds like fun. I have flown across the country for one night for concerts, so this isn't all that out of the norm to me.

 

that was good. I did that 3 years ago but was for work. 1 night and a total of 19 hours. Glad ya had fun

 

I usually zip through trip reports and look for the gambling stuff, but you did a great job conveying your dining experience. Great Read!

Awesome way to spend hours of the day!

garrman

 

Great trip report!

You're right, how could you not do it! Excellent! I would do the same if I could find $29 fare each way!

 

Habanaman - way cool trip report. Thanks for the post. Allegiant offers $29 fares once in a while from MFE to Vegas. I may have to do a quickie Trip. Again, thanks for the good read.

later, GVJ

 

Vegas for supper. How cool is that !

 

Really cool story!

I totally agree about needing a wing man.

 

Peanut, I'll be your wingman any time. It'd be an honor.

 

So. Impressed! Yes, a wingman would have made the whole night. The dining sounds awesome...we're hoping to do a few tasting menus when we are there for New Years.

 

If it weren't 2 hours to Allegiants airport around here I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

I love Vegas as much as anyone but I could not do that.

 

I can't think of a better way to spend an evening!!!

 

My DH and I have talked about doing this.... just flyout, hangout for 24 hours with no hotel and then flying back.. I'm sure I would be exhausted but it could be really fun. Sometimes we can get some SW Ding fares for cheap (we got $25 each way once but I don't think we will ever see that again - lol!)

 

totally!

 

Flying with absolutely no luggage. No room, no attachment whatsoever? Awesome.

Although if you put it in the context, "I think I'm going to go walk around vegas for 17 hours" it has a different feel. lol.