My Various Vegas Travels

Just a brief Summary of the various trips I've had .......

The very first visit to Vegas , I had was back in June 1973 at the age of 14 , stayed a night at a travel lodge on the Strip (its still there ) with the folks, on way to California and Disneyland ..... remember going to Circus Circus and driving through Freemont Street...... now I was a very naive 14 yr old from a small small town , and saw my very first hooker in front of the Golden Nugget...I remember sitting behind my dad , who was driving ( a 1964 Pontiac Strato Chief) and the windows were open and I spotted this fair lady of the evening and blurted out quite loudly Hey dad is that a hooker ......she heard me and turned my way and my dad was quite uncomfy as was my mom lol thank heaven the light turned green and off we went ..... the rest of the trip was pretty family orientated after that but I so wanted to get back to Vegas and see the shows , I remember the big names on the flashy marquees then ...... so fast forward 32 years later and I was back in Vegas .....

I can't remember the high or low points of the gambling other than I stick to the slots, mostly 1cent sometimes nickel or quarter or what games I played , seems each yr the fav slots I had are gone so i try them all usually for the variety

The first yr I found the Phantom of Opera slot at the IP , and loved it and it loved me but I was so naive and green to it my 20.00 deposit turned into over 100.00 but did I cash it out , no i felt i needed to keep playing , and of course before I knew it my original 20.00 was gone too
last yr I hit a 500.00 on miss kitty at the Paris , on a penny slot after putting in 20.00 and bidding the lowest amount ......
in btween those times, i've tried various slots at the different hotels we've wandered thru .... won some, lost some, but played enough to earn comps on both MGM and Harrah's so must be doing something right

I went in Oct 2005 with 2 g/f's J and S
S had been there lots thru the 90s with her hubby but got a divorce J hadnt been there in yrs since the early 80's and I hadn't been there since 1973

we got in on a Friday around noon , stayed at the Imperial Palace , thru to Monday afternoon ...
we saw Barry Manilow at the Hilton that yr, had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe before hand
ate at a couple buffets , at IP and Flamingo
ate at the Cafe st Louis or something at Paris too
plus grabbed a bite here n there thru the day at the various shopping thru the hotels and cafes

next yr took my daughter in Sept 2006 for her 21st , got in late on Friday (her jaw dropped when we left the airport to catch the cab , when she saw the palm trees ) n left early Monday morning at 6am another quick trip but did show her some of the attractions i saw the yr b4, such as the Bellagio Fountains, atrium , the Mirage Volcano, the Sirens of TI , the lions at MGM all the usual free stuff and the shopping in the different hotels
did the Crazy Girls show that yr at Riveria , ate at the Stardust , was kind neat as those two hotels signify OLD vegas so she got to see them and Circus Circus plus the new ones like Mirage, Wynn etc saw Madame Tussands wax museum too
we stayed off strip at a Best Western just south of the Hilton on Paradise Rd , I got airfare and hotel thru airmiles points for us both , wasn't too bad , had a kitchenette so got to stock up at a walgreens for coffe and breakfast stuff , was close to monorail too

in Nov 2007 I went backwith J and S ,had 6 nightsJ and I flew down first got in around 9pm , spent the next day at the Grand Canyon , west rim took a bus tour for the day ( I even walked the skywalk) , ate at IP at the chinese restaurant whos name escapes me , then back to the hotel (was at Flamingo for 3 nites) to meet up with S who was flying in .... just hung out at hotel , then on the Friday spent day at Boulevard Mall, ate at the IHOP there was yummy, then back to the hotel to freshen up , then zipped up the Eiffel Tower (had free tickets comped) saw the sunset and fountains from above , very nice.....then over to Bills Gambling Hall and caught Big Elvis , that rocked( played some machines too ) and over to Paris and did the Village Buffet , so yummy all French cuisine... next day checked out and went to Mandalay Bay for next 3 nites, just spent the day at that end of strip ... and met up with L who joined us..... the Sunday we just checked out places L hadn't seen when she was there earlier that year with her daughter, I did the roller coaster @ NY NY that day , ate at PepperMill and headed to Freemont St... the Mondaynite we did Mama Mia .....ate at Mand Bay @ Raffles a lot, was good n cheap .... Tuesday we all left at diff times

was there again last Oct with S, had 5 nites comped at Harrahs..... we saw Bette Midler and Phantom and took a day trip to Laughlin .... and just meandered up n down the strip wasn't rushed
very relaxing ......

and now off again this June 30- July 4 with L , her and I turn 50 in the upcoming weeks and we've known each other since 1971~~ have 4 nites at the Flamingo comped , We are seeing the Lion King at Mandalay Bay , and depbating to see Jersey Boys and just relax, shop off strip , take her to the mall as she didn't go there that day, I think she would like Macys and Pennys as we dont have them up here in Canada ....we have Sears but hey diff merchandise i'm sure and brands ....and of course gamble

will post at TR when I return
I've never been in late June b4 so Iknow it will be hot hot hot but yanno
its now April 28 here and we still have SNOW UGH gotta love springtime in the Rockies

so theres the story of my Vegas travels lol

 

Thanks for the post. Good luck on the upcoming trip. Look forward to your TR.

later, GVJ

 

thank you for sharing !