After a fantastic week in Salt Lake City, I grabbed a flight down to Vegas for a quickie weekend in Vegas, before heading back home to Illinois. Believe it or not, I was enjoying myself in Utah so much, I even changed my flight to take the last one out of SLC Friday nite, arriving at the Vegas Club (my home base for next three days $69 total) around midnite. I guess one could question my priorities giving up precious Vegas time for Utah. Hungry, I strolled over to the Cal coffee shop and had the $4 steak special. I'm rarely up past midnite, so it was a treat to have one of these graveyard specials I've always heard about. Saturday morning, I hooked up with a few locals I know and ate at the "Egg and I" for breakfast. Good menu, nice portions, but give me a buffet any day. Had the guys drop me off at the Sahara where I used up the LVA $50-for-$40 chip coupon with no success. That's okay, that was only a preliminary for what lie ahead - outdoor BJ at the Wynn European pool. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the outdoor craps and BJ tables at the Wynn are my runaway favorite place to gamble. The pit bosses and I have an excellent rapport, the dealers are extremely friendly and the Wynn is one of the few places you can get pomegranate juice. The only drawback to Saturday's gambling was lack of scenery at the pool. Seems there was some kind of special event going on at the Wynn and topless sunbathing for forbidden. My first session of play netted about $100 profit, which was perfectly fine for me, as I was just there for recreational play, not to make a killing or get smoked. It was also neat to run into a husband and wife from Canada that were also at the tables the first week in June when I was there last. Taking a break from the gambling, I really wanted to sit in the hot tub for while, but did not have any swimming trunks. The more I thought about, the more I wanted to do it, so a plan was hatched. I waited until the hot tub was empty and placed a towel over my shorts, stripped completely down and got in with the towel covering me. Bear in mind, the Wynn hot tub is in a somewhat secluded area and with the bubbles on, it's hard to detect anything. I had a good 1/2 hour by myself before some other folks came by and I thought it time to leave. To change back, I simply grabbed another towel, placed it over my groin and put my shorts back on, feeling fresh and ready for another round of BJ (blackjack, that is). The day was topped off by a buffet comp (grilled king crab, med-rare lamb chops, need I say more) and a trip back downtown on the Deuce. I've been staying away from the Deuce the last few trips and Saturday's ride reminded me while. It was crowded, people were bitching, every third person getting on didn't have the proper change, etc. Fortunately, it was the north end of the Strip and once we got past Sahara, it was be smooth sailing. My good fortunes at outdoor BJ playing continued at the GN. They have 4-5 tables, but in a much, much smaller area than the Wynn. I also cleaned up with some ACG and LVA downtown MPs and free slot play. On Sunday, it was up at 5:30 am to catch a ride from a buddy to Mt. Charleston for a hike. We did Mummy Mountain, an 11,500-foot peak. The weather was absolutely ideal, not too hot, nor too cold. Believe it or not, you sometimes needs a jacket in the middle of July on top of the mountains, nart 50 miles away from the 100-plus heat of Vegas. This was my first time on Mummy and can report that the final 1/2 mile was the steepest I've encountered of any hike in the Spring Mountain range. The views were comparable to the top of Mt. Charleston. The biggest difference between the two peaks is that Charleston is a narrow ridge at the top while Mummy was more of a flat plateau for 200-300 yards across. I wrapped up the day with a dip at the Plaza pool and the $7.95 prime rib special and underrated salad bar at the Cal coffee shop. To bed early that nite, as a 3:30 am wake-up call awaited me for the flight out on Allegiant. Caught the CAT 109 and has smooth ride to airport. Don't get me wrong, other than the Deuce, I appreciate what the CAt has to offer. For a solo trip, I had a excellent time and hope to incorporate more Vegas side trips into my Salt Lake City itineraries. Plus, I made enough gambling to pay for my all my expenses and have some left over. Hope to do this again in mid October while the outdoor table games are still open
Sounds like a great Vegas weekend Chef! We've never actually been to SLC but we had a layover there once (on the way to Vegas) and I had no idea how beautiful of an area it was. I'd love to go visit there someday
I liked visiting Utah but I HATED living there. Sounds like you had a nice Vegas getaway! Your descriptions of the Wynn buffet actually have me craving a buffet again - after almost 8 years of not eating a dinner buffet, I think......You're quite the proselytizer!
Ok....you made me have to look it up... And I thought maybe you were talking dirty to him...:evillaugh
great TR glad you had fun in Vegas with your fun from being in Utah nice icing on the cake , so to speak i was once thru SLC back in 1973 on my way to LA with the parents lol and, yes that was also my first trip to Vegas I've taken in the I-15 from the Canada/US border right thru to LA hehe