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.

Alone and well in vegas!! (pics included)

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by PokerrNutt, Sep 30, 2010.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. PokerrNutt

    PokerrNutt High-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2007
    Messages:
    914
    Location:
    Stuart, FL
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21

    My Trip Report

    Just back after 6 nights in Sin City!! So much fun - and I did some different things that I would normally put off for another trip. Here's the highlights -

    FLIGHT - nothing special - Airtran for $128 there and Continental for $128 back. Landed on Tuesday night and left 1 AM on the following Tuesday.

    HOTELS - Five nights at Sam's Town, followed by two nights at Fitzgerald's. Three of the five nights were free at Sam's Town and, at the Fitz, was "buy one, get one free." (I didn't really use the full free night at Fitz - left for my 1 AM flight). Sam's Town was alright - the room was nice and the staff was friendly. It was a drive everyday to the strip and other sites daily and I RARELY WIN there, so - probably will not be staying there again. Fitzgerald's - the room was decent - nothing special. The staff is always friendly and I ALWAYS WIN there, so - I'll be back!!

    RENTAL CAR - I went with Alamo - I've never had any problem with them. $174 for the week - I got a Chevrolet Cobalt - nothing fancy.

    CASINOS VISITED - Sam's Town (of course), Eastside Cannery, Southpoint, M Resort, Silverton, Venetian, Casino Royale, Goldcoast, Palace Station, Stratosphere , Ellis Island, Fitzgerald's, El Cortez, Main Street Station, California, Binion's, and Fremont.

    Just a few comments about some of the casinos -

    Eastside Cannery is so comfortable and easy to navigate.

    Southpoint - great casino - very comfortable, clean, and the machines were generally well paying - a lot of 9/6 VP to be found.

    M Resort - keep it - very posh - la-te-da kind of crowd, but, seriously - are we in a casino or funeral home? Despite there big play and big wins - NO ONE was having a good time!

    Casino Royale - I was really hoping to hit some quads here - after hearing BeeJay's great luck there - but, nothing! I like the casino though - real old school.

    Venetian - beautiful - but kind of on the fake side. The casino was alright, but very maze-y.

    BUFFETS - oh my gosh - I ate at soooo many buffets -

    Southpoint - nice buffet, but not enough vegetables. The prime rib (Wednesday night special) was tasty. And the price was reasonable too.

    Sam's Town - I enjoy the breakfast buffet - and I always ask to sit out near the atrium. It's so relaxing, sipping on coffee - overlooking the "woods" and hearing the woodpecker tapping on the tree!

    Main Street Station - this buffet is just plain good. The food is fresh - and there's a good variety of dishes. And, it's reasonable.

    East Side Cannery - I used the ACG coupon (50% off) for the Sunday brunch. Very nice - although slightly deceiving when they have the same dishes in two different locations. It was enjoyable and reasonable.

    New Orleans - New Orleans is decent - very comparable to Main Street (both Boyd properties). Decent variety and reasonably priced. While Main Street doesn't have the selection of booths, Orleans does.

    OTHER RESTAURANTS -

    Blueberry Hill - WOW! I took someone's suggestion on this board - and went there the last day. Oh my gosh!! I had the blueberry pancakes - those were the best pancakes I've ever eaten! And the coffee was excellent too!

    Ellis Island - another huge WOW!!! After having the steak dinner on multiple trips - I went to the other restaurant - the one with the ribs! Incredible! I had a rack of ribs, which comes with an ear of corn, coleslaw, and baked beans for a whopping $14.95 and an iced tea for 85 cents! These tender, succulent ribs will put you in rib heaven!! They are incrediblly delicious!

    GAMBLING -

    VP - I played a ton of VP - anywhere and everywhere. The final count on quads was 18 quads and 1 straight flush. No royals, unfortunately. The best VP was found at Southpoint, Stratosphere, and Fitzgerald's. If only I had the guts to play quarters or dollars - I would have been better rewarded for all those big hands. Oh well - it was fun...

    Just a clue - next time you're at Fitzgeralds - go to the 2nd floor - there's a row of standup type VP machines - with multiple denominations. There's one machine there with a kind of fuzzy screen at the very end. I sat down on Sunday with $10 - and got up to $74 pretty quick. I was playing 1 cent X 65. The next day, I started with $20 - playing 2 cent X 65 cent bet and got up to $172!! It was crazy! Two years ago, I played that same machine and did really good then. I know VP is not the same as a slot, but, some machines seem to hit more often than not.

    Poker - after taking a three month hiatus from live poker, I played again. And, it was up and down all the way. I did meet some fun and interesting folks and had some good laughs. Even when losing, I still missed playing for those three months and will start playing again.


    DIFFERENT THINGS I DID -

    Sephora - I got to Sephora - makeup heaven! It was a neat store and I splurged on a couple of items.


    A thrift store - can't remember the name - but, it was interesting. I'm a thrift store nut - so, I really wanted to see what a thrift store in Vegas had to offer. It was a lot of the same, but there was less conservative clothing than here in Florida.

    PAWN STARS - YES!! I FINALLY GOT THERE!!!! TWICE!! Ok - so, I went there on Thursday - waited in line for 20 minutes and got in. No Chumlee, Rick, Hoss, or Old Man. I found a ruby ring that I wanted, and I told the guy at the counter that, if I did alright gambling, I would be back. So, on Monday, I kept my promise.
    I'm standing in line for about 15 minutes with a bunch of other Pawn Star nuts - and they make the announcement that it's going to be 30 minutes since they're filming inside! Damn!! Well, 30 minutes turned into 40 - then 50 - then, after about an hour - they let us in! We were having fun outside - standing in the heat and getting sprayed by the mist!
    This time, Rick was there - and they had a section of the counter roped off where they were still filming. He waved to us - seemed like a nice enough guy. Word is that History Channel came to them with the show idea.
    The craziest part of the store - is the huge section of mugs, T-shirts, hats, etc - all extremely overpriced. People are buying $50 bucks worth of "junk" and passing by the jewelry, antiques, etc. That T-shirt is going to have NO value in 10 years - the gold locket will have some value!
    So, I bought my ruby ring - besides being really pretty, I can always say "yea, and I bought it from Pawn Stars!!" LOL!!

    DAY TRIP -

    Sunday morning - I started out towards Pahrump (nothing much in Pahrump) and then Shoshone, CA which leads into Death Valley. Spectacular sites! I know those from the western states are not excited about the mountains, but - when you come from the East - and the only mountain you have is a bridge over the intracoastal - these mountains are incredible!!! Unbelievable sites!
    After driving through Death Valley, I went to Rhyolite - a ghost town a few miles out of Beatty, NV. Very interesting place - a little eerie. It's really too bad that they don't utilize this little ghost town better - make it another Oatman (Oatman, AZ). Instead, it's very desolate.
    There's an old railroad station that was converted into a casino in 1934 and operated as a casino until around 1970. Then it was a gift shop. Now, it's empty and fenced up. I've been trying to find more of the history on this casino - just curiousity, but, can't find much.
    After Rhyolite, then onto Beatty (not much there either) and back to Vegas.


    OVERALL -

    The trip was great - I'm going back in February. The trip in February is going to be 2-3 nights in Vegas, followed by 3 nights in Reno, and then back to Vegas for one night.
    While the Strip was busy in places and at certain times, Downtown was busy all day Sunday and Monday. While strolling through the casinos, I didn't see many winners around the strip or other areas - except for downtown.
    Besides finding the winners downtown - it seemed a lot more crowded downtown in comparison to the strip. And now, besides the light show, there are stages with different venues on each block of Fremont Street. There's also flamingo girls, and other characters - for some photo taking opportunities.
    The venue near Golden Gate and Las Vegas Club was hip-hop - they had a dj that was "spinning" some recent hits and some of the crowd was dancing. I'm sure some of these could have been mistaken for gangs -but, I got the feeling they were more from the hip-hop culture and appeared pretty harmless. Just an observation.

    PICS -

    I hope this works - just started using Photo Bucket, so, we'll see if I did it right!!

    http://s1126.photobucket.com/albums/l619/POKERRNUTT/?action=view&current=30a7c541.pbw
     
  2. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2003
    Messages:
    5,785
    Location:
    VA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    I loved your TR, thanks:thumbsup: Very cool photos of Rhyolite..I've never heard of it but your photos make me want to take a side trip.....looks like a step back in time. I always think about the early settlers that were traversing the SW and how tough it must have been w/ the heat and being so isolated....the Wild Wild West.:nworthy:

    And of course I loved seeing all those quads too:beer:
     
  3. DonD

    DonD VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2004
    Messages:
    9,135
    Location:
    So Cal 91748
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    300
    Great report. :nworthy:
     
  4. luvvp

    luvvp Tourist

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2010
    Messages:
    122
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    Thanks for posting your tr with pics!

    Were you the only one there at the town of Rhyolite? I'm sure it's fine but it does look alittle creepy.

    I hope you have good weather in Feb when you go to Reno. That's an iffy month. My parents use to live outside of Reno so I know the area very well. If you have any question pm me.

    Leaving for LV this morning and won't be back until late Mon night. We're going for Bikefest, we call it the reason but it's actually the excuse! :biker:
    Hubby has been in the process of building a couple of customs for a few years now. I don't know if he'll ever be done! :rolleyes2: I'll be honest, I'm going for the gambling!

    :wave::wave::wave:
     
  5. Jinx

    Jinx VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2007
    Messages:
    1,793
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    Nice report, thanks for taking the time to post.
     
  6. BackInVegas

    BackInVegas VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2008
    Messages:
    1,809
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    thank you for the report

    Fuzzy screen video poker machines. Hasn't someone else said the same thing?
     
  7. VegasDiva

    VegasDiva VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2009
    Messages:
    3,104
    Location:
    Calgary , Alberta , Canada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    16
    Great pics and nice TR :)

    Nice to see a TR about off strip activities and day trips :)
     
  8. Rush

    Rush MIA

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2010
    Messages:
    2,983
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    76
    Very nice! Don't worry about the "small wins". The upside is.....small loses!
     
  9. sailor53

    sailor53 Tourist

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2006
    Messages:
    385
    Location:
    Pensacola, FL
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    10
    Very enjoyable report. Great pics too. Thanks for posting!
     
  10. saintpauljeff

    saintpauljeff VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2008
    Messages:
    2,521
    Location:
    Minneapolis, MN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    999
    gas is over $4 out there? holy hell
     
  11. tazdev75

    tazdev75 Tourist

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2010
    Messages:
    67
    Location:
    pleasant prairie, Wisconsin
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    nice trip report!!
     
  12. zerofan

    zerofan VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2009
    Messages:
    2,241
    Location:
    New York
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    22
    Great report, thank you for sharing.

    I have always wanted to try Sam's Town and now I will.
     
  13. thestugot

    thestugot Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2006
    Messages:
    276
    Location:
    Chicago
    creepy...
     
  14. fruitfizz

    fruitfizz Tourist

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2004
    Messages:
    77
    Location:
    ontario, canada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    12
    great trip report, thanks for sharing. I'd like to check out sephora too while I'm there, where is it located?

    Great pics too!
     
  15. blackjacknut

    blackjacknut VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2008
    Messages:
    3,410
    Location:
    Northeast Ohio
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    56
  16. PokerrNutt

    PokerrNutt High-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2007
    Messages:
    914
    Location:
    Stuart, FL
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    fruitfizz - Sephora is located inbetween Casino Royale and Palazzo/Venetian. If you're looking at Casino Royale, it is to the left. If you like makeup and stuff - it's really a neat store. A lot of high end stuff - Urban Decay, Clinique, etc. - but, near the back, they do have a aisle of makeup that's marked down.

    I love that store - and will definitely be going back the next time!

    luvvp - there was one other family that was looking around Rhyolite when I was there....it was an eerie place. All I kept thinking was, why doesn't someone capitalize on this ghost town - make it another Oatman. And the crazy thing is - that train station converted into a casino turned into a gift shop turned into an empty, fenced in building! I would LOVE to see the inside of that thing!

    Also, I'm postponing the Vegas/Reno trip until September - better weather and I'll have more time to explore. February's trip is going to be all Vegas! Can't wait!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.