Girlfriends 21st birthday trip report (PHo)

I went to Vegas for my first time on my 21st birthday so I figured it would be a great birthday present to my girlfriend of 3 years to take her to Vegas for her 21st. We had a great time and I'm so glad I went. I had no luck gambling but we still had a great time.

Monday Jan 10th 2011:

We had a 12:30 flight from Santa Rosa, CA (Wine Country). Luckily for me I live about 5 minutes from the airport and theres only one flight at a time via Horizon/Alaska so we got to the airport about 20 minutes before we departed. We of course first stopped at the bar and had a couple shots of tequilla. We also had baileys with coffee and a couple jack and waters at home before leaving. So I was feeling pretty good before even boarding the bombadeer 80 seater plane. They serve complimentary beer on the way which was another huge win. The flight was great, very smooth, and nice tail wind getting us to vegas in 1 hour and 20 minutes. Everything went super quick, we had carry ons and were out of the airport in a taxi by about 2:30. Which was awesome becuase I thought we wouldnt be on our way to the hotel til at least 3:30. So we take off in the cab in route to PHo of course making a pit stop at the liquor store for a bottle of jim beam, jose cuervo, some dorritos and chaser.

We arrived to the hotel before 3 and there was no line for check in. The girl checking us in was not so friendly and didn't want to give us a complimentary upgrade and I wasnt paying 50/night for a view of the fountains. Even after stressing it was her 21st birthday she wouldnt throw in anything for free. So we go upstairs to check out the room and it was decent for 55/night but so freaking dark and with a lovely view of a parking garage. But my girlfriend really enjoyed the room and thats what was important. The bathroom was nice and the bed was cumfy. The room doesnt matter much so I got over it quickly. We made a couple drinks and quickly unpacked, then headed downstairs for a quick bite and to game a little bit.



We went downstairs to hit up happy hour at PF Changs which was inside our hotel. Awesome deal with appetizers and drinks from $3-6. There was a short wait so we hit the floor for a quick minute, dropped about $50 with no love at all, this will be a constant theme of the trip. We got an order of chicken lettuce wraps (10/10) and Kogi Beef Tacos (5/10). I had an old fashioned to drink and she had a pear mojito which was freaking delicious. My drink sucked. The bill was $25 bucks with tax and tip and it was a great late lunch for us.

After lunch we made a couple drinks from the purse bar (we kept a flask of whiskey and a flask of tequilla in her purse for the majority of the trip) and walked down the strip then came back and ended up at Paris. We walked around in there and I played some blackjack. Got up a few hundred dollars then put all my winnings and buy in on a hand and of course hit a 19 with the dealer using 2 aces to miraculously come up with a 20. BOOOO! Oh well, gotta be prepared to lose but betting 250 on a hand was pretty drunk and stupid of me at this point of the trip. We headed back to PH played some more slots and lost. My girl doesnt like to play big at all and won $100 of a 5 dollar bet in an old style machine. She was thrilled. After playing we went back to the room to have a couple drinks and get ready for the night.


We had some drinks in the room and listened to some music. Thank god I brought my ipod dock. We blared music the whole time and didnt get any complaints. There must have not been anyone on either side of us. Which was great because we both love to listen to loud rap, r&b, and country music.

Around 7:30 we caught a cab over to the Hard Rock for dinner at Rare 120. I absolutely loved this place and cant think of ever having a better meal in my life. I loved the ambiance and our server was fantastic with very quick service. On mondays at Rare 120 everything is half off except for booze. This is a great deal and I encourage everyone to check this place out. They start you off with this delicious pretzel bread served with mustard butter. OMG it was soooooo good we had like three orders of the stuff. I love pretzels and bread and was in hog heaven. We started off with Kobe Beef Loli Pops (7.5/10) served with three excellent dipping sauces. The beef was great but tasted more like a meatball, I love meatballs and was impressed. We also had the cobb salad (10/10) which was fantastic. The blue cheese and the blue cheese dressing was awesome. They split the order on two plates and it was one of my favorite salads Ive ever had. We also got two drinks, I had a mojito (10/10) and she had a drink with raspberry vodka and champagne which was delicious. She loved it. For our main course we split a 22 oz rib eye, which was cooked a perfect medium rare. Best steak Ive ever had. We split sides of a mashed potato trio (10/10) and mac and cheese (9/10). The mashed potato trio was awesome it came with generous portions of sweet, lobster truffle, and butter chive mashed potatoes. The mac and cheese was baked and crusted and had bacon in it. Fantastic. Our waiter brought out a compimentary desert for her birthday that was two different types of custard. A nice touch but they werent that good. At that point I didnt care, I was already very impressed. The bill came out to $79 before tax and tip. I left a hundo for them. The food and service was so good and with that discount I was more than satisfied. I haven't ate at to many high end restaraunts but this was the best meal I've ever had. It was awesome sharing a great meal we both enjoyed for her birthday.


It was now about 9:10 so we caught a cab over to the NYNY for a 10 o'clock showing of Zumanity. Before we went in I hit up the purse bar once again and played some slots. Again no love. The show was amazing. This was my first vegas or cirque show and I absolutely loved it. I want to see this again and more cirque shows. The scene with the two girls in the fish bowl brought me to another place. It was so sensual really took me away. I loved the fact that they didnt care about bringing in outside booze and I enjoyed a couple of purse bar drinks in the show along with a few dips of skoal. Again we both really liked the show and I want to see this one again.

After the show I played a couple of slots at NYNY. Won a hundred at the amazing race machine. That machine is so much fun!!!!! I was hooked. We caught a cab back to the Pho and played some more slots and lost what I won plus more. We then went back up to the room and had some drinks and listened to some music. My girlfriend passed out and kept on drinking til 530 in the morning and blaring/singing to music. It was fun at the time but I payed for it the next day. She woke up and we both went down to Earl of Sandwich which is cheap and open 24 hours a day and in the hotel. Awesome. Soaked up some food and finally fell asleep around 7am.



Such an awesome first day. If I woulda won I woulda been even happier but oh well... more to come

 

Tuesday Jan 11th 2011

We woke up around 10:30… UGHHHHHHHHH! I was hurting so I figured a trip down to the buffet and some grease would help out greatly. We had a couple of $5 off coupons and they accepted two of them which was great. Our total was only 23 bucks for the two of us. Another win for the frugal eaters. I had a big plate of breakfast food. The eggs sucked should have had an omlette but didn’t want to wait for it. Oh well. We got their for a transition between breakfast and lunch so I had some lunch food to which was good. Usually I can do more work at a buffet but it wasn’t happening. She loved everything and ate a lot of food. We ran into Holly Madison in the casino before we went downstairs. She was thrilled to see her I didn’t care. If it was Kendra I would have been really excited. Hell shes a bay area rap fan and hot and funny. My kinda chick. After breakfast I played some blackjack won a little then blew it all on slots, again.

We headed back up to the room for a little nap, which was much needed for me. I woke back up around 2 and forced down a couple beers and a jack and water. UGHHH. We went downstairs and decided to walk around the mall. We planned to hit up Blondies Sports Bar for there all you can drink special from noon to three to play some beer pong. No one was playing beer pong so we decided to pass. We ended up next door at La Salsa Cantina. Ended up getting a couple yard long margos. I went with the top shelf on the rocks. It was bomb. She had a blended well mango margo. It was also good. We also shared an order of nachos. The bartender was awesome. She was also a raider fan so we chatted with her for awhile. I thought it was hilarious to have to take your drink off the bar and put it in your lap to take a sip. Lunch was good and was only 50 bucks. I always thought those yard drinks were dumb and a rip off but you get like 5-6 regular drinks in one of those things and it turned out to be a great value. It took forever to drink them though.


From there we walked around the mall a little bit. We then hit up the casino and lost more money at slots and blackjack. I finally signed up for a players card don’t know why I didn’t do it the day before after dropping like $500 I shoulda at least got some credit for it. LOL.

We hit up the abc store for some more booze and necessities. It was pretty expensive after hearing it wouldn’t be. We played a little more, still no luck. I grabbed a sandwich from Earls for us to share and again it was bomb.
From there we headed back to the room to shower and get changed. Enjoyed some more drinks and music and hung out in the hotel for awhile. We loaded up the purse bar then headed back downstairs for some more gaming. We had dinner around 8 at Cheeseburger Land inside the miracle mile mall. I for some dumb reason attempted to do this burger challenge. Finish this huge burger and chilli fries and they’ll buy you a beer. Everything was really good, especially the chilli fries, except for the burger meat. EWWW it was so terrible. How can a burger place serve such crappy meat? I didn’t finish and felt terrible afterwards. She had a chefs salad which was delicious and made me wish I would have ordered the same thing.

After dinner we wandered the mall back closer to the casino entrance. Next we went in PBR Rock Bar and Grill also inside Mircale Mile but right next to the casino. We had also planned this. On Tuesdays they have their college night. Open bar from 9-12 with a college ID. $5 for me and $10 for her. What a steal. This place has bull riding feel and theres a mechanical bull. Only dudes with their shirts off were doing it. How lame. We definitely got our moneys worth. We were drinking strong dirty shirleys and the bar tenders were so friendly and were pouring our drinks as fast as we could get them down. Needless to say we got a little tipsy especially the girl friend. We played some beer pong with some local UNLV kids which was cool. We went and walked the strip after midnight then came back to the room. I was beat and she was ready to keep going. It was the opposite of the previous night. Luckily for me when she layed down she passed out. I did the same. Good Night.


she hid in the closet and tried to scare me when i came out of the bathroom

 

Wednesday Jan 12th 2011

We woke up around noon. YES! Much needed sleep.. I forced down a couple drinks and headed downstairs to play blackjack while my girl took a shower and got ready. Doubled my money then actually won some money on a slot machine. Then decided to increase the bets on BJ hit a bad streak and then back down again. UGHHH! No luck on this trip, so lame. We then headed over to the Mirage via taxi for lunch at BB Kings. I normally stay at the Mirage and wish I would have again. I love it over there. PH was okay but I hated all the scumbaggy bums in the casino asking you for smokes or a light or money. Is there any security anywhere in this hotel? No one checks for room keys either which is what I really hated. Anyways we sit down at BB Kings and order gumbo, a catfish po boy and fried pickles with a couple drinks. The food sucked. I remember this place being way better than this. I was disapointed. I had a coupon from restaraunt dot com at least. Paying 50 bucks for that crap would have been very disapointing.

From there we walked over to the Venetian to check it out and then ended up inside the IP. I had to show her the tranny BJ dealers and there little performances. Always entertaining. Got up a little in BJ then lost it all again. At this point I was pretty over gaming. I have never had such bad luck on a trip. Pretty lame but we were still having a great time so screw it. At this point it was time for a couple strong drinks from the purse bar and a walk back to the PHo.


We got back to the PHo and had a couple drinks in the sports book and caught some sports center and relaxed in the cumfy chairs. Hit the casino and gave away some more money to the machines, then made our way back up to the room to listen to music and get ready for the night.

I once again had a little bit to much to drink and took forever to start getting ready. We then took a cab over to Mandalay Bay. Went over to the box office and got two tickets to see the Lion King show. They have a discount for college students for $25/tickets with a college ID. Sweet! Our seats were great, last row of the bottom section. Overall I liked the show but not nearly as much as Zumanity. It was my first time seeing a broadway style show and it just wasn't for me. Its such a good story though and overall we both enjoyed it. Before the show I won a couple hundred playing blackjack. I got pretty wasted and during intermission lost about 300 in 10 minutes playing blackjack again. At this point I was starting to get pissed which is terrible but not to mad. We were down to $50 for the night and now couldn't eat a Burger Bar like we had planned. Bummer.

So after the show it was go for broke time. Either win some money off that 50 and have more fun and lose it all and eat dorritos for dinner and breakfast. Pathetic I know. But I turned that 50 into 200 and got up. We had money for dinner.. YAY! We went to Burger Bar and ate. I loved this place. One of the best burgers Ive ever had... I was gonna get the KOBE but opted for the black angus and it was amazing. The burger was cooked so perfectly and the jalapeno bacon was out of this world. The onion rings were also really good. After dinner we walked back to the Pho and proceeded to lose the rest of the money I had. We had 20 for a cab ride back to the airport in the morning. UGHHHHH! LMAO oh well thats vegas and gambling for you.

I stayed up and drank beer til 6AM again while the girl slept, shes so smart.

Thursday Jan 13th 2011
Waking up was terrible. The trip had finally caught up to me and I felt like crap. I slept in passed checkout time, no one bothered us so I just slept in. We didnt have any room charges so it didnt matter getting downstairs to check out. We left the hotel around 130 for our 3 o clock flight back home to Santa Rosa. The plane was a little late. She forgot her cell phone in the room. Dang. Oh well.. I was super nauseous and I already hate to fly. Luckily an alky seltzer helped and we boarded and left. The flight was super bumpy and 45 minutes longer. Ive never had such bad flight anxiety it was horrible. But we landed safely and I was so glad to have the 5 minute drive home and be home.

Over all the trip was great. We both had an amazing time. I think I wont be going to vegas or flying anywhere for awhile. Now I am still detoxing and plan to lay low for a long while. Hopefully next trip I have more luck. Prolly wont stay at the PH again unless they give me a free room. Hope you enjoyed the trip report.

 

Very cool trip report, you guys look like you had a lot of fun.
-that feeling of not wanting to go back after a losing trip will disappear in 4-6 weeks.

 

thanks for posting! and with pics!

 

Thnx for the report and especially all the pix.
Glad you both had a good time.

 

Entertaining report!
But what is with the staying up till 6 am drinking thing?
You have to sleep SOMETIME!

Your GF is adorable.
Thanks for posting!

 

Ok super sweet birthday trip for the Gfriend! Loved the report....side note. I sure miss Santa Rosa. I use to live in Novato and we would visit Santa Rosa often.
Very nice!

 

Enjoyed your TR & the pics. You did alot & provided many memories for a 21 B-day Vegas Trip.

 

Good job on the TR, enjoyed the TR, except for your choice of pumpkin-looking second-rate California baseball team attire.

Lucky Bastid

-Dodger Fan

 

Great TR
loved the pics and the details of the dining places/food choices
I think if I were to try one of them yard work kinda drinks, that would do me in for the whole trip hehe

Glad you both had a fun time

 

thanks for trip report. Pictures were great too.

 

Great trip report. What a great 21st birthday memory for your GF. Loved all the photos such a cute couple!

 

Nice TR. Very lucky you got to go out for your 21st. I had to wait until I was 30 take my first trip.

 

Great Trip Report & Pictures..thanks for sharing

 

I loved your trip report! I could never keep up that pace though.

You guys are adorable and I hope your next trip is just as much fun but with more winning!

 

Glad you had fun. LOL I couldnt keep up that pace. Im a wimp. We usually hit the bed early for Vegas terms because we like to spend the day at the pool.

 

Great trip report! You guys look like a nice couple.

Burger Bar is really good and surprisingly only runs around $20 PP with a beer.

 

Great trip report. Loved the pictures. Hopefully the cell phone will get mailed to your girlfriend.

 

Great report, reminded of my first trips with the wife in a lot of ways.