Fancy Cocktails, A Little Sickness, and a Healthy Royal Flush

I never write TRs, mostly because I tend to be a little long winded so, bear with me.

Decided to have a girl trip with a close friend over MLK weekend. While my GF isn’t a big gamer, she and I were aching for a quick getaway and I was able to swing free flights and comped rooms so it seemed like a no brainer to hit Las Vegas.

The Arrival: Let me start off by saying that it was torture to wait until Saturday to depart but, for some reason, a Friday departure was outrageously spendy so I sucked it up and waited. I was originally supposed to fly out on Southwest but, my flight was delayed to the point where it was making me nervous so I cancelled my outbound and book an earlier flight on Frontier. As a bonus, I was able to get a premium ticket for the same price as the el cheapo fare. Hooray for free TV, cocktail, snack and baggage! Landed at McCarran about 45 minutes prior to my GF so I fed the slot monster for a while. Won $55 on Wolf Run and then met my GF at her baggage carousel. We were greeted by our Presidential Limousine driver promptly and we were on our way.

Welcome to Fremont Street: We stayed Downtown at the Four Queens for the first night. I’ve stayed here on several occasions now thanks to their generous offers. While I don’t think the accommodations are at the level of the Golden Nugget, I am always perfectly comfortable. We were assigned a room in the North Tower with a birds eye view into the McDonalds at the Fitz. What a great little scene to watch! After doing a brief bed bug assessment (man, that whole thing is sketching me out), we were on our way out the door.

Dinner Downtown: We made a beeline to Grotto at Golden Nugget. This is definitely one of my favorite places for people watching downtown. We were unable to get a bar table so we sat at the bar for dinner. The bartender served us up some hefty martinis followed by the Scampi Grotto, which was delicious. Very large, flavorful shrimp served with a mushroom, butter, garlic concoction. Be prepared for some serious garlic breath if you try this one but, for us, it was totally worth it. The shrimp theme was working for us so we followed our appetizer up with the Penne con Gamberi al Limone. While it was pasta, the dish was not too heavy and perfect for sharing.

First Night Gets Blurry: After the VERY generous martini and dinner, we meandered down to Fremont East and hit the Vanguard Lounge for a couple of fancy cocktails. The drinks were unique and good but, service was very slow once it started getting busy. I chaulk this up to the fact that the cocktails are so labor intensive. Overall, kind of a fun place for a cocktail or two. After hitting Vanguard, we stopped in for a drink at the Griffon and then back to Four Queens for a little gaming. We both managed to win a little on Goldfish and Sex and the City and then we collapsed. Okay, we might have gotten some ice cream on the way to the room.

Next Morning in a Nutshell: The upside, I hit a royal flush at Four Queens front bar for a cool $2,200. Yippee! The downside, my GF developed a bad migraine. I cannot imagine a worse place to have a migraine and I felt just awful for her. By the afternoon, she was in better shape so we continued the journey, just a little more gently.

Movin’ On Up: Once my GF started feeling better, we checked out of the Queens and grabbed a cab to Planet Hollywood. Welcome to home base for the next two nights. The check in line was pretty long but went surprisingly quickly. At the time that I booked, I wanted to book a Resort room but was only able to get a comp for the PetStay room in that category. Upon checking in, the front desk agent started looking around us in a funny sort of way. He finally asked, “You’re not travelling with a dog, are you� I had completely forgotten about the reservation so, I’m sure that I gave him a “what the hell are you talking about†look for a second there. Anyway, we relinquished our Fido room for one without dog accessories and were on our way. The room was clean and comfortable and we had a lovely view of the north strip as well as a decent view of the Bellagio fountains. Once we settled in, we grabbed a quick sandwich and some soup at the Earl of Sandwich and then headed back up for a little downtime. Remember, my GF is still feeling like hell, just less so than earlier.

The Cosmopolitan: After the siesta, we prettied up a bit and headed over to the Cosmo for a tour. All I have to say is, wow. I am actually surprised by how much I liked the resort. We pretty much walked the whole joint, stopping at a couple of the shops on the second level along the way. Although the casino is on the smaller side, I enjoyed the more intimate feel and all of the artsy nuances. Everyone working at the resort was very welcoming, which seems a little hard to come by in today’s Las Vegas. After our tour, we headed over to the Chandelier bar for a cocktail. Service was so slow that it was comical but the drinks were delicious. My GF decided that she could stomach most of a cocktail so she ordered some ridiculously tasty concoction with a toasted marshmallow and graham cracker rim on it. It was kind of like a grown up version of a smore. Delicious! After that, we headed down to play a little VP. I was surprised to find that Cosmo has 8/6 $0.25 JOB. Not the best odds but, beats some of the other action on the strip. Won a few buck and then moved on to the Jackpot Block Party slots where we got schooled but had a great time tag teaming the bonus rounds.

Dinner and a Walk: We finished off the evening pretty mellow with a trip down to New York New York for dinner at Nine Fine Irishmen. On the way back, we stopped at M&M World so that my GF could get some treats to take home. While there may not be anything too noteworthy about stopping at M&M world, the fact that I witnessed a whole family get kicked out of the joint is definitely worth a mention. I mean, really?!?! Apparently, people think that those large cylinders of candy are there for sampling. Too funny.

Hitting the Ground Running: On day three, my GF was feeling much better so she decided that we needed to get at it. We were on our way to Hash House A Go Go by 9 a.m. We were seated pretty quickly but, overall, the pace of the meal was fairly slow. Luckily, we were on vacation so, we were not bothered in the least. Our server was great and was happy to make food recommendations. I ordered eggs, bacon and a coconut mango pancake that was bigger than my head. It was really hard to walk away from that pancake but, man, it was way too big to finish. My GF had the Corned Beef skillet. The meat was tender and flavorful, definitely something that I plan to order on a future trip. After breakfast, we toured the strip, marathon shopped and drank at the Miracle Mile, and then headed back to Cosmopolitan for an appetizer. We hit Holsteins where we sat at the bar and chatted it up with the bartender. We were enamored by the prospect of fried pickles but they were out and, apparently had been for a week or so. I’m still trying to figure out how you run out of fried pickles for that long. Anyway, we took the bartender’s suggestion and order the Tenderloin Sliders as well as the Artichoke Guac. The sliders were on the pricey side but were tender and delicious. The dip was just okay. I enjoyed the flatbread cracker type concoction that came with the dip but, the dip was kind of bland. Still, an enjoyable place to stop for a bite.

The Last Night: We freshened up and then walked over to Bellagio to tour the Conservatory. Grabbed an infusion at the Petrossian Lounge on the way to the Conservatory as is my ritual. It is fruity, delicious and potentially dangerous concoction indeed. The Conservatory was decorated for Chinese New Year. It was beautiful as always and, I think that my GF enjoyed all of the flowers as she has a serious green thumb. After the Bellagio, we walked over to Paris for dinner at Mon Ami Gabi. It was a pretty pleasant evening so we opted to eat outside, enjoying the fountain show at the Bellagio as well as the people watching. From there, we headed back to Cosmopolitan for some gaming. To make a long story short, my GF played for a short while and then decided to retire for the evening since she was feeling pretty exhausted. I, on the other hand, decided to fit in some last night gaming. I opted for slots since I was in the mood for shiny, flashy things. I started off by donating some cash to the Goldfish Race for Atlantis game. I’m pretty sure that I haven’t won a penny on this version of Goldfish so, its possible that I should take it out of my rotation but, its so pretty! On to another money sucker, the Monopoly Boardwalk game. I actually held in there on this one for a while but never won so I then meandered over to the Press Your Luck game where I played for quite a while before finally handing over the dough. I meandered back to Monopoly for some dumb ass reason but, what can I say, the Bell Ringer bonus payed off and I recouped my losses. Time to hit the sack.

That’s All She Wrote: All things considered, we had a decent trip. I hated that my girlfriend felt so bad but, in the end, we were able to spend some time together, and that was the whole point. We decided that we’ll just have to go again sooner than later since we didn’t do everything that we originally intended. Yet another excuse to plan another trip to Vegas, like an excuse is necessary.

Cheers!

 

Headaches are the norm in Vegas for one of my friends. The drinking and dry atmosphere of the desert make for a bad combo if you don't hydrate.

 

Nice TR! Thanks for sharing. I check into my room at the P-Ho on Thursday!

 

Wonderful TR gotta love those get-away trips with the gal pals I just returned last week from 5 days , loved the Cosmo also
looking forward to your next TR

 

Being a migraine sufferer....Imitrex...never, Never, NEVER leave home without it. Other than that, great report. Thanks for sharing.

 

Great report! My next trip is with a girlfriend that I travel with frequently. I adore my husband but traveling with friends is the best!

Sorry your GF wasn't feeling well, but it sounds like you both made the best of it. Thanks for sharing your experiences

 

Excellent trip report. Congrats on the royal!

 

Thanks for the TR. Nice hit on the Royal.

 

Sounds like you still had fun, despite your GF not feeling too well. Nice royal win!

 

Nice report

My next trip is with nhcris.

jk.

Everyone's reports paint a positive on the Cosmo. My neighbor is staying there this week and I look forward to another report from him on it.

Hopefully, my next trip I can make it over there.

 

Nice report, congrats on the royal at the 4 Queens