April 17-20 TR with lame pics!

Here are the highlights and low lights, with the boring bits omitted.

The Long Haul
Tuesday started with the long haul from the airport to the Excaliber. Jumped in a cab with my lovely traveling companion (LTC) and said "Excaliber please". He turned right
Me: "You're taking the tunnel?"
Him: "Oh, you didn't want the tunnel?"
Me: "Not to the Excaliber"
Him: "I was just trying to save you some time"
Me: "This is the long way"
Him: "Well there was traffic on Paradise"
Me: "You are supposed to ask before taking the tunnel"
Him: "OK, I will turn off the meter".
And he did, so when we got there I paid him $11 (10.61 from the chart plus a 39 cent tip for doing the right thing after I busted him.

Excaliber check in
Used express check in kiosk. Thing went smooth until I got to my room and the keys cards did not fit in the door. Went back down to the front desk. They apologized and switched the keys. I asked for a free upgrade for my troubles, they gave me an "upgraded view" room which turned out to be this:



Planet Ho grand opening.
Oh come on. I have been to grocery store openings that were more happening than this event. There casino bar had a live DJ who may as well been invisible. There was no crowd. There was no fanfare. They did have a 2 million dollar pull on a slot machine (I won a duffel bag :banana: ), but that promo has been there for ages. The place had no vibe, there was hardly a crowd. George Clooney was rumored to be there, but I never saw him. I tried to play craps but because the other players were zombies coupled with the fact that the dealers were dicks ("It's a craps game sir, please cease all time wasting activities and just shut up, bet money and throw the dice"), I didn't last long. Drink service was slow. I wandered around the slot area and it could have been a locals place with all the glum faces and lack of payouts or shouting. Actually one huge bummer.

Miracle Mile
So we decided instead to check out the The Desert Passage shops rebranded. The South door was still under construction. Here is the North door:

The only interesting thing that happened here was that I saw a transvestite walking around shopping. I am not talking about a La Cage Au Faux type, I am talking Tootsie, or Bosom Buddies. The obvious man in a wig and dress. I didn't get a picture but I did throw up in my mouth a little.

Trop
After being bummed out by Planet Ho, it was off to the Trop. There used to be a section of slot machines way in the back by the Bodies exhibit and the Karaoke bar. The WoF machines there were my personal ATMs, as they always were good for $40-100 per $20 put in. Alas, they are gone now. I played some craps and lost about $40, but at least it was fun! (I'm cutting my eyes at you Planet Ho )

Excal
Finally walked back over to the Excal to call it a knight (Ha, a pun! I slay me! ). Unfortunately I lost my ass at the $5 craps table. Going through about $200 in 30 minutes.

Convention Center
Wednesday day was spent conventioning. Nothing noteworthy about that, other than to say thanks to Tammy wave: ) for the tip about the $7 coupon for the monorail. That rocked!

Luxor Pheast
Came back to the hotel and decided to eat at the Luxoe Pharoah's Pheast. This was my biggest mistake of the entire trip. I thought the CC buffet was bad, this was worse. Slow service, limited selection, every meat was the consistency of jerky, bland sides, crappy salad bar with no fruit. A 2 out of 10, and that is being generous.

KA
So without being full at all, walked over to the MGM to catch Ka. This was an awesome show. I give it a 9. Would have been a ten but the spotlights they used behind the stage were pointed right at my face and it made it hard to see for a few scenes.

MGM
After the show we hung around the MGM. LTC played slots and was doing well so she didn't want to leave, plus she had too many pina coladas, see:

I just wandered around and practiced my rejections of prostitue come-ons.

Excal
Thursday we hung around the Excal waiting for some friends to show up from Phoenix. Up $14 on craps.
Lunch at Sherwood forest cafe. Decent and moderate priced. Soup & sandwich combo hit the spot. Then off to the MB, gambled for a while. Headed to the Frontier (hey, it's my trip, I'll gamble where I like to gamble) and spents about $140 playing craps and drinking crown for about 3-4 hours.

Friday we got up and checked out (11:00 check-out time really sucks in Vegas). Went over to the Trop, ate lunch at the Garden Cafe, played slots and then went home.

Overall, lost about $700 over 4 days, but I the good news is I get to go back in two weeks and try again.

The end.

 

Here's to hoping that your next trip is a winner.

 

Nice catch on the long hauler there. It's always fun to tell the driver "Busted! Now shut off the meter!"

Hope your next trip is a winner

BTW, you owe Sticky $5 now... lol

 

Down $200, then up $14, at craps. My experience exactly.

oh, and Larry wants to know how he can get that beautiful view at the Ex -- remember the room number?

 

LOL at the "upgraded view" . Way to charm that desk clerk .

 

Tower II - 13214. But be careful Larry, don't trust the ice bucket in there

 

Those pictures aren't that lame. When you're not in Vegas any pictures are better than no pictures.

Good luck on your next trip!

 

Does anyone ever trust the ice bucket? If they don't supply an ice condom, I never use the ice! Gotta learn to keep it in the bottle.

T minus 68 days!!