dec 20-24 (a skeptic no longer scoffs)

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
Herbert Spencer

In my opinion, that's how my wife was in regard to Las Vegas. Of the 30-40 Vegas trips I've made, she's refused to accompany on nary a one, primarily because of a negative perception.
I've tried explaining the allure Vegas has on me and other like-minded souls, but to no avail. For many years, she has been baffled with what she calls my "obsession" with all things Las Vegas.
It was with that backdrop that a situation finally presented itself that made a joint husband/wife trip to Sin City doable. Since we were planning to spend Christmas with our daughter in Salt Lake City, I suggested we fly to Las Vegas first.
She reluctantly agreed. The two major selling points were a departure from nearby Rockford (on Allegiant) instead of Chicago and the chance to see Hoover Dam.
Suddenly, I was a man-on-a-mission. Desperately, I wanted to present a view of Las Vegas to her that would alter her bias and perhaps validate my existence as a Vegas aficionado.
It's almost like bringing the date home for the first time and hoping for approval from the parents.
With the several weeks to prep, I begin to do research - what activities would appeal to her, where to stay, eat, etc? Even time management came into the equation - how best can I space activities out to allow for maximum enjoyment?
I consulted the T2V board and came up with several ideas of what to do with her. Foremost, I must take into consideration her needs and wants instead of my own.
If I was a first-time tourist and brought her out, this thing would have probably flopped. However, being a seasoned Vegas traveler and having spent untold hours on the T2V board prepared me for what lied ahead.
Finally, after much thought and diligence, a plan was in place.

Dec 20
As we made the 25-minute trip to the Rockford Airport, at least, we cleared one hurdle. A major storm was rolling into the Midwest, but we would beat it by a day. Additionally, the bad weather Vegas had earlier in the week was clearing up and the forecast looked promising.
My wife appreciated the ease of flying out of Rockford versus Midway Airport. Maybe, this trip might work after all.
We arrived on time, picked up a rental car and headed to In-N-Out, a place that I promised my wife would be a gem in the tawdry world of fast food. She's never been to and In-N-Out and was impressed.
Okay, we're on a roll, but the toughest part of the trip is approaching and I'm nervous. Soon, we will be checking in to our home for the next four days - the Eastside Cannery. It was chosen for its newness, proximity to some of our activities and the fact she did not want to be near the Strip. Plus, the $29 special on room rates didn't hurt.
The reason for my nervousness was twofold - my wife, well aware of my proclivity for "roughing" it, asked that we at least stay someplace nice in Vegas; plus I was about to do my first-ever $20 trick request.
Eastside Cannery is sight unseen (other than internet viewing) by me and I'm hoping the rooms are up to her standards. Scoring on the $20 trick will go a long way in insuring that.
Entering the small lobby, I size up the three candidates (I mean clerks) for $20 trick recipient-ism. My intuitive sense tells me that Heidi looks the most willing.
I allow another couple ahead of me, purposely waiting for her window to open up. As a novice $20 trickster, I fumbled around a bit with the bill, credit card and license and finally stammered out, "Um, um, say Heidi, do you have any upgrades available?"
"Well, she says, we're pretty full." (bummer) "But, let me see what I can do." (renewed hope)
After much clicking around, the magic words come out, "I was able do something for you on the 13th floor. I think you'll like it."
The elation I felt at that moment was pretty darn high. The hotel room would be a critical component of the trip and I just hit a home run.
Upon entering Room 1335, it more than surpassed both our expectations. It was a corner room that had floor-to-ceiling windows with views of both the mountains to the east and the Strip to the west. There was a jacuzzi, flat-screen TV, oversize walk-in shower, mini-frig, comfortable king bed and plenty of space.
However, we couldn't enjoy it right away, as kick off for the Las Vegas Bowl between Arizona and BYU was only 45 minutes away. Since my wife is a football nut, I scored tickets to this sold-out game.
Being from the Midwest, we don't have the opportunity to see bowls games in person, so this worked out perfect.
We sat in the upper reaches of the south end zone among fans of both teams and had an excellent time. The banter between fans was clever, but clean. At our last college game together, my wife passed out on a brutally-warm Labor Day weekend at Ann Arbor. The 30-degree weather at Sam Boyd Stadium was a welcome change.
The only drawback was monster traffic snarls getting in and out of the stadium. It's not designed to handle big crowds.

Dec 21
After a good night's sleep, our plan for Sunday was to relax and watch more football, this time the pros. I tried to convince her that a Las Vegas casino sportsbook is one of the coolest places one could go to watch the games. She politely declined, with the explanation she did not want to be anywhere near where gambling took place.
I respected that, but when four games came down to the wire in the final minutes, I hightailed down to the books to watch the ending of each game. Sunday NFL-football watching in a book remains one of my favorite Vegas activities.
Later, we drove to Sunset Station for the buffet. The only drawback was hordes of locals taking advantage of the final day of a 2-1 newspaper promo. My wife didn't mind the wait, as she said Vegas buffets were superior to the stuff we get locally.

Dec 22
As we depart the Cannery for Monday's activities, I beginning to feel more relaxed. My wife is enjoying herself and the stuff planned for today will be a snap.
From a T2V suggestion, we hit up Ethel M's chocolate factory and cactus garden. As a chocolate lover, it's a big hit with her.
Then it's on to GVR for the lunch buffet, which also meets her criteria. She suffers from colitis and is limited in what she can and can't eat. She's very pleased with the variety of quality of GVR's buffet.
The trip to Hoover Dam was a slam dunk. She's been wanting to tour it forever and I could fondly say, "yeah, Vegas really does have a lot of interesting place to see, doesn't it."
We did the $11 Power Plant tour. I could take it or leave it, but the important thing was that she enjoyed it.
The highlight of the day for me would come later - watching MNF between the Bears and Packers in the confines of our room. Unfortunately, the first half sucked for Bear fans, prompting my wife to suggest we eat dinner instead.
To get back in time for the second half, we ate in house, at the Cannery's $7.99 buffet with an old Nevada Palace 2-1 coupon. It wasn't much of a buffet, but it did have medium-rare prime rib.
The night ended with an exciting come-from-behind victory by the Bears. Man, everything is coming up roses on this trip.

Dec 23
In plotting the itinerary, I saved the biggest bang for the last. My T2V research indicated 'Mystere' was a must see for first-time Vegas show-goers. One of our kind board members even offered to get the local's discount for me, but it didn't work out.
That's okay, the $172 total price tag for two very good seats to this show was worth it, especially to my wife. Another big Vegas score with her.
For pre-show entertainment, she was treated to the 3:00 & 5:00 fountain shows at the Bellagio, both of the classical-music variety. Bingo! Another score. I scouted these out in advance, wanting this type of music versus an Elvis Christmas song.
Between fountains acts, we had lunch/dinner at their buffet, which I had been touting to her for years. After eating, she was in total agreement.
Pressing my luck, I even pointed out the Bellagio craps tables that my son and I had played many a game on. She nodded her head, neither offering approval or disdain, just acceptance.
Before heading the 'Mystere', we went to Encore, which had just opened a day earlier. A friend of mine does the interior designs for Steve Wynn and I was curious of her impressions of it. Being a HGTV buff, she's kind of into that stuff.
She preferred the Bellagio over Encore. That's okay I told her, the same guy did both places.

Dec 24
Up early and onto Salt Lake City via SouthWest Airlines.

Final thoughts:
By trying to be of service to my wife, I had a rewarding experience. As the trip unfolded and she became more and more enamored with what Vegas had to offer, there was sense of relief on my part. It was fun for me to see her perceptions slowly change over the four days.
And, I didn't rub it in our face with the old "I told you so". Instead, I was grateful she had a good time.
She even thought she might like to come back again another time.
My Vegas and her Vegas will never be the same, but she's come to respect Las Vegas in a whole different light.

 

Yes, yes, yes Andy. Now next time you have one of your friends give her some money to play for him. He can tell her that we will split the profits. :evillaugh

I've been waiting on this trip report.

 

Nicely done Chef....Do you think your wife will go back to Vegas ?

 

Well done!!!

 

See, all those trips with your friend to OG paid off. LOL.

Andy, I'd say you came out ahead, but don't press the bet. You know?

Oh, and thanks for bringing up the Bears/Packers game.

 

It's always fun to be able to see everything again through a Vegas Virgin's eyes

Good stuff Chef!

 

It's great when a plan comes together. Good job on making sure your wife got to do things she would enjoy. Great read and thanks for posting!

 

Yay for you, I can fully appreciate the anxiety you felt in laying out the trip, and having done so previously albeit differently for my wife, I have to say you did vey well. I tell anyone whoever is in this situation that you almost have to scrap your 'own' style trip for once and really try to make it work for them, and it sounds like you did. Now my brother on the other hand tried with his wife but didn't cater to her interests and I'd be surprised if she eve goes back.

One thing too, even if they don't go back or as much, I found my wife now understands my infatuation with the city a bit more. Some other suggestions for a next trip, depending on her personality and style.

 

Nicely done! Thats great that your wife has become comfortable with Vegas....nice planning.

 

Glad to hear she liked the town and that you enjoyed your stay at Eastside.

So the place actually has a 13th story, eh???

 

Great trip Chef! You did very well setting everything up. Glad to hear the wife enjoyed the trip.

 

Great trip report. It was a very good read

thanks
dave

 

Mission: IMPOSSIBLE - you must be Ethan Hunt with your strategic ploys. Congrats on the trip. I'm curious...how did you go about finding about which songs are played at Bellagio's fountains? Does it ever change or is it always classical music at 3 and 5?

 

You are a very thoughtful gentleman Chef. I am so glad everything went so well on your trip.

 

Excellent! Sounds like a marvelous trip, and you were able to make it enjoyable for your wife also. It is fun to see Vegas again through a newbies eyes. I have a feeling she will want to come back, sooner rather than later.

 

Good job! Nicely planned!

My wife loves Vegas and everything about it, but I can see your dilemma. It sounds like you went a long way toward showing her why you love it so much.

 

Well Done Chef! I'm glad the wifey had a great time!

 

great trip report! Im glad your wife was happy with it to.

 

Thanks for all the kind words.

sunni,
My wife is willing to go back, but the overall experience wasn't enough for her to be beating down the doors to get there.

rob,
Yes, I was surprised the Eastside Cannery had a 13th floor. I know this is taboo for a casino property, but perhaps since they only had 14 floors, it didn't make sense to skip the 13th floor.

DBear,
During weekdays, it is customary for the Brightman/Bocelli fountain act to be at 3:00. It's the Bellagio's way of opening up the day's shows. On weekends, things kick off at 12:00 and there can be a variation on the first show of the day.


In closing, I had hoped to get my wife to try a slot machine for one spin. Even though she enjoys card games at home, she refused to have anything to do with casino gambling.
At least, her anti-gaming opinions didn't interfere in her enjoyment Las Vegas. The other thing she had no interest in was any drinking or clubbing.
On the surface, one would wonder how someone like her could even have a good time in a place like Vegas. But the good times are there - it's just matter of finding them.

 

I'm glad that your wife enjoyed her time in Vegas. There are things to do in Vegas other than drink and gamble (though I'm not sure what they are)

Maybe a yearly trip and Vegas will grow on her to the point that gambling isn't such a bad thing to do.