FlamingO 3/1-4 Trip to see family and Bette!

Our trip was March 1-4 and included Me, my Hubby (40 somethings)and my 80 year young Mom. Our goal was to see Bette Midler, visit family, and meet up with an LA friend. After procuring our tickets for three 159 dollar tickets(582.00 total for rear orchestra three- row H). Yeah. Love ya ticketmaster. At least buy me a drink after....I was lucky enough to find a super deal on Southwest for 209 roundtrip from FL to LAS. Day 1 :3/1Our flight left at 11:30 am and we were in the last part of the A boarding group. We were lucky enough to find a seat near the front of the plane-- in front of the exit row-. Later we found out the SEATS DO NOT RECLINE. Good to know for the return trip! Landing at McCarren on time we waited only 15 minutes for our baggage then off to the rental car center to Thrifty for the deal of the century 15 dollars per weekend day-sweet! They wanted to charge us 20 dollars per day for an extra driver but we pled ignorance and sweet talked our way to extra driver for free.Finally we were on the way to the hotel – but first a stop for liquid refreshment for the room. We stopped at the Rebel gas/convenience store which was fine but not my top choice for price or safety...better to go to CVS, methinks. Arriving at the Flamingo around 3 pm we asked for a ‘renovated room’ and were given two 12th floor rooms which were more than adequate - Mom's even had a view of Caesars-amazing. We called Wes, our LA pal and met up in the Flamingo casino. The guys played video poker while Mom and I got hooked on The Price is Right Game -a nickel machine. Actually we won a ton 76.00 considering our investment: 5 bucks each. By this time 6 pm-we were hungry so off we went to the Paris buffet where Wes' diamond level card gave us NO WAIT in line! We met Tom,my Airman nephew-stationed at Nellis- and his new bride Lynn and ate ourselves silly at the Buffet. We thought it was very good at this point....keep reading. After dinner we watched the Bellagio fountains and walked around a bit. Our bodies were still on East Coast time so we went back to Mom's strip view room around 11 pm and sat in the window and talked until midnight. Caesar's is quite magnificent lit up at night! Day 2 3/2 Sunday we decided to visit family and toured Henderson and North Las Vegas stopping for the essential treat: The In-n-Out Burger Lunch! As always the food was simply delicious. By this time it was 3 pm so we drove back to Flamingo to get ready for the 6 pm opening of Will Call at Caesars. We made it there by 6:15 and got the tickets by 6:30. Thinking we could get appetizers and a drink we visited several restaurants: all full at the bar! PLAN B: The Cypress Street Market (hey-isn't this a food court?) We tossed back some bowls of soup and ran over to get in the very long line at Caesars. Not wanting to waste time, I put in a 10 dollar bill in a nickel machine and won 80.00! Cash Out! Bette is calling. We were seated and really enjoyed the show. I had never seen Bette and was so glad we went. The costumes and sets were amazing and the girl can sing! I was happy to see there were no flying pianos, lost clowns or weird chanting. She kept us laughing and smiling for almost two hours. Afterwards we decided to split up: Hubby went to investigate the slot machines and Mom and I were going for a drink. We ended up in the Bubble Bar at Restaurant Guy Savoy. Surprisingly the drinks were not that expensive and our charming waiter stopped by with foie gras on country bread on a tiny metal fork and other tastes. Looking at the menu, we decided we weren't really THAT hungry and this place was for an evening of celebration and dining. (You can check out the menu on line-but there are no prices.) Walking back to the Flamingo, we spotted a sign in front of Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Casino for a Breakfast Special and ate our Eggs and bacon in the Victorian room. For 6.99- it was perfect.We went to bed dreaming we were rich enough to order the 80.00 veal chop at Guy Savoy. Day 3: 3/3 Monday am we decided staying out of the casino during the day was good for our budget so off to Hoover Dam.Lots of traffic from departing NASCAR fans made it slow going. Along the way we saw the one and only :â€HACIENDA HOTEL AND CASINO-A FUN PLACEâ€.
Oh, yeah....we stopped.
We gambled a bit on the one dollar minimum roulette wheel (you can put a quarter on inside bets) and then decided to go for a bite. A 99 cent shrimp cocktail was advertised but the lunch buffet was calling us.
Yeah, we did.
Actually, they had some very good fried chicken on the buffet. The rest of it was "1975 school lunch food" good for hungry folk with basic food and no fanfare. Cottage cheese, soup, iceberg lettuce and garbanzo beans on the salad bar.Carved turkey and mashed potatoes for entrées. Peach cobbler for dessert. Seriously, for what we paid (6.99)and the service we got (friendly & attentive) we thought it was fine. Now ..off to the Dam. Traffic was better after our Hacienda break and we enjoyed the views from the Dam on the crisp, cool desert day. We decided to race back to the strip to catch Big Elvis. Stuck in traffic forever, we desperately took a few back roads and made it to Bill's at 5:05 pm . Great-there are seats available!! ...then we saw the sign "Sorry performance cancelled". Our hopes dashed, we plunked our money in the Monopoly machines and drank cocktails until 7pm. Our spirits renewed, we decided to go shopping at PH Miracle Mile. First we stopped off for a cocktail at the Double Down saloon where they serve "A__ Juice". The bartender was a gem and the jukebox amazing but we had shopping and casino duty so off we went to the mall/casino, slightly tipsy on our A__ Juice.Parking at PH is so easy and we saw many high-heeled, mini skirted gals and their dates stomping their way through the mall to the club -Great People Watching! After the tour de mall we visited the PH casino-it was hoppin'!! We played a bit but didn't win much. We decided to go home to pack as we were leaving the next day. Day 4: 3/4 Tuesday Our plane doesn’t leave until 5:30 so we have a good part of the day to play. We checked out seamlessly from Flamingo and loaded up the PT Cruiser setting our sights on Palazzo. The shopping area is incredible with diamonds and designer shops galore. We entered the casino and couldn’t decide where to play. All the slot machines are new and the place is gorgeous but we couldn’t get into it. I found a video blackjack machine and lost 20 bucks in 5 minutes-it played 7 hands at a time! It was almost noon so we decided to visit the Wynn for lunch. At 12:15 on a Tuesday there was no line at the buffet. The price was 21.95 so we decided this should be good… AND IT WAS! It was stupendous with awesome tasting food for a pasta lover, meat lover, salad lover or seafood lover. Some of the more usual items were: fresh anchovies for the Caesar salad,Kobe beef meatballs, spicy tuna handrolls in the sushi area, fresh fruit chutneys for the meats, tiny sandwiches on mini loaves of bread and tombo tuna with citrus sauce. We barely had room for dessert but we managed to stuff in banana mousse cake, caramel éclairs, candied apples and dark chocolate covered strawberries. This buffet blew away the Paris dinner buffet which had water logged crab legs and crab claws and shrimp you had to peel yourself.Some of the items at Wynn were similar to Bellagio (wonder why??) like the rock shrimp cerviche – but the Wynn décor and atmosphere blew Bellagio out of the water. We raised our iced tea glasses, “To Steve†and waddled our way to our car. Thrifty return was a breeze and we found ourselves in line for security two hours early….luckily shopping opportunities abound at McCarran so we browsed the Caesar’s, Mirage, Flamingo and Candy shops. Looking down to the luggage carousels, I saw new arrivals anxiously awaiting their luggage and their time in Vegas and wished I was back in the arrivals section once again.

 

Nice TR

Sounds like you had a blast. great TR. Only 4weeks until our turn!

 

I love the 1975 School Lunch description.....Absolutely priceless!!!

And glad to hear the Paris buffet was at least good - there have been some complaints lately. I am sure I would like the Wynn better....but that one won't be free for me!!

 

nice TR.

 

Great TR. Thanks! Now I'm REALLY dying to get back out there!

 

Great Job on the trip report! Sounds like you had an awesome time!

 

Thanks for the TR. I can wait to get there Sunday night......

 

Nice report. I've always wondered about the Hacienda I just never was out in that area.

 

nice tr

Fun stuff Judy...

 

Another fan of the Wynn buffet here...none of my friends have ever been disappointed there.
Loved the description of the Hacienda buffet<ggg>.

Sandy

 

Great TR! I am leaving Sunday and I can't wait!!!