May 8-11 The Second Anniversary Part Three: Grand Finale

And now the last full day of the trip or...

TUESDAY

Today was Spa Day for Holly and Gambling Day for me. Holly going to a spa is becoming a Vegas tradition. Last year, I surprised Holly with a spa day at the Luxor. She loved that. This year she wanted to try the Golden Nugget Spa. Here is the spa report...She got a Swedish massage, European facial, and a deep conditioning for her hair. She thought that the Luxor was a nicer spa (although she said the Nugget was really nice), but the Nugget staff was awesome. She really enjoyed her time. What did I do while she was spaing it up? I was gambling downtown. My orginal plan was to hit every casino downtown. So after, getting a coffee at Starbucks (and reinforcing my theory that Starbucks coffee sucks), I headed to the Fremont to win a Mustang. I didn't win the car but won $380 on a different machine. WOW! Most I ever hit on a machine. A great way to start off. I ran back to the room and put $300 in the safe so I wouldn't spend it.

One of the things I really wanted to do was go to El Cortez. I've read so many conflicting stories on this place, I needed to check it out myself. Well, I loved it. It was here I did another thing I've never done before, be the first player at a table. I bellied up and started tossing the dice. The table was very bouncy. I must have thrown the dice off the table 4 times. I didn't think I was throwing that hard. Didn't win anything and couldn't hit anythng for the dealers either. Oh well, I had to continue my journey. On my way back to the canopy section, I grabbed lunch at Philly Steak Express. I had philly steak with fries. Not too bad.

After eating, I hit Fitzgerald's and 4 Queens. Got a football beer at 4 Queens. It was a dollar cheaper then the other places. Then over to Binions. Played craps there, again no luck even for the dealers. I decided I would see if the World Famous Hurricane Mikey was working at the Golden Gate. He was! My luck is changing already. I buy in for my standard $40. Tha table talks a girl at the other end to toss the dice (her first time). She has a great roll and I make back some of my money (and the dealers win some too).

It's now after 2 and I need to meet Holly back at the room. She tells me about her spa time and shows me all the loot she "liberated" from there. That girl...I can't take her anywhere. Holly wanted to lay by the pool for a while, so I went to the craps table that was so nice to me Sunday night. I was up then down. I've officially been bitten by the craps bug. I love that game. Holly found me and wanted some ice cream. I found out that there is an ice cream shop in the California. I've never been to that casino. The ice cream shop is on the second floor. Holly gets a shake and a little sample of Rum Raisin. We check out Main Street Station when a friend we were supposed to meet for dinner backs out on us. So now we need to figure out what to do the rest of the night.

We also needed to get to the Little Chapel of Flowers to get our anniversary picture taken. That's where we were married. Last year, we started a tradition of getting our picture taken there every year. We found a cab driver who would drive us there and then take our pic. The cabbie was very nice. He dropped us back at the Nugget. We head over to La Salsa for some dinner. I have a chicken burrito; Holly has a salad.

After dinner, we need to pick up some gifts for her friends and co-workers. There is a show on the canopy. When it was over, the lights didn't come on from the Nugget to the Plaza. That was weird. Then I notice the stage between the Nugget and Golden Gate. That looks like Tom Jones. Holy Sh*t it is Tom Jones! I show Holly and she is off through the crowd to get in the front row. Tom is singing all his hits, "What's New Pussy Cat", "Sex Bomb", etc. Holly is screaming, taking pictures. Tom comes down off the stage and dances with the ladies. He bump and grinds with Holly. On his way back up to the stage, he grabs her and takes her up on stage! He plays the song "Kiss" all the while dancing with her and even kissing her! She goes up to the guitar player during his solo and grabs his butt! She is loving this. I'm snapping pictures like crazy. Finally, he says that because Holly came up on stage, she gets a DVD and picture. She comes back down to me beaming. We look at the DVD and see that "Tom" is just an impersonator. We are a little let down, but Holly still had a blast.

After "Tom", we finish up our shopping. I go up to the room to drop off the packages, Holly goes to play roulette. I meet her quickly on my way back down. Seems the Nugget only had $10 tables. Here bet 10 Win 8 can only last for so long. So we head back to the California for some more Ice Cream (she got Rum Raisin again. She really liked it.), then over to Main Street Station to see the Berlin Wall in the bathroom. That was very cool, but some guys were confused to see Holly in there. On our way back through the California, Holly hit the roulette table one last time. This time she was playing her fav bet 4 win 8. Unfortunately, it was bet 4 win nothing. We wound up at the Carson St. Cafe for some late night eats. The service was terrible. They were understaffed but still. The waiter botched Holly's order. The manager was very nice and took care of everything, even taking care of the check. Then it was up to bed.

Wednesday

Caught the shuttle early 8:30 AM for our 11:30 flight. Got to airport, quickly go through check in process. Plane delayed a bit but nothing unusual happened. Got back to SLC, where it had snowed that morning. UGH!

So this was the best trip Holly and I ever had. It was our fourth trip to Vegas together. Downtown rules! Craps = fun! I can't wait to get back...

[ May 21, 2005, 09:23 AM: Message edited by: deweynet ]

 

Very nice TR Dewey. Welcome to the Downtown area. We think it rules also. Glad you had a great time. Don

 

Great trip report! I love the GN, and glad you had a good time!

Kristin

 

Great TR! Never a dull moment. I too like the El Cortez. It's still a little piece of old-style Vegas I so much enjoy.