officially addicted

OK, so 3/11-14 was my third trip to Vegas ever and since June 2003. I thought for sure this time it would be out of my system. I'd see the last of the sites I'd missed, spend a little more time downtown, eat in-n-out burger again, and then I'd return home...happy and tired, and thinking...I don't need to come back 'til there's something really new. Instead...I got home and the urge to return is worse than ever. Sigh. I used to want to go to places like Europe and Alaska, and now that desire is nearly gone completely. It's not that I don't want to get to those places...but going would require curbing my Vegas and amusement park travels, so...someday, I guess, when I hit a jackpot.

Anyway...this was supposed to be a trip report. Yes...here goes:

Flew Southwest from Indy to Vegas and was very pleasantly surprised. My last trip on Southwest was on a janky old plane and I was assigned in the C seating group. This time I enjoyed one of the nice planes, B seating, and that whole box of snackies. Fun. Served with a little luv. Arrived on time and did our Flamingo check in at the airport (no line!) and picked up a rental car. Got suckered into the extra insurance, just when I'd promised myself I wouldn't, but the guy is going on about it being a "sold out" weekend and if I've never driven in Vegas blah, blah, blah. I'm actually a little disappointed I didn't smash up the car now. Decided not to bother with maps and just drove towards the lights, and it took a silly long time for us to finally find a road that went through to LVB, but we did. Parked and headed up to our room; the floor had been recently remodeled and the carpet in the hall was still springy with new padding and had that "new" smell. The room was nice , not the best view...but glimpses of Bellagio, Caesar's, Mirage, and IP. Good enough. We headed out quickly to walk...it was my friend's first trip to Vegas, so we did all the standard oohing and ahhing and picture taking. Stuck our heads in the mouths of the lion statues by the Mirage and giggled hysterically. Bad taste, but funny. Lured into Casino Royale by the 99 cent margaritas and the promise of $50 free slot play on their "special" machines. Thankfully, I ran through my free play fairly quickly, but my friend kept winning (though never enough to cash out) and the free play got boring pretty quick (much like this trip report). Anywho...headed back to the room fairly early and were fast asleep by 2:30am.

Spent the morning at the pool, and did lunch at the Bellagio buffet. During one of many dessert courses, my friend Sharon exclaimed in relation to an eclair , "if this is as close as I come to getting laid on this trip, I'm totally OK with that." (What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, or on Vegas message boards anyway). Very funny stuff. Digested lunch in the Bellagio conservatory, then walked over to drink and play slots at the Boardwalk. Normal nickle slots...love it! Those video screen things confuse me. Didn't win (as was the theme of the trip), so we hustled to Barbary Coast to see Big Elvis, who I've heard so much about here. He absolutely didn't disappoint. Fun show. Headed back up to our Flamingo room for a nap, then down to the Second City show at 8:00pm. I sort of didn't want to do the Second City show, as I've seen them in Chicago several times, but I'm so glad we did. Laughed until it hurt, truly. On at least three occassions I had to cover my ears and look away to catch my breath. That's good stuff. Incredible show, great value. From Second City back to the Boardwalk to see Purple Reign...all 3 sets. They played 'til about 3:30am. Even ponied up the $10 for a polaroid with "Prince," I'll have to scan it. He's totally hot. Back to the hotel and we decided we needed a soak in the hot tub to soothe our abs (sore from laughing), our arms (sore from pulling levers), and legs (sore from dancing). Sat in the hot tub for about 15 minutes before being discovered and sent to our room by security. It was just enough anyway.

Saturday...up and out of the hotel by 10, we drove out to Primm so I could ride the coaster. Did lunch at La Salsa (my fav!) at Buffalo Bill's. It's all about the mahi mahi tacos, people. Played DDR in the arcade (best use of quarters all weekend) and then lost some in the slots. Drove into California a little ways and parked in the desert somewhere to take pictures . Then drove clear back across Nevada to see the Hoover Dam. It was dark when we got there, but we walked around anyway. Mostly just tried to get our money's worth out of the stupid car. Back to the hotel for naps...then downtown for FSE and gambling. Wound up playing at a very dead Main Street Station and enjoying their yummy beer! After several of the wheat brews (with lemon), I finally managed to get drunk for the first time on this trip...those casino well drinks and cheap margaritas just don't cut it. Our delightful cab driver, Rick, brought us back to the Flamingo area, and we headed over to Harrah's for dueling pianos until 3-something AM. I knew if we'd tried to go to sleep right after the show the room would be spinning, so we walked north to Stardust, used their bathroom, bought stuff at Walgreens, and took a cab back. I think. Room spinning avoided.

Sunday AM we tried to do the Paris buffet, but the lines were crazy...so came back and mulled around at Flamingo until check out, then drove around until our flight home at 5:30. Had intended to do the Stratosphere , but just weren't feeling up to much of anything. Sunday hurt, a lot, as we'd had very little sleep the previous few nights and I vowed on future trips to never make plans for the last day...should be sleep/pool/spa time. Lesson learned.

Flight home was uneventful, but the midnight drive from Indy to Champaign was thrilling, with either of us nearly nodding off at the wheel and hitting the buzz strips repeatedly . We switched drivers every 30 minutes on a 90 minute drive, but we arrived home safely. I'd been getting a cold before the trip, and managed to fight it by sheer will all weekend, but was miserable sick upon my return to work on Monday and much of the rest of the week. Oh well, each cough or nose blow reminded me of the good times enjoyed that weekend.

Now planning my next trip for June...

Thanks for reading.

[ March 22, 2004, 09:45 PM: Message edited by: dawnmarie ]

 

Great report, and I LOVE the way you embedded the links to the photos in the body of the report.

Thanks for sharing!

 

Excellent report!! I, too, was impressed by the embedded links.

Thanks for taking the time.

 

Nice report Dawn! How was Desperado? And DDR? Are you on the Robb & Elissa bandwagon? (REALLY an inside joke)

Vegas sure is addicting isn't it?

Kitty

 

Great report, really enjoyed reading it, hopefully my upcoming trip will be as fun!!

 

Very nice!

I know exactly what you mean about wanting to go other places, but can't seem to get Vegas off the top of the list.

hey, I think I'm having some firewall problems... any chance you can just give me the address where I can look at your pictures? I really want to see the eclair and the buzz strip!

 

Ooh...those things are called "rumble strips" aren't they? It just came to me...I can never remember. Anyway, I'm gonna call 'em buzz strips. It's more fun if you ask me. LV Terry: you'll be disappointed in the buzz strip picture, it's just the back side of the welcome to fabulous vegas sign. Trying to be funny.

But you can find two albums of Vegas photos here:
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dawnmarie313/my_photos

Kikky: I posted a Despardo trip report at CoasterBuzz with a one word description: ouch! At $7 I couldn't bear to reride it to give it a second chance. Oh well. Good DDR machines at the arcade though, and the Robb & Elissa thing cracked me up. I've met them, they were nice enough to me, but I'm not on any bandwagon for sure. And for the record, I don't approve of taking on-ride footage. Sorry for all the coaster geek lingo...back to your regularly scheduled Vegas geek discussions.

 

Great report, Dawn! I especially liked the pictures! I'm glad you had a good time!

 

sounds like a great time!

and, you live in champaigne? went to school there!

 

Really great, report- I love putting faces with names on this board!

I had to laugh about the Sigfried & Roy picture- my husband did the exact same thing when we were there!! (pictures and report to appear on here at some point... )

 

Good report!

Love the pics!

 

That was a great trip report and I LOVED the pictures in between the lines, it made me feel like I was there with you.

Glad you had a good time.

 

Great pics Dawn! And Great Trip Report also.

Thanks!!

 

Great report dawnmarie loved the pics. Better to be sick at work than on vacation .