July 10-15
To save time and space this is a very condensed trip report
Sunday. First stop The Orleans. Hit the box office for comped Little River Band tickets, then super fast check in. Nice strip view on the "13th" floor. Before the show, we had dinner at San Miguels with a couple of free margaritas. My wife, Diana, tried to pass me one of her flautas and it wound up in my lap. Obviously a result of a good strong margarita. Awesome, awesome Little River Band concert.
Monday morning Princess Di goes for an Orleans spa double header - Swedish massage and chocolate wrap. I went out by the pool for a while and then just walked around to see what was new. Diana smelled like a big chocolate cake when she got finished with her spa visit. Hit the lunch buffet, nothing spectacular but good selection and quality. Made a quick trip to the outlet mall where Diana just happened to find another pair of shoes to buy.
Had WWRY tickets for tonight so headed over to Paris early to look around before the show. Stopped in at Napoleons happy hour for a drink and a couple of free sandwiches served with the strongest horseradish I've ever had. Diana picks up a few souvenirs at the Queen shop. We Will Rock You show was funny, entertaining and had some great sets. Walked across to Belagio for our first ever fountain show and toured the conservatory inside. Pretty cool stuff. They still had the Independence Day theme set up. Back to The Orleans for a good $1.95 graveyard special in the cafe.
Tuesday had coffee and muffins out by the pool. Since the building was blocking the sun till about 10am it’s was just perfect out there. Packed up and headed out for the southern Vegas tour. First stop the Silverton. Nice clean little place next to Bass Pro and across the interstate from the outlet mall.
Next stop was Green Valley Ranch. It’s a real classy looking place with a lot of shops in the area. It was lunchtime and we were trying to find a place to eat when we came across a restaurant, Grand Cafe, that was roped off but people were being served and eating. The hostess said they were closed and just serving employees. This was just play day and they open next week. I told her we were lost and just looking for someplace to eat. To our surprise she invites us in for a free lunch. All we had to do was critique the food and service. I guess we do look like well fed food critics. We had Spinach - Artichoke cheese dip for the appetizer, a giant club sandwich with a fresh green salad and spaghetti with two tennis ball sized meatballs. The lady that made the menu up came by and chatted with us for a while. Made us feel like VIPs. Everything was excellent and since it was free we left the friendly young waitress a hefty tip.
Almost miserably full we continue on to Monte Lago out by Lake Las Vegas. Just a beautiful place out there but it was so hot we couldn't really enjoy the walk around all the little shops in the villa. Would be a nice place to go some evening to have dinner. Stop at Albertsons for water and wine.
We make it to the Golden Nugget about 6:30 to check in and are faced with a dilemma. We were offered free tickets to the last Gordie Brown show of the week and it started in one hour. The T2V meet at the Plaza was at 8. Sorry everyone, you got stood up for Downtown Gordie Brown. The show was hilarious and fast paced. Highly recommended for a good laugh. After the show we went by the Plaza but I guess everyone had moved on, it was too quiet for a T2V meet. We went over to the Keno bar to meet DonD's friend Tim the bartender. He's just an interesting fellow to talk to and we really enjoyed visiting with him. Stopped by the Golden Gate for a shrimp cocktail. Really tasty but the last bite was a little fishy tasting. Back at the Nugget we stopped at the lounge show and enjoyed The SteppenStonz R&B band.
Wednesday woke up late. Had coffee from Starbucks then headed west on Sahara to Rosemarys. Did the $20 choice of three items lunch. The waitress said that we could pick off of the regular menu as well as the lunch specials. Just a great meal but now Princess Di is pissed if someone doesn't put her napkin in her lap or refolds it when she leaves the table. She said, "I guess you know the bar has been raised". I thought, yeah that's what I was afraid of. Since we were only 15 minutes from Red Rock Canyon and too full to do anything else, we decided to take a drive out there. I know it’s just a bunch of rocks but they are colored and stacked real pretty. Besides what better place to enjoy the hottest day of the year, 116 degrees, than in the middle of the desert.
To save time and space this is a very condensed trip report
Sunday. First stop The Orleans. Hit the box office for comped Little River Band tickets, then super fast check in. Nice strip view on the "13th" floor. Before the show, we had dinner at San Miguels with a couple of free margaritas. My wife, Diana, tried to pass me one of her flautas and it wound up in my lap. Obviously a result of a good strong margarita. Awesome, awesome Little River Band concert.
Monday morning Princess Di goes for an Orleans spa double header - Swedish massage and chocolate wrap. I went out by the pool for a while and then just walked around to see what was new. Diana smelled like a big chocolate cake when she got finished with her spa visit. Hit the lunch buffet, nothing spectacular but good selection and quality. Made a quick trip to the outlet mall where Diana just happened to find another pair of shoes to buy.
Had WWRY tickets for tonight so headed over to Paris early to look around before the show. Stopped in at Napoleons happy hour for a drink and a couple of free sandwiches served with the strongest horseradish I've ever had. Diana picks up a few souvenirs at the Queen shop. We Will Rock You show was funny, entertaining and had some great sets. Walked across to Belagio for our first ever fountain show and toured the conservatory inside. Pretty cool stuff. They still had the Independence Day theme set up. Back to The Orleans for a good $1.95 graveyard special in the cafe.
Tuesday had coffee and muffins out by the pool. Since the building was blocking the sun till about 10am it’s was just perfect out there. Packed up and headed out for the southern Vegas tour. First stop the Silverton. Nice clean little place next to Bass Pro and across the interstate from the outlet mall.
Next stop was Green Valley Ranch. It’s a real classy looking place with a lot of shops in the area. It was lunchtime and we were trying to find a place to eat when we came across a restaurant, Grand Cafe, that was roped off but people were being served and eating. The hostess said they were closed and just serving employees. This was just play day and they open next week. I told her we were lost and just looking for someplace to eat. To our surprise she invites us in for a free lunch. All we had to do was critique the food and service. I guess we do look like well fed food critics. We had Spinach - Artichoke cheese dip for the appetizer, a giant club sandwich with a fresh green salad and spaghetti with two tennis ball sized meatballs. The lady that made the menu up came by and chatted with us for a while. Made us feel like VIPs. Everything was excellent and since it was free we left the friendly young waitress a hefty tip.
Almost miserably full we continue on to Monte Lago out by Lake Las Vegas. Just a beautiful place out there but it was so hot we couldn't really enjoy the walk around all the little shops in the villa. Would be a nice place to go some evening to have dinner. Stop at Albertsons for water and wine.
We make it to the Golden Nugget about 6:30 to check in and are faced with a dilemma. We were offered free tickets to the last Gordie Brown show of the week and it started in one hour. The T2V meet at the Plaza was at 8. Sorry everyone, you got stood up for Downtown Gordie Brown. The show was hilarious and fast paced. Highly recommended for a good laugh. After the show we went by the Plaza but I guess everyone had moved on, it was too quiet for a T2V meet. We went over to the Keno bar to meet DonD's friend Tim the bartender. He's just an interesting fellow to talk to and we really enjoyed visiting with him. Stopped by the Golden Gate for a shrimp cocktail. Really tasty but the last bite was a little fishy tasting. Back at the Nugget we stopped at the lounge show and enjoyed The SteppenStonz R&B band.
Wednesday woke up late. Had coffee from Starbucks then headed west on Sahara to Rosemarys. Did the $20 choice of three items lunch. The waitress said that we could pick off of the regular menu as well as the lunch specials. Just a great meal but now Princess Di is pissed if someone doesn't put her napkin in her lap or refolds it when she leaves the table. She said, "I guess you know the bar has been raised". I thought, yeah that's what I was afraid of. Since we were only 15 minutes from Red Rock Canyon and too full to do anything else, we decided to take a drive out there. I know it’s just a bunch of rocks but they are colored and stacked real pretty. Besides what better place to enjoy the hottest day of the year, 116 degrees, than in the middle of the desert.


They also give your memory a little vacation for an hour or so…:evillaugh not that there is anything wrong with that......
