Hi - my first trip report but not first trip! We left Phoenix by car about 4 am on Thursday, 9-6 for our twice a year trek to the Golden Nugget. Arrived in LV (me and husband) about 10:30 am - we were going to meet our friend, Brian, who was flying in to TI from Tucson. Parked behind Excalibur- enjoyed the two hundred mile walk to the casino - hey, it was COOL in LV - after 109 or so in Phoenix, it was much cooler - husband said, "a cold snap." So we met Brian around 11 at New York, New York - just playing some slots and he kept following me around (we were going to have lunch at 11 at the Mexican place there - can't recall the name, but they make a nice margarita- and I look around and this woman looks just like my sister in law and great friend, Penny- well, it Was Penny! Woot!! A surprise for my birthday - she does not gamble and always said she would NEVER go to Vegas - also, she likes to laze around a pool for a vacation, whereas I am a total trip commando - so it was a great and fun surprise! We had our lunch and margaritas - the food there is fine but nothing special - the tortillas are very thick and kind of odd - but the drinks are good. After lunch we started our usual first day circuit - across to MGM - took Penny to the M and M's movie up on the top floor - it is a corny 3D movie - very silly!! Then we went to PH and to the "new" desert passage stores and shopped - I hate that they are destroying the aladdin theming - but that's progress. After shopping went to Paris and looked around - everyone was getting tired. We hoofed over to Bally's and caught the monorail for an expensive 5 dollar ride back to MGM because we didnt want to wait for the bus in the heat - then we got the van from Excal. lot and went to the Liberace Museum, which Penny wanted to see. WE got there at 4 and they closed at 5, all the sweet old ladies told us we wouldn't have time to see it all in an hour, but we were pretty sure we could, and of course we did. If you haven't done this at least once, you should do it - very reminiscent of the "old" Vegas and the cars and costumes are well displayed and very interesting. After the tour we drove to Golden nugget to check in - Brian went back to TI - he and Penny were meeting later to see O. Check in was crowded, even on a Thursday afternoon - everyone from Wisconsin was there for the UNLV and Wis. game on Saturday. Wisconsin folks wearing red and white. Checked into our normal place - South tower, which I prefer. We always stay there - such creatures of habit! I am totally a morning person and I mean 3:30 or 4 am rising daily and bed by 8:30 at the latest, but I went out on Fremont and visited the east casinos (4Queens, Fitz, Fremont) before bed and stayed up until after 9 pm. LOL friday got up and gambled all morning on Fremont - husband went to Main St. Station for breakfast with Penny - she and brian liked O. We all met up with Brian over at the Hilton for STar Trek - we all (except Penny - ha ha) are HUGE HUGE fans and always go over here - so we did the rides and hung out there for a while. While waiting to go in, I turned around and suddenly saw MY DAUGHTER!!!! who had flown in to suprise me for my birthday! So that was too cool. THen we drove over to TI and kind of chatted for a while before heading to Venetian to look over the canal and show Penny the sights. At 6:30 we had reservations for the Steak House located in the basement at Circus Circus - it is such a nice restaurant very very moderate pricing and we think the steak is very good. I couldn't finish it since I had a delicous but filling Strawberry daquiri before the meal! We didn't get back downtown until almost ten - wow that was late for me - ha ha - I was exhausted and slept in Until Saturday at 5:30 got up and left husband and daughter still asleep - went out and played more slots- yes, I know, it is all sucker bets but I love those slots!! I used some tips from the board and held my own with some video poker machines - so that was different! At 9, husband took Penny out to the airport as she had to leave - it was wonderful having her there a couple days! In the afternoon we met Brian and husband, daughter, Brian and I shopped at the Fashion Show Mall on LV blvd. That night Brian flew home to Tucson. While he was taken to airport by husband, I won 800 dollars on a double diamond machine at the Fitz - that was great. We are low players with no dough so that paid for a lot of our trip. On Sunday we got up and had buffet "brunch" at Main STreet - lots of variety there! then went to the Disney warehouse store out at the outlet shops on the south end of LV Blvd - as Disney fans, this is a favorite for us. In the afternoon we went to Sam's Town and watched the movie Stardust (underwhelmed) and then gambled some - husband took daughter to the airport and I took the shuttle down to Fremont and played the rest of the evening. Monday was a good day, too - our last full day - had breakfast at Golden Gate - highly recommend that restaurant - inexpensive, very friendly service. We drove to the downtown outlet stores over by the convention center - just a few blocks from downtown. THen went to Ceasar's forum shops and had a huge huge salad for lunch at Cheesecake factory- they make their servings so big you dont' want to eat any cheesecake! The rest of our time was spent downtown going here and there - my favorites are really las vegas club and golden gate, although Fitz was very good to me. I gamble some at the nugget but have it in my mind that the machines are "tight." Husband played some blackjack I think at MSS or possibly Cal - not really sure. We took craps lessons last year at the nugget but now have forgotten all we learned and I dont really like the "interaction" with the casino folks and the other guests - i get too embarrassed that I'll make a dopey mistake!! On Tuesday we left at 6 am and got home around 1:30. It was a wonderful trip and we can't wait until the next one! Sunday got up and
Nice going on the win at Fitzgeralds. Sounds like you had a nice birthday full of surprises and a great trip. Thanks for posting. I also preferred the mall at PH as it was under Aladdin.
Great TR. Sounds like your birthday was full of fun and surprises! oooh, i gotta figure out where to take crap lessons, i have always wanted to learn how to play the game, but oh so intimidating.
Sounds like you had a really great trip. After all the surprises and the big win I don't blame you for not being able to wait for your next trip. Hopefully, your luck will continue.
Thanks for the trip report. Somebody did a great job with surprising you several times. What did Penny end up thinking of Vegas? Some folks don't care for it, but some are surprised when they actually give it a go.
Penny didn't really care for it much - she put five bucks in a slot machine (quarters, good grief) and managed to take away 7 dollars, though, so she was very proud of herself but stopped. She is a really cool person, but kind of grumpy, like the hallmark character Maxine - ha ha. She said it was okay, but she doesn't need to go again. We just ran her ragged, I think!