Vegas 12/26 to 1/3: Part 1!

Dec 26 to Jan 3rd trip report

Caesars Palace (Augustus tower) and Fitzgeralds

Getting there:
*We left from logan airport in boston the evening of the 26th on Jetblue. The flight was delayed and we didnt take off until sometime after midnight. One hour delay boarding, and another hour delay while we sat at the gate waiting for them to repair something with the plane. Jam packed flight, jabbed elbows with a guy twice my size the whole flight. Plus some woman passed out in the aisle and they actually went on the PA asking if a Dr was on board. Geez. She eventually woke up and flight went on without incident.
*Got to Vegas at 1am, proceded to Alamo to pick up the rental car. As expected, they only had 3 cars left on thier lot, so i got a Chrysler Sebring convertable. That was pretty cool except its not really convertable weather. Oh well. Ps, Alamo is really far from the airport.

Checking in:
*Checked into Caesars Palace, got a room in the new Agustus tower, and the room overlooked the Bellagio. sweeeeet. This room had it all, jacuzzi tub, stand up shower, flat screen tv, flat screen in the bathroom, giant comfy bed, big couch, wonderful view, oh.. and ROBES. Of course we just passed out and that was our first night.

Day 1.
*Woke up and didnt have time to get food so i went downstairs and found some coffee and bagel place in Caesars. 2 untoasted bagels (they dont toast apparently) and 2 orange juices turned into a $17 investment!! argh. Oh well.
*Btw, the reason we went to Caesars is that my girlfriend had a modelling shoot and the photographer put her up there. So i spent most of the day waiting around with her while she did her photo shoot. Her shots where taken at the pool area and around Caesars so hopefully you see her in Maxim or something!!
*After the shoot it was dinnertime, so we hit up the Mandaley Bay buffett. No wait, we walked right in and where served right away. Decent drink service and nice decor in there. I was so-so on the selections. Very slim pickings but what they had was decent. The salad bar in particular was weak (selection wise). I'm glad I tried it but I dont think i'd ever go again.
After dinner we went to the Shark Reef. Aside from the 100000 kids in there (was i in circus circus??) it was enjoyable. It was bigger than I thought, but it was nice. That said, I wouldnt reccomend it unless you have kids or really like Sharks and aquariums.
*After the Shark Reef, ran up to Walmart and got some essentials and stopped at Sonic for some of thier tasty desserts.
*Since we where still on east coast time, we all crashed pretty early.

Day 2.
*Woke up somewhat late, but had plans to hit the Paris breakfast buffet. When we arrived the line was crazy crazy long. If we had waited in the line, we would of gotten seated by lunch time (it was already 10am at that point). So we opted for the cafe at the Paris. Breakfast was good, nothing to get too excited about. Orange juice was $8 a glass!! We asked the server if this could be laced with crack or something but he said it was fresh squeezed, thats the only reason he could think of for the high price. argh..
*After breakfast we drove out to the Hilton and went to the Star Trek ride. I'd been to this many times but my girlfriend hadnt so I wanted to take her on it. First thing is i've never seen such crowds at this place. We waited in line to pay, and waited forever to get on the actual attractions. yuck!!
*For lunch we went to In and Out burger, always a good time for us east coasters
*Then we headed to the Barbary Coast and saw the one and only, Fat Elvis. He was in typical form, great voice, did some classics, some more obscure stuff, etc..
*Went back up to the room to rest up for our evening activites, but the girlfriend got really sick, and within 2 hours her tempature had shot up to 101. So we spent the night in and watched tv on the nice flatscreen at Ceasars. I had to move the car over to the Caesars valet at one point so I stopped at Del Taco really quick since i was hungry but didnt want to bring food to the room. Went to bed early again, still hadn't touched anything table/slot machine wise yet... a first for me.

Day 3.
*Got up early this time, and my girlfriends tempature went back to normal and she felt fine. Very wierd!. So we where determined to make the Paris breakfast buffet. We made it this time, only a 10 minute wait in line. I was pretty impressed by this buffet, the made to order crepe station was good as was the homefries, french toast. Drink service was decent. It was just disappointing since I can never put away that much food in the AM, so i felt somewhat bummed about that. Ah well.
*After the food we went to the MGM, got to see the lions there, they where pretty active, running aruond and chasing balls and stuff. We also went to Coke world and M&M world, probably the most crowded, kid-filled places on earth aside from Disney World or Circus-Circus. But the good side of that is we got to check out the coke bottle half off tickets thing. It really exists!! I never had given it much thought. But like it says, the tickets are really half off for same day tickets. Even the Star Trek ride is included!! damn i wish i had known earlier.
*We had to head back to Caesars to check out of our room, so we packed up, took care of that and picked up the car from valet. I have to say the Ceasars expirence was excellent, we even had a guy working approach us in the lobby asking us how our stay was and wishing us happy holidays.
*Of course we went from Riches to Rags, as we had a reservation at Fitzgeralds. Check in was easy, asked for an upgrade, no dice. Asked for a king non smoking, got a double smoking. Room was tiny, dark, severly out of date, and the beds where as soft as fred flinstone's. At least it was somewhat clean. It was also on the 23rd floor so we got a good view of the El Co and the Western. haha.
*Dumped our luggage at the Fitz, took a walk up and down fremont and then hit the car back to the strip.
*We had a reservation at the Elmis Spa at the Aladdin. This is a first for me and I had a very pleasant expirence. We got a couples massage, so basically that means we got a regular massage but we where both in the same room. We checked in, they gave us robes, and we headed to our locker rooms. There was a big steam room, spa, and showers with all the pumps full of shampoo and body washes, etc. Plus they had a waiting area with a tv and a fridge full of juices and water that we could take as much as we want! Anyway, they took us back in the room for the 50 min massage that I orginally thought was too long, but it was over before it started. I guess on my next trip i'll have to make this a tradition.
*After feeling tottally relaxed, we needed to get food. We wherent sure so we walked the distance between the Mandalay Bay and the Excalibur. After many stops, we decided on Regale at the Excalibur. We just asked not to be seated near any kids (they have a kids eat free special). But there wasnt too many kids, everyone there was very friendly. The food was pretty good, not gourmet, but definetly a good value for the money and filled us up.
*Our plans that evening was to attend a comedy show at the House of Blues at the Mandaley Bay. The Kings of Comedy isnt a regular show there, but a special engagment with JIm Flourintine (Crank Yankers), Richard Christie, Sal the Stock Broker, Yukko the Clown (All of Howard Stern Show) and the Rev Bob Levy. We paid for the good seats, but it turned out to be just balcony seats with a crappy view of the stage, while tiicketmaster told us we'd be up front and center. (yes im going to call and complain about this ). Also, Richard and Sal cancelled so they got K.C. (howard sterns old producer or whatever they called him) and this other pretty unfunny guy. Over the show was ok, but nothing to hilarious. Not to mention the expensive drinks and everyone decided to light up cigarettes next to us. Oh well, i had a good time and I was glad I went.
*After the show, we did the people watching thing around the mandelay and then returned to colder than hell fremont st. I mean, i'm from boston and theres just something wrong about the cold in Vegas. Ah well, it was snowing back at home so i guess this is better.

Day 4
*Woke up early, checked out of Shitsgeralds, oops i mean Fitzgeralds. We seached for a simple bagel type breakfast (Dear las Vegas, YOU NEED DUNKIN DONUTS), and since we couldnt find that we went to the Sahara Buffett for breakfast. Now i used my 2 for 1 ACG coupon so that was $8 for breakfast for the both of us. Much better than that shit $16 two bagels and warm OJ breakfast at Caesars! I know you all hate this buffet, but if you come in not expecting alot, then you will be fine. I only had some french toast and cereal and drank a ton of OJ (still reeling over the $8 OJ from the other day).
*After the Sahara, we got in the car bound for LA. The opposite side of the highway was jam packed on the way into town. We stopped in Primm and walked around the shopping mall, which isnt anything to write home about.. most of the stores arent even outlets.

The next 2 days we spent in LA for new years and came back new years day. I will spare these non-vegas details. Also, no gambling so for at ALL thus far. A real first for me!!

When we return we have 2 nights at the new South Coast casino that will cover in part 2!

Also coming in part 2, pictures and a summation of my impressions of Vegas over the busy holidays.

 

Great Job TVON, from a local North Shore of Boston guy. Looking forward to part deux!

 

Nice report.

There was a Dunking Donuts on the strip by the Holiday Inn (Harrahs) back in the 80's.

 

Had to laugh at that...We have a few mom & pop donut places, Krispy Kreme, and Einstein Bagels. Even so, I miss Dunkin Donuts, too.

The Augustus rooms sound great. I really want to stay there, but rates have been so high. Nice score by having the photographer set you up there.

Sounds like a good trip so far. Looking forward to read what you thought of the South Coast. Especially since we enjoyed our stay there.

 

Nice read. Crack in the OJ--hilarious. Looking forward to part 2.