Robkno
Guest
Since my next Vegas trip commences this Saturday, I figured I better hustle up and submit a TR from the June trip. My parents have friends that own a condo in Summerlin, and were invited to go stay at it in June. It’s pretty spacious, so they asked me to tag along, and with American Airlines selling a reasonable ticket from St. Louis ($220 round), I jumped at the chance.
DAY ONE: We were “wheels down in Vegas†at about 3:30 local time. This was the first time I’d noticed the MGMMirage and Caesars Resorts airport check-in desks. I saw no visible lines and made a note-to-self for future trips. We proceeded to the Dollar Rent-a-car desk to check in for our car. The Dollar people are VERY, VERY high pressure about taking out their insurance (I’m talkin’ timeshare-caliber pressure!). My folks vowed to rent from elsewhere in the future. We got a silver Chrysler 300. Hurricane Mikey is right; there are million of them rolling around Vegas!
We made it to our condo (at the TPC @ the Canyons), settled in, and very shortly made our way to a nearby Von’s supermarket to stock up. The roundabouts on the streets in Summerlin can be very nerve-wrecking during the rush hours. It was back to the condo for a quick meal and then off to Suncoast for an evening of play. The condo owners had recommended Suncoast as the best place to gamble in the area. It may very well be, but the video poker was ice cold. It just didn’t have much “feel†or “vibe†in the place. It was a little too smoky, and the movie theater abuts the casino, thus LOTS of kids around. My Dad remarked that it almost felt like Circus Circus. The coin-out players club system there left us pretty empty-handed, so our plan to rack up some comps at Suncoast during our stay wasn’t looking good. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.
DAY TWO: Morning was spent at the pool (typical condo pool…smallish but very nice and very un-crowded). After a while my Dad and I decided to go check out Rampart Casino (@ the JW) for a couple of hours. He settled in at their small, but very nicely appointed sports book, and I hit the VP machines. A good inventory (no ridiculous short-pay). Three 4-of-a-kind’s later, I’d recouped my previous night’s Suncoast losses. Rampart has the feel of an upper-crust Caribbean or European casino, yet with locals-style odds and limits, and friendly/attentive service.
In the afternoon, we headed to DOWNTOWN…my happy place. First stop was Main Street Station. I hit the long VP bar that runs parallel to the pit. I broke about even, and enjoyed a couple of MSS microbrews. Good stuff! We headed back the Cal to kill a little time in Keno parlor until Tony Roma’s at Fremont opened. My Dad hit a good lick on the keno, more than enough to cover the dinner check at TR. I’ve spent plenty of time eating the best in Memphis and KC, so I know a little about BBQ. Tony Roma’s was more than on its game, and has the best ribs in Vegas I’ve had.
After dinner, the BJ tables were packed at Fremont, so we ambled over to Four Queens and found a friendly double-deck table. It first ran red hot, and then cooled a bit. When it was time to go meet my Mother (who’d been playing VP at Golden Nugget), I was up about $40. We then headed back with her to Four Queens and I played VP at a bar with her for an hour or so when the big one hit. DIAMOND ROYAL FLUSH, $1038 progressive jackpot. Woo-hoo! We played a bit longer in 4Q before walking back to Binion’s (where the car was parked) and losing a bit on the slots there. Oh well, it was still great time on Fremont St.
My Dad was tired so he took us back to condo, and my Mother and I went back to Rampart. The BJ started cold, and then warmed up to the point that I walked away with an extra hundy and two buffet comps. Not a bad for day’s play.
DAY THREE: Morning again at the pool, followed by a trip to Rampart play awhile and use the comps for a buffet lunch. Rampart’s buffet was pretty good, a fairly standard buffet selection and everything tasted nice and fresh. Not Aladdin or Paris good, but good. After that, we headed out to the Strip and valet parked at Monte Carlo. Mother played there, and Dad and I headed off to the MGM Grand (hadn’t been there in years) to bet the horse races. No luck there, so we swung past M&M World to pick up some requested souvenirs for folks back home and went back to MC. I played some VP there with little luck, but had a few comped microbrews which made it a net gain, in my mind.
From there it was off to Cashman Stadium for a Las Vegas 51’s minor league baseball game. We’re a family of baseball nuts, so we thought we’d take in the local diamond. Cashman is a step down from the newer, more opulent minor league baseball palaces in the Midwest, but the outfield view of the palm trees and mountains at sunset gives the place some serious intangibles. The 51’s were losing badly, but we were sitting in a section just behind a group there on some sort of corporate outing. Their boss or “main man†was pretty drunk, and when the beer vendor would walk by, he get say “anybody want one?†and the hands would go up, and after the vendor doled out 10 or 15 $5.25 brews, the main man would pay him. I lifted my own hand for a drink, and then after trying to pay the vendor, was told “the main man up there got itâ€. What a deal.
After about 7 innings of baseball, we left and decided to hit Sahara for some old Vegas fun on the Strip. I hadn’t been there in a while, and was again taken aback by the old Vegas “vibeâ€, live music in the Casbar Lounge, etc. It was about 10pm, and we were a bit hungry, so we decided to try the NASCAR Café. They had some live karaoke going on. Bad, bad karaoke. Five bad singers for every good one. To make matter worse, the service was terrible. The waitress was friendly enough, but she was the only one on duty. It was about an hour from when we were seating until an appetizer of cold nachos was served.
After we ate, I decided to give the Speed roller coaster a ride. I had no idea what it was like, but I love to try new coasters. I paid and walked up to the line, and there wasn’t one (at 11:15pm) so I was quickly seated and ready to go. I had NO idea it was one of those coasters that shoots out of the gate at full speed, so it really shocked me and was a thrill from the get-go. The view of the Strip lights was awesome. What a ride! After another half-hour of losing Sahara VP, we called it a night and went back to the condo.
DAY ONE: We were “wheels down in Vegas†at about 3:30 local time. This was the first time I’d noticed the MGMMirage and Caesars Resorts airport check-in desks. I saw no visible lines and made a note-to-self for future trips. We proceeded to the Dollar Rent-a-car desk to check in for our car. The Dollar people are VERY, VERY high pressure about taking out their insurance (I’m talkin’ timeshare-caliber pressure!). My folks vowed to rent from elsewhere in the future. We got a silver Chrysler 300. Hurricane Mikey is right; there are million of them rolling around Vegas!
We made it to our condo (at the TPC @ the Canyons), settled in, and very shortly made our way to a nearby Von’s supermarket to stock up. The roundabouts on the streets in Summerlin can be very nerve-wrecking during the rush hours. It was back to the condo for a quick meal and then off to Suncoast for an evening of play. The condo owners had recommended Suncoast as the best place to gamble in the area. It may very well be, but the video poker was ice cold. It just didn’t have much “feel†or “vibe†in the place. It was a little too smoky, and the movie theater abuts the casino, thus LOTS of kids around. My Dad remarked that it almost felt like Circus Circus. The coin-out players club system there left us pretty empty-handed, so our plan to rack up some comps at Suncoast during our stay wasn’t looking good. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.
DAY TWO: Morning was spent at the pool (typical condo pool…smallish but very nice and very un-crowded). After a while my Dad and I decided to go check out Rampart Casino (@ the JW) for a couple of hours. He settled in at their small, but very nicely appointed sports book, and I hit the VP machines. A good inventory (no ridiculous short-pay). Three 4-of-a-kind’s later, I’d recouped my previous night’s Suncoast losses. Rampart has the feel of an upper-crust Caribbean or European casino, yet with locals-style odds and limits, and friendly/attentive service.
In the afternoon, we headed to DOWNTOWN…my happy place. First stop was Main Street Station. I hit the long VP bar that runs parallel to the pit. I broke about even, and enjoyed a couple of MSS microbrews. Good stuff! We headed back the Cal to kill a little time in Keno parlor until Tony Roma’s at Fremont opened. My Dad hit a good lick on the keno, more than enough to cover the dinner check at TR. I’ve spent plenty of time eating the best in Memphis and KC, so I know a little about BBQ. Tony Roma’s was more than on its game, and has the best ribs in Vegas I’ve had.
After dinner, the BJ tables were packed at Fremont, so we ambled over to Four Queens and found a friendly double-deck table. It first ran red hot, and then cooled a bit. When it was time to go meet my Mother (who’d been playing VP at Golden Nugget), I was up about $40. We then headed back with her to Four Queens and I played VP at a bar with her for an hour or so when the big one hit. DIAMOND ROYAL FLUSH, $1038 progressive jackpot. Woo-hoo! We played a bit longer in 4Q before walking back to Binion’s (where the car was parked) and losing a bit on the slots there. Oh well, it was still great time on Fremont St.
My Dad was tired so he took us back to condo, and my Mother and I went back to Rampart. The BJ started cold, and then warmed up to the point that I walked away with an extra hundy and two buffet comps. Not a bad for day’s play.
DAY THREE: Morning again at the pool, followed by a trip to Rampart play awhile and use the comps for a buffet lunch. Rampart’s buffet was pretty good, a fairly standard buffet selection and everything tasted nice and fresh. Not Aladdin or Paris good, but good. After that, we headed out to the Strip and valet parked at Monte Carlo. Mother played there, and Dad and I headed off to the MGM Grand (hadn’t been there in years) to bet the horse races. No luck there, so we swung past M&M World to pick up some requested souvenirs for folks back home and went back to MC. I played some VP there with little luck, but had a few comped microbrews which made it a net gain, in my mind.
From there it was off to Cashman Stadium for a Las Vegas 51’s minor league baseball game. We’re a family of baseball nuts, so we thought we’d take in the local diamond. Cashman is a step down from the newer, more opulent minor league baseball palaces in the Midwest, but the outfield view of the palm trees and mountains at sunset gives the place some serious intangibles. The 51’s were losing badly, but we were sitting in a section just behind a group there on some sort of corporate outing. Their boss or “main man†was pretty drunk, and when the beer vendor would walk by, he get say “anybody want one?†and the hands would go up, and after the vendor doled out 10 or 15 $5.25 brews, the main man would pay him. I lifted my own hand for a drink, and then after trying to pay the vendor, was told “the main man up there got itâ€. What a deal.
After about 7 innings of baseball, we left and decided to hit Sahara for some old Vegas fun on the Strip. I hadn’t been there in a while, and was again taken aback by the old Vegas “vibeâ€, live music in the Casbar Lounge, etc. It was about 10pm, and we were a bit hungry, so we decided to try the NASCAR Café. They had some live karaoke going on. Bad, bad karaoke. Five bad singers for every good one. To make matter worse, the service was terrible. The waitress was friendly enough, but she was the only one on duty. It was about an hour from when we were seating until an appetizer of cold nachos was served.
After we ate, I decided to give the Speed roller coaster a ride. I had no idea what it was like, but I love to try new coasters. I paid and walked up to the line, and there wasn’t one (at 11:15pm) so I was quickly seated and ready to go. I had NO idea it was one of those coasters that shoots out of the gate at full speed, so it really shocked me and was a thrill from the get-go. The view of the Strip lights was awesome. What a ride! After another half-hour of losing Sahara VP, we called it a night and went back to the condo.
Sounds like a fun trip, quality time with the family....And you get to go back again soon!