Who: Wendy & Joe - celebrating our 20th anniversary (Left our 12 yr. old daughter at home with her grandparents - this trip was just for us!)

Where: Mirage, June 20th-25th

Wed., June 20th

We had the limo come to our house early - 5:30 - as we had a 7:40am connecting flight from ORD to LAS via LAX (not exactly a nice conx - but we were using mileage points for this trip, and couldn't be choosy!). Our flight from ORD to LAX was fine and on time (except as usual, I got the person who immediately fully reclined their seat in front of me. People who do this in coach that aren't on red-eye flights ought to be strung up!!!). LAX is a
terrible airport! There was construction, and we had to transfer terminals - even though both our flights were on American. Our flight from LAX to LAS was about a half hour late (and again, I got someone who reclined fully - even for this short flight!!).

We quickly gathered our luggage, rented a cart, and hopped a taxi to the Mirage. The bellhops were very quick to gather our luggage... giving us a ticket to take to the front desk. They said we could call for our luggage as soon as we were settled in our room. I had reserved a tower deluxe room, requesting non-smoking and a strip view. About 5 days prior to our trip, I sent a fax to the attention of the room controller. I explained the
trip was for our 20th anniv., and mentioned I had heard that 25076 had a nice view. I asked for a similar room on the (non-smoking) 24th floor if available. On check-in (and without having to tip) we had been preassigned to 24078. The check-in clerk was very friendly, too - even though there were a LOT of truly obnoxious people checking in ahead of us. (One 20-something woman in ridiculous short-shorts had been whining at the counter for 20
minutes - trying to get a suite when she only had a regular room reserved.)

We walked up to our room (and let me tell you - it's a hike!), and were very pleased with our view. You could see from the Venetian down to MGM, and down toward the volcano. At night it was very pretty.

After unpacking, we decided to try the buffet for dinner. We found it to be rather mediocre. Some items were good, some were not. Many items seemed to have been sitting way too long (including the shark dish, which was dried out and rubbery). The prime rib was just so-so. The one thing we truly did enjoy - was dessert! I had the little creme brulees (2 of them), and they were great! We were there about 5:30pm, and it was pretty crowded, so
there should have been faster turnover of the food.

After dinner, we took the tram over to Treasure Island to see Mystere. We had 2nd row center seats, which were great for the stage acts.... but a bit tough looking up for the aerial acts. A boy seated right in front of my husband was "selected" for something during the show (won't say what to spoil it for those that haven't been to see Mystere!). Mystere was truly a great show.... and as others say, don't miss the preshow activities!!!

After the show, we headed to the tram. Unfortunately, it was out of order (I got the feeling that happens rather often) - so we walked back to the Mirage. Our room had turndown service, and a box with two chocolates was waiting on our pillow.

Thu., June 21st.

This morning, we got up early and went down to the Caribe Cafe for breakfast. They had very standard breakfast fare, but it was good and served very fast. We got to the pool area by 7:30, and a line was already forming for opening at 8am. When the pool opened, we staked out two chairs in the shade under some trees, between the pool and one of the hot tubs. The hot tubs are great - with misters around them to keep you cool. The pool water
itself was really almost cold! They must refrigerate it. As hot as it was (105 or so daytime), it couldn't stay that cold on its own! Later in the morning, I had a mudslide and at lunchtime, we ordered wraps from the Dolphin bar. Shortly after that, we went back up to the room to shower and relax a bit.

Later in the afternoon, we took a cab down to the Stratosphere. We had a 7pm reservation at the Top of the World. To pass time, we played some nickel slots - and Joe promptly hit four deuces on a poker machine for $250! We played a few other slots, and then headed for the elevators. What I didn't realize, is you have to circle up through a LOT of stores - almost like walking around a pinwheel - just to get to the elevators!! It would be
tough for someone that couldn't walk much. We got up to the restaurant early (6:30) and they went ahead and seated us. I requested a table right by the windows. The view is really tremendous up there. The service was great, and the food was pretty good (not fantastic, but better than what I had read in some other reports). As the sun began to set, the view got even better. A photographer comes around to take your photo. We bought 2 of
them, but just the individual shots and not the one she took of both of us. The lighting was all wrong for that one with the sun on my head (a professional photographer should have seen that!!).

After dinner, we went up to the observation deck to look around and take some photos. A while later, we took a cab back to the Mirage. We were still tired (even though it was only about 10pm) - as we still felt like we were on central time. (We're early people normally, so with 10pm feeling like midnight, we were bushed!). Of course, we had also been up since 5:30am!

Fri., June 22nd

Friday morning, we did the Caribe Cafe again for breakfast - and went to the pool again. This time at lunch time, we tried the Paradise for a sit-down lunch. They had good sandwiches and salads there (and misters!). After lunch, we hit the casino - primarily playing blackjack (for about 2 hours) and a little bit of roulette. Wehad an early dinner reservation at Kokomo's prior to the S & R show. I had heard a lot of good things about
Kokomo's. We were a bit disappointed, though, in the food quality. The prices were high for what we felt was rather mediocre food.

We enjoyed the Siegfried and Roy show - though it didn't match Mystere. The cats were truly beautiful, though. The main problem at S & R, is if you are at the long tables, as we were, it feels too claustrophobic. I wanted a booth - but when I called for seats (3 months ahead), they only had boothes on the far left and right sides. The rest are saved as "comps", etc.. It's also awkward turning your chair around to watch the show from these
long tables, particularly if you are on the wrong side of the table, as we were!

After S & R, we played some blackjack - and then crashed for the night.

Sat., June 23rd

This morning we slept in a bit, and then decided to give the buffet another chance, this time for the champagne brunch. Again, it was so-so. The service was great this time, but a lot of the food items were just "ok". After eating, we went down to see the Secret Garden/Dolphin habitat. We really enjoyed this, particularly the dolphins. It was great to be able to sit on the edge of the pool and watch them for as long as you wanted. The
baby dolphin was adorable! There's also a 7 month old that played with some of the toys in the pool.

We walked over to Caesar's to check out the forum shops in the afternoon. It was very crowded there, but it was interesting to see how they had expanded it since we were last there. We then went back to the Mirage to change for dinner, which we had at Onda. Onda was fantastic. The service was wonderful (our waiter, Antonio, had a great sense of humor). Everything we had to eat was excellent! I had the garlic-encrusted sea bass, and my
husband had a chicken and pasta dish. He had the tiramisu for dessert, and I had the chocolate souffle (great, but rich!).

Saturday night, we went downtown. We played single-deck blackjack (it's a bit of an adjustment to "touch" your cards, after being used to 6-deck shoes with no-touch on the strip!). At one point, someone sat next to me that was very "crabby" and made cracks if someone at the table played a hand in a way they didn't like. When the person left, the dealer made a crack asking if we thought it had been a man or a woman! I had assumed woman based
on the voice and small-boned wrist/hands (I never really looked at his/her face!). The dealer said the face was masculine, though, and Joe said he couldn't figure out if it was a man or a woman. I was just glad that he/she left, because if you have to take your blackjack that seriously - you shouldn't be playing. It's a game - and it's gambling. How the cards come up is luck - and whether someone hits when you think they shouldn't or not will
not make you win or lose your own hand. You can't expect to win. If you do - it's great - but there's a reason all these multi-million dollar resorts have been built - and it's not because most people win at the casino! (OK.... off my soap box for now!) We played at Horseshoe and at Golden Nugget, and took some time out to see the overhead Fremont Experience. We hadn't been to Vegas in 10 years, and it was great to see the downtown area
cleaned up!

Sun., June 24th

We got up early, had breakfast in Caribe Cafe, and went to the pool again this morning. The line wrapped from the pool entrance, around the outside area and inside the hotel doors by the time the pool opened at 8am! It was obvious how much more crowded it gets there on weekends! There also seemed to be a lot more "interesting characters" at the pool this day, versus earlier during the week. We had one European guy in what I'd call
"smaller-and-tighter-than-your-average-Speedo" suit, that left absolutely NOTHING to the imagination. He even had "pointed it up" inside his suit!!!! I choked on my mudslide as he walked by!! We also saw a flake in a white bikini, that became see-through when wet. Later, a 20-something girl in a VERY tiny camouflage-material thong suit came by. She plopped herself down on a lounge chair, and proceeded to spray suntan oil on her butt - then
rubbed it all in. I think she thought she was erotic - but most of the people sitting around that saw this were either laughing or smirking at her. I don't think her intention was to be laughed at, but that's what happened!

Sunday afternoon - we went over to the Venetian. We walked around the shops there, and then had dinner at Delmonico's Steakhouse. This was the best meal of the trip. We had an oyster and shrimp appetizer, a fantastic "made at your table" caesar salad for 2, and our entrees were wonderful (I had the filet mignon). This was expensive, but worth it!

After dinner - we played more blackjack (Benito is a funny and friendly dealer!), and then went back to the Mirage (after taking some photos from the balcony at the Venetian).

Mon., June 25th

We hit the Caribe Cafe for breakfast again (though a little later - sleeping in as we weren't planning on hitting the pool). As we didn't need to leave until 11:30-12 for the airport, we hit the casino for some more blackjack and roulette. It wasn't easy to find $5-10 min. bet tables at that hour, only a few were open!

We took a cab back to the airport - grabbed a quick lunch at a Tex-Mex restaurant (which wasn't very good!), and then went out to our D gate. Our AA flight was late to depart for ORD, as somehow fuel was spilled. We had to wait while they applied something to the tarmac to soak it all up before the engines could be turned on. We ended up about a half-hour late, getting into ORD about 8:15pm.

All in all, it was a wonderful 5 days away. We ended up a little below even on our gambling - which wasn't bad after all those days! The Mirage was beautiful. I had stayed at Caesar's and at the Flamingo before - and the Mirage is now definitely our favorite!

If anyone has any questions about the Mirage or the restaurants we went to - let me know!

Wow what a great trip. Somehow we never find enough time to sit by a pool and relax. It's always go - go- go. You had the perfect combo of relaxation, food and gambling. Sounds like it was great. Kathy

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Kats

Thanks for sharing your Las Vegas trip with us. I enjoyed reading it, too.
AA through LAX, ouch. ORD is usually a stop on the way to LV for me with AA, they better not even think of sending me through LAX yet too! LOL I guess I assumed wrong, I always figured if we lived in a major hub like ORD, all flights would be direct las Vegas. <S>

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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

Thanks for the great TR! It sounds like you had a great time. I've had 2nd row seats for Mystere too and it was great seeing it so up-close! (I've also seen it from the back row and it's an entirely different perspective - but still very enjoyable!) I didn't like Sigfried and Roy at all.

Lee - Interestingly, all the decent airfares on American between O'Hare and Las Vegas now are through LAX which is a real pain for us Chicagoans. If you want to fly directly to LV, you have to pay more. The agent I talked to told me that LV is NOT a competitive market for them and consequently the airfares are more to fly directly there. (That didn't USED to be the case!)

Fun trip report. You seemed to mix it all together just perfectly with your gaming, dining, and relaxing at the pool. You did a lot in five days without seeming to rush. It must be your getting up so early every day. Thanks so much for posting your report. I'm truly tempted to try Delmonico's after reading your report.