This time I spent ten days in Las Vegas. 90% of that time was spent in the casinos. The other 10% was spent driving to the next casino.

By the third day, I looked like a casino rat. Whiskers, red eyes, etc.

And a beer in each hand depending on the time of day. (Martinis after 6.)

I think it started at the Gold Coast.

Yea, that was it! The Gold Coast!

We checked in ($39/night) and I made a bee-line to the liquor store where the prices seemed shockingly low.

So I loaded up.

Tequila and Vodka and Rum and all the necessary mixes. And pretty fancy beers I've never drank before.

The word got out and within the hour everyone was in our room mixing cocktails and popping beers and discussing the first night's dining possibilities.

We eventually decided to have dinner in the Cortez Room because it was just downstairs and getting late.

It was Thursday night so we were seated immediately and ordered a round of martinis.

We enjoyed a good meal, but don't ask me what anyone had for dinner. Only one complained and it wasn't a serious complaint. (Overcooked fish, I beleive.)

After dinner we felt like walking so we all hiked into the Palms for an after dinner drink but there were lines everywhere leading to whatever was at the head of those two hour waits.

We are not waiters so we went back out and headed to the Rio where we ended up looking for the singing cocktail servers with no luck at all.

They must have sang "Good Night, Irene" and went home early.

By midnight we were all back in the Gold Coast doing our own thing - some playing the slots and others playng the tables.

I sided up to the bar and played video poker to loosen up a bit.

Nothing too exciting. Just a warm up for what was yet to follow.

I was back in the room by 3 before the roosters arose.

Friday morning: I wake up early and tell everyone to meet me for coffee in the Seattle Coffee Shop in the casino.

Three manage to show up and drown their hangovers in a cup of brew. They give up their sleep because they know I will lead them to excitement.

To be continued ..........

Will,

How many people are with you?

Sounds like a good start. Cortez room usually gets real good reviews here.

Jeff, We started off with 12, but few survive!

Keep up the good entertainment.

I'm a bad booz shopper when I have a hangover so we decided to reschedule our Liquor Expidition to Costco and seek greener pastures before moving over to the Barbary Coast for the weekend.

Somehow we ended up in Joker's Wild out Henderson way where they offer 50 cent Craps which is great for teaching purposes.

A two hour class and down a buck or two and we were heading back to the Gold Coast to meet the ladies and head on over to our reservations at the Barbary Coast. ($69 a nite at a special rate).

But first we had to check out the relatively classy "Green Valley Ranch" (is that its name?) just off that new freeway we somehow ended up upon.

WOW! This is a classy joint! Very impressive! Somewhat like the Bellagio but completely different.

We had heard a lot about the impressive bar (nightclub) there called "The Whiskey Bar". (I'm bad at remembering names of bars while visiting them.)

Oh, BTW, I didn't mention that this hotel/casino had no one in it. It was like a real fancy ghost town waiting for the sheriff to invite the desperados back home.

SO we proceeded on our own down some halls and through some corridors to find this fancy and very popular bar we had heard so much about and within 20 minutes and a mile or so of searching, there it was!

Right there by the enormous swimming pool area. All white and bright and real darn fancy with a sweeping staircase leading from "up thar" to "down here".

There weren't a soul in the place but I visualized fancy ladies in evening gowns strolling down that beautiful staircase leading to the pure white bar to order a bud or two.

With that in mind we strolled outside to check the pool area which is just about as nice as any pool area along the Strip. But it needs trees and shade. Other than that it is very nice.

It addition to lounges, it offers pool side beds.

Looks like a nice place to spend a few days if you are seeking solitude, but I hear that the bar I just described really rocks at night and is one of the major hot-spots in Las Vegas town.

I want to go back soon and see how the ladies take advantage of that sweeping staircase. It would make one heck of an entrance.

By noon we were back at the Gold Coast checking out and heading to our Fri/Sat nite stay at the Barbary Coast.

Ain't lost no one yet!

We check in and clean up a bit and check out the action in the casino.

A little blackjack and a few beers later and we're already thinking about martinis and fine dining someplace close to our present location.

Michael' is out of the question because no one thought of bringing a jacket to the desert while it's 115 degrees in the shade, so we decide to take a walk and see what we can find along the way.

I suggest the Victorian Room but some complain, "It's a coffee shop!".

Then Drai's, but "It's underground!"

So we go outside and cross over to Bally's and eventually end up in Paris via the well traveled "secret route".

Someone says, "It's martini time!", so we look for the closest martini store and end up sitting on high stools at a small bar in Mon Ami, Gabi!

I'm glad we did!

Two or three martinis later and we're ready for dinner and I decide, "We're eating right here cause these martinis are good!"

We are seated right away in that third room back there furthest from the Boulevard. Kind of dark and kind of romantic and close enough to the martini mix.

This decision proved to be the best meal we had in Las Vegas this trip.

I don't recall what the others had but I had a great house salad and some kind of fish for the entree (filet of sole, I believe).

Everyone ordered something different and everyting was excellent, including a very inexpensive bottle of wine suggested by our waiter.

Eventually the fat lady at the other end of the table ordered something like Bannanas Foster which was passed around to one and all.

And that was good too!

This proved to be an excellent meal and not too expensive either for individual entrees. (My entree was less than $20).

But add up all the extras and it should put a dent in the average wallet.

We sat in the back room by the entrance and the bar but you can sit two rooms away towards the front and watch the Bellagio fountains across the boulevard if so inclined.

I'm definitely going back to Mon Ami Gabi.

More follows .......... We see the worst show we have ever seen in Las Vegas.

Will, I certainly have to agree with you. Mon Ami Gabi is my restaurant of choice for lunch. The service has always been top notch. I remember the waiter bringing an ice bucket to keep my 22 ounce bottle of beer chilled. The lunch menu is an absolute delight.

Glad you liked it too, Jim. I'll be going back.
...............................................

Well, after dinner a couple of us decide to see a show and since I'm a major Penn and Teller fan from their old TV shows and wild and far-out books; I recommend the Penn and Teller Show at the Rio.

I had never seen their "live" act before and was expecting a wild and wackie time.

We arrived early and had the opportunity to go on stage and inspect a "glass" box and some other magic apparatus that someone would appear or disappear from within.

It passed my inspection with flying colors.

And believe me, that was the best part of the show.

These guys try hard but Penn just talks too much and nothing really ever happens.

Teller gets in the box and Penn sits on the box and talks about nothing that I know about for too long a time. I think I actually dozed off a couple of times during this boring monologue.

And from then on it was all down hill. A boreing series of dragged out and monotonous "mystifying effects" without excitement of any sort.

It works well on TV because they speed it up, but magic in slow motion is like watching putty dry.

I was going to mention this at the end of the show when they line up in the lobby for their execution but was interrupted by Whoopie Godburg who is apparently a major fan of boreing and slow motion prestigitators who have somehow become a major success in Las Vegas town.

I guess their success alone is magic enough.

How did they do that, anyway!?

Will,

Thanks for the trip report. I especially liked your analysis of Penn & Teller. Although I have never been in the audience of a live magician or illusionist act, I have a love/hate relationship with them. I "LOVE" to see the magic but "HATE" it when I can't figure out how they did it.

Will, keep the report coming, I'm enjoying the read! Also love Mon ami gabi too! Penn & teller, seen them a few years back, thought they where ok, but your correct it had very slow spots in set up.

Good report will. When I visited the GVR it was sparce as well. Very classy place but I had no luck there at all. I wouldn't spend the money to stay there. Too remote from everything.
Its very expensive. You can do Bellagio for near the same prices.

Thanks for your responses, ya'll!

I think I'd really enjoy the GVR if we held some typ of family reunion there and had big bucks enough to afford if for an extended stay. It really is a beautiful place and the pool area is great overlooking the LV Strip way off there on the horizon. I'd also like to have eveyone get dressed up one evening and enoy Martini Hour at that fancy Whiskey Bar.

I'd require all the ladys to get dressed up extra fancy and meet the guys (who would already be loading up in the bar) by walking down that fancy staircase while some dude in fancy riding clothes would be announcing their arrival.

OK, here is the continuation..............

We were pretty depressed by the Penn and Teller fiasco so we decided to drown our misery with a Craps session, but a few of us didn't know how to play the game, so I made the decision to drive on over to Boulder Highway and play the fifty-cents table at Bill Boyd's little place out thataway called Joker's Wild.

So we got on the freeway and headed south and that tied us up with the the freeway heading east towards Henderson. Within 20 minutes or so we were walking through the front doors of Joker's Wild.

But the place was almost closed. Only a couple of Blackjack tables were opened and the Craps table was completely covered up for the evening.

So I asked, "Where can we play a cheap game of Craps in this part of town?"

And the little gray haired lady with cigar half on fire yells from two tables down, "Head on over to the Klondike two blocks down the road!"

So five minutes later we are in Klondyke which is like entering a casino in the days of Billy the Kid and possibly even Jessie James.

A small and old but friendly sort of place. The Pit Boss greeted us with open arms and apologized that, "....there is no Crpas table here! But we got ten-cent roulette if you'd care to play the game. Lucille, bring this group a round of cocktails!"

So with that friendly greeting we mosied on up to the roulette table.

I never in my life met anyone who didn't know how to play roulette, but two of us were brand new to the game and somewhat hesitant to give it a try but reluctantly gave in with a little twist to their left appenditure.

Each of us threw a twenty on the table and received a stack or two of two hundred little colored chips.

The lovely lass next to me whispered in my ear, "I don't know what to do!"

"Just take half those little colored chips and spread them around these numbers. And don't worry cause newbies always win this game no matter what!
Just spread 'em around and pick up your winnings!"

And that is what she did and did and did and did!

And she built a little fort of chips and smiled a bit.

And we started singing those James Bond songs that were so popular in casinos everwhere a short time back ago and betting stacks of dimes on most of the numbers just like James would do with thousand dollar chips.

Put a dime on number 35 and slyly evil-eye the others like you had a secret clue that no one else knew about.

My scheme was to make sure to cover any and all numbers that remained uncovered or skimply bet upon once everyone else had placed their bets. This always seems to work for me.

And I evel eye-balled a lot of times.

Strange to say but about twenty minutes later the kindly Pit Boss gentleman come over to apoligize and stated that they will be closing down the casino at 3:00 AM for some unexplained reason.

So we had another 20 minutes to break the house and we almost darn near did. The HOUSE wasn't too much of a fancy place so it was definitely a possibility.

We all won on the last spin and collected our winnings and thanked the Pit Boss man who encouraged us to stop by the Klondike on the Strip on our way back home.

We each won a few bucks that eveining but no more than $40 each, but it was a good feeling nonetheless and she sure had a happy smile upon her face.

ANd I learned a few 007 movie songs along the way.