A Blind Date with 14 People

I am not organized enough to do a day by day trip report

That was gret Kes, I can't wait to read about the other 9 days.

Seriously, I'm gonna have to read it a few more times to ask questions. And feel free to talk about the caricature convention. I talked to David about it briefly and it was interesting. It was nice meeting you two and I hope y'all get back soon. Thanks!

Okay, I especially liked your eating part. And those Nathans fries are some of my favorites.

I'm glad I don't have to fly much. I don't think that I could put up with that runaround. I'd rather take a 10 hour flight than run from counter to counter hearing about delays and oversells and such. It must have been tough to sit on the ramp at Las Vegas for an hour.

I may have gotten confused. Which one of theals was the one that you took your Japanese friends to?

Thanks Again to you and David. Your trip report was great. And your MSS pizza is on the way!

On second thought, forget about the pizza, JMT. Delivery pizza is always cold when it arrives.

We took the Japanese to OutbackSteakhouse. What better thing for foreign visitors than an Australian themed steak house in America?

LOL, a better thing would be Lone Star, a Texas themed steakhouse in Nevada.

Thank you for planning my next trip for me<vbg> ... I was reading the things you did and actually backed up and started writing down some of the things I've been putting off for too long ...Big Elvis, a return to the Bellagio Conservatory/Fountains, Shark Reef, Silverton Mermaids.. and I think I'm going to have to see KA.

I wonder what's going on at Alamo ... it doesn't seem to matter what day you show up lately, they will be out of intermediate cars. It's no big problem since they upgrade readily, but it just isn't exactly good planning either.

TV meets are addicting ... we really are a community of friends. I used to go to Nevada just for the gambling and be burnt out in 2-3 days. Now, I can go for a week ... and wish I had even more time to sightsee and visit with friends.

Sooooo .. when's the next trip?

I went to that Lone Star steakhouse one Monday and they had all you can eat ribs for about $15. They were pretty good. I found juicier and more tender all you can eat ribs on Mondays for $10 at a local bar and grill. I burned out from excess and haven't back to either in a long time.

Kes,

Thanks for the very detailed trip report. Also, congratulations on organizing your first "TalkVegas Meet". It sounds like it was a great success. David's talents must have made the meet more unique than any past meets. Hope to meet you in the future.

Daisy - Don't know when the next trip is. Chances are my next one will be solo, since it is difficult for David to leave his business.

And about Alamo, technically when we were walking to the lot there was One intermediate car left in the row. There was a guy with a cane slooowly making his way towards it. I briefly thought, I can get past him! But then I realized - what was I thinking??? Anyway I wasn't surprised they were out on a late Saturday afternoon of a holiday weekend. I was surprised I got a reservation at all!

JMT = excess of ribs? I don't understand that sentence.

Kestral - Thank you for a GREAT trip report - they're NEVER too long! I loved all the details!

I'm so happy that you enjoyed KA. And your description of it was just like mine - "hard to describe" and "left you speechless."

I'm also glad that you got to try the Border Grill - I've eaten there a few times and have really loved it. But I can never get anyone to go there with me! Your experience at the Shark Reef also sounded like fun.

Also sounds like you had fun gambling. Congrats on the wins!

One question - is David an artist for a living? That sounds very interesting!

I'm very sorry I missed your meet - it sounded wonderful.

Thanks again - Mike

kes-great report!you and david made the meet special.i also like the silverton,in fact the best quality food we had on our trip was at the silverton and the mss brewpub.todai is one of my fav meals in vegas but we have two outlets in seattle so we don't go there much anymore.

Kes,

Great trip report! What you stopped in Detroit and didn't give us a call! LOL! We are 10 min from the airport (in case you ever have to stop here again). We enjoyed meeting everyone too, thanks again for the meet. Can't wait to do it again!

Congrats on the win on the way out, that's the best way to do it. Take it home with you.

Thanks for the great read and it wasn't too long!

Karen

Kestal,
Thanks for the short report! I was really expecting a monster whale of a report and instead we got a guppy! LOL
I thought the tank out at silverton was nice, but what really caught my eye was the two round jelly fish tanks above the bar. Way cool!
It was nice meeting you, and I see another trip in your near future, and you must use those AA vouchers, before they expire. Thier is a $100 renewal fee charged if they go past a year old.
Thanks for taking the time to write it all up for us and we look forward to seeing you both again at a talkvegas meet. Thanks for setting this one up, your a natural!
Animal burger at In & Out, please refresh my memory, what is that again.

Mike - yes, David is an artist for a living. He is a caricature artist - does commission caricatures for companies, party caricatures and trade shows and events, and also is a teaching artist in the schools and libraries, teaching artist workshops. He works in Japan once a year for 6 weeks.

So, don't miss another one, Mike!

Gee Tim & karen - I will be passing through Detroit again at the end of the month, along with 20 of my closest friends --- I am escorting a Landmark Society trip to Nashville---- so if we get stuck, we'll all just drop by!

Lee, I thought those jellyfish tanks were awesome, too. The bar was full when we were there, otherwise I could just sit and stare at that for hours. And, In and OUt burger animal style means add some grilled onions grilled with mustard, and I think it also means extra sauce. Just know it tastes good!

ANd aftet getting that Aladdin offer, I am tempted to use those vouchers next month! (or my voucher, at least!) Good reminder on the renewal fee - I did not know that.

Thanks for all the comments. When David gets past his current commission I will get him to post some photos.

Kestral, I feel better about the animal style burger now. I don't know why, but I was thinking raw, and that was just too gross to even imagine you eating!
American and Continental have IMHO the best volinteer policy. They issue vouchers that have no black out dates. They have a dollar value, and can be used on any flight with out any capacity controls. Unlike Usair and others that issue a coupon for 1 free RT. Most of those are treated like Frequnt Flyer miles tickets. The more popular places are never available, because capisity controls.

We checked with American before volunteering, hoping David could use his voucher towards an international flight - they said no problem.

We almost got bumped off our Northwest flight the next day and they were offering $300 OR a RT ticket. The agent advised taking the $300 voucher, saying the RT had too many restrictions similar to FF seats.

And raw hamburger? I do like my burgers and steaks on the medium rare side, but not raw.

I save that for fish. ;-}

Kes,

No problem just call me so I can pick up all the toys so none of your closest friends trip! Oh and I can get some beverages!!! LOL! Do they deliver Black Chip Porter?

You never know, it is Michigan and you never know about the weather, yesterday almost 60 today barely 15 degrees.

Kestral

Great trip report.
I thought I had to travel for days back to Europe each time, but this hopping around from desk to desk to catch a flight is terrible.I always get really anoyed when this happens to us.

You are right about the Ramada though, we stayed there once when our chicago flight to Amsterdam was overbooked and we got bumped.

Seems you liked my favorite casino the Silverton.You must try it some time, it has great rooms for little money or even for free.They are great with comps.

Again thanks for sharing this report.

What???? No "Love Tub" room at the IP????? They advertise those in a big way around here for Valentine's Day!
We love Big Elvis! We were going to go to his Birthday Party, but figured it would be a zoo......was it? The first time we heard him, we heard recorded Elvis, and were thinking that this guy, this Big Elvis, could not sound anything like him. I hate impersonators.........anyway, I went around the end of the bank of vp machines, and it was not recorded Elvis, it was Big Elvis, live and in person......... We stayed for two shows. I think he's terrific!
Enjoyed your trip report. Your meet was great fun too. Thanks for both.
Your trip home sounds horrendous........I love going places, but when I'm headed home, I want to get there.
Congrats on your win, nice to take some money home, as a "starter" for your next trip..
And...........everyone.........for heaven's sake, quit telling everyone else how wonderful the Silverton is!!! It's getting hard to get near our favorite coffeeshop...

Okay. The Silverton coffee shop is just terrible, everybody stay away (so the Taters and Jan and David and I can get in!)

We stayed one night in a Luv Tub 2 years ago. I mean, we stayed one night in the room, not the tub. Tho it is big enough to sleep in! We got moved to the LT room when the bathtub in our room started leaking into the room below, ironically as David was taking a bath.

That luv tub sure is one big bath - and takes a loooong time to fill. It also helps with the dry weather, since its in the same room as the bed, fill that baby once and the room is humidified.

We won't talk about the mirrors.

The Big Elvis birthday party was certainly crowded, but not a zoo - at least not for the early show. We had no problem standing and watching from near the bar, and seeing the cocktail waitresses try to squeeze through the crowds.

Kes, I never noticed the mirror above the bed when I stayed there.