i have been warned that there can be trips like this but i never figured it would happen to me.now i am not talking about the blood on my plate from some great prime rib i had but from the worst gambling trip ever! i am still in shock from not having a single session of being ahead,that's right not a nickle ahead at any time,but the rest of the trip was great with great food great company and great weather.so let me collect my thoughts and i will continue this shortly.(the gambling part is not open for discusion)<G>

Ouch! Lousy gambling on a trip is one thing, but it's beyond lousy when you don't even get in one winning session. OTOH, isn't it amazing how we won't let a little thing like that ruin a trip to Las Vegas?

DAG - I'm heading to Vegas next week and am DUE for a losing trip. I hope it's not too bloody!

I'll look forward to your reports of the great food and great company!

mike-my blood was all from vp,i did have a few moments of glory from penny slots,very few.to continue,a smooth flight down hill on alaska air at a hundred bucks a leg,pick up a pt with sun roof and turbo and head to red rock for sunday brunch,14.95 with players card, very good with a huge selection.off to vons for drinks and snacks and check in at the orleans in a nice room overlooking the pool.a little snooze,a little lose,and off to the point for dinner at the oyster bar,very good,plump,tasty oysters and king crab legs special 15.95 for a lb.and a half.oysters were a "best i've ever had" rating and i eat them off the beach in washington.a losing session at the point with a little fun on the pennies and back to homebase for the evening.more to follow.

Just don't forget the part where you forgot to take your weather back home with you.<g>

keep it coming Dag. We'll get out the bandaids - and the tourniquetss if it gets too bloody!

But I know what you mean Mike. my last 3 trips have been winning ones. Makes me nervous to return ((but I tell myself I even out the odds with a local losing trips!)

tues-it's up at the crack of lunch<G> and it's off to the rampart with no luck on my fav loose deuces and over to the suncoast where the loose deuces are busy so my loses are limited to a couple of jacksons and we have a decent lunch at the bagel shop at the suncoast.had a shop planned for the afternoon and hit tjmax discount store at decauter and sahara.drop a franklin real quick but at least i have something to show for my dough.tonight is eat at the bait shop or makinos sushi and i think it has slipped a notch and i have found a better place to spend my sushi dollars (to be revealed later) and we spend the eve at the orleans chasing anything that i could call a win.the orleans has installed some new nickle bonus multiplay near the buffetand i figured i would cut a fat hog on these babies.now i run at least a frankie through these machines,never saw a five o kind or royal and was never ahead.that's when i knew that things are not going to get better!!(played over several days)i did not lose a frankie the first nite.a little booze and off to bed.tues- again up at the crack of lunch and off to sams,now sams never lets me down on the vp WRONG.over to sunset station to play and i don't remember what we did for lunch and we did not stop at gvr on our way to the silverton to play and check out some of the happy hours but we were to early to enjoy as their happy hours start at 4:00.back to the orleans for a little snooze and off to the bell for buffet dinner.it's been a few years since we have eaten there,big mistake,great meal! some off the best prime rib i have ever had anywhere including my own kitchen.a great sushi bar which knocked makinos off the eat list,huge gulf shrimp,king crab and to many other items to list,plus the famous dessert bar-burp!!it was a super meal.played pennies back to the front entrance and actually won a few bucks.yes i won money at the bellagio!back to the orleans for nit-nite.more to follow

wed-we lunch at the orleans buffet and i still think this is a bargain and off to the silverton bass shops to look for lee<G> and do some shirt shopping back to the orleans for a snooze and off to find jmt's fav rib place and sure enough there be joe waiting for us even though we are allmost an hour late.great meal and they are the best so for in vegas,but the sauce is a little underwhelming for my tastes but it is about the meat not the sauce.the meat is fall off the bone but not soft or steamed/baked and not over smoked which would have killed it as far as the wife is concernd but we will continue to search for the ultimate rib,so far these are the best and we will have to check out taters bbq which sound very similar in taste and style.this is texas bbg.thanks joe for a very good meal.back to the orleans to chase the deuces and early bedtime.getaway day to follow with another great meal

thur-gotta go home day and i usualy spend the day at the point because it is conveniant to gas the car and return it.you can also get your boarding passes at the travel spot at the point or at the business center at the orleans.the travel place charges but the business is free but i always give her latte money.hit the oyster bar for lunch but not as good as the dinner we had there.chase some winners and meet up with jmt at primarily prime for an early dinner and this has got to be the best deal in town for prime rib.if i give the bell buffet a 9.5 on prime this is a 9.45.this is for the full meal deal,a double cut,potatoe,nice large but generic salad for 16.95.the cut i had had to be at least a 16 to 20 oz.cut of fork tender tasty meat.the wife had a chicken dish with three pieces of chicken breast,potatoe,and the nice salad was a whopping 11.95.we will probably bark here in july.as this trip has turned into the trip of food,i can't think of a better place to end it.great food at a great price with great company,gotta be what eating in heaven is about.do the car return and smooth flight home to end another great trip although the gambling took a bit of the fun out of it.i will do a closing thoughts in a bit.

i should have called this report-there will be food!had some great food,with great company and that still makes for a great trip.we all say we gamble for the entertainment,yeah right,but you sit there in front of a machine and wonder what the hell am i doing wrong! in fact i did not even play vp on my last day i am not the type that tries to "get even". always a good flight on alaska air even though they canceled flights on my back home flights but did not bother our travel home.the rent a car shuttle to and from works without a glitch and as i say i am with thrifty till they screw-up. i still enjoy the orleans but will stay at the suncoast in july if i get a offer,i have one now for april-may at 50% off rack but they should do better than that.made some decisions for the bark in july that will be fun and will cover that later in a bark topic. so anyway the company and the food made for a fun trip,as always and we hope to see yawl at the bark or the taters,jmt,and the dags are going to have a small but great time <G>

just checking to see if all my days posted?

I had a great time dag. It's always a pleasure to spend a little time with you and Lady dag. Thanks for sharing part of your vacation with me. Okay, here's some questions that might even stir up some new topics.

In this less than ideal economy, could you have just as much fun if you cut back your gambling budget to just an hour or so after dinner and found other things to fill in the time?

Did the PT turbo seem to get good mileage? I love my 4 cyl turbo, but gas mileage stinks.

You have almost tempted me into trying the Bellagio buffet for dinner. And I don't like buffets! Stop it. I guess I'll have to try it for the prime. OTOH, that's not much bang for the buck with Primarily Prime 3 miles down the road. The Bel charges a premium on Fri and Sat nights. I haven't heard any word on the streets about it being anything special. I don't mind the Orleans buffet in a pinch, or for breakfast with Wendell. At least their food isn't bland.

I wonder if the oyster place and Makinos are like buffets when it comes to quality. Just hit or miss on any given night? Those jewels that hit the spot every time are what seperate the good places from the great places. That's what ticked me off with the House Of Lords. When they were on their game, it was the best in town. When they missed, it was escpecially bad because the expectations were high.

This one has been burning on me for a long time. The new car rental facility had 10 strikes against it before it ever opened. Bad location, long bus ride, waiting for busses, crampped, etc. Is it really a well oiled machine or is it still in the honeymoon phase? How long can they keep up the exceptional customer service?

So where to eat tonight? Bell buffet, Primarily Prime, or CJs?

breakfast,lunch,dinner? for now primarily has got to be the best value,quality and quantity in town.after reading a few negs about the bell buffet i was very happy with what the put out to eat,the prime,crab,huge shrimp,the dessert bar is at least a two pounder,and the sushi bar that put makinos off the eat list.i have never waited for a rental bus and for sure is faster than waiting for your old rental bus to show up.for now it is a well oiled machine. i will concede the fact that beef is going to change from cow to cow but so far we have hit it on a good cow nite.the beef we had at primarily,at any price was outstanding and i am not paying for kobi beef and i ain't rubbing no cow<G>

i drive a pt,non turbo,and get about 15 mpg. if you want higher mpg you drive at 45mph.the pt is one that rarely gets the posted mpg claim.my wifes v-8 ford explorer gets better milage than i do

DAG

Thanks for the great culinary report. We won't even talk about the gambling

I too think the new rental facility works great. The only wait I've ever had was for a bus at the airport but averages far quicker that before.

Would you consider a turbo in your next PT?

sunroof-turbo is in my future. as with most american/nascar lovers of thier cars, i could care less what the mpg is/are as long as it's fun to drive.i do combine as many stops as i can into one run.tell george to get that refund/rebate check in the mail pronto! i don't know how to stop it but are we headed to five bucks a gal.?

my only complaint on the rental buses is that therte are so many when i get there it is a long walk to the front bus

Now that I think about it, the people directing you to a bus from the rental facility to teh airport rarely seem really on the ball. It's not made real clear that all busses don't go to the same places. I've had to back-track a couple times.

i know what you mean,sometimes i say alaska and i get that blank stare and then i have to say the airline not the state

DAG,
Thanks for the GREAT trip report. I've fallen behind on my reading, and I've been away.

You did eat well! I'd like to hear a little more on the seafood and sushi at the Bell buffet???
I don't share your love for the PT cruiser, and I will never buy another turbo from Crysler...ever! The 2 I had both went bellie up at 50K and when they go bad...so does the motor!

So must I wait till July for another report from you????

I still see potential for the wheels to come off the rental car place out in the boon-docks. Wait to see how it goes as money gets tighter.

Thanks again DAG!
PS> notice I didn't mention a thing about gambling???? LOL

daughter goes with a dodge mechanic guess i will have to bend his ear abit on the turbos!sushi bar at the bell is separate from the rest of the serving areas so it is a sushi bar not just trays of sushi.huge variety and they will make whatever you want.gobs of king crab and gulf shrimp which have a super flavor over the farmed rased type.since the price of makinos sushi and the price of the bell buffet is 27.95,i think thats what i paid,it's no contest as to what the best value is.the beef i had that nite was a best ever!! the dessert bar is at least a two pounder<G> i never got past the beef,crab,shrimp,sushi,and the two lb. dessert bar. on that nite it was buffet heaven<G> burp!

forgot to mention-the weather was great!!low 70s to mid 70s and for us seattle people that's a heat wave.jmt wore a sweater<G>

The people directing you to the rental car buses don't appear to have voices. They just stand there and point.

dag, I tried the Bellagio buffet last night. Most everything I had was as good as you might expect from a buffet, but not better than an above average restaurant.

Once I found the prime rib to be just okay, I started trying everything else...except sushi. The carving station did have some pretty good salmon, but it was still only less than or equal to a nice restaurant. The only semi exotic thing they had was chicken wellington. As expected, the cooked fish on the steam tables was horrible.

The desserts were cute. I found the tiny irregular shaped dishes to be unstable. The small size did allow me try more different choices.

At $27, I hope this was the final nail in my buffet coffin. For anyone that enjoys buffets, this is about as good as it gets and deserves high marks in the buffet catagory. I'm just not a buffet guy.

WHere does the B buffet rank with you, compared to Wynn or Cravings?

1. B
2. Cravings
6. Wynn

I tried the new Harrah's buffet when it first opened and thought it had a lot of pretty good food. I'd probably put it in a tie with Cravings or #3. It's been a while.