After 3 losing trips in a row, I finally got some of my money back! Read on…

Friday, August 14 – I traveled out with my friend Justin. We had the first flight out of O’Hare at 7:00AM. We both got upgrades and were able to sit together. The flight was nice and uneventful. It left right on time and we landed 15 minutes early.

Upon landing, the luggage came out quickly, we hopped the shuttle to the rental car center and were off in a Ford Something (I honestly can’t remember what it was). The car had a satellite radio which was a nice plus!

We were hungry so we went to our usual first-stop destination – Hash House a Go Go. We split a bunch of the usual things we like - ham and cheese egg scramble, brown sugar banana pancake, and biscuits and gravy. All of it was excellent as usual. Then it was off to the hotel.

We stayed at Bellagio on this trip – both staying on comp offers. We both got very nice, though basic, rooms on the 6th and 7th floors, facing the strip. Unfortunately, you really can’t see the lake or the fountains from this level. You can see the tops of the fountains when they’re shooting high but that’s about it. But I can’t complain. The room was nice, clean, quiet – and free.

After settling into the room, I headed to the casino. I sat down at a triple play video poker machines that I’ve been lucky on in the past. I was playing DDB at the $1 level and within the first 5 minutes of playing, I held an Ace of Spades and amazingly, the rest of the royal filled in the top line. I absolutely couldn’t believe it. Ten minutes later, I hit Aces with a kicker. Again, I was in shock. I played for a good 90 minutes, hitting many more quads on the way, and finally cashed out when I felt like the machines was finally cooling off. It was a great run and a great way to start my trip.

One thing I haven’t done in a long time in Vegas was spend some time at the pool. So around 4PM, I met Justin and we went for a swim. The Bellagio pools are very nice and it was a great way to relax before dinner.

Dinner was at Delmonico at the Venetian. We’ve eaten there many times in the past and it’s always excellent. As an appetizer, I had a melon/prosciutto/mozzarella salad which was cool, fresh, and delicious. Justin had an array of heirloom tomatoes which are in season. For main courses, I had a delicious swordfish in a pesto sauce, while Justin had a BBQ salmon served over potato and andouille hash. I think I liked Justin’s entrée better, even though it was very hot and spicy. For dessert, we split some wonderful chocolate bread pudding. Once again, the service and food were great.

We were very full and tired after dinner. After a leisurely stroll back to Bellagio, I called it a night.


Saturday, August 15 – I woke up around 6AM, got myself showered and dressed, hit the coffee shop for a latte and went back for more VP.

I found a new machine I’m in love with – it’s called Ultimate X Video Poker. It gives you all sorts of multipliers on winning hands. In the first couple of times playing it, I won over $1,000. And this was at the QUARTER level. It’s a triple play game and I got 8X on quad 7’s on 2 lines at one point. The machine kept paying and paying.

But that was dangerous as well. On subsequent trips to the machine, I went on some bad losing streaks and eventually much of that $1,000 back. But still, it was a fun machine.

Justin called around 8:30AM and wanted to go for a walk. So we walked for about an hour and then headed to The Maple Tree for breakfast. I really love this place and am so glad JMT recommended it – it’s a really hidden gem! We had their buckwheat pancakes with real maple syrup plus an order of their biscuits and gravy. All of it was really excellent.

Back at Bellagio, we hit the blackjack tables. My blackjack luck has been very bad on my many recent trips and this one started out bad too. I didn’t win a hand for my first 10 or so hands ($10 table; although there were a few pushes too) and burned through $100 very fast. Justin was hanging in there so I bought in for another $100. The next $100 was going quickly too and I was down to $30 when a new dealer came in. My luck instantly changed. I went from losing every hand to winning every hand. The dealer was busting all over the place and everyone at the table was winning. I was up around $300 when these 2 very drunk young guys came to the table. They were loud and obnoxious and it was at that point that we thought we should leave. After that, Justin hit the gym, I played more VP and we met at the pool around 4PM for a dip.

Dinner was at RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay. I had seen chef Rick Moonen on the Top Chef Master’s TV show and was really impressed with him, so much so that I wanted to try his restaurant. Well, this meal was a HOME RUN. I absolutely loved it and my entrée was one of those dishes that I’ll remember for a long time. For an appetizer, we had calamari which was lightly fried and served with green, red, and yellow peppers. It was light and fresh and delicious. My entrée was grilled shrimp served over a saffron risotto, surrounded by chorizo oil. The shrimp had been marinated for 24 hours and was unbelievable. The risotto was excellent and the addition of the chorizo oil was a unique touch. I savored every bite. I didn’t want it to end.

As I’m writing this, I can’t remember what Justin had – scallops? As a side, we shared a house specialty of pulled-pork macaroni and cheese. That in itself was a real treat but I was really enjoying my entrée so I only ate a small portion of it. For dessert, we split chocolate rice pudding served with what tasted like a dark-chocolate gelato which was excellent. As an added treat, we got to meet the chef! I mentioned to the waiter we had seen him on TV and he came over to say hi. That was really great!

Sunday, August 16 – The morning was a repeat of the previous day – up at 6, shower, latte, VP, hour walk with Justin. Justin wanted to return to Hash House because he had seen something on Friday he wanted to try – some HUGE concoction of eggs, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy. It tasted good but not something I really want for breakfast. I opted for the brown sugar banana pancake and really enjoyed that.

Back at Bellagio, we hit the blackjack tables again. We played for a few minutes and then the dealer from the day before who was KILLING me showed up. I said, “Oh no!” but she said, “don’t worry, today is a different day.” She was right. The cards were in our favor for a long time. We had a nice table going and most of us were winning. We played for a while but then the relief dealer came in and he was no fun at all – he was this young hot shot making all these sarcastic jokes which weren’t very funny. A very friendly couple on the other side of the table clearly didn’t like him and left. A guy in the middle cashed in shortly thereafter – the poor guy doubled on a 9 versus a dealer 4 and lost – and the dealer made fun of him for it. What a jerk. Even though Justin and I continued to win, it wasn’t fun anymore so we left too. But we both walked about with about $200 in profits so that was great. After that, Justin hit the gym, I hit the VP machines, napped and that was about it for the afternoon.

Sunday night was Better Midler at Caesar’s. I went with my friend Charlie who had just flown in that morning. I had seen Bette last November but was sick as a dog so I didn’t enjoy the show as much as I probably would have if I was well. And seeing it this time was almost like seeing a new show. Half of it I didn’t remember at all and I enjoyed it much more than the first time!

Upon arriving at the theater, we were told that we had been “upgraded.” I didn’t like the way that sounded. I had gotten us 3rd row in the center 1st mezzanine and they told us they moved us to the 2nd row of the center rear orchestra. Apparently, the house wasn’t sold out and they wanted to fill-in the orchestra section. The 2nd mezzanine was closed. I guess tickets aren’t selling like they used to. But these seats were actually decent seats – I paid $140 for the 1st mezzanine seats but these rear orchestra seats sell for $165. The sightlines were great and I didn’t mind sitting there at all.

One of my (minor) complaints about Bette’s show the first time was that the show seemed scaled back to be more family-friendly. I’ve seen her many times in the past and I remember her having quite a lot of fun with naughty jokes and language. But it seemed like the show was purposely toned-down. This time she seemed back to her old self - telling lots of jokes, making fun of people in the audience, making fun of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and others, and letting lots of F Bombs fly. She was really, really funny.

And she was in very good voice too. She did excellent versions of “From a Distance” and “Hello in There,” and knocked “When a Man Loves a Woman” out of the ballpark – that was something! The Delores Del Lago sequence was excellent and the highlight of the show was a Busby Berkley extravaganza with Bette, the Harlettes, and 18 back up dancers all in mermaid outfits and wheelchairs doing a salute to Las Vegas. It was really something to see.

After the show, we met Justin at Kokomo’s at the Mirage. Many restaurants are now offering fixed-priced menu deals and theirs seemed like a good one. I had a seafood cake appetizer, a very good rib-eye steak for an entrée, and a chocolate torte cake for dessert. All of it was really good and a great bargain. I’ve always heard good things about Kokomo’s and loved the fact that it’s in the Mirage’s rainforest under their dome. It was a very nice atmosphere. I’ll return there someday.

Monday, August 17 – Since Charlie was only with us for one breakfast, I gave him a choice of where to eat and he chose Egg Works. I love this place as the food and service are always excellent. I feasted on a ham and cheese omelet and biscuits and gravy. Charlie had some spinach-eggs Benedict thing he seems to love. Justin had some huge concoction of fruit.

After breakfast I drove over to the show boys the M Resort. I really like this place and wanted them to see it. After touring around, we went our separate ways to gamble. I wanted to try those Quick Quads machines again but when I sat down to play, I realized I had totally forgotten all the proper strategies since I didn’t study it prior to my trip. I was losing badly and just stopped playing. I managed to get my money back on another VP machine where I hit quad aces (quarters, no kicker).

Got back to Bellagio around 2 and parted ways for the day. I played some BJ and VP and held my own. I later napped and made a brief visit to the pool. It was a nice relaxing day.

For dinner, Justin said he wanted to return yet again to Hash House a Go Go because he’d only ever eaten breakfast there and wanted to try some of their dinner items. I was pleasantly surprised by this place. At night, they turn the lights down, have candles on the tables, and play very cool eclectic alternative music. It was a great atmosphere to dine by.

We all ordered different things so we could share. In typical Hash House fashion, the portions were huge so sharing wasn’t a problem. We got fresh baked biscuits with honey to start. Charlie had meatloaf with gravy and cheesy mashed potatoes, I had blue crab cakes with mashed squash, and Justin had breaded pork tenderloin served with garlic mashed potatoes. Although my crab cakes were great, I think I liked Charlie’s meatloaf the best. The manager of the restaurant remembered us from coming in for breakfast a few times so he gave us dessert, which was this Snicker’s cake and ice cream thing – it was sinfully delicious. In fact, everything was great.

Tuesday, August 17 – I had a 10AM flight out which left on time and I was in Chicago by 4PM.

Trip Summary
- I was really happy with my gambling exploits on this trip. I started out great and had a lot of good luck for most of the trip. I came home with a lot more money than I went with and I’m happy to say my faith has been restored in my Vegas trips!
- I really enjoyed staying at Bellagio. I’ve grown unhappy with New York-New York’s redesigned casino and don’t enjoy playing there anymore. I really like the Bellagio casino and may make it my new “home base” on future Vegas trips.
- I fell in love with the RM Seafood Restaurant at Mandalay Bay. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had and I can’t wait to go back.
- I also thoroughly enjoyed all of the yummy breakfasts I had and am so happy I’ve found these places, largely because of sharing ideas on bulletin boards like TV!

Mike, you eat dine well! So when you say something like "the best meal" it perks my ears! RM seafood sounds like a warehouse eatery rather then fine dinning. Reservations suggested? We need to try new places to eat, I feel like I'm in a rut with my vegas trips.
Now please explain why you went to Delmonico's and ordered fish? I have never, not ordered something on the hoof here.
No CraftSteak this trip?
I am glad to finally see you had a bit of luck again in Vegas. Nice to come home with out empty pockets? LOL

Thanks for the great report. It's nice to read a winning report from you!

Lee-PA

all i can say is great report and as usual BURP!! i always write down where you eat in my to do book.

Lee - RM has 2 levels - fine dining upstairs and more casual downstairs (we ate upstairs). The menus are somewhat the same but downstairs has more sandwich-type things. Reservations are definitely needed upstairs but downstairs is a bigger space and I doubt that you'd need them.

Good question on Delmonico's. We had originally planned on a steakhouse for later in the trip but our plans changed. Plus I'm constantly watching my weight and I eat a lot more seafood these days than red meat.

Mike, thanks for another high quality and mouth watering trip report. I'm sure I will have questions later.

Lee forgot to ask you.<g> When's your next trip?

Mike, I am ROTFLMAO! We both hit another Royal - both in spades - we gotta work on those clubs & diamonds!

I always enjoy your mouth watering descriptions of dining, but I'm wondering about Charlies spinach-egg benedict thing ... could it have been eggs florentine?

Will you prefer the center strip location if the Bellagio continues to treat you well and does become your new Las Vegas home?

I'm glad you got back to your winning ways.

Daisy - Charlie says it's a spinach benedict. All I remember is that it looked like eggs benedict but with lots of spinach in it. I really wasn't paying much attention because I'm not a fan of spinach and I was stuffing my face with an omelette and biscuits and gravy at the time!

Good question about Bellagio. I certainly love gambling in their casino. But traffic-wise, the location isn't good. I'm much happier getting in and out of NYNY because there's 2 choices - Tropicana or LVB. With Bellagio, you have to exit on LVB and sometimes it isn't fun.

I think I'm going to continue with comp offers for a while before deciding on a new home.

JMT - no future trips planned at this point but I'm considering Thanksgiving.

Me: Oh look! a trip report from Mike!

Good Me: You better get a snack before you start reading it.

Bad Me: Naah - you'll be fine. The food descriptions won't be THAT good!

Good Me: Don't listen to her! You'll be drooling!


Ah well - we don't always learn from experience *slurp*

Great report, and congratulations on the changeup!

Just one question - didn't know the M Resort has show boys. oooh la la!

(pay no attention, that's the Bad Me typing)

Kes, You made me re-read Mikes report! LOL

Congrats on the winning trip, Mike.
You always go to all the restaurants I hear about, but don't go to............sigh..............
I think Ultimate X Video Poker is fun, too..........and it's nice to know that someone actually won.
We DID go to Hash House A Go Go the other night...........the amounts of food served is still unbelivable. I never saw so much food on one plate before going to that restaurant. Amazing. The six of us could have shared one, or maybe two entrees. They did have a money raising deal from the bar going on for AIDS though, so that was good.
Just for Kes' edification, the Rio has male "bevertainers", as well as their Chippendales show. Something to look at while losing your money!

Kes - I didn't know what you were talking about until I read and reread my paragraph on the M Resort. That's an amazing catch you made! And I have no idea how to edit it out!

Tater - I was really surprised at how much I liked the Hash House for dinner. I loved the way they had the lights dimmed and the music was great. The food was pretty good too!

Tater when I was at the Rio last December I did see th Chippendales posing for photos on the casino floor - but only if you let THEIR photographer take the photo $$.
I did not see any male bevertainers, but I would be curious to see what they were wearing. The female CW's were wearing this outfit that looked like it was made of two panels of lace and not much else. People were actually stopping them on the floor to pose with them for photos. So, are the fellows wearing lace speedos?

Mike - don't edit, just go with the flow!

That spinach benedict and fruit parfait are two of the most colorful items on the Egg Works menu. The fried items still grab my attention when I go.

Mike, you should be in town this week. This is restaurant week. Many of the best are having really good specials this week. $5 or so from each meal go to feed the homeless.

JMT, $5 from each meal to feed the homeless sounds a lot better way to go about that task, then feeding them handouts at public parks!
M2C

I would love to be in Vegas for restaurant week - I wouldn't know where to start. I'd probably blow up like that girl in Willy Wonka!

We have something similar going on in Chicago this week. And yes, I'm eating well!

Mike, go to the Restaurant Week event at the 3 Square website and just look at the menus at the various restaurant menus. You might find it to be good reading.

http://www.dishlasvegas.org/?page_id=710

JMT - my mouth is watering! Many of my favorites are on there - Craftsteak, Aureole, Bradley Ogden, Seablue - even my new favorite RM. It's interesting that they're doing a few Julia Child dishes at Alex and Stratta.

Thanks for sending this - it was REALLY good reading!