This will probably end up being posted in parts, as I am on call this weekend and probably won't get the whole thing out in one sitting.

Set up of the trip....
We finally settled on 4 days at our boat for the labor day weekend kick off, and 2 days in California for a wedding and 5 nights in Vegas.
Being we are leaving from the boat for a trip we used BWI (baltimore) airport for our flights. BWI was great, everything Philly isn't. Cleaner, friendlier, and on time, no tarmac parking of the plane for hours either. Bwi to san diego for the wedding was a milk run with multi stops on Southwest. It was a bad flight choice that I made, no fault of the airline. While in San Diego we visited the Rincon Harrahs casino and let them buy us breakfast. It was a typical Harrahs casino with a better then average coffee shop. We each lost a couple of hundred and left for the wedding. They are married, we leave the next day for Vegas.
Thursday morning we depart San Diego on Southwest for Vegas, 50 min flight ( I loved that). Baggage seems like it took forever, then to thrifty for my rental car. That is when I found out my credit card was missing. What a sinking feeling that was, for 2 reasons. First, it's my dinners club, that I use for all travel needs and I'll be without it for the trip, and second, it's the one that offers free cdw insurance on my rental cars!!!! So I hand them my citi visa and I now have a rental without insurance and a lost credit card to report.
Check into Caesars for 2 nights. Cancel credit card, easy. The room is nice and clean, w/ jetted tub and all the goodies.
Finnaly down stairs to play. Caesars, Ballys, Paris, Ballys,
Flamingo Dinner at the diamond lounge. It wasn't really dinner, but we made do with chicken wings and black bean burittos and a bunch of little deserts. Then back home to Caesars. We both lost steadily and nothing really to get excited about. That was untill I played a super times pay at Caesars. I was hooked! Its a regular VP machine where you pay an extra credi per line for the chance of this super times pay thingy kicking in and double to 10X your pay, before you play your hand. Its a random thing! We where tired and hit the sack early, but the hook was set on these machines that I know have been around for awhile, I just never payed any attention to them.
Friday, the maple tree for breakfast, we where not impressed. It was ok, but I would have been better served in a casino coffee shop IMHO. M resort was next, i was not impressed with the outside looks. We enter and it's very nice inside, but no more then red rock, or green valley ranch. I played mostly quarters this trip, but almost all triple play or five times. This session I played a triple play machine progressive. Held 2 hearts to the royal and on the top line it filled out nicely for $1500, the highest progressive of the 3. They hand pay and we move on out to Southpoint where all we do is loose. We have dinner planned with JMT tonight so we head back to Caesars to change and freshen up (its hot in Vegas).
Dinner is at the Flamingo steakhouse 46. Everything was good, but I didn't see the prices, it aint Emerils or craftsteak after all! But the company was excellent. Thanks Joe for taking care of the reservations. Joe then treated to a show, Vinny Favorito at the Flamingo. His show has played for about 6 years and I always over looked it. What a mistake! I had an absolutely great time. He's an insult comic, so if you can't take the heat, stay out of his showroom! LOL Thanks Joe for turning me on to this show. We are taking my daughter and sandy to this show in November. Thank you for the show tickets too! I don't remember if I thanks you in person, but we had great fun. we are still talking about it!
Stopped in at Serindipity to look over a menu as per DAG's request. $15 grilled cheese is what I seen, and that was enough. Seating looked uncomfortable as well. reminded me of the old wire-backed ice cream parlor chairs. Burgers start at $15 and go up from there. nuff said...
back to Caesars and my super times pay machine!!! I get deuces at 3x pay for 3000 quarters! WooHoo I now love this machine! Now at 5 play, the quarters go really fast! I do go to bed up for the day, but not up as much as I should be. Winning early in a trip is never good for me. I always crank it up. Notice I'm now playing five play instead of triple play? Sharon & I wonder around caesars and play for a short time in the high limit area, we are quickly dispatched by the machines! LOL bed about 1am.

Saturday... Check out of caesars, collect the car and head out to Hash House a go go. We are to meet Daisy here for breakfast. We are informed of a 40 min wait, daisy is lost somewhere (some misdirection on our part i beleive) and while we wait we wonder over to a bar called FeelGoods. It's next door to Hash House so we check it out, It's co owners are some chopper builder and Vince niel from motley Crew. Its kinda cool inside (check out the phone booth) anyway bartender is super nice we order a couple of bloodies and sit on the patio waiting to be called to brunch by the neighboring restaurant. Daisy arrives and we order her a coffee. Pager goes off, and we are seated at Hash House, in the Sun on the patio. It's horrible, we finally move when another table opens up in the shade. Again, I was not impressed with breakfast. Next trip we're going back to have food at Vince's place. Sharon wasn't feeling so well from all the sun she took at breakfast, so we abandoned plans for out lying casinos and checked into main street station down town. We stayed downtown the whole day as she wasn't up for more sun and heat. She talks me into playing the wheel of fortune, I get a spin and hit the 1000 credits. however these where just quarter credits so it's only a $250 win, but thats a nice start for the days gambling. If only it would have continued! California, Fremont, Golden Nugget, California & Main Street again. Dinner at the brew pub, it's loud . Collage football tonight. Sushi was nice as was the pizza, but my black chip porter was the best! Auhhhhhh! I find a super times pay slant top and play this for the remainder of the evening. Bad day, lost a bunch. Sharon is full of "I told you so's" on the super times pay machines. She did say it was going to and I quote "burn my a$$" ... It did! LOL I'm still hooked at this point! But she is right! bed by midnight!

Sunday.... up and out the door to the Plaza for breakfast at the Omelet House. I chose stuffed french toast. Thick french toast with a smear of cream cheese in the middle and blueberries. It was by far the best breakfast this trip so far! Sharon's spinach omelet was gigantic and good! Prices where the cheapest of the 3 places we visited too this trip for breakfast! This place is another keeper! Silverton is next, we shop the bass pro shop but buy nothing. I was amazed how much this place changed in 10 months. All my machines are either moved or gone! 5 play kicks my butt here! The new center bar is beautiful!
Next the Hilton. I haven't been here for a long time either. The space casino section seems really out of place now that the star trek thing is closed. found a super times pay here, but sharon wanted to move on, so I didn't play long (she probably saved me money) LOL Bat to MSS to change and freshen up for dinner. Tonight RM Seafood. The food was very good, I didn't care much for the server, but the service was very good. Server kept talking about different things like what kind of ways the place buys its products and what kind of kelp is used in this process, I could care less. Too much tree hugger for me. The proof will be in the pudding as my dad always said! LOL Or in this case the pulled pork and mac and cheese with peppers! LOL My meal was yummy. My food descriptions are not up to mikes, but here is what was ordered ... I had, as an appi, the spicy tuna roll, then seared divers scallops, with asparagus. Sharon had, the soup, the grilled shrimp and pulled pork mac&cheese w/hot peppers. washed down with a glass of pinot and I had a stella beer. We left full and unable to entertain thoughts of deserts. Thanks mike for the tip, I would have never found this place on my own. I also thought prices where very reasonable for food quality and service rendered! We will be back!
Played at Mandalay Bay for a couple hours. I have given up on VP (skill games aint working today) I find a top dollar slot and turn a profit of $500. I'm happy now, but it won't last! LOL
Downtown again, I visit with my old bartender friend Dave, and the 5 play machine just kills me at the bar. All I could afford was 2, $500 free beers! LOL And it really was that bad!
Our butts are dragging when we hit MSS. before we go up Sharon wants to play just a little bit more. She goes off and I find a diamond line 8 machine and play for a long time, no big hits but it's not sucking the money out of me either. Finally she finds me and I say i never got to play where I was heading. So we sit down and play. The MSS slot system goes down no payouts except by hand for about 3 hours. At one time we where playing 4 machines along the wall. Finally, we wean it down to three! Sharon is playing a multi line pay machine (never played) and me I'm on a quarter 5 times machine Double Double, and a half dollar deuces machine. We played these till 5:30 in the morning. We where over served! While I hate to admit this (but I will to my friends here on talkvegas) I had trouble keeping up with the fast pace in which the drinks where being delivered. Even when nature called, when I 'd come back yet another drink would be waiting for me, calling my name! You see the problem is, as the night goes on, the casino thins out, and the ratio of cocktail waitress per customer increases. So she comes around quicker. Or to sum it up a better way, she has more time to focus and relizes I'm tipping! LOL
I get poured into bed, at 6am

Sounds like an interesting trip Lee. Hope I get to read the rest before we leave. You and Sharon always seem to pack a lot into your trips.
I see those machines in our local casino but very seldom is someone playing them. Any kind of multi-line stacked wilds machines seem to be the flavor of the year.

Should we expect hot days when we get there on Tuesday. I am planning on spending more time at the pool than I usually do if the weather is right.

What type of refreshment do you usually order when playing?

Lee - Great TR so far! So much to comment on:

Super Times Pay - yes, those machines ARE addicting! I love playing them but I don't do so exclusively. The fact that you play 18 coins on a triple play game and if you get a high pair, you only get 15 coins back - I liken that to a "slow leak in the boat." You're getting winning hands, but you're still losing a little bit. That said, if you can get a good hand with the multiplier, that will make all the difference. Depending on if I'm winning or not, I'll alternate between Super Times Pay and regular Triple Play.

M Resort Triple Play Progressives - I played those machines the last time I was there. They reminded me of my favorite machines that used to be at NYNY. Congrats on the royal!

RM Seafood - Glad you and Sharon liked it! I hope Sharon liked that grilled shrimp as much as I did. And that pulled pork mac n cheese - I'm ready to hop on a plane now to get some!

Breakfast - I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Maple Tree or Hash House. I really like those places. But now you've got me interested in the Omelet House at the Plaza.

Congrats on your ROYAL, Lee!!! Sounds like you two had a great time, and then had to go home to rest up!! I don't know how you can stay up so late........you two must be MUCH younger than us old folks.
There are several other Omelet House locations around, too, if you want to "get out of town". Did you get to the Palm this time? I see that they have a special Prix fixe dinner (I never know how to spell that, much less pronounce it).
I hope you are having a late summer there so you can enjoy being out on the water a bit longer.

OK, let me finish this report and then get to any questions and comments.
I had to stop the trip report, Sharon was ready to go to Harrahs Chester yesterday, so we took off. I'll report on that later.

Monday. This is kinda a jip day, because I got to bed so darn late we only got moving around 1pm. Our last day and it's gonna be a short one. Breakfast at the California coffee shop. Ham steak & eggs for me, The ham has gotten smaller, but with less fat, so it was a good trade IMHO. I enjoyed this. as it was free! LOL
Next take the car for gas, as we have an early flight on Tuesday. Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening down town. All the usual suspects, California, Las Vegas Club to check out the "win a lobster" tank. It just seems so wrong! Walked through the Golden Gate, they now have go go dancers (2) in the Blackjack pit behind the dealers. Yes, it's cheesy, yes the girls look rough, but it is still better the over at the Las Vegas club, where they have what they call "the Fetish Pit" a dancer (1) and while she's dancing on her stage it looks as thought the stage will come down. It's not built very well. Does LVC do anything correctly? Maybe these girls look better after 5 or 6 drinks? Or like my friend used to say, beautiful is just a light switch away! Ugh!
Next Fremont, then the Four queens, played some slots here for a while on 20 bucks (red hottie) I cached out a winner, sharon lost, but basically I had her $20. WooHoo! Carton of cigarettes at the ABC store costs $80. But they had her brand, so that is a plus. Dinner tonight at California @ Redwood Grill. I had the king crab legs, sharon had the king crab legs and filet, all under a C note with tip!
Finnish the night at Main street Station. at about 10pm Sharon says goodnight, but I'm on a super times pay machine and not ready yet. After she goes to the room, I switch machines and the beverages start going down easy. The cocktail server is right on time and those black chips taste so good. I start winning! By midnight, I am back even for the day, and I need a restroom break. I get up and cash out and when I come back, someone else is on my machine (I never thought to ask someone to hold it) So I decide it's time for bed. As I'm walking through the casino towards the elevators, I put $200 in a dollar triple play, zip it's gone. And my most stupid bone head move was $100 in a $5 wheel of fortune. I managed to piss away another $45 at various machines till I finally got to the elevators! I lost $345 in less then 10 min! This is why, they serve free drinks in a casino! LOL

Tuesday, up and showered by 3am ugh! Return rental car to thrifty, easy on a Tuesday. Flight home on American, on time, and smooth. Wifi on our second leg was a nice touch, sure made the time go faster. Park & go gave me a discount I didn't deserve. A 2 hour drive home and it's all over!

Some thoughts....
There are times you can see there arn't as many people in town, and there are times you scratch you head and say, where did all these people come from.
whats off...
The night club scene at Caesars was off. I guess the kiddies either are maxed out on their credit card, or daddy won't let them use his anymore?
We walked into the redwood without reservations and there was room for plenty more people!
Car rental, no crowd at all at the counters of any of them.
Lots of empty store fronts in the shopping plazas on the cross streets.
Whats on....
Traffic on the strip, however to be fair, the construction at Flamingo is really screwing with the flow at night.
People walking on the strip, still packed at night.
Lines for free stuff and casino players cards.
Crazy/homeless people on fremont st.

My best hit on the super times pay machine was when I had a 3X pay and I got the deuces on one of 5 hands for a 3000 credit pay. Which = $750 at the quarter level I was playing. I figure I am about even for my track record on the machine, but with that multiplier and the extra you pay to play, the machine becomes very volatile with wide swings. I mostly play Deuces to mellow it out, but DDB has got to be the worst for big swings. On that side I am at a big loss, big loss! To the point I don't play that game anymore on super time pay! LOL It's just too harsh!

When am I going back? November for thanksgiving week. My sister will be along and my daughter will be flying out for a portion of our trip.

BTW Breakfast is my favorite meal. So I take it seriously. I don't eat breakfast normally. But on vacation, I do. Maybe that is why I value a good breakfast so much, I don't get that meal very often. Hash House was poor because of the seating. Maple tree, I was expecting more. Omelet House isn't exciting, but they get the job done at a fair price, (hint to the omelet house, you need to trim back your menu, the food manager has too much trouble telling the omelets apart and they sit on a tray, while she prods them to makes sure who's is who's and what's what. It's killing the speed of delivery) California coffee shop, it is what it is. Basic breakfast, served in a timely fashion, don't expect anything fantastic here.

Thanks for reading all the way through!

RU,
I hope its hot for you, and I hope it's not as hot as when we where there. At 107, I really don't enjoy a pool. 90's is a much better temp, at least you can walk on the concrete to get to the pool without needing a new set of souls on your feet.

What I drink.... Hmmmm, I drink different stuff. A Bloody or 2 in the morning in nice. Or baileys and coffee work well too. Afternoon, light beer, maybe even a frozen drink (just one)with a Myers dark rum floater on top, or margie. Late night, White/light rum (Don Q, Bacardi, Tommy Bahama)and coke, or a dark heavy beer like Black chip porter at MSS, Becks dark, Saint Paulie Girl Dark or if at a party and shots are called Van Gouh Expersso vodka, But my most recent to reply to shots ... no thank you! LOL

Mike,
JMT summed it up best. The omelet house is the best place for breakfast in a weak downtown market. Please remember, it's still inside the Plaza.
rm is on our hit list. We will be back! Thanks for the tip.
The machines at M where very clean and comfortable. I like playing there. (of course I won, so it's natural to like the place) but the place doesn't bring anything special to the table to make us want to stay there. So what am I playing for??? The location just isn't what I'm looking for. Maybe the Senator would be comfortable there with his wife. I would not be. The royal was a big surprise with only holding 2 cards, I was just looking to break even on the hand.

Tater, it got cool here last night. down in the 40's. Thats an early chill. Beautiful days though!
We never made it to the Palm restaurant. 5 nights just isn't enough time. I wanted to do more driving to other casinos, but drive time just kills playing time! LOL
Thanks for reading.

I play DDB exclusively now and you're right about the volatility on the Super Times Pay machines.

My best hits:

- 3X quad 2's with kicker on a dollar machine ($2,400)
- 5X quad 5's on a dollar machine ($1250 - damn - $51 over the dreaded W2G form!)

Once on a quarter machine, I was dealt 3 2's and in the 4th spot the multiplier came up 10X. So I'm waiting for the 10X to dance across the screen to it's spot, praying for another 2. Alas, it didn't happen. Had I gotten a 4th deuce, that would have been a nice payoff!

Thanks for dinner Lee. It was very good. It was fun to read the things you did outside of your normal comfort zone. Good for you.

Have you ever had what you would call a really good breakfast in Las Vegas, and if so, where? Not a bargain breakfast, not an adequate breakfast, not Hawaiian slop. I mean what do you look for in a seriously good breakfast?

Oh, and Mike, if you want to try the Omelet House, go for the one on Charleston, near the hospital. It has the old Vegas charm of being in the back of a strip mall, less than ideal parking, more seasoned staff, locals, and the charm of never being remodeled. The Plaza location is somewhat open to the casino and feels like you are eating in the Plaza.

They had the lobster game at the San Gennaro Feast last week. It was 3 dollars to play.

When you see Vinnie again, you will probably note that he uses a few of the same punch lines on some of the obvious topics. But you should also note his creativity when he goes past that.

If I had known that you were going to RM, AND if I had known where they hid the certificates on the website, I would have printed one up for you. The restaurant itself is in a geographically undesirable location for me. It takes more than a restaurant to get me into Mandalay or Luxor and even more to get me into that shopping mall that interconnects them. At least it's just barely into the mall.

Breakfasts that I have really enjoyed in Vegas. 2 come to mind and only 2 and one of them I am ashamed to admit.
The egg & I is/was perfect. service, freshness of ingredients, menu selection (choices), CLEAN!
The other one was a breakfast buffet Wendell treated us to at the orleans, a while back. My made to order spinach & cheese omelet, was the best one I have ever had. That and a few small pc. of fresh fruit was all it took!
As for what I look for, I love steak & eggs, but the steak is normally a pc of leather. French toast, they can do so much with this item, it makes me mad when I just get egg dipped bread. I generally dislike pancakes. Fresh fruit if it's really fresh fruit, not some 3 day old soggy/limp offering.
There is a dinner near us, my favorite order when ever I get lucky enough to have breakfast near home (maybe 2/3 times a year) 3 eggs, scrambled (not hard) english muffin, and all the breakfast meats! That's bacon, 2 types of sausage (link and patty I can never choose 1), ham, scrapple, and a 5 oz black diamond steak.
I could go on and on about breakfast. Tonight, Sharon made dinner, On a hamburger bun, 1 fried egg, cheese, mayo, and sliced thin filet mignon. I had 2 and I was perfectly happy. Oh and I like cereal too & oatmeal. although I don't consider that dine-out food.

I am looking forward to seeing his show again. If we would have had a longer stay, I probably would have gone back a second time this trip. We also plan on seeing the girls at the LV Hilton nest trip as well, just on your recommendation!
On thing I am sort of kicking myself about, is I forgot about that eatery you mentioned about a month back near the old Huntridge??? We could have easily worked that into our schedule, but alas, I forgot all about it.

See You in November Joe!

Mike, I have not seen super times pay in anything other then nickels, dimes and quarters. Even at Caesars, maybe I better open my eyes.
I'd love to get dealt a hand with that 10X pay symbol !!! WooHoo!

There was another poker game Sharon played for hours the night we stayed up till 5am, it was playing 4 different hands. each time you would have a winning hand you would progress to the next level 1X, 2X, 4X, then finally 8X if you made it that far. Can't remember what it was called, but it sure sucked the money in when you didn't make that first hand (20 coins)

Thanks for reading!

Lee - there are machines called "All Star Poker" and they contain 5 or 6 different VP games. Super Times Pay is one of them. Many casinos have them in multi-denominations, including $1. I've played $1 STP at Bellagio, NYNY, Wynn, Encore, and Mandalay Bay.

The game Sharon was playing is called Multi-Strike Poker. It's a lot of fun but you can sure lose a lot of money quickly on it. It's got a very different strategy to it than most VP games. I've studied the strategy a bit but I've never been able to win on it so I gave up. I've only played it at the nickel or dime level since quarters gets too expensive.

always a fun,busy trip report from the sharon-lee gang and this time you made me hungry! for your steak n eggs,go to a cafe that has a t-bone special and a late nite breakfast special
great steak n eggs!

ROTFL ... Daisy was not lost on the way to Hash House; I knew exactly where I was at all times! You didn't misdirect me either - I just wigged out somewhere between the time I plugged Sahara into my mapping program and followed the Flamingo signs from the Boulder Highway<g>. I wonder if we would have liked the biker bar better?

Just about every day, I would look at your pics of winning combinations and decide I shouldn't be gambling since you had swiped all my luck! WTG! I saw Super Times Pay just about everywhere I went, right down to penny machines out at Eastside Cannery. I also saw some All-Star machines (like Mike mentioned) out at Eastside, but I'm not sure if they had STP on them - what caught my eye was the paytable sure looked like All-American poker, and I haven't noticed that game anywhere for years.

See ya in November!

Mike, I will look harder on my next trip, although the bite of a dollar machine, paying the extra dollar for something I might never see is a big one.

DAG Thanks for reading, A healthy breakfast doesn't normally include a steak or any of the other breakfast meats! LOL But I love them all!

Daisy, My next trip Sharon & I are going to try the food at the biker bar. They were very nice to us, and the place looked clean. But you know they are only open for lunch & dinner.