This chapter of Escapades started with a leisurely “half-way” drive to Tehachapi, which allowed me to finish some projects at home and then kick back & watch the first NFL game of the season AND get into Las Vegas ahead of al the Los Angeles traffic on Friday. The drive also set the leisurely pace for the remainder of the trip.

Let’s get the gambling out of the way – I had to pay my dues this time. As usual, I paid too many dues the first night, but the minimal losses the rest of the week kept me under budget – with only one winning day - $20 WOO HOO! Most of my play was video poker, but I did have some profitable fun on the bank of Zorro machines out at Eastside Cannery. LOL, frequent trips to Las Vegas are kind of burning out my gambling zeal at times, and I was laughing at myself when I realized I had been in three casinos without investing a dime on Wednesday, and this may have been the first trip in my history that I didn’t gamble at all during my last 24 hours in town.

This was my first stay at Eastside Cannery, and the rooms are large and comfortable with fairly standard furniture, including a work desk, easy chair and a much appreciated fridge for my soft drinks, but there was one part of the room layout that was very different and made me chuckle. The bathtub/shower combo and toilet were in the typical small room, next to a very nice counter with the usual set-up of sink & mirror, but instead of a wall separating that area from the main room – there was a 3.5 foot high counter. LOL, it was like the island that separates my kitchen from my family room – I guess they were trying to facilitate conversation among guests in their rooms, but this report just isn’t going there. The room was well worth the $49/night AAA rate for a Friday & Saturday night stay IMHO. My other hotels were Flamingo and Sam’s Town – yes, I am a creature of habit when it suits my plans for a trip. One VERY nice thing is that I had quiet rooms everywhere on this stay, nothing at all like the previous trip-from-hell when I had drunks rolling loudly down the halls all night every night(seemed that way!) – there was no steady diet of coffee or Mt. Dew on this trip.

I stayed out at Eastside Cannery because Chad & Jeremy were performing there on Friday and Saturday nights. The bartender at Marilyn’s lounge told me I would be able to hear from my video poker seat but not see them, so I settled in for a nice long losing session. He exaggerated on how well I would hear, but I caught enough to know I would be parked inside the lounge Saturday night. Following Chad & Jeremy each night was Goodfellas in a free act, and that group was a pleasant surprise, singing oldies I really like but don’t hear that often – I stuck around until they took a break around 11 pm, then decided it had been a long enough day and called it quits.

I caught the Chad & Jeremy from that same barstool Saturday afternoon when they were warming up for the show and then officially caught them Saturday night – for songs from my college days such as Dirty Old Town, Homeward Bound, Willow Weep For Me, Yesterday’s Gone and a caricature of “If I Had a Hammer” – their version being “If I Had a Hummer.” For anyone that doesn’t recognize their name, they were folk rock back in the 60s, and they sound just as good 40 years later. I wanted to stay for Goodfellas again, but the need for some sleep sent me off to bed fairly early that night.

There were a few other shows along the way, and I totally enjoyed the first week of NFL action too. I caught the Las Vegas Classic Jazz Band (with at least a couple former Royal Dixie players) over at the Gold Coast, the Big Elvis show at Bill’s, a group called SRO doing Motown out at Sam’s, a good country group out at Sam’s (didn’t catch their name), and my other highlight show was Smokey Robinson’s HUMAN NATURE at the IP – IMO, this is a great show if you enjoy Motown at all. The four singers have a 20 year story of successful singing/recording over in Australia, and the group lived up to all the good reviews of their voices, harmony and gracious interactions with the audience. It was a high energy show for both performers and audience.

Breakfast at Hash House A Go Go with Lee & Sharon was one of the dining highlights of the trip (thanks again, Lee!), but that rating is more for the company than the food. My blueberry pecan pancake was great, but I’ve had great pancakes at half the price, and it just seems pointless to serve so much food – -knock the prices down a bit and serve a reasonable portion that a diner can eat, and I’ll be back, although probably not on a weekend and definitely not to dine in the patio on a hot day<g>.. Dinner with the Taters and Don at the Flamingo buffet was my other dining highlight, and again, it was a highlight as much for the company as the food – we managed to get a nice garden view table in spite of a reluctant hostess<g>, and I had put a little effort into getting decent piece of prime rib – the server’s first effort looked like a 3 by 4 inch slice of deli meat<vbg>, but I found enough to eat, including sampling the desserts. I think the Flamingo buffet is a little over-priced, but I feel that way about most places on the strip<g>. After a leisurely meal, we wandered though the Flamingo where I donated, and Toby Tater graciously told me I could stay up as late as I wanted that night –since we were hitting the golf links the following day. LOL, no way – I wanted to be in good form when I went out with Toby & Don at the Las Vegas Golf Club the next morning! I’m still knocking the rust off my antique clubs, but it was a much better round than the previous month. I’ll add in here that I had a couple of good bowling practices along the way, at the Orleans and at Sam’s Town – got some form of exercise every day of the trip.

The rest of my dining during the week was based on convenience. I tried the Sunday brunch at Eastside Cannery, and I guess it was worth the $10, but I would only catch that one again if I happened to be in the neighborhood on Sunday morning. I was in line for “brunch” about 8:30 am, and there were far more Chinese, Italian & Mexican lunch items than breakfast items, even at that early hour. I had dinner at Eastside’s Mexican restaurant one night, and it gets the same “decent” rating as the buffet – not good enough for a special trip out to the Cannery and not anywhere near bad enough to avoid if I’m there around mealtime in the future. LOL, I’ve had the same complaint at every Mexican restaurant lately – don’t any of them know how to fix Spanish rice so that the sauce has a bit more bite than ketchup?

I had a couple of “white chocolate mocha” breakfasts along the way, some stuffed crust pizza at Sbarro’s in front of a football game, various snacks in the Diamond Lounge, a couple of dinners from Panda Express at Sam’s Town, breakfast at the Port O’Call buffet (Gold Coast), and I’m not sure what else – like I said, eating was a matter of location and also simplicity. One meal that didn’t happen – the friendly pit critter (from my last trip to Sam’s) stiffed me on dinner at Billy Bob’s – guess he looked up my gambling between trips and decided a guppy didn’t get comped to a good steak dinner<g>.

That’s about all I found in my notes – as you were warned, it was a rather leisurely trip, not a winning trip, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Daisy - Another great TR! Sounds like you ate well and heard a lot of good music. Yes, I remember Chad and Jeremy - I'm surprised they're still around.

I'm curious about the Smokey Robinson show at the IP. Is he in the show or is it just the 4 guys from Australia? Either way, it sounds like something I'd like.

Chad & Jeremy looked and sounded pretty darn good - they're both in their late 60s but look a few years younger. That show brought back some very good memories.

Smokey Robinson occasionally takes part in the Human Nature show and has appeared with the group on several television promotions, but he wasn't there that night - who knows, maybe I'll catch him some other time because I will return to this show again, in different seats<g>. I snagged front table right seats - which put my ears about 6 feet in front of some very large speakers.... Next time, I'll try for the second row of tables.

Great trip report Daisy, sorry the breakfast on the patio was a bit of a bust! I say we all try FeelGoods next time for an early lunch! The bloody mary was much better over there anyway!
You didn't mention who won at golf???
I'm not a fan of the Flamingo buffet. But its food you won't die from eating. LOL
I also love good mexican food, but all the stuff I have had lately has sort of turned me off. Maybe that could be my next trips quest, finding good mexican food in Vegas. Although a better find would be finding good mexican food here at home! LOL
Thanks for the report.... See U in Vegas!

had to search my aging brain for chad and jeremy but yesterdays gone brought the memory back. great report,i think u r slowing down daisy!! better luck next time and i think i might take a crack at the big pancake.c u ? will probably hang up the work in june 2010.

Lee, breakfast on the patio was an education<g> ... it was a great pancake, but what are they trying to prove with those portions? Our waitress was pretty cool, but I'm still amused that she questioned whether I just wanted ONE pancake.

We ALL won at golf! There are definitely advantages to the guys method of not keeping score.

I didn't starve at the Flamingo buffet, and it's got the advantage of location, location and location - but - if I'm staying somewhere else, I'd drive a bit further and spend the extra $2-3 to eat at Mandalay Bay instead. It's not bad by any means, and I do love the garden view.

I might have a line on some decent Mexican food in an area you'd like - I'll try to check that out for you in November. ROTLFMAO! We do have LOTS of good Mexican food here in CA; some of our taco trucks put out better meals than I've found in some LV restaurants.

DAG,you could probably polish off the pancake, and I probably could have stuffed it down myself, but that would have slowed me down big time that day! Am I slowing down? Hmmmm - good question! Maybe my sieve-like memory just can't remember what all I did? Yup, I like that version - galloping CRS.

Good luck with hanging up the work next year - who knows, I might catch you on your next trip or maybe we'll have a bash to celebrate your retirement. Is Linda planning on hanging it up as well? That would knock it into the major bash category!

Nice thing about being home with a yucky cold - catching up on trip reports!

Daisy, how was the audience at Human Nature? I've heard that Matsuri - in the same house - is usually only about half full, and that you can by a cheap ticket and get a better location with a $10 (as in, one of the booth locations.)

What HHAGG gets from serving ridiculously large portions is a reputation that has people coming in from all over. It's marketing, not menu.

I can't remember - do they charge a plate splitting fee? I would think that 3 people could easily enjoy breakfast for two :-)

linda will proably keep on working,city council member,sits on the county health board,and in good health me with my years in consruction and very active high school custodian,the wheels are starting to come off so for me it's time to hang it up and enjoy the rest of my time.took today off because of a very sore hip/back and off to the doc for a shot or some happy time pills.