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#62795 - 11/29/09 08:34 PM
Waaay too long TR - the Yin and Yang of Vegas
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Member
Registered: 02/24/02
Posts: 1670
Loc: Rochester, NY
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The Yin and Yang of Vegas
Or the sweet and sour - Las Vegas is full of contrasts, and this trip was no exception.
My best friend “Lark” celebrated a significant birthday in July, but that is her busy work season – so we decided to travel in November. What can be more yin and yang than turning a certain age – but getting to celebrate with a trip to Las Vegas!
She has been to Vegas only twice before, but once with her husband and her son (then under 10 years old) for a convention, and once with another companion who brought all sorts of challenges to the trip so she really deserved and needed this celebration!
November 18th was finally here. We had one of those infamous early morning flights – had to be at the airport at 4:30 am. So I stayed overnight at my girlfriend’s house and her husband took us to the airport.
It was my first time flying Continental, and it was a completely successful and pleasant experience. We changed planes in Newark, I booked Lark and I into a window and aisle seat – and the middle seat stayed empty. Score one!
The flight from Newark was supposed to be a bit over 5 hours, but the pilot told us that for some reason when we were taxi-ing to leave Newark, we got waved ahead of 24 planes for an early departure – we caught a tail window and arrive 45 minutes early! Score two!
As we know car rentals have been pretty high – I found a rate through rentalcars.com for a “Simply Wheelz by Hertz” of $174 for 8 days. That was best I could find. Then Hertz discontinued their “Simply Wheelz” product (discounted rates at Vegas and Orlando) Not that they notified me or anything. I only found out by tracking rates. Fortunately Hertz said they would honor the rezzie and they did. Drove a Chevy Cobalt which did the job.
Since we got in so early, a bite to eat and a run to Albertson’s was in order. We went to the In n Out on Tropicana, completed enjoyed some cheeseburgers – and split an order of fries animal style (yum special sauce, grilled onions and cheese on the fries) Then visited the In n Out gift shop next door to this restaurant. I now sport a lovely In n Out cup shaped antenna topper on my car!
Off to Albertson’s to get water and a few more room snacks. We then passed the Liberace Museum and thought – why not?
It was a blast! I recommend a visit to it –but only if you like lots and lots of sparkly stuff.
We had a BOGO coupon for entry, but it’s pretty inexpensive, even if you don't have a coupon – around $8 each. I think they have a free shuttle from certain strip locations too.
Then off to check into Harrahs. My host had originally set us up in a room in the Mardi Gras tower, looking over the strip (but also the Carneval court area.) I was a bit concerned about the noise for Lark’s sake (I stay up late, she does not). I the clerk know we were celebrating Lark’s birthday and she set us up with a room on the 26th floor of the Carneval Tower, with a perfect view of the Mirage volcano.
We liked the room a lot – very clean, very comfy beds, and a swift elevator ride away from a Starbucks. I am sold on Harrahs now!
Our Friday evening plans were dinner reservations at Rosemary’s Restaurant on Sahara – waaay west, near Cimarron. (when we were checking in at Harrahs I mentioned it to Elaine and her co-worker said “You do know that is not on the strip, don’t you?” I assured her we did!)
Wednesday night is Ladies night – all food 50% off for women. I would drive twice as far and pay full price for the experience we had that night. Wow – my words and pictures can not do it justice.
We started at the bar where happy hour also meant half price cocktails. We had delicious spicy pear martinis. They make their own pear puree, and mix it with spiced vodka and other yummy stuff.
After we had enjoyed a few sips, the bartender Javier wanted to know what we thought. I mean, he really wanted to know – not just an “it’s delicious.” He wanted feedback, good or bad. He must have recognized the foodie in my friend who was thrilled to respond.
We were soon escorted to a lovely table, and introduced to our server Katie and her assistant server. Our white linen napkins were whisked away and replaced by black ones, since we were wearing black slacks. The service in this place was outstanding – uniformly pleasant, and it was as if they were psychic, and could anticipate your every need. It was almost impossible to stand up from the table without some assisting you with your chair – or seating you when you returned.
The first thing Katie asked us was if there were any food allergies or dislikes at the table, so that our meal choices could be tailored to our needs. Nice touch!
On to the food.
We were presented with a ‘gift from the chef’ – an amuse bouche (entertain the mouth!) of whitefish salad on a homemade pita chip.
We both chose the $55 prix fixe menu, which lets you have 3 courses from a choice of soup, salad, appetizer, main course, dessert.
I chose a special appetizer that night – crispy wontons filled with crawfish and tuna, really delicious and light. Lark chose a salad, featuring blue cheese and toasted whole hazelnuts.
For a main course Lark had a veal tenderloin with sautéed veggies – so tender, no knife necessary.
I went for the lamb chops. Served with kalamata olive mashed potatoes and fried crispy bits of fried arugula. An incredible taste combo! I was so excited when those were brought to the table I forgot to take a picture.
Oh, did I mention the bread basket, with little sour dough rolls, and rolls with little chunks of pecans and white chocolate. OMG.
Dessert – of course we went for dessert. Lark’s was the winner, a dark chocolate crème brulee, served with a simple but delicious cookie. Mine was great also – coconut bread pudding, served with coconut sorbet on one of those cookies.
Still not done – a final gift from the chef of 2 pieces of 3 different sweets – chocolate mint fudge, buckeyes (peanut butter & chocolate) and lemon bars.
We were so stuffed, we actually brought those sweets back to the room, along with half of our main dish – put them on ice and had veal and lamb for breakfast!
Headed back to Harrahs. Lark crashed, and I went downstairs to get a little play in. I should not have bothered – I could not hit a win, could not hit ANY bonus games, hardly any winning hands in video poker. Gave me a real sinking feeling – hoped this was not an omen for the rest of the trip!
The yin and yang of the first day – Vegas is a place where you can enjoy gourmet lamb chops or animal style fries in the same day.
Thursday –
what’s that funny thing outside the window> oh it's the sun! We are no longer in the grey, dreary northeast. Yay!
A two-part breakfast today. We did pack a small coffee maker and enjoyed some with the leftovers, then moved down to the casino floor to enjoy Baileys and coffee.
Lark and I settled down at the bank of four Jackpot Party machines, along with 2 other ladies. They were cut from the same cloth as my friend – lots of big celebrations for every win. We all were cheering each other on, drinking those Baileys and coffees, doing the Wave for every win. Good times. Security checked in on us two or three times - not that we were in trouble, he just wanted to be part of the fun!
Decided to take a walk outside towards Wynn – stopping first at Casino Royale to get the club member coupons. No luck getting the 4 of a kind bonus on video poker or even a spin on WOF. Hmmm.
On next to Sephora, in front of the Venetian. We got ourselves all made up with fun stuff, then continued on our sightseeting tour, heading to Wynn. Lark’s first time seeing the Wynn and my first time seeing Encore.
Lark signed up for a red card. The current deal was get 200 points and get a buffet. Get 100 points and get a spin on a wheel of prizes. We played a while on her card, but did not seem to get much play from the machines at Wynn or Encore. Never got to the 100 points, and did not make it back over there.
We did run into a free slot tournament being held at the Encore. That was fun – played that, and I got a pretty good score – if it had been 3 or winners I would have gotten something. But it was only 1st and second prize.
We enjoyed a fantastic deal lunch at the Society Café at the Encore. A “Box lunch” including a choice of 3 sliders, 4 different salads, and two fresh donuts for dessert.
Lark had a slider with rare tuna, I had one with tenderloin in barbeque sauce. We both chose the chop salad which could have been a meal in itself – chopped up tuna, avocado, cheese, veggies and other salad ingredients. All for $20.
Thursday night was a big highlight – we attended the 7 pm showing of Love.
All of you who told me that we would love it, you were RIGHT of course! I just didn’t expect to be speechless at the end!
We bought drinks to bring into the theatre. Put them in the cup holders – and once the show started, they were practically forgotten. We were at the edge of our seats for the whole show!
Afterwards we didn’t want to leave the theatre. We lingered as long as we could, long enough to see the stage crew get out giant shop vacs to clear the theatre and the seating area for the next show. Can’t imagine how they get it all done, but they do!
We then took our giant drinks (the size of milkshake containers) and shopped Mirage a bit. There was a great sale going on – Lark scored a Mirage messenger bag for $3! Wish I had gotten one – went back later, they were gone. But did get nice vinyl Sigfried and Roy totes for $6 – one for me, one for a gift for my niece.
Needed a bite to eat, so we split a 4 cheese pizza at California Pizza Kitchen.
Back to try my luck again at Harrahs I played a bit of nickel video poker, and finally hit a winning hand of four 3’s with the kicker – think that was about $50 since it was on nickels.
Then off to sleep with visions of Beatles Love dancing in our heads.
Thursday’s Yin and Yang was playing at Casino Royale – small and dark – and playing at Wynn/Encore campus – large and RED.
Friday – Qua day!
It’s a funny feeling to get dressed and leave your hotel without a shower. But when your morning involves Qua with all its wonderfulness of water – its worth waiting for.
We checked in about 10 am, with 11 am appointments for our “Sand and Foam” treatments.
Slipped into the lovely robes and spa sandals. We also decided to wear swimming suits for the Roman baths – did not want to scare the children.
Enjoyed some coffee and fruit in the relaxation lounge, then made the rounds of the wet sauna – was so steamy I could not see the other women in there. Almost sat on one. But it felt wonderful in there, especially after the dry sunny weather outside. Then the cedar dry sauna. I LOVE this type of sauna – wish I could stay in it longer but its not good for me. Then a peak into the snow room. So pretty, with the twinkling lights and the mood music!
A quick rinse in the shower then off to the Roman baths. So magical! We both tried the submerged lounge chairs, but really like the regular seats better – you get more of you under the water and next to those nice jets. The “Calderium” is my favorite – the hot bath with the pounding jets, and a cool waterfall that you can position yourself to have it massage your shoulders.
Back to the locker room to change out of the suits, into the robes and then relaxing in the – uh, the relaxation room until called for our appointments.
Both Lark and I had the Sand and Foam treatment. Love it - I have actually had that 3 times. It is a vichy shower room (9 shower nozzles above the massage table, the artisan controls the flow.) While one part of your body is being worked on, the other part is keep warm by the lovely showers. You are always draped with towels, which get replaced by nice warm dry ones as the treatment continues.
You get a coconut milk bath skin cleanser, then a coconut scrub with pineapple enzymes, then a fabulous moisturizer with mango or pineapple - something tropical. While that is soaking in you get an amazing scalp massage and treatment.
It has been a week since I got this and my skin still feels good - no dry itchy back!
Back out to the Roman baths room with blissful smiles on our face. We arranged towels on the heated tile loungers and took naps.
But lunch was calling – you can only live on coffee, special teas, fruit, juice, water and pretzels for so long.
We dressed and left our stuff in the lockers (you can come and go all day) in case we got back in time to use the facilities again.
Lunch today was a walk up to Ellis Island for those delicious steak dinners. Lark had a Heiffeweisen and I had an Amber - both delicious. Service was very quick and friendly.
Lark joined the slot club, and we played a bit.
Finally my luck changed – I hit quad 3’s with the kicker for a nice $200 profit! Yay!
We headed back, stopping in at the Casino Formerly Known as the Barbary Coast to see Big Elvis and meet up with a certain Ms. Deuces, fresh in from California. Enjoyed the show, and got to go “back stage" with our California friend.
Then off to bid fareware to Qua and get our stuff. I was amazed at how busy the place was at 6 pm on a Friday night. If you have a choice, go there on a weekday. Big difference in availability of lounge chairs etc.
For our Friday night entertainment, we headed down to Fremont street.
Don’t you love it when you get some wonderful surprise in Las Vegas?
I parked at Main Street Station.
When we got to Fremont Street , our surprise was firefighters as far as the eye could see!
There was a national competition going on. It was amazing!
Teams of firefighters competed in a relay obstacle course which involved team members running up three flights of stairs – fully outfitted with heavy oxygen tanks on their backs – hauling up a weight – dragging a body along an obstacle course on the ground, running with a firehose, breaking through a window and shooting the water at a target and more.
We saw the over 40 teams and womens’ teams. Amazing!
Then off to Mermaids for deep fried twinkies, oreos and a couple of hot dogs. Yum.
The FSE shows were amazing – we saw Don McLean’s “American Pie” – find out the schedule and go out of your way to see that one, it was the best I have ever seen! We also caught the Queen show and the Kiss show – great!
Toured Golden Nugget, finally got around to seeing the shark pool. Ended the downtown adventure playing what I still think of as Lee's “treasure chest” videopoker machines at Main Street Station. For those who don't know, these are old machines (no touch screen, only buttons) you can put in paper money but no paper tickets. You can only cash out quarters.
It’s a jacks or better poker game, except if you get a quad, you get to choose from four treasure chests on the screen. I got one quad, and received 160 quarters in my treasure chest – so basically a 35 quarter bonus. You also put on your service light when you get a quad at any machine in MSS and you get a scratch off card that can be worth from $3 to I think $1,000. Mine was $3!
But it is a fun place to play!
Friday’s Yin and Yang? The luxury of Qua and the – uh, interesting atmosphere of Mermaids.
Saturday
We knew we had a busy day planned, so we stoked up by enjoying the breakfast buffet at Harrahs. We got in about 45 minutes before it turned to Saturday brunch. Just in time for us to enjoy the chocolate fountain and the bananas foster as part of our breakfast dessert!
Then retrieved the car from valet and headed out 15 to the Valley of Fire.
This is one of those places I have meant to go, but just didn’t get around to it. I’m glad I got to experience it with my girlfriend, and not on a solo trip. We were totally blown away by the place! I have been to Red Rock Canyon numerous times and love it , but this place blows the socks off of it.
We got there at about 11 am, and did not leave until 4:30 pm. Did not take any long hikes, but tried to drive and see all the sights.
Now we both can’t wait to bring our husbands there!
When we got back into town, we were exhilarated and tired at the same time. We had brought snacks with us, so we didn’t want a big meal – but needed something to keep us playing that evening with a full stomach. Headed over to the Cypress Market food court at Caesars, and finally decided to split an order of “Mucho Macho Nachos” with pulled pork.
You know the salad bowl you have at home to make tossed salads? That was about the size of this serving. It was very tasty, and we barely managed to make a dent in it.
Gave some play to various slot machines at Caesars. Lark had a great run on a machine called “Where’s the Gold” – think she went from $20 up to over $100 with several fun bonus rounds.
Next, on to Bellagio to see the fountain shows. Lark’s first time seeing them close up (her last trip she only got as far as the door of Paris, across the street.) The evening was lovely, not too cool, so we slowly strolled around the lake, catching 4 shows in the progress.
At the corner of the entrance to Bellagio and the Strip we saw the impersonators posing for photos for tips – Willie Wonka, Bat Man, Dark Angel. Fun times.
The conservatory was very nice. At that point our appetite had returned, so we grabbed some gelato from Jean Phillipe Pattissiere and sat at one of those tables at the end of the hall. Had a really good time critiquing the fashions as people walked in and out of the spa tower area.
We went back into the casino, just wandering around. And suddenly – there it was.
Pink and glowing!
It was the Sex and the City Slot Machine!
And it was occupied by two women who showed absolutely no indication of EVER leaving. They were hitting like mad. We watched and watched, got a good understanding of the different bonuses, and went away hungry for it. Our time would come!
A slow stroll back to Harrahs included stopping to enjoy the various live bands in lounges – especially the band in O’Sheas. They had a great fiddle player who did Devil Went Down to Georgia and had the place rocking. Peeked in at the Dueling Pianos at Harrahs. Never did see the blonde twins there during our stay – it was always guys. Maybe the girls went home to Syracuse for Thanksgiving.
Spent the rest of the late night plugging away at video poker, WOZ and other fun stuff. No big wins, but did not lose a lot either. Except on WOZ – when I did get a Flying Monkeys bonus game, I did not get a SINGLE flying monkey!! Grrrrrrr!
Yin and Yang of Saturday – The glory of nature at Valley of Fire and the grit of porn slappers in the stretch between Paris and Ballys.
Sunday
We were joking on Saturday night about the porn slappers with “girls direct to your room” t-shirt, and saying we wanted “men direct to our room” with coffee and muffins!
So Sunday I went down Starbucks, a much tooo convenient elevator ride from our room and picked up muffins and lattes. No men, though – we are both happily married ladies (why wouldn’t we be, our husbands think its great we went to Las Vegas!)
Time for more sightseeing – wandered through the Flamingo gardens, then the lunch hungries hit so we went down to Paris to the Burger Brasserie to use our buy one get one coupon. After being seated we realized it was Sunday, and the coupon was only good for weekdays. But they accepted it anyway.
Lark had a delicious chicken burger with avocado, cheese, some other yummy stuff. I had an angus with avocado, bacon (bacon = vacation to me) and blue cheese. We shared an order of waffle fries.
Then we shared the world’s cutest dessert! It was tasty, too!
The “burgers” – slices of chocolate pate or cheesecake, coated in cocoa powder
The “Cheese” – slices of mango jelly
The “tomatoes” – slices of raspberry jelly
The “pickles – rounds of kiwis
The rolls were a sweet dough, and the French fries made from shortbread cookies. All served with a raspberry and a chocolate dipping sauce. For $6! Best bargain in Vegas!
The fountains outside were an interesting sight – they were spouting red in honor of the release of the new beaujolois nouveau wine.
Our next goal was to see my friend Celestia at her caricature stand in the Miracle Mile shops. As we approached PH, one of the giant signs flashed “Meet Jerry Springer Now, near the casino entrance!”
Sure enough, he was there signing autographs and posing for pictures- and hawking for the America’s Got Talent stage show.
Lark got her new PH card – I can’t remember now, I think it was earn 10 points and get $15 freeplay. It did not take her long to do that.
We settled on playing some of those “hot hot super respin” slots. If you get a stacked symbol in the first column, it freezes and there are two more respins. Any more of that symbol or the wild symbol freezes.
Her machine was doing well, but mine was phenomenal! I put in $20 and cashed out about $160. Kept getting free spin bonuses, then lots and lots of those super respins – bonus rounds of $80 or more. I cashed out and gave her a try at the machine – and she took out $134! At that point people were waiting for us to get off that machine. We finally gave it up and took the money to run.
Visited with Celestia, and she kindly drew a caricature of Lark. We were running short of time, since we had a show to get to.
That show was - Human Nature!
Thank you dear Diamond friend for the tickets. We were seated at one of those long tables on the second tier. Right in front of us was an empty booth.
I went up to the gentleman who was seating people and said, its my girlfriend’s birthday celebration and I’d love to treat her to a booth seating – can we do something?
He said – you take care of me and I will take care of you.
I already had a bill in my hand, so I shook his hand, motioned to Lark and we moved to the quintessential Vegas booth seating.
I kinda thought we might get kicked out of the booth, since the bill I palmed to him was only a five!
Many others have written about what a great show this is – and we couldn’t agree more. Great music, entertaining, engaging – yes, they do get you up and in the aisles learning some of the classic Motown dance steps. Fun, fun, fun! And all four of them are pretty easy on the eyes. They have some moves that – well, let’s just say I would rather watch them make those moves than watch the Chippendales strip it of and bump and grind (at least I think so!)
What do after such an energetic show? Gamble of course!
I realized that I had not hit a quad at Casino Royale on our first visit, and my coupon was due to expire at midnight – so we trotted over there at about 11:30 pm. And yep – I did hit a quad on bonus poker within the 30 minute – think it was quad 6’s, and got my $25 cash bonus. Switched over to DDB – and hit Aces twice! Never did hit the kicker, but that is okay, because I also hit 3’s with the kicker.
Did I mention I love Casino Royale?
Yin and Yang of Sunday – taking money out of the fancy Planet Hollywood and the not so fancy Casino Royale.
Monday
I can not for the life of me remember Monday morning. I’m sure it was wonderful. It might have involved sleeping since I find that as the days go by, I stay up later and later. Do you do that?
That afternoon I recall very well. I got to do another Vegas First – attend a Vegas wedding!
Lee and Sharon, we were honored to be in attendance at your special moment.
It was beautiful - The bride was dressed in a beautiful cranberry sheath dress. The groom was dressed in the most gawd-awful sweater you could imagine.
Lee, I did not know the story about the sweater until you mentioned it at dinner. When I first saw you that afternoon, I didn't know what to think! But it is your story to share, not mine - so others will just have to wonder unless you can post a picture here...
The wedding supper at Texas de Brazil was a blast - not only for the food but the great company - what a fun group!
This was my first time at one of those Brazilian meat places. OMG. First off, the salad bar was amazing – salad stuff, sushi, grilled cheeses, shrimp, all sorts of yum things. Then the meat starts. Let’s see if I can remember it all, I’ll confess what I ate with a yes: Sirloin steak, flank steak (yes –yum!) leg of lamp (yes!) lamb chops (yes, oh yes!) sausage, parmesan crusted pork (yes) beef ribs, pork loin, parmesan crusted chicken, baby back ribs (yes) and sausage. I think that’s it.
i wonder if anyone there ate every offering. Maybe your son-in law Nick.
Talk about a meat coma! It was very delicious, and the service was excellent.
Monday’s Yin and Yang – a morning to not remember, and an afternoon never to forget.
Tuesday
We decide that two shows in a trip are just not enough, so we decide to see a magic show – we’ve got a BOGO for Dirk Arthur at Tropicana; and then to see what else might be available. So we head down to The Casino Formerly Known as the Barbary Coast to get show tickets at Tx for Tonight. There is a line, stretching maybe just under the escalator that goes to Caesars. It doesn’t take too long, and we take turns standing in line and reading the board. There are quite a few offerings. We are tempted by Cher, but understand that the tickets are waaaaaaay at the top of the Coliseum. I don’t want to pay $90 to basically see her on a large screen – I can do that at home. We finally agree to Zumanity, and go for the top price – it was $100 including the taxes, for tickets normally about $150.
Tickets taken care of, we do a little shopping before heading back to get the car and drive over to the Orleans for the Annual Wendell meet.
A relaxing chat and time that afternoon - good to see everyone again. Not to mention the pink kimono.
Then off to the Trop to buy our tickets for Dirk Arthur and grab a bite before the 4 pm show.
There is a new food stand in the Trop called Havana a Go Go – we both got Paninis and they were very delicious. Place was spot clean too.
Our Dirk Arthur tickets were $35 for the two of them, with the BOGO coupon. Interestingly, they send you into the place and let you pick your own seat from a particular section. We were once again on the second tier of those show table type seating. Saw several booths empty, and decided to try the upgrade trick again. An elderly gentleman was overseeing the seating (I remember him from the Follies years ago!) and I approached him, some bills clearly but discretely visible in my hand and asked for help in obtaining a booth.
He looked at me and said “I’m sorry, I can’t do that no more. You have to see at the box office about an upgrade. I wish I could, but the corporation wants all the money. I could lose my job. Go see the lady at the window, it doesn’t cost much.”
So I grabbed our ticket stubs = he was right, it was only $5 each to upgrade to the booth seating. We got a booth that was dead center – perfect seating for the two of us for a total of $45.
The show was very enjoyable. Dirk Arthur is a marshmallow kind of guy, funny – self deprecating, does not do the whole “mysterious magician” thing. There are showgirls, big cats, big illusions, chickens and and a duck. What more could you want?n It also helps to attend a show with my best friend who is not only a clown - but a magician. She does not spoil things, but answers any questions I might have.
I asked her what she thought was the most difficult illusion, and she said anything with the animals, because they are so unpredictable.
Our next stop was over to NYNY to exchange our Tix4tonight vouchers for our seat assignments.
While waiting for the show, we stopped into America and saw that the bar had happy hour half price – sounded good to us! We played a little on the floor, but mostly were a little excited and nervous to see this show. Was not quite sure what to expect!
Our seats were close. If you have been to Zumanity, you know they have a thrust stage, and a lot of the action takes place on that portion of the stage. We were in the third row, along the side – so in some cases we were looking at the backsides of the performers. In some cases (such as the cowboy dude) that was NOT a bad thing!
And we certainly got a very close look at the makeup and costumes – or lack of them!
I really enjoyed Zumanity. I have now seen all Vegas cirque shows except Mystere, and I would rank Love at the top, then O, then Zumanity and finally Ka.
Zumanity was a lot funnier than I thought it would be. And they certainly pushed the edge in some of the scenes.
If you want to get a strawberry, though – try to get an aisle seat.
We headed back to the car via a walk through MGM to see the lions (they were out, the cage was being cleaned) to see the racehorse game (it was in full swing) and to take a chance on that 2 million dollar lions share machine. We both donated $21 without a single hit of anything.
And then…… there it was. Glowing in the distance. Pink. Pretty! And with AN EMPTY CHAIR.
I made a beeline for the Sex and the City machine and plopped down – then looked back to see if Lark figured out where I went. She did (she’s smart like that) and we then proceeded to take turns playing. It was fun, but not profitable. We hit some fun bonuses, and had a very attentive cocktail waitress. I was coming down with a cold so Lark recommended Jaegermeister which I had never tried. Sipping that did help the cough!
The woman on the other machine was at $150 or so when we sat down. She easily hit 4 times as many bonuses as we did, but we saw her go down to $30 before we threw in the towel.
A word about those 4 play screens, which is what Sex and the City has. I tried a Wolf’s Run 4 play screen also, and here are the two things I dislike about them:
If you choose to play one game, you only get it in that small, ¼ of the screen format.
You can not choose to play one game with more than one credit per line. If you play one game at a time, your only choice is 50 cents a spin (50 lines in each game.) The only way to play more per line is to play all 4 games simultaneously.
Now that is not such a big deal since you can find single game Wolf Run or Cleopatra or whatever. But Sex and the City only seems to exist in the 4 play mode. I would have liked to bet more than a penny a line, but not 4 games at a time -$4 a spin just goes way too fast for me!
I wonder if slot machine companies want to hear from customers?
Tuesday’s Yin and Yang – the family friendly (despite wiggly showgirls) Dirk Arthur and the adults only Zumanity
Wednesday
Going home day – waaah! But we still have plenty of time, I have been able to arrange a 6 pm checkout and our flight is at 10 pm.
So let’s get fueled up with another Harrahs breakfast buffet. I remember that someone here mentioned the Goldfish 2 slots being at Treasure Island and I have not seen them anywhere else during the trip. So we’ve gotta check it out!
It’s a last opportunity for these Northeasterners to soak up some sun, so we stroll along the front of the Mirage on the way over to TI. It’s a beautiful, warm November day!
Lark and I both have MGM cards, so we stop at the Players Club. They have me in the database and give me a new card, they don’t have her – so she gets freeplay!
Thanks to friend who mentioned the Goldfish 2 and their location, we found them easily. I was hitting goldfish bonuses like crazy, and Lark not much. She moved to another machine, and I moved to sit next to her. We were doing much, much better.
Then we both hit free spin bonuses simultaneously and the machines went wild! She got a retrigger with 8 spins at 9 times the value, and I got retriggers too. We both were betting the minimum 30 cents a spin – my bonus went to $89 – and hers went to $168! We gathered quite a crowd of about 30 people watching as these bonuses went on and on and ON. I think Treasure Island should have paid us a little extra for helping to advertise what a fun and winning place this is!
I’ll also add that we were enjoying Bailey’s and Coffee throughout the trip – but at Treasure Island you got an actual large glass mug with a handle. That is important, because the wider opening of a mug means more room for whipped cream!
A swing through Mirage first to see if there are anymore bargain bags in the shop, but alas they are all gone. Christmas decorations are starting to show up, though, and there are some lovely arrangements in the registration area.
Time to finish up packing. We needed two folios to split our charges, and we wanted to figure it out on the TV first before going down to check out. Unfortunately the TV checkout was not working. And this was the day before Thanksgiving – so we stood in a pretty substantial line.
We made one final stop at Ellis Island to enjoy a last meal. We were going to order off the menu, but those darn steak dinners are too hard to resist!
Turned in the car, made an extra $30 on a WOF in the airport, got on the plane – and once again the seat between us stayed empty. Yay. Did not sleep going home – oh well, slept a lot the past two days.
This girlfriend trip was a winner in many ways. While I did not have any big wins, I came home with more than ½ my bankroll – that is a win to me. I saw 4 great and different shows - win. Enjoyed some amazing meals and some bargain eats – win. Had no luggage, plane or car troubles – win. Witnessed two lovely people marry each other - win. Great room and view at Harrahs – win. Spent a week with my best friend – first time we have ever done more than an overnight. She discovered that I am a sock tosser and I discovered that when she gets hungry, she has to eat NOW. But what we really learned is that we can travel together happily and successfully and that our fun is more than doubled.
BIG win!
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#62803 - 11/30/09 11:23 AM
Re: Waaay too long TR - the Yin and Yang of Vegas
[Re: dagwash]
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Member
Registered: 08/01/01
Posts: 7146
Loc: PA
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WOW!
Just a couple of minor points. First, MSS scratch cards go all the way down to $2 for quarter and higher play and down to a dollar for nickel & dime play.
I also beleive the proper stradigy is closer to Bonus poker for those Treasure chest machines. Atleast thats my opinion. It's really hard to know, when the prize for a 4 of a kind can vary from 140 credits to $1199, for any 4 of a kind.
Also, it was our pleasure to have you both join us for our wedding. So, do we do this every year, and renew our vows at a different chaple/church on the strip, untill we hit them all? LOL
As for slot manufactures caring about your in-put, maybe, but the casinos might be more interested in a game that they can extract a higher money value out of the customer!
What exactly would you describe the atmosphere at Mermaids like???? LOL,
I've never gone inside, as the 2 hardened women in the polyester outfits out front always gave me the heebee geebee's! Not a place I would be purchasing food! LOL
I love Continental Airlines! Now only if they where not always the highest price carrier at out airports!
Thanks for the great trip report, I loved every min of it!
lee-PA
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#62809 - 11/30/09 04:41 PM
Re: Waaay too long TR - the Yin and Yang of Vegas
[Re: Kestral]
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Member
Registered: 08/01/01
Posts: 7146
Loc: PA
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Actually Kes, those $3 tickets we used to see a lot of them. I'm not bragging, but I played a lot of 5 & 10 play machines this trip, so I got a lot of 4 of a kind scratch cards. One night I had 26, broken down, 0ne was a $5 winner, one was a $3 winner and 24 of them $2 winners. So you see, $3, you are a BIG winner! It's a fact!
We got some pic's of when the church was moved from location to location. Sharon wanted to post these, as they where given to us, by the church with our wedding package photos on a CD. However, the Talkvegas rules are, if you didn't take the picture with your own camera, don't post it. They may not be your property to publicly post. I liked the little church and all it's cornyness? The classic touch was during our wedding vows on the web cam, you hear the heater kick in and almost drown out the voices! LOL
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#62827 - 11/30/09 08:54 PM
Re: Waaay too long TR - the Yin and Yang of Vegas
[Re: Lee-PA]
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Member
Registered: 08/01/01
Posts: 6002
Loc: Las Vegas NV , USA
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Lee, there are several websites where you can post any pics you want for free and link to them from here. It's the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that I have too much first hand experience with that puts the stink on things. There are ways around it with permissions, credits, acknowledgments, and other things I don't want to deal with. You might want to check Flickr, Image Shack, or Photobucket to host your pics. It's easy and free.
Sorry to hijack your thread, Kes, Back on topic, I don't think that you could write a trip report that is too long like the title implies. It was a great read and the only sad part was when it came to an end.
I like trip reports where people get out and do things. I especially like to see familiar things from someone else's perspective. For instance, the deep fried Oreos at Mermaids are beyond description to me (in a yummy way). Of all the thoughts that have crossed my mind inside Mermaids, "clean" was never one of them. Seeing the cooking area didn't help either. I'm guessing it's about a 50-50 shot as to whether it meets Lee's standards. I'd guess the determining factor might be your "hot grease kills everything" clause. I hope Lee visits next time and gives us his take.
Thanks for a great trip report.
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