Here is the trip report
Our CFO retired and one of the doctors and I thought a trip to Vegas would be a perfect gift for the event (a perfect gift for any event in our opinion).
We had a great time organizing this trip and enlisted his wife in the planning. The general theme was mornings to themselves and various events with us mid-day and later.
Naturally we would have to go along to (ahem) make sure that they had a good time. You can’t leave such things to chance…..even in the gambling capital of the world.
He did not know why his wife told him that she had a surprise for him and that he had to get in their car the morning of the event. She drove him to the home of the doctors where he met us and our spouses. The beans were spilled and his wife had a bag backed for him.
We drove to the airport in Des Moines and caught an Allegiant Flight to McCarran. Smooth sailing all the way and we actually arrived early. There was virtually no line at the taxi area and after a brief discussion about the merits of not long hauling with our driver, we were at Paris. We had booked a room for them at Paris under my account which was partially comped. I had always wanted to try the $20 trick but decided to go big and slipped a fifty between my credit card and driver’s license. It worked well and they ended up in a great room with a view of the Bellagio Fountains. The rest of us were staying in fully comped rooms at the Gold Coast- perfectly adequate for our needs. We also got them a Total Rewards gift card to cover breakfasts while they were there.
I was anxious to get some play in so I could take advantage of a promotion The Gold Coast was running. Earn points from Sunday through Thursday and get some “up to” amount on Saturday. My wife and I fired up dollar NSUD outside the high limit area and while we earned points, we did not have any major hits or losses.
Dinner for our group was at the Cortez Room at the Gold Coast. All the entrees are reasonable and in the mid $20 range, and come with salad and side. I had the porterhouse which was a substantial piece of beef, well cooked and flavorful. Total bill for the six of us was around $200 and included a bottle of wine. We ended up getting this taken off the bill with points.
The following day we all met at Palm at the forum shops for lunch. It is pretty entertaining to see all of the cartoons of famous guests plastered all over the walls. We sat inside which did not appear busy. Service was slow and disorganized but the food was good. We got the business lunch special which meant filet mignon medallions, cottage fries and fried onions and a flourless chocolate cake. We had bought two tickets to “O” for our retiree and he and his wife headed back to Paris to get ready. My wife and I had to also check into the Stratosphere which was giving us another “free” cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines. We played a bit with our free play on short pay machines and headed back to The Gold Coast before calling it a night.
Up early on Saturday and I headed to the main bar at the Gold Coast for some caffeine. There is a very personable bartender there and he keeps up a constant stream of patter while I played generally even video poker. On this trip I didn’t not have the long stretches of video poker play that I like to do but had to hit the machines when I could.
Today’s plan was to meet at Main Street Station’s Boars Head Bar for some microbrews and with any luck, getting the Iowa game on TV. We were about four glasses of High Roller Gold into the game when I remembered that there were things to do that day and I should probably slow down. Some coffee brought me back and we decided to walk Fremont to let our guests experience the show. It was pretty tame although there are some saggy old bodies out there revealing way more than I care to see-apparently for tips. If I want to see the ravages of time on the human body I can always look in a mirror.
We wanted to go over to El Cortez to get some free play for our Allegiant boarding passes. I haven’t been here since way early in my Las Vegas trip career and my wife had ruled out return trips due to the heavy smoke and colorful characters. I thought the place looked cleaned up considerably and was less smoky than I remember- but we were on a mission. We went to the players club where unfortunately, Jackie Gaughan’s picture is no longer featured on the player’s cards- but we all got $5.00 in free play.
We found a little bar and all lost our modest free play and left. It looked like a cozy spot to drink beer, play VP and watch football so I’ll plan on going back.
We planned on regrouping at the Stratosphere where we had dinner reservations at the Top of the World. Our host was on vacation however he had set up everything. We had a wonderful table and got to watch the magic of a sunset changing into the brightly lit up Las Vegas over some great food. Total bill for six was around $750 including wine and cocktails. I had fully intended to pay with points however our server said that our host had taken care of everything including a tip- Holy Cow!
We went back to our respective hotels and I remembered that I had to get to the Gold Coast and see if we won any free play. You had to be there by 10:00 pm and download your free play. We went to our room and I saw my wife start mumbling about really being tired and getting ready for bed.
“We’ve got to go check our free play!”, I shrieked.
She tossed me her player’s card and told me to do. I sprinted down the hall, punched the elevator button about twenty times and checked my watch- 18 minutes to go.
I put my card in and learned that I had won $15- one spin of the triple 8/5 BP and it was gone.
I put my wife’s card in and she had won $1,000. I stared for a minute at that then downloaded it all. I did a quick card switcheroo, changed the triple play bonus to $5 ($75 a poke). I learned that I couldn’t cash out until I played it through and at one time was over $2,000. I finally cashed out at about $1,200, finished one last Heineken and headed upstairs.
We managed to meet up in the airport the following morning for the trip home. We did very little gambling compared to our usual trips but it was really fun to experience Las Vegas with new visitors. Our retiree and his wife had a great time and I am primed to go back. In fact the first thing I did when I got home was book flights for November 7-10, 2014. I’ve got some video poker to play…..
Paul
