It could have been better

Nov 17 - Dec, 2017

 

In the beginning ….................

Nov 17 – We dropped Brody, our dog, off at Midge’s early in the morning. Who is Midge you ask? Midge is a BFF of one of our neighbors who owns 3 dogs and a cat, more importantly she is willing to take in one select border and makes said border, in this case Brody, feel at home. Our biggest problem with leaving Brody with Midge is we are afraid he won’t want to come home with us on our return.


The next stop was Executive Valet Parking where I took advantage of a Thanksgiving special of $75 for up to 30 days parking.


On this trip, like most of our trips to Las Vegas (LAS) on Southwest Airlines (SWA), we used a mix of points and $$$. SWA only offers one nonstop in each direction and neither was convenient so on the outgoing flight we changed planes in Chicago. Our connecting flight was in the same terminal allowing me time to grab an Italian sub at Cafe L’Appetito that we shared. The sandwich is best described as being all roll, little meat and less taste. ($13.43, 2 Forks out of a possible 5)


Our plane arrived a few minutes late in Las Vegas and it took us awhile to retrieve our luggage. We reserved an intermediate from Dollar through Costco at an all-in cost of $338. As an Express member I was able to bypass the line and went almost directly to our Kia Forte which had just over 10,000 miles on the odometer and numerous scratches.


We made an intermediate stop at a CVS for water and a few sundry items before checking in at the Grandview, a timeshare located steps away from the South Point Casino. Once again we avoided most of the sales pitch and were soon on our way to a 1-bedroom suite in the Iris Tower that featured a king bed, separate living room, full kitchen, a pair of TVs and a washer/dryer combo.


After tossing our luggage on the bed, we headed off to Ellis Island Casino for a few adult beverages courtesy of a Las Vegas Advisor (LVA) 3 rounds of drinks for 2 people coupon. We directed our feet straight to the karaoke lounge where Gary Benson, the Ellis Elvis, was performing and Monique, the bartender with no peer, was tending the bar. She spotted us as we entered, smiled, gave a small wave and raised a bottle of Robert Mondavi merlot and 2 glasses.

As we were finishing the 2nd round, Monique brought us 2 bottles of water and bid us farewell.

Dinner this night was at the recently opened Blue Diamond location of the Great Greek, a fast casual restaurant. We started with a small slice of spanokopita which was rather bland. For entrees, Ann ordered a gyro plate while I chose chicken souvlaki.

 

 

 

 

Each included a small salad, pita, tzatziki sauce and Greek rice. Neither of us could finish our meals so next time we will likely order gyros. ($33.17, 3 Forks)

Nov 18 – I was up at 2AM and off to Green Valley Ranch Resort (GVR) for my first video poker session. I went nearly 3 hours without hitting a wild royal, but over the last 45 minutes I managed to hit 7 resulting in a very modest and much appreciated profit.

After rousting Ann from the comfort of our bed, we drove to Baguette Cafe on W Sunset Rd. for our usual roasted vegetable quiches with side salads plus a monster sized coffee. ($22, 4.5 Forks)

 

 

 

Next stop was Suzuya Patisserie on Durango Drive where we ordered 2 pastries to go. Wait, Ann wants 3. Over the course of the following evenings we shared a Tokyo cheesecake, mont blanc and green tea mille crepe with the mont blanc receiving the best in class award. ($14.29, 3 Forks)

 

 

On our return to the Grandview, Ann headed off to the South Point for a video poker session while I headed off to Sprouts Farmers Market for granola, clementines, mixed nuts and strawberries.


On my return I found Ann and we headed off to the Holiday Craft & Gift Festival being held in the South Point. ($5, 0.5 Claps) The goods offered by 95% of the vendors were beyond tacky so a quick pass was made before we made the short walk to the Arena where a jumping horse competition was in progress. Our timing could have been better because we only caught one rider before the current session concluded.

Ann went off to play video poker, winning $20, while I returned to the room for a nap.

Ellis Island session #2 was held this evening with Monique again acknowledging our arrival by hoisting up a bottle of merlot and a pair of glasses. Just before we were ready for the 2nd round, Monique took a break so we ordered from her back-up. On her return, she insisted on pouring us new glasses of wine and told us that the stuff we were served was not good enough for us. Once again Monique anticipated our departure by delivering 2 bottles of water. You have to love this woman.

Dinner tonight was at Salud Mexican Bistro & Tequileria on W Sahara Ave. A trio of 3 homemade salsas plus chips were sampled while we reviewed the menu. Ann chose the Pacific Halibut with pineapple mango tequila sauce accompanied by black beans and cilantro rice. I filled my belly with a bone-in short rib with guajillo chipotle mole that included crispy onions, charro beans and roasted corn on the cob. Ann’s halibut was slightly overcooked while my short rib was very stringy though tasty. ($40.31, 2.5 Forks)

 

 

 

On our return, we stopped by the Grandview Lounge in the South Point to listen to Wes Winters and then walked around the casino floor. Prior to departing, we used our gift show ticket stubs for free Bailey’s & cream drinks. The evening’s gluttony concluded with the green tea mille crepe.


Nov 19 – my morning video poker session started off on a positive note after I hit a wild royal, but the vibe and my bankroll soon turned negative.


On my return I headed off to the South Point for the Sunday edition of the Las Vegas Review Journal and a $1 bloody Mary at the Grandview Lounge.


We had breakfast in the room, read the newspaper and watched the UCONN women’s basketball team beat Maryland.


In the early afternoon we stopped at Taco y Taco on E Tropicana where we ordered 4 pastor street tacos. I was disappointed to discover the spit roasted marinated pork is now sliced and then chopped before being placed on a pair of small tortilla shells. Also, in addition to crema, onions and cilantro, they are now using canned pineapple. Overall the tacos were good though I prefer the ones at Tacos el Gordo. ($12.72, 3 Forks)

 

 

We drove to the Super Summer Theatre Studios on Valley View Blvd to see a production of the Fantastics that was directed by Bill Fayne. The small theatre is located in the back of an industrial building with little in the way of scenery, but the cast, one and all, was outstanding. ($53, 4.5 Claps)

 

 

In the early evening we retraced our tire tracks back to Ellis Island only to discover a different bartender was staffing the bar in the karaoke lounge. We kicked off the evening with their world famous eggnog which was as smooth as silk and a lot more potent. (4.5 Sips)

Ocha Thai Cuisine on S Las Vegas Blvd received our dining business this evening. As usual, we each choose an entree to share. In this case, Ann picked the drunken noodles combination that was loaded with meat and seafood though the dish would have been even better with more noodles. I chose Ba dook pad ped (deep fried catfish with chili sauce). ($29.89, 3.5 Forks)

 

 

 

Nov 20 - I caught a bucket load of wild royals this morning plus my #1 quad deuces of the trip – color me ecstatic.



Prior to returning to the room, I picked up a newspaper at the South Point gift shop and celebrated my good fortune by having a $1 Bloody Mary.



After OJ and fruit in our room, we drove to Bellagio where we parked for free courtesy of our Mlife credit card and took the tram to Aria where we redeemed a pair of MyVegas rewards for crepes at Jean Philippe Patisserie. Ann ordered the mixed berry souffle while went I went savory with the Italian crepe. Both were excellent. ($3, 4.5 Forks)

 

 

 

After we exited the tram at Bellagio, we hopped on the escalator which abruptly stopped half way down. I was both surprised and happy that neither of the 2 seniors riding the escalator fell.

We visited both the Chiuly shop and the botanical gardens. The Harvest exhibit was beautiful as usual with this year’s highlight being a pair of beautiful 19’ peacocks decorated in vibrant flowers.  ($0, 4 Claps)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ann headed to the video poker machines on our return while I crashed in the room and slept the better part of 3.5 hours. Ann quickly lost her bankroll, but when she attempted to access our room discovered someone had accidentally engaged the security latch. On waking, I knew I was in deep doo-doo so I quickly made my way to the computer room with a bottle of wine, a bouquet of fresh roses and a box chocolates in hand.

It did not work, but we did enjoy a bottle of Carnivor cabernet sauvignon in the room prior to dining at Don Vito’s Italian Restaurant in the South Point.

We started off with complimentary glasses of wine courtesy of American Casino Guide (ACG) coupons plus a bread basket accompanied by a delicious garlic/sundried tomato/EVOO dipping sauce. Entrees include soup or salad with Ann choosing a Caesar salad and me a cup of pasta fagiole.



The Mrs. chose chicken Angelo (sauteed with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, black olives, & white wine sauce) as an entree while the gentleman who currently resides in the dog house selected the bountiful Mediterranean seafood salad (a mix of shrimp, scallops, calamari and lobster lightly marinated in herbs and olive oil that were served on a bed of lettuce, tear drop tomatoes and capers).

 

 

 

Both dishes proved to be very good and, being a Monday and us being seniors, we were charged ½ points for our meal. ($9, 3.5 Forks)

After one lap around the casino, we returned to the room and enjoyed the mont blanc and Tokyo cheesecake from Suzuya.

Nov 21 - I gave back my meager winnings from yesterday so I am currently dead even. This was the 4th morning of our trip so I was compelled to drive to Friendly Donut House on the Boulder Highway for Las Vegas’ best apple fritter plus an old fashioned donut. Fresh, inexpensive and delicious.  ($2.85, 4 Forks)

 

 

It was time for Ann to visit Green Turtle Salon for a wash, blow dry and style.

On our return Ann once again put in a video poker session while I read and slept. In the early evening we again visited Ellis, but a different bartender was staffing the karaoke bar and when I tendered my coupon she informed us “the next time I will tear the coupon out of the book”. I may or may not have said something derogatory under my breath.

Dinner tonight was at the Purple Potato on Eastern Ave in Henderson. There was only one other couple dining in this evening though several stopped for takeout. We each chose a signature salad bowl since this was our first visit though those with a creative streak have almost unlimited choices of ingredients. What I really appreciated was the number of calories are listed next to each menu item plus every ingredient was impeccably fresh.

Ann chose the Ali with rotisserie chicken (550 calories) – baby spinach, wild rice, roasted broccoli, avocado, pickled red onion, mapled sunflower and herb dressing. Not to be outdone, I chose the Umami bowl with rotisserie chicken (555 calories) – shredded kale, warm quinoa, bean sprouts, edamame, kilkurage, avocado, spiced nut sprinkle and sesame orange miso dressing. ($28.01, 4 Forks)

 

 

 

Nov 22 – The financial scales tipped (heavily) in favor of GVR this morning. We were going to have breakfast in the room, but I discovered we were nearly out of milk so I went to the Grandview’s deli/pizzeria/convenience store and paid a whopping $3.50 for a quart of what must have been (very) enriched milk. Ouch!

We then made our mandatory visit to the North Premium Outlets where Ann purchased a top and a couple of Christmas presents. I scored 6 pairs of sock, 9 pairs of undies and a waterproof jacket. As per usual, Ann was late returning to our meeting place claiming she needs more time in the future.

The high temperatures on this trip to date have been in the upper 60’s, 4-5 degrees above normal, but today’s high of 79 broke a record.

Next stop was Alfredo’s Patisserie on Jones Blvd. where we picked up a quartet of tamales, 2 each red chile pork and green chile & cheese. There is no seating in the patisserie so we enjoyed them back in the room. Next time I would limit us to 1 each with the red chile tamale getting the nod.

Note: Alfredo works at Wynn on the weekends so the patisserie is only open Mon-Fri. ($6.49, 3.5 Forks)

 

 

Monique had returned to the Karoke lounge and was being serenaded by the Chris Heers and the Dirt Rich Band. (2.5 Claps for the band, 5 Claps for Monique)

 

 

Dinner was at Cornerstone in the Gold Coast. This restaurant has undergone both a facelift and name change, formerly the Cortez Room, since our last visit. It is quite attractive though it apparently is not attracting many customers based on the room count this evening. We each chose the nightly $29 3-course special opting for beef tourodos Oscar style (petit filets, crouton, lump crab, asparagus, Hollandaise and very creamy herb mashed potatoes) rather than sauteed shrimp option. Our meal included pickled vegetables with bread, the house chopped salad with blue cheese dressing, a glass of vino, a roasted garlic bulb and a slice of NY style cheesecake. The portion of beef was small, but the overall meal proved to be very filling. ($10, points, 2.5 Forks)

 

 

 

 

Kelly Clinton-Holmes performs Wednesday evenings at the Piazza Lounge in the Tuscany Suites so we drove over only to discover she had taken the night off. Her back-up, Lannie Counts, was very good so we sat in for a set before calling it a night. (3.5 Claps)

Nov 23 – I find I am getting much more efficient at video poker as measured by the time it took me to lose my money this morning.

We visited Einstein Bros Bagels on Eastern where I secured a table while Ann ordered a toasted bagel with cream cheese for us to share. She put in the order and waited and waited. Others that came in after her were being served and finally she inquired, not once, but 4 times, where’s my bagel? Some 20 minutes later our bagel arrived. A good bagel, but not that good. ($5.35, 1.5 Forks)

 

Next stop was the Columbia shop in the North Premium Outlets to return my recently acquired rain jacket that looked a lot better in the store than when I tried it on in the room, but we encountered a line to enter the parking garage so we decided to return later in the week.

Happy hour was held at Ellis, but a different bartender scrunched his nose when we tendered a LVA coupon and ordered a pair of eggnogs. He said he would check with his manager who approved our request. Cheers!

 

Neither of us was in the mood for a traditional Thanksgiving meal so we settled on YuXiang Korean Chinese restaurant on Rainbow. The premises were attractive and most reviews are quite favorable, but there were not a lot of customers this evening. We shared an order of chicken eggrolls that were very light and flavorful. Ann ordered Jjangmyeon noodles (noodles topped with a thick sauce made of Korean black bean paste (Chunjang), diced pork and vegetables). It proved to be bountiful and initially tasted great, but it turned out to be a bit of a one note that should probably be shared by 3-4 other people.

 

 

I chose Samseon Jjampaong, a spicy seafood noodle soup that included black mussels, whole shrimp and overcooked calamari in a broth laced with garlic and Korean red pepper. ($31.90, 2.5 Forks)

 

 

On our return we did our customary walk around the South Point where we encountered members of the Creighton, LA Tech and UCLA women’s basketball teams that would be participating in the Great Shootout in the arena that weekend.

Nov 24 – #2 quad deuces were hit this morning, but I ended up breaking even which I have learned is a lot better than losing. You can quote me on that.

Breakfast was at the Dirty Fork on S Durango Blvd. Just to be on the safe side, I checked the silverware before ordering the 9th Island French toast with berries (Hawaiian sweet bread w/guava cream cheese and coconut syrup). It was an interesting experience, but not one I would rush to repeat. ($18.01, Groupon, 3 Forks)

 

 

Next stop was a nearby Sprouts where we picked up some granola and a bag of Cuties (Mandarin oranges).

We then drove to the Apothecary Shoppe, purveyor of legalized marijuana, on Flamingo Rd. The Westies were not seeking a high, but rather a good night’s sleep. Wink! Wink!

 

 

 

According to my pre trip research, I had suggested Ann purchase CBD Elixir Sleep which is designed to promote sleep. She also managed to purchase a pair of carrot cake lollipops that were billed as containing no TBC (tetrahydrocannabinol), just CBD (cannabidiol). CBD – TBC, I don’t have a clue other than the fact that the 10 pills and 2 lollipops cost $40 – cash! On the plus side, I met some interesting characters in the waiting room and polished off 2 small bags of popcorn.

The room was not made up on our return so we headed to the computer room. Ann also called Sin City Smokers to reserve a rack of ribs for later that evening.

We returned to Ellis for our happy drinks and then it was off to Sin City Smokers on Sunset Rd. The normal Friday night special is a rack of ribs for $15.99, but since it was Black Friday there was special special that included both a soft drink and one side. We chose potato salad and a second side of coleslaw. The ribs were a bit overdone and served wet much to my chagrin. ($24.15, 3 Forks)

 

Next stop was Club Madrid at Sunset Station to see Michael Grimm perform along with the Delta Bound Band. Michael put in an excellent 90 minute session that delighted young and old though mostly old. ($10, slot card, 4 Claps)

 

 

 

2 carrot cake lollipops were consumed just before bedtime.

Nov 25 - As I was driving to Green Valley Ranch this morning, I initially sensed I was a little light headed and than it seemed I was speeding when the speedometer was registering just 40 MPH. Whoa! I then began to feel like I was racing down hill. Double Whoa! I initially thought stroke, but than smiled when I remembered the carrot cake lollipop from last night.

Fortunately, the effects gradually wore off as I walked around the casino floor. My video poker session proved to be interesting though a loss was sustained.

 

We had OJ and fruit in the room and then, while Ann was prepping for the day, I drove to the German Bread Bakery on Eastern Ave for a foursome of awesome rumballs. ($4.80).

 

 

 

Shortly before noon we walked to the South Point and purchased a pair of Bloody Mary’s ($2, 3 Sips) that we brought over to the Bagel Cafe where we shared a corned beef sandwich with a side of potato salad. The corned beef was lean, juicy and delicious while the potato salad suffered from too much mayo. ($15.16, 3 Forks)

 

 

 

The afternoon was spent in the usual way with Ann putting in a video poker session and I a nap.

Ellis for drinks followed by dinner at Boteco on Eastern Ave. Menu items are meant to be shared like tapas so we ordered a trio: bacon jam with blue cheese cream that came with housemade kettle chips, truffled macaroni and cheese, and moqueca de camarao (shrimp in a Brazilian Dende sauce).

 

 

 

 

All three dishes were worth ordering again, but the truffled mac and cheese stood out and this is from someone (me) who does not like mac and cheese. ($51.38, 4.5 Forks)

Sixties Mania provided the entertainment this evening at the Coco Lounge in the Fiesta-Henderson. This group has changed quite a bit since we first saw them 15-20 years ago, gone are the costumes and go go girls though I believe the core of the band is unchanged as has the music performed. (2.5 Claps)

 

 

Our inventory of lollipops had been depleted so we each had a rumball to close out the evening. (4 Forks)

 

Nov 26 - The drive to GVR this morning proved to be pretty tame compared to yesterday though my gambling results were nearly the same and that ain’t good.

We enjoyed a wonderful brunch today at Rosallie – Le French Cafe. As usual we chose quiches with salads, Ann the chevre chaud and me the tartiflette. One of these days and this is a promise, we are going to try some of their delicious looking pastries. ($22.19, 4 Forks)

 

 

On our return to the room, I settled in on the couch to watch the Patriots defeat the Dolphins while covering the 16.5 point spread. Ann spent an equal amount of time on the video poker machines.

After the game, I walked around the casino and visited the tournament bowling plaza where I watched some of the action at World Bowling tournament.

We once again visited Ellis before heading off for dinner at Botigglia Enoteca in GVR. We settled on a shared Caesar salad and wood roasted Brussel sprouts plus entrees of pan roasted halibut with farro risotto, carrot puree and peas. Both the sprouts and halibut were overdone. We also each ordered strawberry panacottas that should have been shared.

 

 

 

A $75 casino comp was leveraged with the Sunday 2 for 1 entrees for seniors promotion. ($20, 2.5 Forks)

Prior to exiting GVR, Ann picked up a free Starbucks coffee that I won on a Station Casinos’ promotion. We concluded the evening after making one lap around the casino.

Nov 27 - This morning’s session once again reminded me of Einstein’s definition of insanity. Also worth noting was the scratchy throat that I woke up with. After breakfast in the room, we drove to the North Premium Outlets where I finally returned their rain jacket.

We visited the Gold Coast to use our LVA play $10, get $10 freeplay coupons netting a $21.25 combined profit. Continuing on, we stopped at the Orleans with an intermediate stop at Big Al’s Oyster bar where we each ordered a bowl of Boston Clam chowder that were good, but a little too much of a good thing though we somehow managed to scrape the bowls clean. ($3, points, 3 Clams)

We played another LVA $10/$10 freeplay coupon netting $8.25 which Ann pocketed.

I dropped Ann off at the South Point before returning to the room where I remained comatose for the remainder of the afternoon. In the meantime, Ann hit her only quad deuces of the trip.

We invited our friend Carnivor over for a late happy hour in our room before dining at the Coronado Cafe in the South Point Casino. Ann chose a chicken Caesar wrap with a side of potato salad while I directed my taste buds to the Island salad (grilled breast with mixed green, red & yellow peppers, green onions, mango, pineapple, macadamia nuts tossed in a citrus vinaigrette with wontons), a Monday night special. Both proved to be far better than I expected and an exceptional bargain given the modest menu pricing combined with ½ points for seniors. ($4, 3.5 Forks)

 

 

 

Nov 28 – I turned a modest profit in spite of not hitting the deuces this morning. We had OJ and fruit in the room before setting off for Sarah’s Kitchen in the Klondike Sunset for breakfast. Our server was a little slow, but what can one expect in a restaurant where 90% of the breakfast orders are for the $1.49 2 eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns and toast special? The eggs were served easy over as requested and the bacon, 3 strips thank you, were pretty crisp. Note: Ann’s coffee cost more than her meal. ($6.70, 3 Forks)

 

 

We then drove over to Ethel M’s and toured both the cactus garden and the factory before purchasing a box of truffles as a gift for Midge, as well as a pair of dark chocolate Irish crème truffles as a gift to ourselves. (4 Forks)

 

 

 

In the afternoon I checked out the World Bowling tournament that included men’s and women’s teams representing 48 countries before pulling my usual read and nap routine while Ann split time between the computer room and video poker.

My scratchy throat from yesterday had now blossomed into a full sore throat, blocked ears and a low grade fever, but I did not let it stop me from visiting Ellis Island where we enjoyed a few glasses of Robert Mondavi cabernet sauvignon.

Dinner was at Chuchote Thai Bistro & Desserts on W Sahara Ave where we enjoyed orders of drunken noodles and stir fried eggplant, both with chicken. The drunken noodles may have been the best we have encountered. We also shared a complementary dessert which I believe was Thai shaved ice with bread. ($25.54, 4 Forks)

 

 

 

 

Next stop was the Smith Center where Frankie Moreno and his excellent band were performing. This night’s showed featured mostly original songs though 2 Elvis tunes were included. Once again, another excellent performance by this local performer. ($100, 4 Claps)

 

 

 

Nov 29 – I soldiered on though under the weather by putting in another video poker session in at GVR. Early on I caught my #3 quad deuces that were shortly followed by dealt 5 Queens that was soon followed dealt by dealt quad deuces. Maybe being sick is not all that bad? There was, however, a bit of nastiness that followed the last quad deuces so I was not disappointed when the bell chimed for me to return to the room.

 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast in the room, I drove Ann to Elements Massage on St. Rose Pkwy for a Swedish massage. Lunch was at Big B’s Texas BBQ, conveniently located diagonally across the street, where we ordered pulled pork sandwiches using a 2 for 1 coupon from a Zip Code Magazine. The sandwiches were enormous and included a total of 3 sides. Ann devoured the mac & cheese, I the BBQ beans and we left the coleslaw for Miss Piggy. ($12.17, 3 Forks)

 

 

I then dropped Ann off at the Green Turtle Salon on Horizon Ridge Pkwy for another wash, fluff and fold, oops, I mean wash, dry and style.

I slept until 5PM, but did not feel much better though, once again, we headed to Ellis Island for an eggnog and vino. Chris Heers and band were once again entertaining.

Neither of us could even think about dinner, but we did grab a slice of cheese pizza at the in-house Metro Pizza outlet. The pizza proved to be just okay. ($6.39, 2 Forks)

Nov 30 – Recipe for a miserable morning – take a nose that was running like it’s in a marathon, add a pinch of fever, a cup of cough and mix with a 3 hour video poker session that yielded only 1 wild royal.

 

Brunch was a La Maison de Maggie where Maggie and an assistant waited on us. Ann ordered the Tom crepe while I chose Lauren. Hers was made with Nutella, banana, and whipped cream while mine included Nutella, strawberry, and whipped cream. Are we talking healthy breakfasts or not?

 

These may have been the best crepes this side of Paris. Maggie also allowed us to sample 4 of her homemade jams that I would have purchased if I did not have already enough stuff to lug home. ($24, 4.5 Forks)

I spent the remainder of the day in bed, alone and miserable, while Ann went to the Dennis Bono show. Dennis’ guests included singer Clint Holmes, doo wop group The Alley Cats, comedy/magicians Murray Sawchuk and Lenny Windsor, singer Corrie Sachs, song stylist Michael (Sonny) Monge, actress/singer Rebecca Spencer and Billy Joel impressionist Michael Cavanaugh. She proclaimed this to be one of the best ever Bono shows. Ugh! (4.5 Claps)

Ann was prepared to send me to the emergency room which I opposed, so the negotiated settlement involved me visiting the Minute Clinic in the CVS at the corner of Windmill and LV Blvd. I was convinced at this point that I had a sinus infection at a minimum, more likely typhoid fever, but the nurse practitioner, after numerous tests and questions, determined it to be a common cold and suggested I get bed rest and drink a lot of fluids. I asked like wine and beer? No!

 

It was too late and I was not up for seeing Dave Perrico and his 18 piece band perform at the Smith Center, so we settled on a dinner at Hummus Bowls & Wraps on Eastern Ave. It was after 8PM and there was only one other couple in the dining room when we arrived. Our choices were somewhat limited because a few items, notably the greens, had not been restocked and the proteins looked to be dried out.

Ann chose a bowl with classic hummus, black lentils, arugula, roasted veggies, tomatoes and sunflower seeds with a citrus mint dressing. My bowl included arugula, herbed (tasteless) rice, flamed (dried out) chicken, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, pomegranate seeds, and feta with the same dressing. We both agreed there was a disproportionate amount of lentils/rice and the overall flavor profile came up short. ($16.05, 2 Forks)

 

 

Dec 1 – I got my best night’s sleep of the trip thanks to generous pour of NyQuil, but still managed to put a short losing session at GVR. After prepping for the day and packing, we headed to the South Point’s Garden Buffet for breakfast using a combination of an ACG coupon and points. Breakfast included a Bloody Mary that was not nearly as good as the $1 ones served at the casino bars before noon. I managed to fill my tank with assorted fruit with yogurt plus a plate of easy over eggs, corned beef hash and bacon.

 

 

We checked out of the Grandview and decided to kill some time in the computer room. As I was headed from the parking lot to the building, I missed seeing the curb and tripped, landing on my butt and arm thus adding injury to insult.

After returning the car with 870 more miles on the odometer, we took the shuttle to the airport. On entering the security area we saw a sign indicating there were no special (handicap or TSA precheck) lines. Everyone had to walk by a TSA agent with a dog that gave us a quick sniff.

In Denver we found our departing gate only a few gates down from where we arrived so I had time to grap a couple of house salads with grilled chicken at Root Down. The salads were good, but the grilled chicken was dry as a bone. ($30.24, 2.5 Forks)

 

 

We will probably never duplicate this feat in our lifetimes, but we arrived in Bradley International Airport early, our luggage was the 5th and 6th bags off the conveyor belt, the courtesy van arrived 3 minutes later and we were in the car and on the road at 11:15PM, the time of our scheduled arrival.

Though we both lost and I spent way too much time with the sniffles, it was still an enjoyable trip. Best of all, Brody could not wait to go home when we picked him up the following day.

 

 

                        The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.
                                                    Bret Harte