My husband and I both received the same offer from Binions for 3 comped nights, $300 FP , and $50 food and beverage. We didn't think we could go so set the postcards aside. Then I got sick. Real sick. Many doctor visits tests and MRI's etc and ER twice. my health started to improve and I was straightening some paperwork and came across the postcards. I told my hubby since I wasn't working we should book it we could always cancel if I wasn't feeling well. I called and the dates were limited so I jumped on the July dates. My health was slowly improving but I have some issues walking but I was going to work on that. We also decided to drive this time. We are about 7-8 hours from Vegas so not to bad. The week before our trip we had a major disaster with our swamp cooler line leaking and taking out our laminate flooring. Thank goodness for insurance. House is still ripped up but flooring will be laid next week.
Monday morning the 6th we pull out of the drive at 5 am. I wanted to get as much of the driving done in the cooler part of the day as Vegas has been in a major heatwave. Trip was uneventful except for some roadwork in Arizonia. Took about 7.5 hours including hubbies smoke breaks and refueling.
First stop is In N Out a must for me sometime during a Vegas trip. Boy it's hot. Then on to the 4queens for the next 3 nights. Only a few people in line. No upgrades hotel is totally booked but we got two adjoining rooms so we made a mini suite out of it. Rooms are small and bathrooms tiny but having the rooms joined like that we utilized the whole space. They also didn't have smoking rooms (fake tears here cause I don't smoke). We were right off the elevator so hubby could hop on and go smoke when he felt the need. Worked out well for me. The rooms weren't ready but the bellman took us up and let us put our luggage in the closet.
We had a couple hours to kill so decided to go over to Binions and get our cards and FP loaded. Of course the machines you can use it on are limited. We finally found 2 machines next to each other. Some machine that you could roll dice on if you got the bonus. Loaded $50 at a time and every time I hit something substantial I would cash out and put the ticket aside. Got tired of this game so we got up and found some quick hits. Hit a bonus and kept cashing out the wins. When all was said and done we turned $600 FP into $580. We decided to go to the Go,den Nugget. We've never gambled there but it's my husbands brothers hangout. Got our cards and walked around till we found a machine to try. This game had many different games to chose from and you could play 1-4 games at a time. It also had a random bonus game where a shell spun and you could win anything from free games or one of 2 progressives. One of the games was Helen of Troy which is one of my husbands favorite games and I choose the Cleopatra game. We both kept hitting free game bonuses in the regular games and my husband got the random bonus with free games a couple of times. Then he got the random bonus and the wheel spin stopped on the small progressive for $230. Woo who! I was holding my own but the random bonus hadn't come up for me at all. I kept on thinking that I wish it would and all of the sudden up it popped. The wheel stopped on the major progressive for $1020. We have started are trip right. We are playing on Binions money and way ahead. I cashed out and told my husband that it was coming home with us.
We decided to go see if our rooms were ready. It had been along drive and I was tired. Nap time. We rested up and then decided to go have an early dinner and choose Magnolias since we had $100 between us for food. I also had coupons! Hubby had a steak sandwich which he said was just ok and I had Prime Rib. Not as good as Ellis Island but was good. They could get some servers with some personality though. After dinner we decided to walk around for a bit. Walked down to the Golden Gate and played Wheel of Fortune. I used to really love this place but I really miss the old GG. It's the first place I ever won a jackpot back when it had coin in. It just doesn't have the vibe for me anymore.
Went back down to the Golden Nugget and played for a bit. It rained really hard and sent the vendors scrambling. It became a river for a bit but cooled it off. Decided to call it a night.
Next morning we decided to have breakfast at Magnolias. We both choose the Canal breakfast which is Fench Toast, eggs, and sausage. Was really good. Too much food though. Coupon again. Decided to take a walk and headed east on Fremont and ended up the El Cortez. I haven't been there in years and hubby even longer. Got my FP thanks to coupon in the LVA. I broke even hubby lost $20 no biggie. Spun the wheel because we both got 100 points. I won a ice cream bar and hubby got 1000 points. Hubby ate the ice cream.
Went back to the too for a little morning rest. About 11:30 we decided we wanted to see a movie. We had discussed seeing Jurassic World. It was showing in an hour at Southpoint so off we went. Got out soda and popcorn and found our seats in a nearly empty theater. Movie was ok far fetched, but entertaining. We gambled a bit more I lost hubby won.
Decided to head over to the M Resort. We both had buffet coupons. We just like it there. Got new cards and saw line was small so decided to have dinner. Good as always. One of my favorite buffets in Vegas. Prime Rib asparagus mashed potatoes and a salad with mangos and strawberries and topped it off with vanilla gelato with caramel and chocolate sauce and cream brûlée and a cup of their delicious coffee.
Played some. I lost hubby won another bonus. He is keeping us afloat. Decided to head over to the Orleans to play a bit. I can't seem to hit a thing hubby hits again on a Xeus II. I needed to pick up my tickets to Zumanity at NYNY so parked in the Excaliber parking lot and walked over and picked them up.
Decided we were tired and went back downtown. Hung around and watched the crowds and stopped to see Carl Ferris play his sax. The guy is amazing. I've never been in the Plaza so decided to go in there. Sorry not too impressed. By this time it was close to 1:30 am and headed back to the room. It was close to 3:30 before I finally feel asleep.
We slept in and finally got up about 1030a and decided to try the Chicago Brewing company where I tried the filet mignon sliders and hubby had pizza he had there amber ale and I had the root beer really good. Decided to go to Red Rock for a bit. We love it there and will be spending 2 nights there in September. Of course my hubby won and I lost. Decided to go back and rest up before the show at 9:30. After our nap got cleaned up and headed to magnolias for dinner. We shared the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. Headed to the strip and parked in the Monte Carlo valet and headed for the tram to the Bellagio. We wanted to see the conservatory. It was decorated in an undersea theme. Hubby took pictures and then we headed over to the Aria for a bit. No wins and they tool my favorite Wheel of Fortune out. Lost a few bucks and it was time to head over to NYNY for the show.
Got in line and ready to be seated and we got our seats upgraded. Ended up 3rd row isle. Yeah score! I bought the tickets through myvegas companion ticket. I ended up paying $55 for both seats. Show is funny but raunchy. I actually loved it. Lots of innuendos and nudity but not vulgar. I would see it again.
After the show we headed back downtown and headed to the canopy. We could hear a band playing. The Garage Boys or something like that. They were really good. Walked around then told the hubby I still hadn't gotten my Silver Strike. Ended up getting 2 so I happily went to bed.
Up early and Magnolias for breakfast. Hubby had ham and eggs and I just had the egg breakfast and stole a piece of hubbies ham. Very good. Loaded up the car and headed home. Construction through Arizonia worse going back and we were hit with one of the worst rainstorms ever. Couldn't see past the trucks in front of us. Bad bad. Took us 11 hours to get home. But we were greeted by our 5 fur kids.
All in all a fabulous trip. First time staying downtown and would stay again. So very convenient. Rooms were ok hubby said beds were uncomfortable. They seemed fine to me so it would be a preference. Food was good everywhere we ate and the only meal we paid for was In n Out. We brought home a grand more then we came with. It also cooled down while we were there.
Monday morning the 6th we pull out of the drive at 5 am. I wanted to get as much of the driving done in the cooler part of the day as Vegas has been in a major heatwave. Trip was uneventful except for some roadwork in Arizonia. Took about 7.5 hours including hubbies smoke breaks and refueling.
First stop is In N Out a must for me sometime during a Vegas trip. Boy it's hot. Then on to the 4queens for the next 3 nights. Only a few people in line. No upgrades hotel is totally booked but we got two adjoining rooms so we made a mini suite out of it. Rooms are small and bathrooms tiny but having the rooms joined like that we utilized the whole space. They also didn't have smoking rooms (fake tears here cause I don't smoke). We were right off the elevator so hubby could hop on and go smoke when he felt the need. Worked out well for me. The rooms weren't ready but the bellman took us up and let us put our luggage in the closet.
We had a couple hours to kill so decided to go over to Binions and get our cards and FP loaded. Of course the machines you can use it on are limited. We finally found 2 machines next to each other. Some machine that you could roll dice on if you got the bonus. Loaded $50 at a time and every time I hit something substantial I would cash out and put the ticket aside. Got tired of this game so we got up and found some quick hits. Hit a bonus and kept cashing out the wins. When all was said and done we turned $600 FP into $580. We decided to go to the Go,den Nugget. We've never gambled there but it's my husbands brothers hangout. Got our cards and walked around till we found a machine to try. This game had many different games to chose from and you could play 1-4 games at a time. It also had a random bonus game where a shell spun and you could win anything from free games or one of 2 progressives. One of the games was Helen of Troy which is one of my husbands favorite games and I choose the Cleopatra game. We both kept hitting free game bonuses in the regular games and my husband got the random bonus with free games a couple of times. Then he got the random bonus and the wheel spin stopped on the small progressive for $230. Woo who! I was holding my own but the random bonus hadn't come up for me at all. I kept on thinking that I wish it would and all of the sudden up it popped. The wheel stopped on the major progressive for $1020. We have started are trip right. We are playing on Binions money and way ahead. I cashed out and told my husband that it was coming home with us.
We decided to go see if our rooms were ready. It had been along drive and I was tired. Nap time. We rested up and then decided to go have an early dinner and choose Magnolias since we had $100 between us for food. I also had coupons! Hubby had a steak sandwich which he said was just ok and I had Prime Rib. Not as good as Ellis Island but was good. They could get some servers with some personality though. After dinner we decided to walk around for a bit. Walked down to the Golden Gate and played Wheel of Fortune. I used to really love this place but I really miss the old GG. It's the first place I ever won a jackpot back when it had coin in. It just doesn't have the vibe for me anymore.
Went back down to the Golden Nugget and played for a bit. It rained really hard and sent the vendors scrambling. It became a river for a bit but cooled it off. Decided to call it a night.
Next morning we decided to have breakfast at Magnolias. We both choose the Canal breakfast which is Fench Toast, eggs, and sausage. Was really good. Too much food though. Coupon again. Decided to take a walk and headed east on Fremont and ended up the El Cortez. I haven't been there in years and hubby even longer. Got my FP thanks to coupon in the LVA. I broke even hubby lost $20 no biggie. Spun the wheel because we both got 100 points. I won a ice cream bar and hubby got 1000 points. Hubby ate the ice cream.
Went back to the too for a little morning rest. About 11:30 we decided we wanted to see a movie. We had discussed seeing Jurassic World. It was showing in an hour at Southpoint so off we went. Got out soda and popcorn and found our seats in a nearly empty theater. Movie was ok far fetched, but entertaining. We gambled a bit more I lost hubby won.
Decided to head over to the M Resort. We both had buffet coupons. We just like it there. Got new cards and saw line was small so decided to have dinner. Good as always. One of my favorite buffets in Vegas. Prime Rib asparagus mashed potatoes and a salad with mangos and strawberries and topped it off with vanilla gelato with caramel and chocolate sauce and cream brûlée and a cup of their delicious coffee.
Played some. I lost hubby won another bonus. He is keeping us afloat. Decided to head over to the Orleans to play a bit. I can't seem to hit a thing hubby hits again on a Xeus II. I needed to pick up my tickets to Zumanity at NYNY so parked in the Excaliber parking lot and walked over and picked them up.
Decided we were tired and went back downtown. Hung around and watched the crowds and stopped to see Carl Ferris play his sax. The guy is amazing. I've never been in the Plaza so decided to go in there. Sorry not too impressed. By this time it was close to 1:30 am and headed back to the room. It was close to 3:30 before I finally feel asleep.
We slept in and finally got up about 1030a and decided to try the Chicago Brewing company where I tried the filet mignon sliders and hubby had pizza he had there amber ale and I had the root beer really good. Decided to go to Red Rock for a bit. We love it there and will be spending 2 nights there in September. Of course my hubby won and I lost. Decided to go back and rest up before the show at 9:30. After our nap got cleaned up and headed to magnolias for dinner. We shared the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. Headed to the strip and parked in the Monte Carlo valet and headed for the tram to the Bellagio. We wanted to see the conservatory. It was decorated in an undersea theme. Hubby took pictures and then we headed over to the Aria for a bit. No wins and they tool my favorite Wheel of Fortune out. Lost a few bucks and it was time to head over to NYNY for the show.
Got in line and ready to be seated and we got our seats upgraded. Ended up 3rd row isle. Yeah score! I bought the tickets through myvegas companion ticket. I ended up paying $55 for both seats. Show is funny but raunchy. I actually loved it. Lots of innuendos and nudity but not vulgar. I would see it again.
After the show we headed back downtown and headed to the canopy. We could hear a band playing. The Garage Boys or something like that. They were really good. Walked around then told the hubby I still hadn't gotten my Silver Strike. Ended up getting 2 so I happily went to bed.
Up early and Magnolias for breakfast. Hubby had ham and eggs and I just had the egg breakfast and stole a piece of hubbies ham. Very good. Loaded up the car and headed home. Construction through Arizonia worse going back and we were hit with one of the worst rainstorms ever. Couldn't see past the trucks in front of us. Bad bad. Took us 11 hours to get home. But we were greeted by our 5 fur kids.
All in all a fabulous trip. First time staying downtown and would stay again. So very convenient. Rooms were ok hubby said beds were uncomfortable. They seemed fine to me so it would be a preference. Food was good everywhere we ate and the only meal we paid for was In n Out. We brought home a grand more then we came with. It also cooled down while we were there.
