2011 Labor Day Weekend Trip
Grandma was in town for a couple of weeks so we took advantage and went on a 4 day Vegas trip. We used frequent flyer miles to fly from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. Unfortunately it means we have a 3 hour drive from our home in Duluth MN. We went as a family to the state fair on Tuesday Aug 30th, then Grandma and our daughter headed back home, and Melissa and I (Tim) went to spend the night with friends.
Wednesday Aug 31st
We were up early but a humane hour on Wednesday. We had a plane to catch at 11am, and our host had to head off to work. We stopped at IHOP near the airport for breakfast (I had the Cinnebon pancakes, and oh my GOD they were awesome! After breakfast we parked the car at the park and fly and we were at the airport. Flight was on-time and uneventful. Just how we like them. We picked up our Thrifty rental car after a bit of an issue and were on our way.
We had never been to In&Out Burger. So having landed just after lunch we decided to stop there for a bite to eat. It was ok. I am not sure what everyone is raving about.
After lunch it was time to head to City Center. We had to pick up our tickets to Viva Elvis for Thursday night at Aria, and then were going to head over to the Cosmopolitan to check it out and do the $100 loss rebate promo.
Intending to park at the rear valet at Aria but made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up at the main valet. No big deal. Went in, no line for will call tickets at Viva Elvis so we walked through Crystals mall on the way to the Cosmo.
Cosmo was nice, and dead. Nobody there on a Wednesday afternoon. After finding the players club we both signed up and headed off to some $1 JOB to lose our $100. Melissa lost hers rather quickly and went to get her re-imbursement. She came back quickly and won back $97.50 of it. So not too bad. Only a $2.50 loss. Me on the other hand, couldn't lose. Finally after playing for over an hour I was up $100 and decided to take the money and run.
From there it was back to the car and downtown to MSS to check in for one night. Our plan was to use an offer of free night and $50 in food at MSS and stiff them and then spend the remaining time at the El Cortez. So we checked in, got our food vouchers and found out that they expired that day (last day of the offer) and we had to use them all at once. So much for breakfast in the morning.
We got settled in the room, and then headed down to the 777 for dinner. We both had full racks of ribs, beer, and split a strawberry shortcake with ice cream. Food was good and it came to just under $50. So after a $10 tip to a waitress that was working her tail off, we waddled out into the downtown air.
We wandered around some, playing a few slot machines here and there. Melissa got enough points for a Binions key chain as part of their anniversary celebration, and I got my Let it Ride fix winning $25 in the process. By this point we were pretty tired so off to bed.
Thursday Sept 1st
We were up early due to the time difference so off we went to Paris for the buffet breakfast using the POV coupon. $13 plus a $2 tip and we were quite satisfied. Quality and selection is down from a few years ago, but it is still very good and with the coupon you just can't beat the price. We still love to finish our breakfasts with a crepe. Something you just can't do anywhere else.
We decided to walk down to the M&M store to burn off some of the huge breakfast. Not a bad walk at 9am before it go too hot. Bought a couple of things for the kid and then back to Paris to pick up the car. We then drove down to the Disney outlet store in the outlet mall. From there it was off to Terribles to take advantage of their $100 rebate promo.
Once again the VP gods were smiling and it took me forever to lose $100 playing $0.50 (I think) JOB. I put like $5k through the machine to lose the $100. I got the $100 free play and turned it into a nice $20 profit and I got a free t-shirt. So overall a good trip for me with the promos.
On the way back downtown, we stopped at the Gamblers General Store and bought some card holders for the kid to use, and then over to nearby Spinnetti's to buy a couple more old Vegas pictures to add to our "old vegas" themed area of the basement.
After the last of the shopping it was time to check into the El Cortez. Check-in went fine under an offer for 3 free nights, $25 in food and $25 in free play. Our tower room was really nice and we got ready for an early dinner at the Flame before our late Viva Elvis show.
I had made a reservation at the Flame through the open table website and we were promptly seated. There was a coupon for a free bottle of wine included in the check-in folder so we brought that, along with the POV coupon and a restaurant.com certificate. I had the prime rib that I ordered medium rare and it was actually raw and cold in the middle. So a bit disappointing, but I had plenty of good meat and baked potato. Melissa had chicken kiev off of their special "classics" menu. It was really good. So with the free wine and the POV coupon it was just over $25 left which we charged to the room. They wouldn't take the POV and the restaurant.com certificate.
Off to see Viva Elvis. We had seen this a year ago and we really liked it. We had seats in the middle of the balcony last year and we decided to pay extra for seats up front this time. 3rd row center for this show. It was a TOTALLY different show from up close. From the "Elvis fans" interacting with the audience before the show (one was from France she said), to being able to see what kind of shoes they were wearing on stage it was amazing.
One thing I noted when I watched it last year was the large ratio of men to women in the show. The last number had like 30 of them dressed in elvis-like costumes and about half that number in dresses. Well the interesting thing I didn't realize from the balcony is that a large number of the "elvi" were actually women wearing elvis hats and clothes. It was a very good show, that had me singing along and listening to Elvis when I got home.
After Viva Elvis we drove down to M for some Gelato. They still have the cheapest gelato in town that I know of. Big scoops for $3. Awesome. So we ate some gelato and checked out the promos in the poker room before heading back to the hotel to crash.
Friday Sept 2nd
Friday was to be our first big gambling day with the goal of putting $5k through the VP machines at the El Cortez both Friday and Saturday. We had breakfast at the Cafe Cortez using points. I love the cafe. Decent food, and a fair price, even better when you can use points.
But it was a gambling day. First I had to run through all the free play I had from various promotions (my offer, plus birthday month plus whatever else was on there). So Melissa and I split up the free play and turned it into $120. Nice way to start the day. We put our $5k through and lost about $150. So only down about $25 for the day. I'll take that.
We stopped part way through to head to lunch at Makino. Makino is an all you can eat sushi place in a strip mall off of Decatur and Flamingo. So we pigged out on Sushi and headed back downtown.
The newly updated Plaza had just opened. It was described by someone at the ElCo bar as "the same as it was, it just smells better." So we headed down to check it out. It was nice. Melissa saw a circus themed slot so we decided to play that and came out $30 ahead and had some fun in the process. We also stopped and played bingo at the Plaza. I had done that one other time on a solo trip, and I find it kinda interesting. Didnt' come close to winning, but an hour of entertainment for $30.
We gambled our way up and down Fremont street. Played craps at the Cal (lost), and various slots like Hangover (fun) and yahtzee with mixed success. Decided to go back to the Plaza for another bingo session but neither of us came within less than 2 balls in every game. Frustrating.
We used some more of Melissa's Binions comps for dinner at their cafe. I had hot ham and cheese sandwich and Melissa had a patty melt. As always very yummy and free with our poker comp dollars.
After dinner we headed to M for gelato and poker. I played 4/8 limit and Melissa played 2/4 limit. Together we were up $50 for the night and Melissa had lots of free drinks so it was a good night.
Saturday Sept 3rd
We had breakfast again at the Cafe Cortez and paid with points. Then we sat down to play some VP at the bar. Had 5x points today and we put $5k through both ending down for the session but less that $200.
The gambling made us hungry so we used some of our B-connected points to buy a quick chinese meal at the Lanai in the Fremont casino. The food was dull, but filling and free. After this lunch we walked around Fremont street again and decided to do the zip line. It is cheaper to do it in the afternoon ($15/person). So we signed the forms, weighed in, paid our money and got in line. The line was very short on the top of the platform and before you know it, we were dangling over Fremont Street. It was a great experience. They had people taking pictures but my back was to them for all the pictures so they sucked. It was a lot of fun, and I would do it again.
Then we decided to play a little poker at Binions. Their poker room is really nice, and I love the dealers, but it was pretty dead there every time we walked by. We played for a couple of hours ending up down $23 for the session.
We decided to eat dinner on the cheap so back to Cafe Cortez. I had a burger and they have awesome shoestring potatoes. The waitress was super nice, spending some time just chatting with us even though she was really busy. We paid for dinner with points.
After dinner we did some packing and then headed back down to the M for one last gelato and poker. The gelato was as good as ever, but poker not so much as we ended the session down $33.
Sunday morning, our flight was at 11am. So we picked up some Subway sandwiches for the flight home using comps at the Subway inside the El Cortez. Flight home was on time and uneventful, again just like we like it.
So a great weekend trip. Lost a little bit, ate really well, experienced something new with the zip line and had a great time. Can't wait to go back.
Grandma was in town for a couple of weeks so we took advantage and went on a 4 day Vegas trip. We used frequent flyer miles to fly from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. Unfortunately it means we have a 3 hour drive from our home in Duluth MN. We went as a family to the state fair on Tuesday Aug 30th, then Grandma and our daughter headed back home, and Melissa and I (Tim) went to spend the night with friends.
Wednesday Aug 31st
We were up early but a humane hour on Wednesday. We had a plane to catch at 11am, and our host had to head off to work. We stopped at IHOP near the airport for breakfast (I had the Cinnebon pancakes, and oh my GOD they were awesome! After breakfast we parked the car at the park and fly and we were at the airport. Flight was on-time and uneventful. Just how we like them. We picked up our Thrifty rental car after a bit of an issue and were on our way.
We had never been to In&Out Burger. So having landed just after lunch we decided to stop there for a bite to eat. It was ok. I am not sure what everyone is raving about.
After lunch it was time to head to City Center. We had to pick up our tickets to Viva Elvis for Thursday night at Aria, and then were going to head over to the Cosmopolitan to check it out and do the $100 loss rebate promo.
Intending to park at the rear valet at Aria but made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up at the main valet. No big deal. Went in, no line for will call tickets at Viva Elvis so we walked through Crystals mall on the way to the Cosmo.
Cosmo was nice, and dead. Nobody there on a Wednesday afternoon. After finding the players club we both signed up and headed off to some $1 JOB to lose our $100. Melissa lost hers rather quickly and went to get her re-imbursement. She came back quickly and won back $97.50 of it. So not too bad. Only a $2.50 loss. Me on the other hand, couldn't lose. Finally after playing for over an hour I was up $100 and decided to take the money and run.
From there it was back to the car and downtown to MSS to check in for one night. Our plan was to use an offer of free night and $50 in food at MSS and stiff them and then spend the remaining time at the El Cortez. So we checked in, got our food vouchers and found out that they expired that day (last day of the offer) and we had to use them all at once. So much for breakfast in the morning.
We got settled in the room, and then headed down to the 777 for dinner. We both had full racks of ribs, beer, and split a strawberry shortcake with ice cream. Food was good and it came to just under $50. So after a $10 tip to a waitress that was working her tail off, we waddled out into the downtown air.
We wandered around some, playing a few slot machines here and there. Melissa got enough points for a Binions key chain as part of their anniversary celebration, and I got my Let it Ride fix winning $25 in the process. By this point we were pretty tired so off to bed.
Thursday Sept 1st
We were up early due to the time difference so off we went to Paris for the buffet breakfast using the POV coupon. $13 plus a $2 tip and we were quite satisfied. Quality and selection is down from a few years ago, but it is still very good and with the coupon you just can't beat the price. We still love to finish our breakfasts with a crepe. Something you just can't do anywhere else.
We decided to walk down to the M&M store to burn off some of the huge breakfast. Not a bad walk at 9am before it go too hot. Bought a couple of things for the kid and then back to Paris to pick up the car. We then drove down to the Disney outlet store in the outlet mall. From there it was off to Terribles to take advantage of their $100 rebate promo.
Once again the VP gods were smiling and it took me forever to lose $100 playing $0.50 (I think) JOB. I put like $5k through the machine to lose the $100. I got the $100 free play and turned it into a nice $20 profit and I got a free t-shirt. So overall a good trip for me with the promos.
On the way back downtown, we stopped at the Gamblers General Store and bought some card holders for the kid to use, and then over to nearby Spinnetti's to buy a couple more old Vegas pictures to add to our "old vegas" themed area of the basement.
After the last of the shopping it was time to check into the El Cortez. Check-in went fine under an offer for 3 free nights, $25 in food and $25 in free play. Our tower room was really nice and we got ready for an early dinner at the Flame before our late Viva Elvis show.
I had made a reservation at the Flame through the open table website and we were promptly seated. There was a coupon for a free bottle of wine included in the check-in folder so we brought that, along with the POV coupon and a restaurant.com certificate. I had the prime rib that I ordered medium rare and it was actually raw and cold in the middle. So a bit disappointing, but I had plenty of good meat and baked potato. Melissa had chicken kiev off of their special "classics" menu. It was really good. So with the free wine and the POV coupon it was just over $25 left which we charged to the room. They wouldn't take the POV and the restaurant.com certificate.
Off to see Viva Elvis. We had seen this a year ago and we really liked it. We had seats in the middle of the balcony last year and we decided to pay extra for seats up front this time. 3rd row center for this show. It was a TOTALLY different show from up close. From the "Elvis fans" interacting with the audience before the show (one was from France she said), to being able to see what kind of shoes they were wearing on stage it was amazing.
One thing I noted when I watched it last year was the large ratio of men to women in the show. The last number had like 30 of them dressed in elvis-like costumes and about half that number in dresses. Well the interesting thing I didn't realize from the balcony is that a large number of the "elvi" were actually women wearing elvis hats and clothes. It was a very good show, that had me singing along and listening to Elvis when I got home.
After Viva Elvis we drove down to M for some Gelato. They still have the cheapest gelato in town that I know of. Big scoops for $3. Awesome. So we ate some gelato and checked out the promos in the poker room before heading back to the hotel to crash.
Friday Sept 2nd
Friday was to be our first big gambling day with the goal of putting $5k through the VP machines at the El Cortez both Friday and Saturday. We had breakfast at the Cafe Cortez using points. I love the cafe. Decent food, and a fair price, even better when you can use points.
But it was a gambling day. First I had to run through all the free play I had from various promotions (my offer, plus birthday month plus whatever else was on there). So Melissa and I split up the free play and turned it into $120. Nice way to start the day. We put our $5k through and lost about $150. So only down about $25 for the day. I'll take that.
We stopped part way through to head to lunch at Makino. Makino is an all you can eat sushi place in a strip mall off of Decatur and Flamingo. So we pigged out on Sushi and headed back downtown.
The newly updated Plaza had just opened. It was described by someone at the ElCo bar as "the same as it was, it just smells better." So we headed down to check it out. It was nice. Melissa saw a circus themed slot so we decided to play that and came out $30 ahead and had some fun in the process. We also stopped and played bingo at the Plaza. I had done that one other time on a solo trip, and I find it kinda interesting. Didnt' come close to winning, but an hour of entertainment for $30.
We gambled our way up and down Fremont street. Played craps at the Cal (lost), and various slots like Hangover (fun) and yahtzee with mixed success. Decided to go back to the Plaza for another bingo session but neither of us came within less than 2 balls in every game. Frustrating.
We used some more of Melissa's Binions comps for dinner at their cafe. I had hot ham and cheese sandwich and Melissa had a patty melt. As always very yummy and free with our poker comp dollars.
After dinner we headed to M for gelato and poker. I played 4/8 limit and Melissa played 2/4 limit. Together we were up $50 for the night and Melissa had lots of free drinks so it was a good night.
Saturday Sept 3rd
We had breakfast again at the Cafe Cortez and paid with points. Then we sat down to play some VP at the bar. Had 5x points today and we put $5k through both ending down for the session but less that $200.
The gambling made us hungry so we used some of our B-connected points to buy a quick chinese meal at the Lanai in the Fremont casino. The food was dull, but filling and free. After this lunch we walked around Fremont street again and decided to do the zip line. It is cheaper to do it in the afternoon ($15/person). So we signed the forms, weighed in, paid our money and got in line. The line was very short on the top of the platform and before you know it, we were dangling over Fremont Street. It was a great experience. They had people taking pictures but my back was to them for all the pictures so they sucked. It was a lot of fun, and I would do it again.
Then we decided to play a little poker at Binions. Their poker room is really nice, and I love the dealers, but it was pretty dead there every time we walked by. We played for a couple of hours ending up down $23 for the session.
We decided to eat dinner on the cheap so back to Cafe Cortez. I had a burger and they have awesome shoestring potatoes. The waitress was super nice, spending some time just chatting with us even though she was really busy. We paid for dinner with points.
After dinner we did some packing and then headed back down to the M for one last gelato and poker. The gelato was as good as ever, but poker not so much as we ended the session down $33.
Sunday morning, our flight was at 11am. So we picked up some Subway sandwiches for the flight home using comps at the Subway inside the El Cortez. Flight home was on time and uneventful, again just like we like it.
So a great weekend trip. Lost a little bit, ate really well, experienced something new with the zip line and had a great time. Can't wait to go back.
