Late Oct Father/Son Vegas Trip: ATV's, Machine Guns, Bodies, a Close Shave & a "Ghostly" Encounter?

PROLOGUE:
I really needed this trip. Due to a financially & emotionally draining family crisis, these past six months have been killer. I have been working extra days every chance in order to keep my hard earned bank account intact. Fortunately the worst has been faced and conquered and my quiet life is slowly returning to normal. I started to plan this trip in August and my youngest son jumped onboard. He has not had a vacation since graduating from college almost 3 years ago. He finally joined the ranks of the gainfully employed earlier this year and loves his job as a advertising and marketing director for an insurance company in Minneapolis. Initially he was only going to take two days off, then decided to come out for the whole week; taking a late evening flight. We discussed show options and decided to see the Michael Jackson One show at Mandalay Bay, with a pre-show dinner at Red Square. Enterprise car prices were crazy, but I finally was able to bag a full size car rental for $162 all in. I flew Spirit Airlines again and had a base fare of $167 RT, baggage fees of $40..total $207...not bad. My son booked a few days later and his RT fare was $137. My son's gambling bankroll was going to be limited, so long sessions at the tables was not going to be in the "cards" this trip.

MONDAY OCT 28:
I finished up my 10 hour night shift(the last of 7 in a row) and headed directly for the Cities. Traffic was light and road construction was minimal. Dropped off my car at the park and fly lot and the shuttle dirver deposited myself at the terminal 15 minutes later. Suitcase, boarding pass and ID in hand I strolled up to the ticket counter only to be confronted with a gaggle of clueless travelers. These people (about 6 in number) each had huge suitcases, several of them were digging in their cavernous purses trying to find their ID's and boarding passes, sigh. Their suitcases must have contained bricks because they all were WAY over the weight limit. They whined like sleep deprived 5 year olds about the extra baggage fees. Finally another agent came up to the counter, waved me over and 90 seconds later I was headed for security checkin. Cleared security without any problems(no lines) and proceeded to the first order of business to kick off this gig. I parked myself at the first available bar stool and ordered up a double Hendrick's gin and tonic....aahhhh!.

Our flight boarded right on time, being assigned a window seat. This was perfect as I planned on sleeping as much as possible during the flight. I settled into my seat and then a couple walked up and took the other seats in my row. When the lady sat down my eyes started to water and my nose began to run....what the hell kind of CHEAP perfume is she wearing? She must buy it in gallon jugs at Fleet Farm, while they are picking up a couple of spools of baling wire...aaack!!! After the initial insults to my senses and the ensuing headache that followed, I became immune to the odor and soon fell asleep after takeoff. The turbulence over Denver shook me awake and the rest of the flight was pretty bumpy. The pilot warned us of the stiff, swirling winds in Las Vegas, but he put us down like a champ...smooooth.

I grabbed my bag and hopped on the rental car shuttle. The Budget and Payless counter was jammed with customers; no line at Enterprise...sweet. The lot attendant told me that they did not have any full sized cars available....okay pal, show me a Lincoln MKZ. Nope, didn't have any, so I settled for a black Chysler 300. I took the back way to the Rio: West on Warm Springs road, turn onto Valley View, left onto Tropicana, right onto Wynn Rd, right onto Harmon and left onto Valley View again. The people at the diamond/platinum checkin counter were soooo nice. Ipanema tower, 6th floor, not much of a view, but the room was very nice. The faucet in the tub was leaking, nothing major, I can deal with that. Unpacked, stashed the bankroll in the safe and headed to Mandalay Bay.

I had a 3pm appointment at the Art of Shaving. Since I was early, I strolled over to Ri Ra and sat the bar and ordered up a black and tan and a Reuben sandwich and fries. The Reuben was delicious and the beer went down oh, oh so smoothly. With a glow on my cheeks I was ready to take on Vegas. My barber, Jack, greeted me with a smile and settled me into my chair and prepared me for the upcoming performance. Jack is a real artist with a pair of scissors and gave me a great haircut. The royal straight razor shave is a great experince. My face felt ten years younger. Gentlemen, if you never have had a straight razor shave, I highly recommend that you try this guilty pleasure at least once. My appoinment lasted 90 minutes and cost $80 without tip....worth every penny. What a great way to start out my vacation.

I walked over to the MB ticket office and picked up our tickets of MJ One and a ticket for Daniel Tosh's performance later in the week for my son. I drove back to the Rio, stashed the tickets in the safe and then bought into a craps table for the next hour or so...up and down...rolled the dice like shit and cashed out down by $75. I took an hour power nap, refreshened up and then headed down to my favorite Vegas watering hole, the Rio Wine Cellar. Mary Ann planted a kiss on my cheek and Jose poured me out a generous flight of California reds: a pinot noir, cabernet and two blended reds. The pinot was delicately delicious and the Far West blend was interesting....a winner. I chatted with Mary Ann and Jose and enjoyed the wine. Jose poured me out a "to go" glass of the Far West blend and I headed up to the casino to play some slots.

My son texted me and his flight was delayed for 45 minutes, so I donated more of my bankroll to CET's coffers than I planned to...drat. I picked up my son around midnight and we headed downtown to.....the Golden Gate, of course. We sat at a BJ table and we soon were guzzling Heinekens and tipping the lovely female dealers. Alex just couldn't get any decent cards and bailed out after 30 minutes. He returned a little later with a sly smile on his face; he won back his loses at the roulette table. I cashed out up about $65 and we headed over to the Market St cafe and the California for a big bowl of that steamy goodness called Ox Tail soup; their graveyard special for only $9.99. We enjoyed our meal and chatted with the Hawiians at the counter...nice. We cruised down FSE and then decided to call it a night. We walked up to the valet area at the Gate when I realized that I had left my coat back at the restaurant...maybe. We hurried over to the California and found my jacket hanging on the wall behind the check out counter. When we got back to the valet he had my car ready and waiting for us...great service. We played some VP at the Rio bar, had one last Heineken and hit the sheets...lights out at 02:00

Tomorrow: Strip crawl, Red Square and MJ....

TUESDAY OCT 29:
My son slept like a rock, but I had a rather fitful night. I must have awoken about 5 times during the night. Sunrise found me tired, but awake...it's going to be a long day. I showered and got ready for the day, and tried to pry my son out of bed which took awhile. Finally at the crack of 11AM he was ready for breakfast. We stopped at the roulette table and I put down $20 on black to start out the day....Winner...thank you very much. We drove over to Harrah's then walked to the Venetian and had a late breakfast at the Grand Lux. We shared some chicken lettuce wraps and had a basic breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and bacon. Alex lost his wager at the roulette table and then we proceeded to the Casino Royale for a $1 Michelob. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering from casino to casino, playing various slots without any big wins or loses and enjoying those lovely Heinekens.

We returned to the Rio and changed clothes and headed over to Red Square to enjoy a cocktail at the bar before dinner. My Moscow Mule was very good and the bartenders were very friendly and attractive. The counter top of the bar is made of ice which is a nice touch. The hostess that seated us at the restaurant located in the rear of the room had the best set of legs that I have seen in a long time....killer!!. Well that is about all the positive things that I can think of about this dining experience. They were playiing club style music when we walked in and sat at the bar. LOUD...about on par with the music played at the Golden Gate in the evening hours. I practically had to shout at the bartender to order my drink. The volume was not any lower when we were seated in the restaurant area. Definitely not a place to have a quiet meal. The menu selections were rather limited and way overpriced IMHO. The wine list was ridicuous...a bottle of Far Neinte chardonnay was priced at $240 and Opus One was going for over $400. My son ordered a duck selection and I tried the stroganoff. Alex ordered some oysters and I tried a Caesar salad that was a joke...terrible. I thought the stroganoff was okay, but certainly not worth $35. A few minutes after bringing the oysters and salad the server brought us the main course...WTF. I told him flat out to take it back as I was not going to let our meal sit and get cold while I finished my salad. He looked dismayed but complied. When we were ready, they brought out the rest of our food. Alex commented that his duck tasted a little odd. The waiter then walked up and said that he gave him somebody else's dinner. He appologized, whisked his plate away and brought out his dish a few minutes later. This is not going well. Toward the end of our meal the manager came over and gave us his apology and said that we would not have to pay for Alex's entree. He also gave us a free dessert which probably was the highlight of the meal....how can you screw up chocolate after all. Although they tried to put things right, the overall dining experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I've always wanted to try Red Square, now I have and I can scratch it off of my bucket list....FOR GOOD. This place was the low point of the trip.

Our sour mood soon changed when we found our seats for the Michael Jackson One show. Center section row G. This was a very entertaining show. The crowd really got into it. The music, dancing, lighting and special effects all blended into making this a hit. Go see this show, really. Everyone in the audience was standing, clapping and singing with the performers during the finale. Alex and I walked out with smiles on our faces, with a little "Moon Walk" in our steps.

By this time I was running on fumes. We played some VP at the Rio bar, had a Heineken and I was toast. I left Alex at the bar and headed for bed a little after midnight....slacker. Alex came back to the room in a bad mood. It seems that his session at the roulette table was a disaster, compounded by a couple of obnoxious women at the table giving him some grief. Shake it off dude, tomorrow is another day.

Cruisng in the desert...getting down and dirty........

WEDNESDAY OCT 30:
I was up at 06:30, showered, dressed and then started the routine of getting my son out of bed. We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Burger King at the Rio and then drove over to the Ex-Cal. The people for Adrenalin ATV tours picked us up in the van at 8 AM. We were stuffed in there like sardines for the 45 minute ride northeast of Vegas. We ended up near Valley of Fire State Park. The guides gave us a brief talk about how to operate the ATV's and divided us up into two groups. The more experienced riders took off first, Alex included. I hesitated and decided to go with the slower group...mistake. We had a great time riding down some dirt trails, lots of bumps and jumps and beautiful scenery. We stopped and had a box lunch: sandwich, potato salad, pretzels....good enough. We also had all the bottled water we could drink during the trip. The weather was a little on the cool side at first, but was really pleasant for the rest of the tour...sunny, blue skies, no wind. One of the people in our group managed to break a tie rod on her ATV. Fortunately the guide that was following us gave her his ride and we soon were on our way again. Alex had a blast with the "fast" group, he was airborne a couple of times. Just as we were returning to the parking lot he blew the head gasket on his ATV. The tour took about three hours and was something I would do again. I had purchased a groupon before we left, so the price was half off for the two of us....total cost, $180. We piled back into the van and was deposited back at the Ex-Cal a while later. We got some stares from a couple of ladies playing slots as we walked by. Our clothes and faces were covered with trail dust.....my teeth felt a little gritty.

We each took a shower and changed clothes...better. What is on the agenda for tonight? I called the box office and picked up some tickets for Mystere and then tried to call Buzios to make a dinner reservation. What an ordeal. I got transferred three times and disconnected once. Finally after 20 minutes the reservation was set for 6:30. I had another groupon; $60 worth of food and beverage for $30. Alex took a nap while I cruised over to T.I. to pick up the tickets and a short VP session at Harrah's.

Dinner started out with a stop first at the Wine Cellar. I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and Alex tried the wine flight that I had the other night. Jose gave him some generous pours. Mary Ann entertained us by telling us stories about the time "Prince"(the rock star) and his bodyguard came down to the Cellar. He does not make eye contact and is very reserved. Our dinner at Buzios was great. We split a bottle of wine, so by the end of the meal Alex was feeling pretty good...with the wine flight already on board.

We played slots at the Rio for awhile to let the food digest and let the affects of the wine wear off a little. We sat side by side at one of those Buffalo penny slot machines. Alex was betting the minimum and not hitting anything. His $20 was almost gone when he hit a spin bonus round. He kept getting additional bonus spins upon bonus spins. We must have sat there watching the macine for a good ten minutes...it was unreal. he cashed out with a $100 profit...not bad for a 30 cent bet. I finally hit a bonus round and netted a whole $2 on my bonus....we're outta here.

I haven't seen Mystere in about 15 years and Alex had never been. Still a great and entertaining show. Lots of amazing feats of strength and agility mixed in with hillarious comedy. A solid performance, thoroughly enjoyed. We returned to the Rio and again played some VP at the bar before retiring to the room. My thighs and butt were a little sore from that wild ride this morning.....no problems sleeping tonight.

Tomorrow----Bodies, automatic weapons, great heights, and wine toting girl scouts.......

THURSDAY OCT 31
We awoke refreshed and decided to partake the Rio buffet for breakfast. I had a certificate for a 24 hours buffet pass for each of us. We had the pass loaded into our total rewards cards without any problems. We walked up and were seated immediately...nice being platinum. Alex was blown away with the large and varied selection of foods...all good stuff. We then took the shuttle over to Bally's and walked over to the Bellagio to take in their conservatory display. Then we went over to the Cosmo, Alex had never been there and was impressed with the place. While he was getting a player's card I played some slots and netted a small win ($40). We had a drink and the bar on the upper level. My Side Car was one of the best that I have ever had. We took the shuttle back to Bally's and then drove over to the Luxor and spent a couple of hours touring the Bodies exhibit. It is amazing that the human body is both so complex and delicate. Nature is impressive.

Lunch was at the In and Out burger...my first time. Alex had not been to one since he was in college in Phoenix, so I let him guide me thru the lingo for ordering. We had to wait 20 minutes for our "fast" food, but the double cheese burgers were fresh and very tasty. Alex had the fries "animal style"...interesting. Next up was the Gun shop on Industrial across the street from Circus Circus. Alex selected a shooting package that included several different types of automatic rifles and semi-auto pistol. I went into the range with him and took some photos and video of him blazing away at the target down range. His range instructor was very nice and was thorough with his instructions. There was several Brits shooting while we were there and they came out with big grins on their faces afterwards.

The last time Alex was in Vegas we tried to hit the rides atop of the Stratosphere, only to get there and find out that they had shut down the rides due to an impending thunder storm. Not this time, the weather was perfect. He purchased an unlimited ride package; I just paid for the elevator ride up to the top....no rides for me. There was not very many people going on the rides so Alex never had to wait...he hit them all, several times. I stood on the observation deck and enjoyed watching the sunset and the Strip come alive with Neon lights. We had a very nice gin and tonic at the bar and then headed back to the Rio for the Seafood buffet...something that I have always wanted to try, but did not want to pay full price for.

We only had to pay a $10 surcharge for the buffet; again no line so we were seated right away. I must say I don't know what all the hoopla is about this buffet; I didn't think it was anything special. The warm crabs legs were overdone and dried out, the trout was dry and had no flavor. I piled on the oysters and shrimp and then ate my fill of the cold crab legs...not bad. We were seated so that we could watch the Thursday night football game and get indigestion watching the Bengals play like crap...there goes my sports bet. We then went down to the Wine Cellar and had a glass before heading to the Strip to take in the Halloween festivities.

We parked the car at Harrahs, played some slots there and at the Flamingo. Along the way we ran into four guys dressed as girl scouts....great detail on the costumes! One 'scout' had a 5 liter box of wine, with which the passing ladies could sample from....funny. Lots of great costumes, some very risque...wow! We ended up playing VP at the bar at the Quad and then Alex wanted to play some roulette. We sat at a table with a young guy trying to hustle a very drunk young woman. He was making an ocassional bet and being pretty much an ass. When the pit boss lady came over and told him he had to step away from the table in order to use his cell phone, he started swearing a blue streak at her. I couldn't believe that the PB stood there and took the abuse. If his tirade had been directed at me I would have knocked his drunken ass off of his seat. Guy should have taken a ride from the bouncers out of that place. Alex doubled up his buy-in and we headed back to the Rio and to bed. Sleepy time at 0200.

Tomorrow---Moving day downtown, Mob Museum & Downtown (not so) Grand.......

I'll finish this up tomorrow...thanks for reading.....

What a great trip and entertaining trip report so far. I'm happy for you that the tough times are behind you and that you had the opportunity to visit Mecca again. It's also great to read that you clearly have a good relationship with your son. Looking forward to the rest of the report.

Great report - really enjoying it.

Looking forward to the next installment. Thanks for taking the time to post.

FRIDAY NOV 1
We slept in later today, up at 09:30. It's moving day, so we packed up our bags and checked out of the Rio. I stopped at the Roulette table for one more goodbye spin of the wheel; $20 on black....winner. I stopped at the sportsbook and took the Minnesota Gophers over Indiana. We then drove over and parked at the Palazzo and had a late breakfast at the Gran Lux....great food and service as always. I played by Star Trek slot afterwards, but it wasn't showing me any love...no bonus rounds. Alex wanted to check out the Encore so we walked over there and he played the new Batman slot; really a cool game. His $20 lasted a long time, but no big wins.

We drove down to the Golden Gate, left the car with the valet and checked into our rooms. I was very precise with the desk clerk about where I wanted our rooms: toward the back of the hotel, facing Main St. It's way too noisy being up front by the FSE and she agreed with me about the dumpster wake up calls for the rooms on the east side of the buiding. We were given rooms 307 & 311. After unpacking we took a stroll down FSE and checked out the D. Alex signed up for a players card, got some free play which netted zilch. I took him upstairs to show him the Sigma Derby and we sat down and played some nickle slots; again no wins.

Alex wanted to check out the Mob Museum so we walked down there and I left him take the tour on his own as I have already been there twice. We had dinner reservations at the Flame for 6:30 pm, so I told him to meet me back at the GG at six. I then walked across the street to check out the new Downtown Grand casino(sorry, but no so grand IMHO). The hotel lobby looked very sharp as did the bar/lounges, but they were devoid of customers. I toured the casino floor and then signed up for a players card....3 bucks in free play...yippee. The machines are all brand new, but when I checked out the VP paytables....geesh, what a bunch of crap.....they will have a hard time finding regular gamblers to sit at these machines. I took a pass on the VP and sat down at a $5 BJ (there were only 3 tables open). I was mostly killing time and getting a feel of this new casino. I played for an hour and a half, consumed 3 Heinekens and cashed out with my original hundred. The two female dealers were very nice. We chatted while they shuffled the cards, the pit lady came over to say hi, cocktail service was good...all and all a pleasant time....but the place was dead..hardly anyone in the casino. The table I was at was a 6 deck shoe game, H17, DAS, BJ pays 3:2. They said that they have a double deck game, but I did not inquire about the rules.

I walked back to the Golden Gate, and sat at the bar and played some VP and Alex showed up a little while later. Things were starting to heat up on FSE, being 1st Friday. Our hostess seated us at our table at the Flame and our waiter was very attentive. Alex had the filet mignon and I settled for the prime rib. I thought about having their stone crab special, but I had filled up on seafood the previous night. We each got a garden salad and shared a baked potato and steamed asparagus. I also ordered a bottle of merlot to round out the meal. The meal went at a pleasant pace; our waiter dropped by frequently to check on things...another great meal at the Flame.

We stopped outside of Binions and purchased a 24 hour bus pass and then I drove Alex down to the Mirage for his Daniel Tosh show. I've seen his show on Comedy Central cable TV....not my cup of tea. I told Alex to walk over in front of the Wynn and take the SDX back downtown after the show. I then returned to the Gate and hunkered down at a blackjack table for the night. Things started out great; I played with a couple of other guys, one who lived in Phoenix and was a movie stuntman..interesting fellow. After the first two shoes I was up $100, but then things went south. A couple of splits with double downs with the dealer drawing to 21's busted me out....down $230...ouch. I then bought at the craps table and had a fairly decent run. I was up about $200 at one point, but ended coloring up around 04:00 ahead by $125 when Alex found me.

Alex casino hopped after his show, won some money playing VP at the Quad and then got stranded in front of the Wynn. He said he waited for over 90 minutes and no buses showed up; not the SDX or the Deuce...strange. He finally gave up and took a cab back downtown. We crashed in our rooms around 04:30.

SATURDAY NOV 2
I hesitate to mention this as I don't believe in the supernatural, but something strange happened in my room, that I can't explain. I was sleeping soundly, having set my alarm for 8:30, when about 8:00 I felt a couple of tugs on my forearm, like someone trying to pull me out of bed. "Alex, it's not time to get up yet". I opened my eyes and no one was there. Now I am awake and sitting bolt upright in bed...WTF.
(cue the Twilight Zone music). You read about old hotels being haunted...makes you wonder...Happy Halloween. Must have been my imagination....or all those Heinekens I had last night. Anyway, I showered and packed up my suitcase and called Alex.

To my surprise he was already up and almost packed. A little while later he dumped his bag in my room and we went out in search of breakfast. Dupars was jammed, a long line stretched out to the casino and no room at the counter. Okay let's check out Magnolia's at the 4 Queens. We were met with another long line of people. We finally found a table over at Binions cafe. It wasn't gourmet dining, but the food and service was good.

We checked out of the Gate and headed to the airport; this Vegas saga if over. No problems checking my bag at the Spirit counter and no lines at security. We had time for one last beer at the airport bar before we boarded our plane. We had printed out our boarding passes the night before and were assigned seats next to each other. Our flight left on time and we enjoyed a gin and tonic during the flight. It was in the 70's when we left and in the 20's when we arrived back home. I dropped Alex back at his apartment and then made the 90 minute drive home to Rochester. Nick, my cat, bitched me out with his meowing, until I portioned out a big bowl of his favorite canned catfood....well all right then. I passed out on the couch and slept like a rock until 7 the next morning.

EPILOGUE
This was my 5th trip to Vegas this year, with one more planned next Month...a short 3 day solo trip. HET gave me 3 free nights at Bally's and I got a RT fare from Spirit for $98. I had fun with Alex; we talked quite a bit about his job...so much so that I finally told him, "Dude, we are on vacation; no more shop talk". He called me the next day and thanked me for letting him tag along. He had a really good time, even though the gambling gods did not look favorably upon us this time.

I don't understand why so many people hate Spirit Airlines. I have flown them 4 times this year and haven't had any problems. True, their seating sucks, but I am saving a hell of a lot of money on airfares with these guys. Alex purchased a small suitcase made by American Tourister(Atmosphere tote) which meets Spirit's requirements to be considered a "personal item" so there is no baggage charge. It fits slickly under the seat, has a telecoping handle and wheels. I couldn't believe all the stuff that you can put into that thing. Walmart sells them for $40...I plan on buying myself one...should be perfect for solo trips.

Thanks for reading, hope that I can write about some sizable wins on my next trip. My Minnesota Gophers came through, so I have $120 in 'seed money' when I cash in my sports bet. Uff Da

Glad the bad times are behind you! Thanks for the great tr! What a great time you had with your Son. Hope you have a better gambling trip next month. Hope to see you again sometime!

I think you were at the end of a dream when you thought someone shook you! Those dreams seem very real sometimes. But then, you never know with all those old times stories!

Thanks for sharing your trip. Vegas with your adult children is fantastic. Looking forward to your next report.