My friend, Joe, and I flew to Vegas from MPLS to celebrate a special birthday of mine! My two daughters were initially going to come, but it turned out to be bad timing. Youngest daughter had her first baby on September 26th and was due back to work in three months - right after Christmas. She suggested celebrating my 60-1/2 in Vegas instead; but I'm sorry - that's just not the same!
We were there January 4-9. Since our plane left at 7:30 AM on Sunday; we spent the night before at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomington. They have a park and fly package, and it was a great selection. Upon check-in at 3 PM, they gave us a sheet showing all the places the complimentary shuttle van would take us that evening, including Southdale Mall, and many, many restaurants. We chose the Red Lobster, and it was a fun start to our vacation. Kind of a dumb choice for being in the Cities, but hey we both had gift cards from Christmas burning holes in our wallets.
We were to the airport by 5:30 AM for our 7:30 flight! We got to South Point via their free airport shuttle mid-morning and we were allowed to check in. We asked for a high room with two beds as i sometimes have a hard time sleeping in Vegas. We got the 24th floor facing the mountains.
South Point was not my favorite place to stay and i won't stay there again. We only stayed there because the largest convention of the year was going on that week in Vegas (Technology Convention) and rates were sky high everywhere. At South Point it was many locals playing at the table games, and i prefer playing with vacationers as they're having much much fun! Some of the locals were playing pretty low limits, not tipping, and many of the dealers just seemed like they were going through the motions. I didn't do well at their tables, either; but i DID have some fun Pai Gow sessions where i was "up" a bit. I DID hit a lucky penny machine one day that paid out all day, hitting it up for $50 in the afternoon and then another $40 later that evening. Nothing to write home about, but kinda fun! We also liked the fact there were other things to do besides gamble there. We went bowling one afternoon (I won), and to the movie "Unbroken" another afternoon. Unbroken was EXCELLENT but a little long at 2.5 hours!!
We went to Million Dollar Quartet at Harrah's the first night. This was an amazing show; we both LOVED it! The only one we didn't really care for was ELVIS; he neither looked nor sang much like the real Elvis. We did find out later he was the understudy. Elvis's girlfriend, Ginger; was FANTASTIC; as were "Carl Perkins", "Jerry Lee Lewis" and "Johnny Cash". Jerry Lee Lewis was my favorite and, in my opinion, the most talented of the bunch. This is a MUST SEE! We had dinner before the play at Canaletto's at the Venetian at their "outdoor" patio on the second floor. Wonderful meal and MIMES performing in the open area outside of the patio seating for us to take in as we dined!
Other highlights were MY BIRTHDAY. For my birthday celebration, (jumping to mid-afternoon), we started out having a cocktail at the Chandelier bar at the Cosmopolitan. We were on the third level, after checking out each level to see which had the best view. I had the best brandy manhattan i've ever had and Joe had a Hennessy on the rocks. He was quite impressed with the place and he took some great pictures there. After that we walked to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant and this was a fantastic experience. We had a table overlooking the Bellagio Fountain Show and it was so beautiful and romantic, and the meal was superb. We both had the Pacific Salmon with Pinot Noir Sauce; as well as some wonderful accompaniments. Also, since they knew it was my birthday they brought chocolate mousse at the end, as well as a plate of petit fours. I was glad i choose this place over the other two contenders - Charlie Palmer Steak at the Four Seasons or Alize at the Palms. They received a nice tip for their impeccable service and food.
We took in a Motown show right at the South Point on Wednesday night. This was five black men in brightly colored suits (one pink, one orange, one lime green, etc.) singing and dancing IN SYNC to all the Motown hits. They had musical accompaniment behind them; drums, guitar, keyboard, etc. They had a large dance floor and encouraged audience participation each song, and they pretty much had the whole place dancing; even us; and it was a blast! (They had Paul's Revere's Raiders playing in this showroom the weekend before we checked in. Wonder what happened to Paul Revere though?! We heard it was good though from someone who had gone . . . .)
Only other real highlight was a trip to the RIO Wine Cellar on our last night in town (Thursday). I wanted to play some BJ at the Palms beforehand, and had the best time playing with a really fun dealer who wanted the four of us at the table to win so badly and pretty much willed himself to bust almost every time, which he did! Made myself a quick hundy AFTER TIP and high tailed it over to the Wine Cellar. Leta was our server, and we indulged in a Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz, then we took quite a few pictures there, then I got a glass of Tait the Ball Buster shiraz to take to the gambling floor; but gambling there proved to be a mistake. We wandered and wandered in our attempt to find a loose machine, but alas it wasn't to be; and we very quickly donated to the ailing Caesar's empire. But then we SCORED big time at the seafood restaurant "Buzio's" at the RIO. To my surprise, Joe had never had halibut, but decided to order it along with me, and it was sooooooo delicious this night. Everything was wonderful - a fantastic way to spend the last evening in my favorite city!
Thanks for reading!
Gail from MN
We were there January 4-9. Since our plane left at 7:30 AM on Sunday; we spent the night before at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomington. They have a park and fly package, and it was a great selection. Upon check-in at 3 PM, they gave us a sheet showing all the places the complimentary shuttle van would take us that evening, including Southdale Mall, and many, many restaurants. We chose the Red Lobster, and it was a fun start to our vacation. Kind of a dumb choice for being in the Cities, but hey we both had gift cards from Christmas burning holes in our wallets.
We were to the airport by 5:30 AM for our 7:30 flight! We got to South Point via their free airport shuttle mid-morning and we were allowed to check in. We asked for a high room with two beds as i sometimes have a hard time sleeping in Vegas. We got the 24th floor facing the mountains.
South Point was not my favorite place to stay and i won't stay there again. We only stayed there because the largest convention of the year was going on that week in Vegas (Technology Convention) and rates were sky high everywhere. At South Point it was many locals playing at the table games, and i prefer playing with vacationers as they're having much much fun! Some of the locals were playing pretty low limits, not tipping, and many of the dealers just seemed like they were going through the motions. I didn't do well at their tables, either; but i DID have some fun Pai Gow sessions where i was "up" a bit. I DID hit a lucky penny machine one day that paid out all day, hitting it up for $50 in the afternoon and then another $40 later that evening. Nothing to write home about, but kinda fun! We also liked the fact there were other things to do besides gamble there. We went bowling one afternoon (I won), and to the movie "Unbroken" another afternoon. Unbroken was EXCELLENT but a little long at 2.5 hours!!
We went to Million Dollar Quartet at Harrah's the first night. This was an amazing show; we both LOVED it! The only one we didn't really care for was ELVIS; he neither looked nor sang much like the real Elvis. We did find out later he was the understudy. Elvis's girlfriend, Ginger; was FANTASTIC; as were "Carl Perkins", "Jerry Lee Lewis" and "Johnny Cash". Jerry Lee Lewis was my favorite and, in my opinion, the most talented of the bunch. This is a MUST SEE! We had dinner before the play at Canaletto's at the Venetian at their "outdoor" patio on the second floor. Wonderful meal and MIMES performing in the open area outside of the patio seating for us to take in as we dined!
Other highlights were MY BIRTHDAY. For my birthday celebration, (jumping to mid-afternoon), we started out having a cocktail at the Chandelier bar at the Cosmopolitan. We were on the third level, after checking out each level to see which had the best view. I had the best brandy manhattan i've ever had and Joe had a Hennessy on the rocks. He was quite impressed with the place and he took some great pictures there. After that we walked to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant and this was a fantastic experience. We had a table overlooking the Bellagio Fountain Show and it was so beautiful and romantic, and the meal was superb. We both had the Pacific Salmon with Pinot Noir Sauce; as well as some wonderful accompaniments. Also, since they knew it was my birthday they brought chocolate mousse at the end, as well as a plate of petit fours. I was glad i choose this place over the other two contenders - Charlie Palmer Steak at the Four Seasons or Alize at the Palms. They received a nice tip for their impeccable service and food.
We took in a Motown show right at the South Point on Wednesday night. This was five black men in brightly colored suits (one pink, one orange, one lime green, etc.) singing and dancing IN SYNC to all the Motown hits. They had musical accompaniment behind them; drums, guitar, keyboard, etc. They had a large dance floor and encouraged audience participation each song, and they pretty much had the whole place dancing; even us; and it was a blast! (They had Paul's Revere's Raiders playing in this showroom the weekend before we checked in. Wonder what happened to Paul Revere though?! We heard it was good though from someone who had gone . . . .)
Only other real highlight was a trip to the RIO Wine Cellar on our last night in town (Thursday). I wanted to play some BJ at the Palms beforehand, and had the best time playing with a really fun dealer who wanted the four of us at the table to win so badly and pretty much willed himself to bust almost every time, which he did! Made myself a quick hundy AFTER TIP and high tailed it over to the Wine Cellar. Leta was our server, and we indulged in a Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz, then we took quite a few pictures there, then I got a glass of Tait the Ball Buster shiraz to take to the gambling floor; but gambling there proved to be a mistake. We wandered and wandered in our attempt to find a loose machine, but alas it wasn't to be; and we very quickly donated to the ailing Caesar's empire. But then we SCORED big time at the seafood restaurant "Buzio's" at the RIO. To my surprise, Joe had never had halibut, but decided to order it along with me, and it was sooooooo delicious this night. Everything was wonderful - a fantastic way to spend the last evening in my favorite city!
Thanks for reading!
Gail from MN
