At a somewhat last minute decision we decided to take the family and head to Vegas for a three day trip over New Year. We've previously gone either until NYE, or arrived on NY and stayed longer. This time, we said, "OK let's see what really happens in Vegas on New Year's Eve!" To be honest, I was somewhat disappointed I thought it would be New Year, Super Bowl & Mardi Gras all rolled into one...so I guess my expectations were too high to begin with.
The rest of the family drove a few days prior (we live in Los Angeles so the drive's not too bad), but I had to work (someone's gotta' pay for the trip!) and I flew out on Sunday out of Burbank. It's a great quick flight from BUR - LAS...but boy were the planes completely packed heading into Vegas! Got picked up at the airport and before heading to the Trop (my "home away from home"), went to LVH to help friends get settled over there. Back to Trop to unpack and unwind, and then over to friends who live in Vegas for a delicious BBQ Birthday Dinner! My B-Day is December 30th, and each year I just celebrate the anniversary of my 29th birthday...I never seem to get older Not too much play the first night, so off to bed at a decent time - before midnight is a decent time for Vegas.
Monday 12/31 - ahhhh....New Year's Eve in Vegas! Got a call from my casino host to stop by his office and pick up VIP NYE party tix for big splash at Trop. I gotta' tell you...I love the Trop! Being going there for over 20 years, and in my humble opinion, just the best place to stay in Vegas. I like the Southern end of the strip, and have always liked the Trop, even though it's always needed major upgrading. Now that the remodel is pretty much complete, even better! It's so beautiful now....most of the staff have been there fore years, and I feel part of the family. My casino hosts are amazing and extremely hospitable. I was hoping for a beautiful suite that we got over July 4th last Summer...but it's NYE, and not a suite to be found (unless I opened a $50k line of credit...sorry, not happening). We used to enjoy the "bungalow - garden rooms" at Trop, but since they remodeled, these rooms have been out of service for a few years. Luckily for me, they're finally remodeling these rooms, and will be available by the end of this month. Sweet, I love hanging out on the balcony overlooking the pool area and just enjoying the evening.
Late wake up and down to the casino for coffee and VP. There's one machine at the Trop that has 50 play...I love this machine! I don't go crazy, so I play nickel per hand x 50 play = $2.50 per round. As usual, I'm up and down, about to head out for the day and boom...one RF for a nice payout of $250! Cash out, and go take the family to UNLV to check things out. My younger daughter took a campus tour last summer, really liked the place and the people on campus and has applied for Fall 2013. She's excited about the prospects of becoming a Runnin' Rebel (although we're UCLA Bruins through and through). She will major in Criminal Justice and wants to be a CSI (I guess she takes after her dad... a funeral director!) Off to Panini for lunch (corner of Sahara & Ft. Apache)....great European style food. One of my favorites when visiting sin city...you should check it out. Great portions, and priced very reasonably! Back to the hotel to try to find parking before the parking lot & strip are shut down for the evening festivities. Barely make it in before the place is all shut down!
We all planned to "walk the strip" at night. Daughter not feeling well, so she and wife stay in room. Son tells me "Dad, you promised we're going out to watch the craziness on the strip". So....we get bundled up and out of the hotel at about 11pm to start walking and people watching. FREEZING OUTSIDE!! I forgot how darn cold it gets in Vegas at night in the Winter (duh....it's the desert, hot in the summer, cold in the Winter). I'm an L.A. boy born and bred....and for us, under 50 degrees is pretty much bone chilling We're doing our walking, enjoying lots of live entertainment outside many of the strip hotels, and I am amazed at all the young people wearing next to nothing walking around like it's a Summer day! After an hour or so...back to the hotel (the cold air is starting to get to me). Again, I thought it would be absolutely nuts on the street, but it was actually pretty melow....that was my disappointment! Yes, there was a large police presence, but I thought I'd catch at least a few good drunken fights on the street - nothing! Enjoyed a late night with **Lots** of other people packed into the casino, and nighty night....
New Year's Day 2013. So, what's the first thing I can think of for NY in Vegas? Of course, Pinball Hall of Fame!! Boy, I love this place! Where else can you spend hours of fun in Vegas for 10 bucks? If you enjoyed pinball and video games as a kid growing up this is always the place to go. We're actually the first ones there, and I can proudly say that I was the first customer of the new year in the pinball joint After heading back to the strip to walk around and catch a late lunch, we decided to head to Excalibur for Australian Bee Gees that night. Found 1/2 price on Goldstar (love Goldstar - never spent full price on any tickets!). Normally we see the amazing Human Nature - but they were on the annual Australian hiatus till moving over to Venetian shortly. I can't wait to see them in their new showroom, as the IP is such a total dump! they don't need to remodel, they need to blow the place up! I wanted to see Vegas! The Show - but the kids thought they'd enjoy Bee Gees. I saw them last year, and they were fantastic, with all the groovy '60s and '70s hits I grew up on. To my severe disappointment, it was not the "regular fake Bee Gees" ..... it was the "Fake - fake Bee Gees". I noticed that the guys on stage looked nothing like the guys I saw last year. Their voices constantly cracked through the falsettos. They were off key on many of the songs.... I was extremely disappointed! We were never told that the real guys were not there (I don't know if they filled in, or are the prmanent "new fake Bee Gees". Back to the Trop for a few more hours of play, this time BJ...kind of disappointed that 21 paid 6/5 not 3/2...oh well...still up about $150 for the night.
Next morning, getting ready to leave Vegas, head over to my favorite 50 play VP, and after much praying...bam, I get dealt a 4 OAK! Hold the cards, and up pops 50 4 OAK's on the machine....a cool $375 win on one hand...yeeahawww...I'm actually heading home with money in my pocket!! Head back to the airport for a packed, but relatively normal short flight back home. As usual, had a great time....got treated extremely well by my hosts again...and look forward to the next trip back to sin city!
The rest of the family drove a few days prior (we live in Los Angeles so the drive's not too bad), but I had to work (someone's gotta' pay for the trip!) and I flew out on Sunday out of Burbank. It's a great quick flight from BUR - LAS...but boy were the planes completely packed heading into Vegas! Got picked up at the airport and before heading to the Trop (my "home away from home"), went to LVH to help friends get settled over there. Back to Trop to unpack and unwind, and then over to friends who live in Vegas for a delicious BBQ Birthday Dinner! My B-Day is December 30th, and each year I just celebrate the anniversary of my 29th birthday...I never seem to get older Not too much play the first night, so off to bed at a decent time - before midnight is a decent time for Vegas.
Monday 12/31 - ahhhh....New Year's Eve in Vegas! Got a call from my casino host to stop by his office and pick up VIP NYE party tix for big splash at Trop. I gotta' tell you...I love the Trop! Being going there for over 20 years, and in my humble opinion, just the best place to stay in Vegas. I like the Southern end of the strip, and have always liked the Trop, even though it's always needed major upgrading. Now that the remodel is pretty much complete, even better! It's so beautiful now....most of the staff have been there fore years, and I feel part of the family. My casino hosts are amazing and extremely hospitable. I was hoping for a beautiful suite that we got over July 4th last Summer...but it's NYE, and not a suite to be found (unless I opened a $50k line of credit...sorry, not happening). We used to enjoy the "bungalow - garden rooms" at Trop, but since they remodeled, these rooms have been out of service for a few years. Luckily for me, they're finally remodeling these rooms, and will be available by the end of this month. Sweet, I love hanging out on the balcony overlooking the pool area and just enjoying the evening.
Late wake up and down to the casino for coffee and VP. There's one machine at the Trop that has 50 play...I love this machine! I don't go crazy, so I play nickel per hand x 50 play = $2.50 per round. As usual, I'm up and down, about to head out for the day and boom...one RF for a nice payout of $250! Cash out, and go take the family to UNLV to check things out. My younger daughter took a campus tour last summer, really liked the place and the people on campus and has applied for Fall 2013. She's excited about the prospects of becoming a Runnin' Rebel (although we're UCLA Bruins through and through). She will major in Criminal Justice and wants to be a CSI (I guess she takes after her dad... a funeral director!) Off to Panini for lunch (corner of Sahara & Ft. Apache)....great European style food. One of my favorites when visiting sin city...you should check it out. Great portions, and priced very reasonably! Back to the hotel to try to find parking before the parking lot & strip are shut down for the evening festivities. Barely make it in before the place is all shut down!
We all planned to "walk the strip" at night. Daughter not feeling well, so she and wife stay in room. Son tells me "Dad, you promised we're going out to watch the craziness on the strip". So....we get bundled up and out of the hotel at about 11pm to start walking and people watching. FREEZING OUTSIDE!! I forgot how darn cold it gets in Vegas at night in the Winter (duh....it's the desert, hot in the summer, cold in the Winter). I'm an L.A. boy born and bred....and for us, under 50 degrees is pretty much bone chilling We're doing our walking, enjoying lots of live entertainment outside many of the strip hotels, and I am amazed at all the young people wearing next to nothing walking around like it's a Summer day! After an hour or so...back to the hotel (the cold air is starting to get to me). Again, I thought it would be absolutely nuts on the street, but it was actually pretty melow....that was my disappointment! Yes, there was a large police presence, but I thought I'd catch at least a few good drunken fights on the street - nothing! Enjoyed a late night with **Lots** of other people packed into the casino, and nighty night....
New Year's Day 2013. So, what's the first thing I can think of for NY in Vegas? Of course, Pinball Hall of Fame!! Boy, I love this place! Where else can you spend hours of fun in Vegas for 10 bucks? If you enjoyed pinball and video games as a kid growing up this is always the place to go. We're actually the first ones there, and I can proudly say that I was the first customer of the new year in the pinball joint After heading back to the strip to walk around and catch a late lunch, we decided to head to Excalibur for Australian Bee Gees that night. Found 1/2 price on Goldstar (love Goldstar - never spent full price on any tickets!). Normally we see the amazing Human Nature - but they were on the annual Australian hiatus till moving over to Venetian shortly. I can't wait to see them in their new showroom, as the IP is such a total dump! they don't need to remodel, they need to blow the place up! I wanted to see Vegas! The Show - but the kids thought they'd enjoy Bee Gees. I saw them last year, and they were fantastic, with all the groovy '60s and '70s hits I grew up on. To my severe disappointment, it was not the "regular fake Bee Gees" ..... it was the "Fake - fake Bee Gees". I noticed that the guys on stage looked nothing like the guys I saw last year. Their voices constantly cracked through the falsettos. They were off key on many of the songs.... I was extremely disappointed! We were never told that the real guys were not there (I don't know if they filled in, or are the prmanent "new fake Bee Gees". Back to the Trop for a few more hours of play, this time BJ...kind of disappointed that 21 paid 6/5 not 3/2...oh well...still up about $150 for the night.
Next morning, getting ready to leave Vegas, head over to my favorite 50 play VP, and after much praying...bam, I get dealt a 4 OAK! Hold the cards, and up pops 50 4 OAK's on the machine....a cool $375 win on one hand...yeeahawww...I'm actually heading home with money in my pocket!! Head back to the airport for a packed, but relatively normal short flight back home. As usual, had a great time....got treated extremely well by my hosts again...and look forward to the next trip back to sin city!
