Since I enjoy everyone else's so much, I feel obligated to post as well. I will skip travel other than to say we flew SWA and they were fine. We got in at 8:30 a.m. on a Thursday. Airport not too busy, but more people than I would have expected at that time. We headed straight to Aria to check in. We were able to check in, but got no room, just keys. We dropped our bags of and cabbed it to the Peppermill. A great way to start any Vegas trip. The Fireside Lounge is just as you remember it and still makes a great bloody mary (for me) and a great mai tai (for my wife). Breakfast was great, a hamsteak that covered the plate and an omelette for my wife.
We started walking and hit the Venetian to pick up our tickets for Tim Allen on Saturday night. We then hit the Mirage, found a $10 table and played for a couple of hours, up and down, community property wise, we left even. We always stop by the Bellagio conservatory and check out the display. It did not disappoint. Flower horses, giant pumpkins and trees with faces! What more could you want?
I had to get back to the Aria to enter into the slot tournament courtesy of MyVegas. There were two "heats." A total of 14 people. The winner gets $500 in freeplay, second place is two Zarkana tickets and third gets two Aria buffets. I was in the second heat. I was assigned the same machine that had the highest total during the first heat. And, it came in first again! We played the $500 through at the Alibi bar, 9/5 JoB. Turned it into $455. Drew four to a royal once, but couldn't connect. Alibi serves Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA. A very good brew, my wife turned $20 into $60 sitting right next to me, so a very fun session.
We then ran over to Harrah's to hang out with Big Elvis, another tradition. I made us go then because I didn't think he played on Friday, but he does. Our friends texted us that they had arrived and so we told them to meet us at Julian Serrano in Aria. We tried all of the sangrias, red, white and bubbly. Enjoyed them all, probably liked the red the most. I had booked Aria with a $50 resort credit, it was quickly eaten up at JS. We headed to the Cosmopolitan for dinner at China Poblano.
Two things, one, we walked through the walkway right next to the screened off Harmon just waiting for demolition. It will be good when it goes, and I was wondering if they are going to replace it or not. Do people know? Second thing, does the Cosmopolitan have a bad restaurant? We thoroughly enjoyed Jose Andres' China Poblano. Not fusion, just a great combination of Mexican and Chinese street food done with high end ingredients. If I had a gripe, the drinks were fine and interesting, but not on the same level as the food.
Then we started our Harrah's Strip Crawl. We planned to hit all of the Harrah's properties over two nights. We started at the PHo and played some craps and had a beer. Finished up around $40. Walked to the Paris, tried to figure out what to do and ended up playing bar top vp over near some live music. The VP was not serious as we were distracted by several dancers getting their groove on. Surprisingly, it was the middle aged guys garnering the most attention. One very aggressive guy would not take no for an answer from his prospective partners. The other guys looked put together from the waist up, but was wearing running shorts which were way too short. Had a few drinks, including the world's worst margarita and headed to Bally's. I can't remember what we played here, but we spent some time here and then hit the Cromwell. We have always liked this place since it was the Barbary Coast and it still has a great feel. It looks great and its small so that cocktail service is always strong. We sat down to a $10 blackjack table and played until 2:30 in the morning, pretty late for us. At one point I switched to chardonnay, which was very tasty, but apparently not manly enough for our group or the cocktail waitress. I took a lot of grief for the wine, but it was good and hit the spot. We left there up over $300 between my wife and I. Great end to a great first day. I'll post the second day in a second post.
We started walking and hit the Venetian to pick up our tickets for Tim Allen on Saturday night. We then hit the Mirage, found a $10 table and played for a couple of hours, up and down, community property wise, we left even. We always stop by the Bellagio conservatory and check out the display. It did not disappoint. Flower horses, giant pumpkins and trees with faces! What more could you want?
I had to get back to the Aria to enter into the slot tournament courtesy of MyVegas. There were two "heats." A total of 14 people. The winner gets $500 in freeplay, second place is two Zarkana tickets and third gets two Aria buffets. I was in the second heat. I was assigned the same machine that had the highest total during the first heat. And, it came in first again! We played the $500 through at the Alibi bar, 9/5 JoB. Turned it into $455. Drew four to a royal once, but couldn't connect. Alibi serves Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA. A very good brew, my wife turned $20 into $60 sitting right next to me, so a very fun session.
We then ran over to Harrah's to hang out with Big Elvis, another tradition. I made us go then because I didn't think he played on Friday, but he does. Our friends texted us that they had arrived and so we told them to meet us at Julian Serrano in Aria. We tried all of the sangrias, red, white and bubbly. Enjoyed them all, probably liked the red the most. I had booked Aria with a $50 resort credit, it was quickly eaten up at JS. We headed to the Cosmopolitan for dinner at China Poblano.
Two things, one, we walked through the walkway right next to the screened off Harmon just waiting for demolition. It will be good when it goes, and I was wondering if they are going to replace it or not. Do people know? Second thing, does the Cosmopolitan have a bad restaurant? We thoroughly enjoyed Jose Andres' China Poblano. Not fusion, just a great combination of Mexican and Chinese street food done with high end ingredients. If I had a gripe, the drinks were fine and interesting, but not on the same level as the food.
Then we started our Harrah's Strip Crawl. We planned to hit all of the Harrah's properties over two nights. We started at the PHo and played some craps and had a beer. Finished up around $40. Walked to the Paris, tried to figure out what to do and ended up playing bar top vp over near some live music. The VP was not serious as we were distracted by several dancers getting their groove on. Surprisingly, it was the middle aged guys garnering the most attention. One very aggressive guy would not take no for an answer from his prospective partners. The other guys looked put together from the waist up, but was wearing running shorts which were way too short. Had a few drinks, including the world's worst margarita and headed to Bally's. I can't remember what we played here, but we spent some time here and then hit the Cromwell. We have always liked this place since it was the Barbary Coast and it still has a great feel. It looks great and its small so that cocktail service is always strong. We sat down to a $10 blackjack table and played until 2:30 in the morning, pretty late for us. At one point I switched to chardonnay, which was very tasty, but apparently not manly enough for our group or the cocktail waitress. I took a lot of grief for the wine, but it was good and hit the spot. We left there up over $300 between my wife and I. Great end to a great first day. I'll post the second day in a second post.
