SATURDAY con't:
Gail and I meet Jen and Ana at the Salute Lounge and order a bottle of champagne..hey, it's my birthday. The dueling piano players are knocking out request after request, although the crowd is a little subdued for a Saturday night. Things get a little interesting when a young woman and her boyfriend start dancing to one of the tunes which evolves into a heavy make-out session..didn't know you could do that with a tongue. Their friends break up the action on the dance floor, but the girl returns to do a solo act...thought sure the clothes were coming off...so did the piano players...too funny. We closed down the place at 01:30, enoying the music and catching up on what the girls have been doing since they moved from San Fransico to Santa Rosa a couple of months ago. Jen and Ana are pretty pumped up to be in Vegas so looks like we are going for a late night strip crawl towards the Cosmo.
We stopped at Gail's Elvis slot and bingo, she hits another bonus; this time for 500 coins...a tidy $125 win. Next stop is Casino Royale for $1 Michelobs. The strip is jammed with people of every size and description...pretty crazy. As we are making our way thru the masses at Harrah's Carnival Court...who do I bump into? Max of Oxford, England naturally. Introductions to the girls are in order...Max insists he buy me a tequila shot...sounds good to me...haven't done tequila shots since college....bottoms up! Max has to leave for the airport in a couple of hours....tell him if he is ever in Minnesota.....bring warm clothes, it's cold as hell up there. Wish Max the best...hope to see him in Vegas some day...you never know.
We continue our walk to the Cosmo; the girls are really in awe with the place. The casino is packed with 20 somethings...I really feel old in this place. After the grand tour it's back to Bill's; the girls are hungry...they want something cheap and don't want to wait forever for their food...I suggest the Victorian Room...quick, cheap food (graveyard special) and interesting people watching. It's now 03:30 and Gail and I are running on fumes. Say goodnight to Jen and Ana and cab it back to the Rio without incident. It's lights out until 09:00...slept like a rock.
SUNDAY:
We lounged in the room drinking coffee...Jen and Ana were coming over to bring me my birthday present...something big...they had to include it as checked baggage on the plane. I went down to the Sports Deli to grab something for lunch....place was a zoo...decided to get it to go and take it back up to the room. Another triple decker sandwich to share with Gail...delicious. The girls arrived shortly thereafter with a large red soft sided cooler on wheels....hmmmmm. What a neat gift, especially when you unzipped the top and saw that it perfectly held a box designed to fit a case of wine in. The girls had picked out ten bottles of Sonoma and Napa Valley wine to add to my wine stock...which now exceeds 90 bottles. Gail's present was a nice shirt and a framed photograph of her when we were on vacation on Mackinaw Island this summer. First time in over ten years that someone has given me a birthday gift...I'm choked with emotion. Hugs all around. The girls want to take the shuttle and do some more exploring on the strip, so off they go. Gail and I spent a few hours at the pool, relaxing in the sun.
The plan is for all of us to meet at the Wine Cellar at 17:00 for pre-dinner libations before heading out to Fleming's Prime Steakhouse. Jose treats the birthday Boy with a nice glass of Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc, while the girls share the "Grassy Fields" wine flight. Very nice atmosphere to sit and have a quiet conversation with family/friends while sampling some great wines.
I summon the MKZ from the valet and we are off to Flemings for dinner. The restaurant is west on Charleston, just past Durgano...so it's a bit of a hike from the strip to get there. Our reservation is for 18:30 and place is pretty full with diners...mostly locals from the looks of it. The exterior of the building is unassuming, but the interior is well decorated...very warm and cozy. Our waiter was excellent, warm and engaging. Flemings has a list of 100 wines that you can order by the glass, so we each ordered a glass before dinner and then I ordered a bottle of Oren Swift "The Prisoner" with our main course. Sunday is Prime Rib day at Fleming's so the girls and I ordered that and Gail had their jumbo grilled shrimp. Our salads were crisp the prime rib was great....not the best that I have ever had, but damn close. We shared side dishes of green beans, mushrooms and creamed spinach. Ana, has to refrain from gluten containing foods and the waiter was very good and helping her make selections. I couldn't resist having a slice of Key Lime pie for dessert...yummy. The waiter then brought out a huge slice of chocolate cake for my birthday.....box please...save it for later. I know Ana loves Port wine, so I suggest she order a glass after dinner....well her and the waiter got talking about the various kinds of port...which turned into the waiter bringing over several glasses of port for us to try.....none of which appeared on the bill. By the time we left (around 21:00) the place was practically empty. Dinner for the four of us ran about $200 which included both the food and wine....great bargain. Can't say enough good things about the wait staff...very courteous and professional...will definitely dine here again.
It's show time.....we have tickets for the 10PM Blue Man Group show. I had found a promo code from Travel Zoo which gave me over 45% off on tickets....center section, 7th row. It is the 4th time I have seen them, but those guys still are hillariously entertaining. One guy walked right up to Ana, thought sure she was destined for a stage appearance, but then he moved on and picked out a girl in the row right behind us. Afterwards, we went over to the Venetian..Gail took one last shot at her Elvis slot, but tonight it looked like the King had "left the building"...no love. Drove the girls back to the Gold Coast, Gail and I played some slots at the Rio for a little bit (no wins) then bed.
MONDAY:
What better way to start out a Monday in Vegas but breakfast at Bouchon. It was a beautiful morning, so we sat outside in the courtyard and had a leisurely breakfast. I had my usual sourdough waffles with fresh strawberries with a side of country sausage....drool.......(my eyes are starting to glaze over just thinking about it)......where was I? After breakfast the girls wanted me to show them the game of craps, so we went down to Bill's and I took a place at stick left...my favorite position. Things were choppy at first, but then an older gentleman rolled for quite a while; didn't make his point, but rolled consistently sixes and eights, which added quite a few chips into my rack. My dice throwing was off today and I quickly 7'd out...drat. I put down a pass line bet for Gail and let her try her hand at rolling the bones. First toss is off the table...she's embarrassed, but I assure her that everyone has done that at one time or another. She then proceeds to have a nice roll, makes a point, rolls some more inside numbers, and I am back in the plus column again. Unfortunately, it's time to get the girls to the airport....leave even for the session, tipping the pleasant dealers nicely.
The trip to the airport was quick and the girls are on their way back home after some hugs...hope to spend a week out there in Santa Rosa this spring...mini wine tasting tour. Gail and I head back to the
Rio, valet the car and then take the shuttle back down to the strip to get into a degenerate gambling mode for the rest of the day. First stop is VP at the bar at Harrah's when I quench my thirst with a couple of Heinekens and play dead even for about 30 minutes. Gail wants to try T.I. for blackjack so we head over there. The next four hours were like a train wreck in slow motion. Dealers were kicking not only our asses, but everyone else as well. A young guy sitting at 1st base was betting about $30/hand when he gets dealt 8's, split, another 8, split....card...double down, next card, double down....now he is reaching into his wallet to cover his bets....3 bets, two of them double downs. He has 17,19 and 20 showing...dealer has a six...looking pretty good.....dealer draws about five cards to a 21...OUCH! That sums up the afternoon. We played for a while with a group of ladies who were having a good time...very funny conversations; but the losing continued at a steady rate and I finally threw in the towel when my 4th Bennie was toast.
We ate at the Mirage buffet with a BOGO coupon, but my appetite was lacking as I couldn't get the bad taste of losing out of my mouth....what a beat down. Gail enjoyed the food, but I really wasn't all that impressed with the selections...especially the desserts...no key lime pie, no carrot cake and no ice cream or gelato. Gail wanted to play some Pai Gow at Bill's so that was our after dinner stop. There was only one seat at the table so I let Gail take it and I sat down at an adjacent LIR table. My table mates were a fun group especially a lady sitting next to me from Wisconsin...what a hoot. She lives in a town not too far from where my brother lives and since I had lived in western Wisconsin for a number of years, we had a lot of Wisconsin talk...i.e. "How about them Packers!!" I wasn't getting any good hands until I stumbled onto a flush which gave me a tidy win...I bailed out from the table shortly thereafter and joined Gail at a blackjack table near the lounge area.
Monday night at Bill's is Karaoke night.....interesting. The highlight of the evening was watching this older woman who was dressed in a sailor suit, with her amble breasts ready to explode out of her top. Her trousers were slit along the sides, exposing her flesh from her waist down to mid-calf...a lot of flesh. She hit the stage with enthusiastical zeal and had the place rocking with her version of "In the Navy". Everyone in the joint was singing and clapping along...especially the younger guys sitting at the bar...what a hoot....even our dealer took pause to enjoy the show. We finally called it quits at 12:30 so that we could catch the last shuttle to the Rio at 0100. Me--down $350 for the day and Gail- down $140. Worse day of gambling for the trip.
TUESDAY:
I have the room until Wednesday, so we take our time packing...holy crap...I've got twice as much stuff as what I came with. We leave the bags in the room and go over to the Gold Coast to gamble. I sit at the bar and play 9/6 JOB at the 50 cent level and Gail hits the BJ tables. I'm steadily losing my buy in, when I get bored and switch over to playing deuces.....BANG hit a straight flush which puts me back even...cash out with putting quite a few points on my card...keep those offers coming...I need a free room for next trip. I join Gail and the table and have a pretty good session. I am sitting at 3rd base looking directly across from an older gentleman in a huge cowboy hat. He never uttered a sound the whole time I was at the table, but his facial expressions were priceless. I went on a run of about ten hands in a row where I was dealt a 14,15 or sixteen and drew a 20 or 21 each time. Have 15...hit me....get 20...1st base guy rolls his eyes....next hand, 1st base guy has 11, doubles down...draws a 3... I have a 16, draw a five for 21...1st base guy starts staring at the ceiling and shaking his head. Things cooled off after a while but I left the table up $60 to end the trip on a winning note...I'll take it.
I left the car with the valet; he would hold it for me while I checked out and came out with our bags. Check out was quick and I only had $125 left on the room bill after using my TR points.....how much did we spend at the wine cellar? Valet had the car ready when we walked out and helped us load up the car. Trip to the rental center was uneventful. I whipped out my $100 voucher, which causes a bit of a stir with the Enterprise people, but they checked with their supervisor & I received my credit.....a week's rental with a Lincoln MKZ for a total of $165....sweet. Couldn't get a first class upgrade at the ticket counter, but the clerk put us in a row without a 3rd person. The flight home was surprisingly quick....the landing was a little hair raising, however. We had high winds in Minneapolis and the plane tossed around like a kite coming in...got my attention. Left Las Vegas with temps near 100 and arrived to dreary overcast skies and a blustery 38 degrees....welcome home. The traffic was nonexistent for the 90 minute drive to Gail's house...in bed by 0200 with Gail's cat curled up next to me.
EPILOGUE:
Great trip, mostly because of my great travel companion Gail....we have so much fun together...Vegas just doubles down on the enjoyment. Had a good visit with my daughter, she seems to be doing well and is very happy living in Santa Rosa. She is taking a couple of classes at the community college, learning all about the wine industry...she loves being out in the vineyards handling the grapes, etc. We ate like Romans, drank a lot of great wines, saw three terrific shows and played a lot of blackjack. Gail came back in the plus column, winning over $125, while I came back losing about $400 of my backroll...not bad for seven days entertainment. All in all, this was one of the best birthdays that I've ever had. The strip was a madhouse over the weekend...place filled up with fight fans...I didn't find out about the fight result until I got home, however. I'm thinking that 7 days is not long enough....next year will try for 10.....how about it Gail, you game?
Madman Mike is talking about a trip in late January....he just became a Dad last month...I think his trip plans are wishful thinking for a while. I, on the otherhand, would like nothing better than a solo trip mid-winter....thinking of staying downtown..and make some brief visits to the strip during the day....sit at the bar at Margaritaville, people watch and sip those lovely Landshark drafts.....just a cheeseburger in Paradise. Thanks for reading....hope you enjoyed the ride.......
Gail and I meet Jen and Ana at the Salute Lounge and order a bottle of champagne..hey, it's my birthday. The dueling piano players are knocking out request after request, although the crowd is a little subdued for a Saturday night. Things get a little interesting when a young woman and her boyfriend start dancing to one of the tunes which evolves into a heavy make-out session..didn't know you could do that with a tongue. Their friends break up the action on the dance floor, but the girl returns to do a solo act...thought sure the clothes were coming off...so did the piano players...too funny. We closed down the place at 01:30, enoying the music and catching up on what the girls have been doing since they moved from San Fransico to Santa Rosa a couple of months ago. Jen and Ana are pretty pumped up to be in Vegas so looks like we are going for a late night strip crawl towards the Cosmo.
We stopped at Gail's Elvis slot and bingo, she hits another bonus; this time for 500 coins...a tidy $125 win. Next stop is Casino Royale for $1 Michelobs. The strip is jammed with people of every size and description...pretty crazy. As we are making our way thru the masses at Harrah's Carnival Court...who do I bump into? Max of Oxford, England naturally. Introductions to the girls are in order...Max insists he buy me a tequila shot...sounds good to me...haven't done tequila shots since college....bottoms up! Max has to leave for the airport in a couple of hours....tell him if he is ever in Minnesota.....bring warm clothes, it's cold as hell up there. Wish Max the best...hope to see him in Vegas some day...you never know.
We continue our walk to the Cosmo; the girls are really in awe with the place. The casino is packed with 20 somethings...I really feel old in this place. After the grand tour it's back to Bill's; the girls are hungry...they want something cheap and don't want to wait forever for their food...I suggest the Victorian Room...quick, cheap food (graveyard special) and interesting people watching. It's now 03:30 and Gail and I are running on fumes. Say goodnight to Jen and Ana and cab it back to the Rio without incident. It's lights out until 09:00...slept like a rock.
SUNDAY:
We lounged in the room drinking coffee...Jen and Ana were coming over to bring me my birthday present...something big...they had to include it as checked baggage on the plane. I went down to the Sports Deli to grab something for lunch....place was a zoo...decided to get it to go and take it back up to the room. Another triple decker sandwich to share with Gail...delicious. The girls arrived shortly thereafter with a large red soft sided cooler on wheels....hmmmmm. What a neat gift, especially when you unzipped the top and saw that it perfectly held a box designed to fit a case of wine in. The girls had picked out ten bottles of Sonoma and Napa Valley wine to add to my wine stock...which now exceeds 90 bottles. Gail's present was a nice shirt and a framed photograph of her when we were on vacation on Mackinaw Island this summer. First time in over ten years that someone has given me a birthday gift...I'm choked with emotion. Hugs all around. The girls want to take the shuttle and do some more exploring on the strip, so off they go. Gail and I spent a few hours at the pool, relaxing in the sun.
The plan is for all of us to meet at the Wine Cellar at 17:00 for pre-dinner libations before heading out to Fleming's Prime Steakhouse. Jose treats the birthday Boy with a nice glass of Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc, while the girls share the "Grassy Fields" wine flight. Very nice atmosphere to sit and have a quiet conversation with family/friends while sampling some great wines.
I summon the MKZ from the valet and we are off to Flemings for dinner. The restaurant is west on Charleston, just past Durgano...so it's a bit of a hike from the strip to get there. Our reservation is for 18:30 and place is pretty full with diners...mostly locals from the looks of it. The exterior of the building is unassuming, but the interior is well decorated...very warm and cozy. Our waiter was excellent, warm and engaging. Flemings has a list of 100 wines that you can order by the glass, so we each ordered a glass before dinner and then I ordered a bottle of Oren Swift "The Prisoner" with our main course. Sunday is Prime Rib day at Fleming's so the girls and I ordered that and Gail had their jumbo grilled shrimp. Our salads were crisp the prime rib was great....not the best that I have ever had, but damn close. We shared side dishes of green beans, mushrooms and creamed spinach. Ana, has to refrain from gluten containing foods and the waiter was very good and helping her make selections. I couldn't resist having a slice of Key Lime pie for dessert...yummy. The waiter then brought out a huge slice of chocolate cake for my birthday.....box please...save it for later. I know Ana loves Port wine, so I suggest she order a glass after dinner....well her and the waiter got talking about the various kinds of port...which turned into the waiter bringing over several glasses of port for us to try.....none of which appeared on the bill. By the time we left (around 21:00) the place was practically empty. Dinner for the four of us ran about $200 which included both the food and wine....great bargain. Can't say enough good things about the wait staff...very courteous and professional...will definitely dine here again.
It's show time.....we have tickets for the 10PM Blue Man Group show. I had found a promo code from Travel Zoo which gave me over 45% off on tickets....center section, 7th row. It is the 4th time I have seen them, but those guys still are hillariously entertaining. One guy walked right up to Ana, thought sure she was destined for a stage appearance, but then he moved on and picked out a girl in the row right behind us. Afterwards, we went over to the Venetian..Gail took one last shot at her Elvis slot, but tonight it looked like the King had "left the building"...no love. Drove the girls back to the Gold Coast, Gail and I played some slots at the Rio for a little bit (no wins) then bed.
MONDAY:
What better way to start out a Monday in Vegas but breakfast at Bouchon. It was a beautiful morning, so we sat outside in the courtyard and had a leisurely breakfast. I had my usual sourdough waffles with fresh strawberries with a side of country sausage....drool.......(my eyes are starting to glaze over just thinking about it)......where was I? After breakfast the girls wanted me to show them the game of craps, so we went down to Bill's and I took a place at stick left...my favorite position. Things were choppy at first, but then an older gentleman rolled for quite a while; didn't make his point, but rolled consistently sixes and eights, which added quite a few chips into my rack. My dice throwing was off today and I quickly 7'd out...drat. I put down a pass line bet for Gail and let her try her hand at rolling the bones. First toss is off the table...she's embarrassed, but I assure her that everyone has done that at one time or another. She then proceeds to have a nice roll, makes a point, rolls some more inside numbers, and I am back in the plus column again. Unfortunately, it's time to get the girls to the airport....leave even for the session, tipping the pleasant dealers nicely.
The trip to the airport was quick and the girls are on their way back home after some hugs...hope to spend a week out there in Santa Rosa this spring...mini wine tasting tour. Gail and I head back to the
Rio, valet the car and then take the shuttle back down to the strip to get into a degenerate gambling mode for the rest of the day. First stop is VP at the bar at Harrah's when I quench my thirst with a couple of Heinekens and play dead even for about 30 minutes. Gail wants to try T.I. for blackjack so we head over there. The next four hours were like a train wreck in slow motion. Dealers were kicking not only our asses, but everyone else as well. A young guy sitting at 1st base was betting about $30/hand when he gets dealt 8's, split, another 8, split....card...double down, next card, double down....now he is reaching into his wallet to cover his bets....3 bets, two of them double downs. He has 17,19 and 20 showing...dealer has a six...looking pretty good.....dealer draws about five cards to a 21...OUCH! That sums up the afternoon. We played for a while with a group of ladies who were having a good time...very funny conversations; but the losing continued at a steady rate and I finally threw in the towel when my 4th Bennie was toast.
We ate at the Mirage buffet with a BOGO coupon, but my appetite was lacking as I couldn't get the bad taste of losing out of my mouth....what a beat down. Gail enjoyed the food, but I really wasn't all that impressed with the selections...especially the desserts...no key lime pie, no carrot cake and no ice cream or gelato. Gail wanted to play some Pai Gow at Bill's so that was our after dinner stop. There was only one seat at the table so I let Gail take it and I sat down at an adjacent LIR table. My table mates were a fun group especially a lady sitting next to me from Wisconsin...what a hoot. She lives in a town not too far from where my brother lives and since I had lived in western Wisconsin for a number of years, we had a lot of Wisconsin talk...i.e. "How about them Packers!!" I wasn't getting any good hands until I stumbled onto a flush which gave me a tidy win...I bailed out from the table shortly thereafter and joined Gail at a blackjack table near the lounge area.
Monday night at Bill's is Karaoke night.....interesting. The highlight of the evening was watching this older woman who was dressed in a sailor suit, with her amble breasts ready to explode out of her top. Her trousers were slit along the sides, exposing her flesh from her waist down to mid-calf...a lot of flesh. She hit the stage with enthusiastical zeal and had the place rocking with her version of "In the Navy". Everyone in the joint was singing and clapping along...especially the younger guys sitting at the bar...what a hoot....even our dealer took pause to enjoy the show. We finally called it quits at 12:30 so that we could catch the last shuttle to the Rio at 0100. Me--down $350 for the day and Gail- down $140. Worse day of gambling for the trip.
TUESDAY:
I have the room until Wednesday, so we take our time packing...holy crap...I've got twice as much stuff as what I came with. We leave the bags in the room and go over to the Gold Coast to gamble. I sit at the bar and play 9/6 JOB at the 50 cent level and Gail hits the BJ tables. I'm steadily losing my buy in, when I get bored and switch over to playing deuces.....BANG hit a straight flush which puts me back even...cash out with putting quite a few points on my card...keep those offers coming...I need a free room for next trip. I join Gail and the table and have a pretty good session. I am sitting at 3rd base looking directly across from an older gentleman in a huge cowboy hat. He never uttered a sound the whole time I was at the table, but his facial expressions were priceless. I went on a run of about ten hands in a row where I was dealt a 14,15 or sixteen and drew a 20 or 21 each time. Have 15...hit me....get 20...1st base guy rolls his eyes....next hand, 1st base guy has 11, doubles down...draws a 3... I have a 16, draw a five for 21...1st base guy starts staring at the ceiling and shaking his head. Things cooled off after a while but I left the table up $60 to end the trip on a winning note...I'll take it.
I left the car with the valet; he would hold it for me while I checked out and came out with our bags. Check out was quick and I only had $125 left on the room bill after using my TR points.....how much did we spend at the wine cellar? Valet had the car ready when we walked out and helped us load up the car. Trip to the rental center was uneventful. I whipped out my $100 voucher, which causes a bit of a stir with the Enterprise people, but they checked with their supervisor & I received my credit.....a week's rental with a Lincoln MKZ for a total of $165....sweet. Couldn't get a first class upgrade at the ticket counter, but the clerk put us in a row without a 3rd person. The flight home was surprisingly quick....the landing was a little hair raising, however. We had high winds in Minneapolis and the plane tossed around like a kite coming in...got my attention. Left Las Vegas with temps near 100 and arrived to dreary overcast skies and a blustery 38 degrees....welcome home. The traffic was nonexistent for the 90 minute drive to Gail's house...in bed by 0200 with Gail's cat curled up next to me.
EPILOGUE:
Great trip, mostly because of my great travel companion Gail....we have so much fun together...Vegas just doubles down on the enjoyment. Had a good visit with my daughter, she seems to be doing well and is very happy living in Santa Rosa. She is taking a couple of classes at the community college, learning all about the wine industry...she loves being out in the vineyards handling the grapes, etc. We ate like Romans, drank a lot of great wines, saw three terrific shows and played a lot of blackjack. Gail came back in the plus column, winning over $125, while I came back losing about $400 of my backroll...not bad for seven days entertainment. All in all, this was one of the best birthdays that I've ever had. The strip was a madhouse over the weekend...place filled up with fight fans...I didn't find out about the fight result until I got home, however. I'm thinking that 7 days is not long enough....next year will try for 10.....how about it Gail, you game?
Madman Mike is talking about a trip in late January....he just became a Dad last month...I think his trip plans are wishful thinking for a while. I, on the otherhand, would like nothing better than a solo trip mid-winter....thinking of staying downtown..and make some brief visits to the strip during the day....sit at the bar at Margaritaville, people watch and sip those lovely Landshark drafts.....just a cheeseburger in Paradise. Thanks for reading....hope you enjoyed the ride.......
