Summer 2012 – Day 34
My last full day in Las Vegas. I leave after the tournament tomorrow (unless I get a really high score—haha). However, I still have the day. I have bit of a surprise to share: I’m sitting down reading a chapter from my book in the “library” and I feel a tickle on my foot. I look down and there’s a very tiny ant racing across my toes. I live in Pine Valley, which is in the mountains east of San Diego, so I’m no stranger to insects and bugs. I look over and I see a very small hole at the bottom of the shower stall. There are only a couple of them. I’m curious first because the room is cleaned every day so there’s no food source but I’m sure it’s the water they’re after; however, what is really surprising is that I’m on the TOP floor of the hotel 35 stories up. These are some very determined ants.
My first stop was Starbucks by the Palms to post the report, and then I had a couple hours before the tournament and so I decided to have some breakfast. I drove to the correct Irene’s this time that supposedly has a ham breakfast like the old days. I did find it and peered in. There was only one customer in the place and it smelled like old cigarettes, so I passed.
A smoker friendly bar and grill...not so much for me
I drove to the Rio where the tournament is going to take place, but I still had quite a bit of time, so I walked over to the breakfast buffet. The Rio Buffet was the very first to use the “food station” concept now employed by most of the major buffets in town and pretty much everywhere. With breakfast, many of the stations were closed, but they did have a wide variety of foods on the menu. I’m pretty set in my ways and stuck with the basics. As I had lots of time, I bought a paper and read it almost cover-to-cover enjoying coffee and finishing off with bread pudding.
I did play one round of Lord of the Rings, and for one of the few times at this game, I lost. As I was waiting by the 777 machines for the tournament to begin, I saw a familiar face. I walked over and said hi. Regina is an older Asian lady that I would always run into at Harrahs, Laughlin. When they still had 9/6 Jacks on the 50-play machines there, we sat side-by-side playing though her favorite game is Bonus Deuces. I was next to her when she was dealt four deuces ($2500) and about three years ago, she was dealt a royal for $10,000. She’s a 7 Star card holder and though we really don’t talk much to each other, we always nod and say hello. She does all the tournaments so we had a small chat. She mentioned that she’s moving to Lake Tahoe as the games up there are still much better to play. The schedules at Harvey’s Casino (a Caesar’s property) still have quite a few full pay games.
The tournament began and I hit the top Red White Blue 7s right away. Of course, that was the last time I hit them and I ended up with a score of just over 5,000. The person two machines down from me had over 16,000. I can only shake my head at why I can never get a hot machine at these slot tournaments….someone has to.
Being that it is my last day in Vegas, I did promise I’d get a picture of the new Ferris wheel going up across from Mandalay Bay. I parked in the Mandalay Bay self parking and made the long trek to the hotel and when I had just about reached the door, I realized I had left my phone in the car—ahh! Back I went to the car to get it. We have become slaves to these damn cell phones! Yes, I could have just left it, but I’m as hooked as everyone else, it just doesn’t feel right.
As I walked in, the first notable thing was the curtain up around the Rum Jungle as it’s being taken over by someone else. This is so sad because at one time the Rum Jungle was THE place to be in Las Vegas. You’d walk by this place at night and there’d big a huge line to get in to the place. Now—it’s not more. The nightclub business in Las Vegas is very lucrative, but it’s also really a big risk as one night you’re “in” and the next night you’re “out.” Mandalay Bay is really a huge box-type casino with center circular nightclubs/bars breaking up the boxy look of the place. The one thing that stands out here is their pool with the wave machine, three different pool areas for adults/kids and the moving river that circles the whole thing. If pools are your thing, this is the place to be—I’ve never stayed at Mandalay Bay.
The Mandalay Pool area today. It's 107, so this is the place to be
I walked to the convention area because this is where the Border Grill is located. This 4-star gourmet Mexican restaurant is special because my daughter worked here when they first opened. They’ve completely changed and remodeled the place since she’s worked here, but I wanted to at least get a picture of the place for her.
Entrance to Border Grill...complete different now
I took the walk from Mandalay Bay to the Luxor. Those of you who remember the “old days” about this walk will remember that you’d take an escalator to a long, long walk along a narrow empty pathway until you reached the Luxor. Someone came up with the brilliant idea that if people are going to take that walk, why not make some money? So, Mandalay Bay
Place was born. A stream of shops and restaurants including a bar that you have to wear a fur coat because it’s kept at minus 5 degrees, a gourmet burger joint where some burgers cost more than some small apartments, and plenty of other shops to leave your money. I always wonder about the four or five restaurants here. With Mandalay Bay and Luxor having seven or eight restaurants themselves, how do these places manage to attract enough business? But they do. The Irish place was jammed at one in the afternoon today.
The Luxor, as I’ve mentioned in reports from years past, has become, like the Monte Carlo, almost an afterthought. However, they’ve done a very good job of remodeling the casino floor so that it looks new and modern and the upstairs kid-friendly exhibit halls are constantly changing currently hosting the Titanic and Body exhibits. As I walk through it, they are constructing something new once again.
The Luxor
I’m not gambling much today, but I picked up my M-card (MGMs slot card) and played a $20 through a large Alien machine. I ordered a Corona and played at the lowest level of $.20 per pull. My beer came and I was doing well and went up to the $.40 level and finally cashed out with a sweet little $30 profit. It’s amusing how you tend to do well when you really don’t care that much. I finally took the tram back to Mandalay Bay (by way of the Excalibur, a place I avoid like the plague) and sat down at a 4 Dragons machine. My very first hit of the button was a bonus round. I won $11 and cashed out having only played fifty cents.
I finally made it out to the front of the Mandalay Bay to take the picture of the Ferris wheel; however, it was SO hot today, I had no desire to walk all the way around the valet area to the front of the hotel to get the pic. I noticed that next to the construction was an out of business jewelry store and noted I could park there to get the pic. I walked back to my car and made my way over there. I keep all of my pictures from all of my trip reports for the past six or seven years on a site called photobucket.com. Here are the pictures I’ve taken of the old Showboat casino before it became the Center City Project along with all of the pictures of the Center City in all its stages of construction around the years that I was in Las Vegas. So, I take these pictures of these places to see the progression based on my stays here. One day these two concrete feet will hold up a massive wheel with boxes large enough for people to have dinners and group parties. It’s all part of the fun.
The Wheel Begins
I'll refer back to this next year when this thing is finished and take another pic
I headed back to Harrahs. It was only about 3 PM and the Diamond Lounge doesn’t open until 4. I decided that since I was doing the whole tourist thing this summer, I might as well hit the very last group of hotels I having visited this trip and that’s the Venetian and Palazzo. It was right next door to Harrahs, so why not? I’m certainly getting all my exercise today. Not a lot has changed here. There’s still the beautiful shopping area, the gondolas, and the couples riding them being serenaded. As always, this place is simply jammed with people. In the area between the two hotels, there was a show going on to the delight of the crowd.
Performers at the waterfall between Palazzo and the Venetian
At the Venetian...still one of the prettiest places to have a lunch or dinner
I walked next door to the Palazzo to the new Walgreens. It simply amazes me that a drug store pays the enormous cost of real estate to be on the strip ($2.5 million an acre) and still make a profit. I went in to get an Arizona Ice Tea. Well, this Walgreens was huge. There were 12, that’s right, 12 cashiers all working hard to keep up with the lines of people buying souvenirs, medicines, candies, and oh yes, drugs from the place. Suddenly, it all made a little more sense. I walked back to Harrahs and then to the Diamond Lounge where I’d be having my dinner tonight—chicken wings and cut vegetables. The bar tender now knows me and had a margarita waiting for me before I sat down (I actually was going to order a gin and tonic tonight, but I was so flattered I didn’t say anything and stuck to margaritas)
I finally made it back to my room, looked out the window and said my final goodbyes to Las Vegas for this trip. It’s off to Laughlin…again.
More tomorrow.
My last full day in Las Vegas. I leave after the tournament tomorrow (unless I get a really high score—haha). However, I still have the day. I have bit of a surprise to share: I’m sitting down reading a chapter from my book in the “library” and I feel a tickle on my foot. I look down and there’s a very tiny ant racing across my toes. I live in Pine Valley, which is in the mountains east of San Diego, so I’m no stranger to insects and bugs. I look over and I see a very small hole at the bottom of the shower stall. There are only a couple of them. I’m curious first because the room is cleaned every day so there’s no food source but I’m sure it’s the water they’re after; however, what is really surprising is that I’m on the TOP floor of the hotel 35 stories up. These are some very determined ants.
My first stop was Starbucks by the Palms to post the report, and then I had a couple hours before the tournament and so I decided to have some breakfast. I drove to the correct Irene’s this time that supposedly has a ham breakfast like the old days. I did find it and peered in. There was only one customer in the place and it smelled like old cigarettes, so I passed.
A smoker friendly bar and grill...not so much for me
I drove to the Rio where the tournament is going to take place, but I still had quite a bit of time, so I walked over to the breakfast buffet. The Rio Buffet was the very first to use the “food station” concept now employed by most of the major buffets in town and pretty much everywhere. With breakfast, many of the stations were closed, but they did have a wide variety of foods on the menu. I’m pretty set in my ways and stuck with the basics. As I had lots of time, I bought a paper and read it almost cover-to-cover enjoying coffee and finishing off with bread pudding.
I did play one round of Lord of the Rings, and for one of the few times at this game, I lost. As I was waiting by the 777 machines for the tournament to begin, I saw a familiar face. I walked over and said hi. Regina is an older Asian lady that I would always run into at Harrahs, Laughlin. When they still had 9/6 Jacks on the 50-play machines there, we sat side-by-side playing though her favorite game is Bonus Deuces. I was next to her when she was dealt four deuces ($2500) and about three years ago, she was dealt a royal for $10,000. She’s a 7 Star card holder and though we really don’t talk much to each other, we always nod and say hello. She does all the tournaments so we had a small chat. She mentioned that she’s moving to Lake Tahoe as the games up there are still much better to play. The schedules at Harvey’s Casino (a Caesar’s property) still have quite a few full pay games.
The tournament began and I hit the top Red White Blue 7s right away. Of course, that was the last time I hit them and I ended up with a score of just over 5,000. The person two machines down from me had over 16,000. I can only shake my head at why I can never get a hot machine at these slot tournaments….someone has to.
Being that it is my last day in Vegas, I did promise I’d get a picture of the new Ferris wheel going up across from Mandalay Bay. I parked in the Mandalay Bay self parking and made the long trek to the hotel and when I had just about reached the door, I realized I had left my phone in the car—ahh! Back I went to the car to get it. We have become slaves to these damn cell phones! Yes, I could have just left it, but I’m as hooked as everyone else, it just doesn’t feel right.
As I walked in, the first notable thing was the curtain up around the Rum Jungle as it’s being taken over by someone else. This is so sad because at one time the Rum Jungle was THE place to be in Las Vegas. You’d walk by this place at night and there’d big a huge line to get in to the place. Now—it’s not more. The nightclub business in Las Vegas is very lucrative, but it’s also really a big risk as one night you’re “in” and the next night you’re “out.” Mandalay Bay is really a huge box-type casino with center circular nightclubs/bars breaking up the boxy look of the place. The one thing that stands out here is their pool with the wave machine, three different pool areas for adults/kids and the moving river that circles the whole thing. If pools are your thing, this is the place to be—I’ve never stayed at Mandalay Bay.
The Mandalay Pool area today. It's 107, so this is the place to be
I walked to the convention area because this is where the Border Grill is located. This 4-star gourmet Mexican restaurant is special because my daughter worked here when they first opened. They’ve completely changed and remodeled the place since she’s worked here, but I wanted to at least get a picture of the place for her.
Entrance to Border Grill...complete different now
I took the walk from Mandalay Bay to the Luxor. Those of you who remember the “old days” about this walk will remember that you’d take an escalator to a long, long walk along a narrow empty pathway until you reached the Luxor. Someone came up with the brilliant idea that if people are going to take that walk, why not make some money? So, Mandalay Bay
Place was born. A stream of shops and restaurants including a bar that you have to wear a fur coat because it’s kept at minus 5 degrees, a gourmet burger joint where some burgers cost more than some small apartments, and plenty of other shops to leave your money. I always wonder about the four or five restaurants here. With Mandalay Bay and Luxor having seven or eight restaurants themselves, how do these places manage to attract enough business? But they do. The Irish place was jammed at one in the afternoon today.
The Luxor, as I’ve mentioned in reports from years past, has become, like the Monte Carlo, almost an afterthought. However, they’ve done a very good job of remodeling the casino floor so that it looks new and modern and the upstairs kid-friendly exhibit halls are constantly changing currently hosting the Titanic and Body exhibits. As I walk through it, they are constructing something new once again.
The Luxor
I’m not gambling much today, but I picked up my M-card (MGMs slot card) and played a $20 through a large Alien machine. I ordered a Corona and played at the lowest level of $.20 per pull. My beer came and I was doing well and went up to the $.40 level and finally cashed out with a sweet little $30 profit. It’s amusing how you tend to do well when you really don’t care that much. I finally took the tram back to Mandalay Bay (by way of the Excalibur, a place I avoid like the plague) and sat down at a 4 Dragons machine. My very first hit of the button was a bonus round. I won $11 and cashed out having only played fifty cents.
I finally made it out to the front of the Mandalay Bay to take the picture of the Ferris wheel; however, it was SO hot today, I had no desire to walk all the way around the valet area to the front of the hotel to get the pic. I noticed that next to the construction was an out of business jewelry store and noted I could park there to get the pic. I walked back to my car and made my way over there. I keep all of my pictures from all of my trip reports for the past six or seven years on a site called photobucket.com. Here are the pictures I’ve taken of the old Showboat casino before it became the Center City Project along with all of the pictures of the Center City in all its stages of construction around the years that I was in Las Vegas. So, I take these pictures of these places to see the progression based on my stays here. One day these two concrete feet will hold up a massive wheel with boxes large enough for people to have dinners and group parties. It’s all part of the fun.
The Wheel Begins
I'll refer back to this next year when this thing is finished and take another pic
I headed back to Harrahs. It was only about 3 PM and the Diamond Lounge doesn’t open until 4. I decided that since I was doing the whole tourist thing this summer, I might as well hit the very last group of hotels I having visited this trip and that’s the Venetian and Palazzo. It was right next door to Harrahs, so why not? I’m certainly getting all my exercise today. Not a lot has changed here. There’s still the beautiful shopping area, the gondolas, and the couples riding them being serenaded. As always, this place is simply jammed with people. In the area between the two hotels, there was a show going on to the delight of the crowd.
Performers at the waterfall between Palazzo and the Venetian
At the Venetian...still one of the prettiest places to have a lunch or dinner
I walked next door to the Palazzo to the new Walgreens. It simply amazes me that a drug store pays the enormous cost of real estate to be on the strip ($2.5 million an acre) and still make a profit. I went in to get an Arizona Ice Tea. Well, this Walgreens was huge. There were 12, that’s right, 12 cashiers all working hard to keep up with the lines of people buying souvenirs, medicines, candies, and oh yes, drugs from the place. Suddenly, it all made a little more sense. I walked back to Harrahs and then to the Diamond Lounge where I’d be having my dinner tonight—chicken wings and cut vegetables. The bar tender now knows me and had a margarita waiting for me before I sat down (I actually was going to order a gin and tonic tonight, but I was so flattered I didn’t say anything and stuck to margaritas)
I finally made it back to my room, looked out the window and said my final goodbyes to Las Vegas for this trip. It’s off to Laughlin…again.
More tomorrow.
