Let me start by saying that this was the best trip to Vegas ever! We did and saw a lot (at least it seemed that way) and my only real complaint was the heat, which I knew would be a factor, so, really can’t complain too much about that.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 – DAY 1
We travelled separately this time; I live in Charlottesville, VA, right next to their airport, so decided to give it a try. I usually just drive the hour and half up to my sisters near Fairfax, and we go to Dulles together.
CHO is a small airport; little planes with one seat on one side and two on the other. When I got there at 4:15 am for my 5:23 am flight (the airport doesn’t open until 4:30 am) I was told by the agent at the US Airways counter that they had been “downsized” and they needed six people to volunteer to take another flight. Since I was due to get in an hour earlier than sis; I went ahead and did that and got a $300 voucher with US Airways. I was put on a United Flight leaving an hour later.
I was ALSO told that I didn’t need to re-check my bag and the lady took my receipt and tossed it. Finally the United counter opens, and we get our tickets. I then proceed to security, and am about to walk through to get “zapped” when I hear that I’m being paged to return to the United ticket counter. Had to put my flip-flops back on, grab my stuff out of the tray, etc. When I get there, they tell me that I DO have to re-check my bag! I explain that I already asked the lady over there (the counters are right next to each other) if I had to do that and she had said “NO” and took my receipt. Nonetheless, I had to fork out another $25 for the bag. They claimed they would cancel the other charge, but so far, this hasn’t happened! Back to security, where they at least let me “butt in line” as I had already been there!
CHO was a very disorganized airport that had a “Mayberry RFD” feel to it. I will just drive to Dulles next time I have to fly anywhere. The rest of the flights (connected in Dulles, stupid, could have driven there) were great and arrived in Vegas on time!
Sis arrived shortly after I did and we waited for about an hour for Palace Station shuttle. We were in the room about maybe 1 pm Vegas time.
I’ve never been to this casino, but it was pretty nice. Sis had two comped nights there; and her host left a basket in the room with cheese, crackers, candy, etc. Very nice! We dumped the luggage and of course, off to gamble. I made a beeline for a penny WOZ where I ended up $100 up! We then grabbed something to eat and gambled a bit more that night. I don’t think either one of us finished that night ahead gambling wise.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7 – DAY 2
We had a room at PS AND Flamingo on Sunday, so we had to check in at Flamingo. We decided to take a cab over to Flamingo. There was a guy waiting for one also and he wanted to go to the strip, also. So we split the cab with him. It turned out to be $5/person, including tip. Not bad! We took the bulk of our luggage over there, leaving only what we needed for Sunday night/Monday morning at PS. I have to tell you I am a huge fan of Flamingo! I love the colors, the atmosphere, the smell, the gardens, the location, – everything about it. We had a comped Go Room with a view of the strip. We could see the Bellagio Fountains. I loved it!!
After checking into the Flamingo, sis finally managed to drag me out (kicking and screaming) and we walked over to Bellagio for their Sunday Brunch. The line was unbelievable! My sister told me to expect that, and she was right! I have heard many rave about this buffet, but I have to say, it was just ok in my book. Maybe we caught it at a bad time as it was close to ending, but I just didn’t think it was that great. I had some breakfast stuff (pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs) some shrimp and a glass of champagne. I like Borgata’s buffet much better!
We then wandered down the strip and saw Cosmo. I like the place, and saw plenty of machines in lower denominations that I would have played if I stayed there. Beautiful property but I’m happy at Flamingo.
Next was Mirage as I had never seen it. I liked Mirage! I especially liked the little walkway over the waterfalls. We messed around in there for a bit and sis had a crowd gathered around her while she played a penny WOZ. I think she won $100 on a $20 she put in! We then went on to FSM and caught the shuttle back to PS. Once there, the rest of the night was spent gambling and sis caught 4 Ace’s for $800, so cashed out ahead. I did not do as well, I’m afraid!
I don’t know what time we went to bed, but it was probably around 3 am. This was the norm most every night there! I say this because I always saw the CNN morning news from the east coast before going to bed. It always said 5 am, 6 am, etc. Ugh!
MONDAY, AUGUST 8 – DAY 3
Monday was “moving” day, and my sis came up with a great way to get from Palace Station to Flamingo with very little expense and trouble. We checked out around 11:30 I believe. We took the Palace Station Shuttle to the airport, getting off at the pickup point for the shuttle, not the drop off point. We then went into the airport, up to where you catch the shuttles to the casinos, and bought a round trip ticket so we could get back to the airport when we left! The shuttle happened to be leaving right then, and everyone on it got off at Flamingo! LOL. Was pretty lucky for us. Total time took exactly one hour!
We spent some time in Flamingo relaxing and gambling and then it was off to the Mirage again for dinner at the Cravings Buffet on a two for one LVA coupon. Upon first entering the casino, I saw the cutest bar called the Rum Bar. Just a little something right near the door where you catch the Tram, I believe. Anyway, it was happy hour so I grabbed a Rum punch for $5. It was great! Hit the spot after the 103 temps! As for the buffet, I really like the way it was set up, and all in all, it was pretty good. I had some orange chicken (oriental) with rice, and some tea and then a huge cookie for dessert. We then wasted a little money on Sex and the City, nothing much, and went on to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. This was one of my favorite things from the whole trip. The dolphins are so cute! They always look like they’re smiling and so happy. LOL We saw the baby dolphin - he was waaay to fast to get a picture of him – and stayed about an hour watching the others swim, and “ham” it up! We stopped by to see the lions and the white tigers, also. They weren’t as lively as the dolphins, but still neat to see them. They even roared a few times; the girl who was working there and around to answer questions, I guess, said they were trying to tell them they wanted to go to inside and go to bed!
One of the Hams!
Dinner Time!
It hard to see because it was so sunny; but these two are "talking" to each other thru bars that separated two pools!
Never realized how big these guys are!
One of the beautiful white tigers.
Then back to Flamingo where we just gambled and relaxed the rest of the night. While playing DDB VP, I wasn’t doing well at .50 so decided to drop back to .25 for a while. The very first spin @ .25 I got 3 Ace’s and held them. On the draw I got the fourth Ace and the kicker! I was happy but at the same time, sooo mad that I had just gone to .25!!
Me at my beloved Flamingo! ROFLOL
TUESDAY, AUGUST 9 – DAY 4
I'm not sure what time we got up, but we started this day and every day at Flamingo with coffee and yougurt from the little place right across from the Spa Elevators. You can grab whatever and then walk right out and eat it in the beautiful garden area in the shade, if you like. We then gambled for a while - I wasn't having any luck, so I piddled some and spent some time at the bar outside on the corner people watching. (Just another thing I like about the Flamingo). Didn't do that for too long as it was another scortcher! Even the mist they had blowing didn't help much!
Tuesday night we ate at Hash House a Go-Go on a two for one coupon (can’t remember if it was TR or LVA). Holy shit! I have never seen such portions! My sister had the Sage Fried Chicken Benedict and I had the Pancake Tractor Driver Combo. If this hadn’t been a two for one we definitely would have split one of these. Away too much food! But at least I can say I’ve eaten there!
Afterwards, we saw Human Nature. I really liked it. The Aussie’s really pull off the Motown sound pretty good and I knew all the songs they did! Everyone was singing along and they get the audience involved. This was on a two for one from TR. I was not impressed with Imperial Palace, however!
We then returned to Flamingo where we relaxed in the room for a bit and then went our separate ways to play for a while. I was playing $1 Double Ten Times Pay when I got two 3 times symbols with a red 7 for $1600! Whoo Hoo!! Made the rest of the trip very enjoyable and I actually came home with $600 of it, so I was a happy camper!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10 – DAY 5
Wednesday was “downtown day” and we putzed around down there for a few hours. Used a few of the LVA $10 play coupons and had pancakes at Du-Pars. I’m not sure what type of coupon my sister used, but I don’t think it was a LVA coupon. They really are great pancakes, too! That night we used the $49 upgrade coupon from LVA and got Golden Circle seats to George Wallace at Flamingo. We have both seen him before, but wanted to see him again. We were scared to death he would “pick” on us, but we managed to escape! As usual, it was fantastic and kept us laughing the whole night. If you haven’t seen George Wallace, you should. He’s absolutely hysterical.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11 – DAY 6
Going home day. Wahhh! Sis left at 10:00 am for the airport and I had the entire day left b/c my flight wasn’t until 11:59 pm. I basically hung around, eating, gambling some and walked over to Caesar’s to pay homage, no luck! I had forgotten how HUGE Caesar’s really is.
Finally got home around 10:00 am Friday morning and went straight to bed! I slept most of the day, too.
I had a great time in Vegas and it was a perfect way to celebrate my BD. Thanks for reading my trip report and good luck to you all on your next trip.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 – DAY 1
We travelled separately this time; I live in Charlottesville, VA, right next to their airport, so decided to give it a try. I usually just drive the hour and half up to my sisters near Fairfax, and we go to Dulles together.
CHO is a small airport; little planes with one seat on one side and two on the other. When I got there at 4:15 am for my 5:23 am flight (the airport doesn’t open until 4:30 am) I was told by the agent at the US Airways counter that they had been “downsized” and they needed six people to volunteer to take another flight. Since I was due to get in an hour earlier than sis; I went ahead and did that and got a $300 voucher with US Airways. I was put on a United Flight leaving an hour later.
I was ALSO told that I didn’t need to re-check my bag and the lady took my receipt and tossed it. Finally the United counter opens, and we get our tickets. I then proceed to security, and am about to walk through to get “zapped” when I hear that I’m being paged to return to the United ticket counter. Had to put my flip-flops back on, grab my stuff out of the tray, etc. When I get there, they tell me that I DO have to re-check my bag! I explain that I already asked the lady over there (the counters are right next to each other) if I had to do that and she had said “NO” and took my receipt. Nonetheless, I had to fork out another $25 for the bag. They claimed they would cancel the other charge, but so far, this hasn’t happened! Back to security, where they at least let me “butt in line” as I had already been there!
CHO was a very disorganized airport that had a “Mayberry RFD” feel to it. I will just drive to Dulles next time I have to fly anywhere. The rest of the flights (connected in Dulles, stupid, could have driven there) were great and arrived in Vegas on time!
Sis arrived shortly after I did and we waited for about an hour for Palace Station shuttle. We were in the room about maybe 1 pm Vegas time.
I’ve never been to this casino, but it was pretty nice. Sis had two comped nights there; and her host left a basket in the room with cheese, crackers, candy, etc. Very nice! We dumped the luggage and of course, off to gamble. I made a beeline for a penny WOZ where I ended up $100 up! We then grabbed something to eat and gambled a bit more that night. I don’t think either one of us finished that night ahead gambling wise.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7 – DAY 2
We had a room at PS AND Flamingo on Sunday, so we had to check in at Flamingo. We decided to take a cab over to Flamingo. There was a guy waiting for one also and he wanted to go to the strip, also. So we split the cab with him. It turned out to be $5/person, including tip. Not bad! We took the bulk of our luggage over there, leaving only what we needed for Sunday night/Monday morning at PS. I have to tell you I am a huge fan of Flamingo! I love the colors, the atmosphere, the smell, the gardens, the location, – everything about it. We had a comped Go Room with a view of the strip. We could see the Bellagio Fountains. I loved it!!
After checking into the Flamingo, sis finally managed to drag me out (kicking and screaming) and we walked over to Bellagio for their Sunday Brunch. The line was unbelievable! My sister told me to expect that, and she was right! I have heard many rave about this buffet, but I have to say, it was just ok in my book. Maybe we caught it at a bad time as it was close to ending, but I just didn’t think it was that great. I had some breakfast stuff (pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs) some shrimp and a glass of champagne. I like Borgata’s buffet much better!
We then wandered down the strip and saw Cosmo. I like the place, and saw plenty of machines in lower denominations that I would have played if I stayed there. Beautiful property but I’m happy at Flamingo.
Next was Mirage as I had never seen it. I liked Mirage! I especially liked the little walkway over the waterfalls. We messed around in there for a bit and sis had a crowd gathered around her while she played a penny WOZ. I think she won $100 on a $20 she put in! We then went on to FSM and caught the shuttle back to PS. Once there, the rest of the night was spent gambling and sis caught 4 Ace’s for $800, so cashed out ahead. I did not do as well, I’m afraid!
I don’t know what time we went to bed, but it was probably around 3 am. This was the norm most every night there! I say this because I always saw the CNN morning news from the east coast before going to bed. It always said 5 am, 6 am, etc. Ugh!
MONDAY, AUGUST 8 – DAY 3
Monday was “moving” day, and my sis came up with a great way to get from Palace Station to Flamingo with very little expense and trouble. We checked out around 11:30 I believe. We took the Palace Station Shuttle to the airport, getting off at the pickup point for the shuttle, not the drop off point. We then went into the airport, up to where you catch the shuttles to the casinos, and bought a round trip ticket so we could get back to the airport when we left! The shuttle happened to be leaving right then, and everyone on it got off at Flamingo! LOL. Was pretty lucky for us. Total time took exactly one hour!
We spent some time in Flamingo relaxing and gambling and then it was off to the Mirage again for dinner at the Cravings Buffet on a two for one LVA coupon. Upon first entering the casino, I saw the cutest bar called the Rum Bar. Just a little something right near the door where you catch the Tram, I believe. Anyway, it was happy hour so I grabbed a Rum punch for $5. It was great! Hit the spot after the 103 temps! As for the buffet, I really like the way it was set up, and all in all, it was pretty good. I had some orange chicken (oriental) with rice, and some tea and then a huge cookie for dessert. We then wasted a little money on Sex and the City, nothing much, and went on to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. This was one of my favorite things from the whole trip. The dolphins are so cute! They always look like they’re smiling and so happy. LOL We saw the baby dolphin - he was waaay to fast to get a picture of him – and stayed about an hour watching the others swim, and “ham” it up! We stopped by to see the lions and the white tigers, also. They weren’t as lively as the dolphins, but still neat to see them. They even roared a few times; the girl who was working there and around to answer questions, I guess, said they were trying to tell them they wanted to go to inside and go to bed!
One of the Hams!
Dinner Time!
It hard to see because it was so sunny; but these two are "talking" to each other thru bars that separated two pools!
Never realized how big these guys are!
One of the beautiful white tigers.
Then back to Flamingo where we just gambled and relaxed the rest of the night. While playing DDB VP, I wasn’t doing well at .50 so decided to drop back to .25 for a while. The very first spin @ .25 I got 3 Ace’s and held them. On the draw I got the fourth Ace and the kicker! I was happy but at the same time, sooo mad that I had just gone to .25!!
Me at my beloved Flamingo! ROFLOL
TUESDAY, AUGUST 9 – DAY 4
I'm not sure what time we got up, but we started this day and every day at Flamingo with coffee and yougurt from the little place right across from the Spa Elevators. You can grab whatever and then walk right out and eat it in the beautiful garden area in the shade, if you like. We then gambled for a while - I wasn't having any luck, so I piddled some and spent some time at the bar outside on the corner people watching. (Just another thing I like about the Flamingo). Didn't do that for too long as it was another scortcher! Even the mist they had blowing didn't help much!
Tuesday night we ate at Hash House a Go-Go on a two for one coupon (can’t remember if it was TR or LVA). Holy shit! I have never seen such portions! My sister had the Sage Fried Chicken Benedict and I had the Pancake Tractor Driver Combo. If this hadn’t been a two for one we definitely would have split one of these. Away too much food! But at least I can say I’ve eaten there!
Afterwards, we saw Human Nature. I really liked it. The Aussie’s really pull off the Motown sound pretty good and I knew all the songs they did! Everyone was singing along and they get the audience involved. This was on a two for one from TR. I was not impressed with Imperial Palace, however!
We then returned to Flamingo where we relaxed in the room for a bit and then went our separate ways to play for a while. I was playing $1 Double Ten Times Pay when I got two 3 times symbols with a red 7 for $1600! Whoo Hoo!! Made the rest of the trip very enjoyable and I actually came home with $600 of it, so I was a happy camper!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10 – DAY 5
Wednesday was “downtown day” and we putzed around down there for a few hours. Used a few of the LVA $10 play coupons and had pancakes at Du-Pars. I’m not sure what type of coupon my sister used, but I don’t think it was a LVA coupon. They really are great pancakes, too! That night we used the $49 upgrade coupon from LVA and got Golden Circle seats to George Wallace at Flamingo. We have both seen him before, but wanted to see him again. We were scared to death he would “pick” on us, but we managed to escape! As usual, it was fantastic and kept us laughing the whole night. If you haven’t seen George Wallace, you should. He’s absolutely hysterical.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11 – DAY 6
Going home day. Wahhh! Sis left at 10:00 am for the airport and I had the entire day left b/c my flight wasn’t until 11:59 pm. I basically hung around, eating, gambling some and walked over to Caesar’s to pay homage, no luck! I had forgotten how HUGE Caesar’s really is.
Finally got home around 10:00 am Friday morning and went straight to bed! I slept most of the day, too.
I had a great time in Vegas and it was a perfect way to celebrate my BD. Thanks for reading my trip report and good luck to you all on your next trip.
