It was time to take a real long vacation. Well, that never works so a combo vacation it is.
I had a yearly meeting in Ely to make on Tuesday after Presidents day and we were to meet friends in Park City for a Ski trip afterward so the obvious thing to do is go to Vegas for the weekend before.
The in-laws were not available to keep our child so we decided to try something new....Dress up a 4 Y.O as an adult and teach 'em to count cards. Well, maybe not. Plan B, bring a nanny with us.
After much wrangling and begging with casino host and reservation clerks we finally procured a two room parlor suite at the Golden Nugget downtown. I knew this wouldn't be cheap but we have done it before with my in-laws and the wife is very particular about her hotel accommodations so I was prepared for the cost.
Flew into North Las Vegas airport Friday evening. I love flying in at night. I requested going to "VFR", that is, not under strict guidance of the flight controllers so we could have a nice over flight of the city. I have done this in the past but this time permission was denied. "Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full." In real life you don't buzz the tower.
By the time we got checked into our suite, around 9pm, my wife discovered she had some work she had to attend to. Really?? On a Friday night of a holiday weekend?? It can't wait?? Oh well.
So I turned the nanny loose, someone should have some fun.
She reported the next morning she had a great time people watching on Fremont street and playing "fancy" slot machines that caught her eye.
Saturday morning started with breakfast at Hash house a Go Go at the Plaza. We had eaten there last trip and it was great. Huge portions, fantastic food. This time we were prepared for the portion size and ordered to share. We had the Fried chicken and waffles and a Salmon scramble for 3 adults and a child. It was really good and we still had leftovers.
For the day we sent the little one off to the museums and we headed down to El Cortez for some quarter roulette. We played longer at roulette than we probably ever have and had a great time. A good friendly groupe of players, really nice croupiers, an attentive and prompt waitress made for a great time. AND I won $20. Whoo hoo!
Saturday evening was Pizza in the parlor over a very competitive game of Uno. I lost, but I think there was some collusion going on.
Friday night was what I had been waiting for. Just me and the wife for some Pai-Gow, black- jack, Let-it-ride and even got her to shoot craps for a while. We had a lot of fun and hardly lost at all.
Around 11pm we went up to Gold Diggers, the bar with a balcony that overlooks Fremont street. It was not very crowded but not empty either. Mostly couples around our age or slightly younger. Definitely not the romping crowd of partying twenty somethings I expected. We got a nice view of the canopy light show while seated with a drink. After the light show a nice gentleman asked my wife to dance. It was a little weird since no one was dancing. As my wife was politely declining a lady came up (presumably his wife) and said it would be fun and asked me to dance. While nothing was said to make us believe they were trying to pick us up we decided later to believe that was their intent. We might be getting older but we still got it!
Sunday we went out to Boulder and rode the train. Then it was over to the damn tour. Never did find the damn bait shop. We were going to take a hike on the railroad hiking trail but it was a little cold and windy so we decided to take a scenic drive back instead.
Sunday night dinner was at the Binion's Steak house. Have to take the inside elevator now but the view from the restaurant is still there. So is the great old school waitstaff, romantic ambiance and great food.
We had a seafood appetizer with oysters and crab legs. The wife had a filet and I had a ribeye. Both were perfect. I wanted to try the chicken fried lobster but that will have to wait till next time.
gambling was more of the same except that the wife talked me into playing $25 black jack in the VIP section of the Golden Gate. I'm a little strange when it comes to playing against the casino and would rather play at a $5 table if I can find one. Never the less I agreed to play and play "correctly". That is, press $10 every time I win, back down to $25 when I lose, always split and double down according to basic strategy no matter how much money I have bet. So, to make my wife happy I did, and dang it all, she was right again, we won $400 between the two of us. We were also comped 3 nights hotel stay on our next visit. We had tried their new suite last visit. My wife says we will not be taking the comp. Maybe I will use it if I come by myself again.
Monday my wife went shopping all day. She told me all the places she went but I have this selective hearing problem that prevented my hearing what she said.
I went down to the Venetian and played poker all day. $2-$5 NL hold-em. Mostly locals with a few tourists thrown in. I found it amusing that two different players that called themselves "pros" that had been making a living at poker for years were the big losers that day. I won just shy of $600, not bad for 5 hours.
That evening I met the ladies at the Top of the World restaurant at the Stratosphere for a sunset dinner. We told the nanny she could go out on her own for a couple of hours or have dinner with us. She chose dinner. Smart girl.
We had the tasting menu with matching wine flight. Lobster bisque, seared sea bass, grilled fillet with mushrooms, assorted chef's amuse bouche, cheese plate for dessert. Another of my favorite restaurants in Vegas.
An early night for me as I had to prep for an early flight out in the morning and a face to face board meeting to be ready for. My wife went down to see if she could lose our lifes savings at let-it-ride.
Tuesday morning we flew out about 8 am. After takeoff I was instructed to make a turn into a restricted airspace. I double checked the instructions and made the turn. I was soon contacted by the fine airmen at Nellis AFB that I was to return to and land at VGT immediately. This is not good. It was such a great weekend. Now I was going to be late for my meeting and probably be in a ton of trouble with the FAA. Fortunately it was all straightened out between the VGT tower and the Air Force so we were cleared on to Ely.
However, disaster was not averted.
The weather was a little rough on the flight up and our nanny got airsick on approach to Yelland field and didn't get to an airsick bag in time. Poor girl, I don't think she had that in mind for a working vacation. And poor wife. While I was having lunch and meeting over nothing in particular she was scrubbing out the plane.
After my meeting we had an even bumpier flight up to Salt Lake City. Poor Nanny. I thought it would be nice to give this nice young lady a relatively easy couple of days in reward for doing such a fine job for us. But alas, she suffered from altitude sickness most of the week.
I had a yearly meeting in Ely to make on Tuesday after Presidents day and we were to meet friends in Park City for a Ski trip afterward so the obvious thing to do is go to Vegas for the weekend before.
The in-laws were not available to keep our child so we decided to try something new....Dress up a 4 Y.O as an adult and teach 'em to count cards. Well, maybe not. Plan B, bring a nanny with us.
After much wrangling and begging with casino host and reservation clerks we finally procured a two room parlor suite at the Golden Nugget downtown. I knew this wouldn't be cheap but we have done it before with my in-laws and the wife is very particular about her hotel accommodations so I was prepared for the cost.
Flew into North Las Vegas airport Friday evening. I love flying in at night. I requested going to "VFR", that is, not under strict guidance of the flight controllers so we could have a nice over flight of the city. I have done this in the past but this time permission was denied. "Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full." In real life you don't buzz the tower.
By the time we got checked into our suite, around 9pm, my wife discovered she had some work she had to attend to. Really?? On a Friday night of a holiday weekend?? It can't wait?? Oh well.
So I turned the nanny loose, someone should have some fun.
She reported the next morning she had a great time people watching on Fremont street and playing "fancy" slot machines that caught her eye.
Saturday morning started with breakfast at Hash house a Go Go at the Plaza. We had eaten there last trip and it was great. Huge portions, fantastic food. This time we were prepared for the portion size and ordered to share. We had the Fried chicken and waffles and a Salmon scramble for 3 adults and a child. It was really good and we still had leftovers.
For the day we sent the little one off to the museums and we headed down to El Cortez for some quarter roulette. We played longer at roulette than we probably ever have and had a great time. A good friendly groupe of players, really nice croupiers, an attentive and prompt waitress made for a great time. AND I won $20. Whoo hoo!
Saturday evening was Pizza in the parlor over a very competitive game of Uno. I lost, but I think there was some collusion going on.
Friday night was what I had been waiting for. Just me and the wife for some Pai-Gow, black- jack, Let-it-ride and even got her to shoot craps for a while. We had a lot of fun and hardly lost at all.
Around 11pm we went up to Gold Diggers, the bar with a balcony that overlooks Fremont street. It was not very crowded but not empty either. Mostly couples around our age or slightly younger. Definitely not the romping crowd of partying twenty somethings I expected. We got a nice view of the canopy light show while seated with a drink. After the light show a nice gentleman asked my wife to dance. It was a little weird since no one was dancing. As my wife was politely declining a lady came up (presumably his wife) and said it would be fun and asked me to dance. While nothing was said to make us believe they were trying to pick us up we decided later to believe that was their intent. We might be getting older but we still got it!
Sunday we went out to Boulder and rode the train. Then it was over to the damn tour. Never did find the damn bait shop. We were going to take a hike on the railroad hiking trail but it was a little cold and windy so we decided to take a scenic drive back instead.
Sunday night dinner was at the Binion's Steak house. Have to take the inside elevator now but the view from the restaurant is still there. So is the great old school waitstaff, romantic ambiance and great food.
We had a seafood appetizer with oysters and crab legs. The wife had a filet and I had a ribeye. Both were perfect. I wanted to try the chicken fried lobster but that will have to wait till next time.
gambling was more of the same except that the wife talked me into playing $25 black jack in the VIP section of the Golden Gate. I'm a little strange when it comes to playing against the casino and would rather play at a $5 table if I can find one. Never the less I agreed to play and play "correctly". That is, press $10 every time I win, back down to $25 when I lose, always split and double down according to basic strategy no matter how much money I have bet. So, to make my wife happy I did, and dang it all, she was right again, we won $400 between the two of us. We were also comped 3 nights hotel stay on our next visit. We had tried their new suite last visit. My wife says we will not be taking the comp. Maybe I will use it if I come by myself again.
Monday my wife went shopping all day. She told me all the places she went but I have this selective hearing problem that prevented my hearing what she said.
I went down to the Venetian and played poker all day. $2-$5 NL hold-em. Mostly locals with a few tourists thrown in. I found it amusing that two different players that called themselves "pros" that had been making a living at poker for years were the big losers that day. I won just shy of $600, not bad for 5 hours.
That evening I met the ladies at the Top of the World restaurant at the Stratosphere for a sunset dinner. We told the nanny she could go out on her own for a couple of hours or have dinner with us. She chose dinner. Smart girl.
We had the tasting menu with matching wine flight. Lobster bisque, seared sea bass, grilled fillet with mushrooms, assorted chef's amuse bouche, cheese plate for dessert. Another of my favorite restaurants in Vegas.
An early night for me as I had to prep for an early flight out in the morning and a face to face board meeting to be ready for. My wife went down to see if she could lose our lifes savings at let-it-ride.
Tuesday morning we flew out about 8 am. After takeoff I was instructed to make a turn into a restricted airspace. I double checked the instructions and made the turn. I was soon contacted by the fine airmen at Nellis AFB that I was to return to and land at VGT immediately. This is not good. It was such a great weekend. Now I was going to be late for my meeting and probably be in a ton of trouble with the FAA. Fortunately it was all straightened out between the VGT tower and the Air Force so we were cleared on to Ely.
However, disaster was not averted.
The weather was a little rough on the flight up and our nanny got airsick on approach to Yelland field and didn't get to an airsick bag in time. Poor girl, I don't think she had that in mind for a working vacation. And poor wife. While I was having lunch and meeting over nothing in particular she was scrubbing out the plane.
After my meeting we had an even bumpier flight up to Salt Lake City. Poor Nanny. I thought it would be nice to give this nice young lady a relatively easy couple of days in reward for doing such a fine job for us. But alas, she suffered from altitude sickness most of the week.
