I have never written a trip report, so apologies in advance if it is not what forum readers expect.
We left on Saturday, on Southwest Airlines, arriving at McCarran around 5 p.m. Easy pick up of our Avis rental, and off to M Resort in Henderson. After a quick check in, we relaxed in the room for a while before heading off to the Rio for a 9 p.m show of Penn and Teller.
I didn't think I'd especially like the show, as I never was inclined to go to magic shows, like David Copperfield. But, we had great seats, third row, center section, and it started out fun during the pre show with Penn playing bass guitar, with a jazz pianist, whilst the audience filtered in.
It was surprisingly a very entertaining show, and quite funny, not at all just magic acts. The best part was meeting each of them, who stayed in the lobby to sign autographs and take photos with guests. They were very patient with everyone, and supposedly will stay until every last guest gets their photo/autograph.
Headed back to M, and even though we were tired from our flight and the show, we stayed awake a few hours to try our luck at video poker. Alas, we lost a couple hundred dollars playing Deuces Wild Bonus. We also had sandwiches at the M Deli, reasonably priced and quiet hearty.
Sunday morning, up by 11 a.m. and headed off to the buffet, which on weekends is M's Seafood Buffet. At $50 EACH, we think it is way overpriced, but we all had free coupons, so it worked for us, though I doubt I would pay that much without the coupons. Immediately afterwards, we headed off to play some more video poker. Managed to hit a jackpot of about $1500 on a Triple Play machine, getting four A with kicker. Woo Hoo, first W2-g of the year!
We had tickets to Zarkana, the Cirque show at Aria, for 9:30 p.m., so we left M early enough to get some pizza at our favorite place, Sammy's Woodfired Pizza. We typically go to the location on Sunset, but I think they also have a site on Sahara somewhere. It is great thin, crispy crust, with nice selection of toppings.
As expected, the Strip was busy, and driving from Sammy's to Aria took a good hour to get into their parking garage. It seemed like the show was nearly sold out, didn't see very many empty seats. These were the best seats imaginable, the first row of the Mezzanine section. I can't remember the row number, maybe M, but it is the first row, with a railing in front of your seats. No obstructed views whatsoever. Wow.
Unfortunately, Zarkana was a huge disappointment. It had all the same elements of acrobatics as every other Cirque show, but, IMHO, seemed to lack the charm of Mystere. Of course, LOVE is my favorite show, so I was hoping Zarkana had some theme, but alas,did not. It was good quality, as always, but just not special, and I am sure we won't return. (I've seen LOVE three times)
Back to M before midnight, and stayed up till 3 am. playing $15 blackjack. We didn't win, but nor did we lose more than $25, so it was fun.
Monday, slept in till noon, knowing we'd have the whole day and no activities planned. After another buffet lunch at M, which was comped, we decided to head downtown, as spouse had $200 free play at the Golden Gate. Alas, we won a $250 hit playing DDB quite quickly, using that free play, but then put it all back in and so lost the $200 free play plus the $250 profit. So, didn't lose any of our own money, but then had enough comp dollars to get a $25 comp at DuPars. It was enough for three of us to get a chicken pot pie, small stack, and large stack of their pancakes. By now, it was around 8 p.m., so probably not the thing to be eating at night, pancakes. Oh well. There were only a few other tables occupied, which was nice, as normally we wait in a line to get seated if it is morning/afternoon.
Watched the Queen Show/Fremont Street Experience . . . always fun. It was absolutely packed, as usual, so we didn't spend much more time downtown, and headed back to M by 10 p.m.
More video poker, and now we have lost our $1500 profit from Sunday's jackpot. Sigh, that's gambling!
Tuesday, we decided to spend the whole day at M, didn't feel like doing much more than laying out by their fabulous, uncrowded pool, and a bit of dining and gambling. Had a mediocre dinner at Anthony's Steakhouse. I don't know why people rave about that place. This was our third visit, and it has never been a positive experience. Will not return. Maybe will try Binions Steakhouse next trip.
Having a run of bad luck at video poker, playing Five Play, single line Deuces Wild Bonus, as well as some Super Double Double. However, we are holding our own at Blackjack, thank goodness.
Wednesday, we sleep in again, because we have show tickets tonight, our third show of the week. So, after yet another buffet lunch at M, we head off for more video poker and blackjack, Yikes, we are now down almost 3K. Thank goodness we had bought show tix months ago, or we might not have gone anywhere, and dined at McD's, LOL.
We left M around 5 p.m. and did the short drive over to Mandalay, for the 7 p.m Cirque Michael Jackson show. This was the show I couldn't wait to see, as we had seen the touring Immortal show last year and loved it. We had front row seats, center, and worried that we would be too close, knowing that many Cirque shows have side/aerial acts. The show was sold out, being the preview week, and apparently is sold out for another week.
If you see any Cirque show, this should be it. WOW. It was ten times better than the Immortal show last year. Completely revised, and visually stunning. We loved it. Next time, we might try seats farther back, but for the first time around, Row A was fun. It had the usual acrobatic acts, but it had a theme, unlike Zarkana. I highly recommend it!
Thursday, our last full day in Vegas, we decided to visit Silverton and South Point, as we had never been to either one, and they are just up the road from M. We signed up for players' cards, and Silverton gave us free t shirts, as well as it only took 50 points for each of us to earn buffet coupons, which don't expire.
South Point gave us nothing. I didn't particularly like the dark, cave like casino of Silverton, and didn't like the overwhelming smoky air of South Point. (we are non smokers). Probably won't go back to either.
We headed back to M and played some more Five Play DDB.
This was a good last gambling foray in their casino, hit a jackpot of $4000! (4 A and a kicker)
Overall, we are now up a whopping $250 for our week, woo hoo.
Friday, late sleep in before our Southwest Flight home.
I am always amazed by the huge number of people playing the slots at McCarran. Clearly, you have just spent time in Vegas, and for some reason, haven't had enough?
Overall, it was a fun trip, and we felt really luck that the gambling gods returned our money to us, fortunately on our last day, lest we give it all back before leaving. LOL.
We left on Saturday, on Southwest Airlines, arriving at McCarran around 5 p.m. Easy pick up of our Avis rental, and off to M Resort in Henderson. After a quick check in, we relaxed in the room for a while before heading off to the Rio for a 9 p.m show of Penn and Teller.
I didn't think I'd especially like the show, as I never was inclined to go to magic shows, like David Copperfield. But, we had great seats, third row, center section, and it started out fun during the pre show with Penn playing bass guitar, with a jazz pianist, whilst the audience filtered in.
It was surprisingly a very entertaining show, and quite funny, not at all just magic acts. The best part was meeting each of them, who stayed in the lobby to sign autographs and take photos with guests. They were very patient with everyone, and supposedly will stay until every last guest gets their photo/autograph.
Headed back to M, and even though we were tired from our flight and the show, we stayed awake a few hours to try our luck at video poker. Alas, we lost a couple hundred dollars playing Deuces Wild Bonus. We also had sandwiches at the M Deli, reasonably priced and quiet hearty.
Sunday morning, up by 11 a.m. and headed off to the buffet, which on weekends is M's Seafood Buffet. At $50 EACH, we think it is way overpriced, but we all had free coupons, so it worked for us, though I doubt I would pay that much without the coupons. Immediately afterwards, we headed off to play some more video poker. Managed to hit a jackpot of about $1500 on a Triple Play machine, getting four A with kicker. Woo Hoo, first W2-g of the year!
We had tickets to Zarkana, the Cirque show at Aria, for 9:30 p.m., so we left M early enough to get some pizza at our favorite place, Sammy's Woodfired Pizza. We typically go to the location on Sunset, but I think they also have a site on Sahara somewhere. It is great thin, crispy crust, with nice selection of toppings.
As expected, the Strip was busy, and driving from Sammy's to Aria took a good hour to get into their parking garage. It seemed like the show was nearly sold out, didn't see very many empty seats. These were the best seats imaginable, the first row of the Mezzanine section. I can't remember the row number, maybe M, but it is the first row, with a railing in front of your seats. No obstructed views whatsoever. Wow.
Unfortunately, Zarkana was a huge disappointment. It had all the same elements of acrobatics as every other Cirque show, but, IMHO, seemed to lack the charm of Mystere. Of course, LOVE is my favorite show, so I was hoping Zarkana had some theme, but alas,did not. It was good quality, as always, but just not special, and I am sure we won't return. (I've seen LOVE three times)
Back to M before midnight, and stayed up till 3 am. playing $15 blackjack. We didn't win, but nor did we lose more than $25, so it was fun.
Monday, slept in till noon, knowing we'd have the whole day and no activities planned. After another buffet lunch at M, which was comped, we decided to head downtown, as spouse had $200 free play at the Golden Gate. Alas, we won a $250 hit playing DDB quite quickly, using that free play, but then put it all back in and so lost the $200 free play plus the $250 profit. So, didn't lose any of our own money, but then had enough comp dollars to get a $25 comp at DuPars. It was enough for three of us to get a chicken pot pie, small stack, and large stack of their pancakes. By now, it was around 8 p.m., so probably not the thing to be eating at night, pancakes. Oh well. There were only a few other tables occupied, which was nice, as normally we wait in a line to get seated if it is morning/afternoon.
Watched the Queen Show/Fremont Street Experience . . . always fun. It was absolutely packed, as usual, so we didn't spend much more time downtown, and headed back to M by 10 p.m.
More video poker, and now we have lost our $1500 profit from Sunday's jackpot. Sigh, that's gambling!
Tuesday, we decided to spend the whole day at M, didn't feel like doing much more than laying out by their fabulous, uncrowded pool, and a bit of dining and gambling. Had a mediocre dinner at Anthony's Steakhouse. I don't know why people rave about that place. This was our third visit, and it has never been a positive experience. Will not return. Maybe will try Binions Steakhouse next trip.
Having a run of bad luck at video poker, playing Five Play, single line Deuces Wild Bonus, as well as some Super Double Double. However, we are holding our own at Blackjack, thank goodness.
Wednesday, we sleep in again, because we have show tickets tonight, our third show of the week. So, after yet another buffet lunch at M, we head off for more video poker and blackjack, Yikes, we are now down almost 3K. Thank goodness we had bought show tix months ago, or we might not have gone anywhere, and dined at McD's, LOL.
We left M around 5 p.m. and did the short drive over to Mandalay, for the 7 p.m Cirque Michael Jackson show. This was the show I couldn't wait to see, as we had seen the touring Immortal show last year and loved it. We had front row seats, center, and worried that we would be too close, knowing that many Cirque shows have side/aerial acts. The show was sold out, being the preview week, and apparently is sold out for another week.
If you see any Cirque show, this should be it. WOW. It was ten times better than the Immortal show last year. Completely revised, and visually stunning. We loved it. Next time, we might try seats farther back, but for the first time around, Row A was fun. It had the usual acrobatic acts, but it had a theme, unlike Zarkana. I highly recommend it!
Thursday, our last full day in Vegas, we decided to visit Silverton and South Point, as we had never been to either one, and they are just up the road from M. We signed up for players' cards, and Silverton gave us free t shirts, as well as it only took 50 points for each of us to earn buffet coupons, which don't expire.
South Point gave us nothing. I didn't particularly like the dark, cave like casino of Silverton, and didn't like the overwhelming smoky air of South Point. (we are non smokers). Probably won't go back to either.
We headed back to M and played some more Five Play DDB.
This was a good last gambling foray in their casino, hit a jackpot of $4000! (4 A and a kicker)
Overall, we are now up a whopping $250 for our week, woo hoo.
Friday, late sleep in before our Southwest Flight home.
I am always amazed by the huge number of people playing the slots at McCarran. Clearly, you have just spent time in Vegas, and for some reason, haven't had enough?
Overall, it was a fun trip, and we felt really luck that the gambling gods returned our money to us, fortunately on our last day, lest we give it all back before leaving. LOL.
