Las Vegas trip report or "how many cowboys does it take to change a lightbulb?"
Dec 17th, 2007, 08:22 AM
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Las Vegas trip report or "how many cowboys does it take to change a lightbulb?"
Just got back from Vegas yesterday. Weather averaged around 51 and was mostly sunny; compared to MI weather it was downright warm. Took USAir flights and both coming and going were ontime and uneventful.
Now, upon my first day there I noticed quite a few men wearing cowboy hats and mentioned this to my girlfriend. She just said some people like to wear their stetsons. No...I mean there are ALOT of men wearing stetsons. If you saw more then ten people wearing berets, wouldn't you think there was something amiss at the Circle K? Come to find out the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is in town, DOH! It didn't impede my vacation one bit however. They were a nice bunch of people. All the casinos catered to this huge crowd.
Stayed at the Mirage for five nights using my TA discount. I liked the casino floor plan as I didn't feel like I was walking forever just to get somewhere or get turned around. My stripview room was a very decent size: bathroom had a bowed shower curtain, aqua lime bath products, hairdryer, double curtains which blocked out the light, writing desk and small table to eat at. I did see the same balled up tissue under the desk that housekeeping missed from the day I checked in to the day I left; they did keep the room well maintained other than that.
I also tried their newly renovated spa/fitness center. $25.00 per day got you use of their gym which had treadmills, ellipticals, one stairclimbing machine, bikes and cybex machines. Fitness center opened at 6:00am. Water, sports drinks and fruit were offered. Their spa had four jacuzzis, steam and sauna rooms, treatment room, showers and lockers with robes and sandals. While I relaxed in the sauna an employee came in and gave me an ice cold towel and a pineapple/cranberry juice cocktail. Someone was always checking on you to see if you needed anything. Their showers had one thing I noticed alot of spas often fail to offer...a stool to sit on so you can shave your legs! Such a small thing but so important.
Restaurants: I had breakfast twice at the Mirage Cravings buffet; nothing to write home about. It was food, it was hot but I found the food stations way too spread out from each other. I got comped here twice and am not sure I would have paid. Nothing here was really delicious except for the glazed doughnuts.
Second day breakfast was over at the Flamingo buffet which I've tried before and am satisfied with. Chocolate crepes with whipped cream were my favorite thing there.
I also tried the Caribe Cafe at the Mirage for a smaller breakfast on my day of arrival. I can say their cream of wheat was just what my stomach ordered and was served with raisins, milk and brown sugar, yum! I did manage to try a pastrami sandwich at the Carnegie Deli. I don't understand why they don't offer a half sandwich; these things are HUGE! You expect me to eat a whole sandwich? oy. My girlfriend tried one of their cheeseburgers and again a jewish serving; HUGE. For $12.45 it had better be but again you could split one and be satisfied. She said it was mostly a large bun but the hamburger was actually thin. She ate the whole damn thing. Bonus food offered: New York Egg Creams!
Based on recommendations, we went to the Grand Deluxe Cafe over at the Venetian and was glad we tried it. My girlfriend tried their blueberry pancakes and proclaimed them the best she's had while I had a fruit parfait and wheat toast.
Went casino hopping and decided to try the "infamous" Wynn buffet for lunch/dinner. Did I mention by this time for some strange reason I was feeling nauseous? Now, just to give you some background... I maintain a healthy diet and mostly eat high fiber, fruits, vegatables and protein and have lost 60 pounds doing it this way but I figure being in Vegas, I'm going to enjoy myself! My body said "hell no!" Anything looking heavy, fattening or spicy made me go green. Their buffet was gorgeous looking and I liked how their food was served in smaller bowls to keep things fresher and hot. The food, preparation and variety was more upscale. Here I am in the midst of all this glorious food and I all can put on my plate is some green beans, matzo ball soup, a one inch piece of fish, sliced apple and cheese?! I almost got depressed when I wandered around their dessert bar. Pumpkin pie, chocolate moose, gelato, eclairs, candy apples, etc. I saw so many gorgeous desserts that I wanted to devour and the only thing I could look at and not feel sick was their :
rum roll:: tapioca. At least it was delicious.
Chowed down at Il Fornaio at NYNY. Their cream of broccoli soup with leeks was creamy and delicious but I gave up ordering a steak for the rosemary rotisserie chicken that ended up being dry...what a let down. Took two bites and pretended to be full. The chef should have been shot to send out chicken like that.
One of my favorite restaurants downtown (Center Stage) is now a sports lounge (big whoopie doo!) so I decided to grunge it over at Mermaids and buy a .99 Nathans hot dog and chocolate covered banana with nuts. I downed them both before my body could protest! This is perfect late night bar food at its best. Did I mention how LOUD Mermaids is? Met and took a picture with Fat Elvis who was so adorable and nice. Maybe I should have bought him a hot dog??
Using my 24 hour Deuce bus pass ($5.00) I did manage to walk through and play at the Venetian, Wynn, Luxor, Bally's, MGM, Paris, Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Harrahs, Caesars Palace, NYNY, O'Sheas, Treasure Island, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, Tropicana, Golden Nugget, Fremont, Plaza, Binions, Mermaids, Four Queens, Golden Gate and Fitzgeralds. I am happy to say I am now a shareholder at each of these casinos as they have much of my money.
Now, upon my first day there I noticed quite a few men wearing cowboy hats and mentioned this to my girlfriend. She just said some people like to wear their stetsons. No...I mean there are ALOT of men wearing stetsons. If you saw more then ten people wearing berets, wouldn't you think there was something amiss at the Circle K? Come to find out the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is in town, DOH! It didn't impede my vacation one bit however. They were a nice bunch of people. All the casinos catered to this huge crowd.
Stayed at the Mirage for five nights using my TA discount. I liked the casino floor plan as I didn't feel like I was walking forever just to get somewhere or get turned around. My stripview room was a very decent size: bathroom had a bowed shower curtain, aqua lime bath products, hairdryer, double curtains which blocked out the light, writing desk and small table to eat at. I did see the same balled up tissue under the desk that housekeeping missed from the day I checked in to the day I left; they did keep the room well maintained other than that.
I also tried their newly renovated spa/fitness center. $25.00 per day got you use of their gym which had treadmills, ellipticals, one stairclimbing machine, bikes and cybex machines. Fitness center opened at 6:00am. Water, sports drinks and fruit were offered. Their spa had four jacuzzis, steam and sauna rooms, treatment room, showers and lockers with robes and sandals. While I relaxed in the sauna an employee came in and gave me an ice cold towel and a pineapple/cranberry juice cocktail. Someone was always checking on you to see if you needed anything. Their showers had one thing I noticed alot of spas often fail to offer...a stool to sit on so you can shave your legs! Such a small thing but so important.
Restaurants: I had breakfast twice at the Mirage Cravings buffet; nothing to write home about. It was food, it was hot but I found the food stations way too spread out from each other. I got comped here twice and am not sure I would have paid. Nothing here was really delicious except for the glazed doughnuts.
Second day breakfast was over at the Flamingo buffet which I've tried before and am satisfied with. Chocolate crepes with whipped cream were my favorite thing there.
I also tried the Caribe Cafe at the Mirage for a smaller breakfast on my day of arrival. I can say their cream of wheat was just what my stomach ordered and was served with raisins, milk and brown sugar, yum! I did manage to try a pastrami sandwich at the Carnegie Deli. I don't understand why they don't offer a half sandwich; these things are HUGE! You expect me to eat a whole sandwich? oy. My girlfriend tried one of their cheeseburgers and again a jewish serving; HUGE. For $12.45 it had better be but again you could split one and be satisfied. She said it was mostly a large bun but the hamburger was actually thin. She ate the whole damn thing. Bonus food offered: New York Egg Creams!
Based on recommendations, we went to the Grand Deluxe Cafe over at the Venetian and was glad we tried it. My girlfriend tried their blueberry pancakes and proclaimed them the best she's had while I had a fruit parfait and wheat toast.
Went casino hopping and decided to try the "infamous" Wynn buffet for lunch/dinner. Did I mention by this time for some strange reason I was feeling nauseous? Now, just to give you some background... I maintain a healthy diet and mostly eat high fiber, fruits, vegatables and protein and have lost 60 pounds doing it this way but I figure being in Vegas, I'm going to enjoy myself! My body said "hell no!" Anything looking heavy, fattening or spicy made me go green. Their buffet was gorgeous looking and I liked how their food was served in smaller bowls to keep things fresher and hot. The food, preparation and variety was more upscale. Here I am in the midst of all this glorious food and I all can put on my plate is some green beans, matzo ball soup, a one inch piece of fish, sliced apple and cheese?! I almost got depressed when I wandered around their dessert bar. Pumpkin pie, chocolate moose, gelato, eclairs, candy apples, etc. I saw so many gorgeous desserts that I wanted to devour and the only thing I could look at and not feel sick was their :
rum roll:: tapioca. At least it was delicious. Chowed down at Il Fornaio at NYNY. Their cream of broccoli soup with leeks was creamy and delicious but I gave up ordering a steak for the rosemary rotisserie chicken that ended up being dry...what a let down. Took two bites and pretended to be full. The chef should have been shot to send out chicken like that.
One of my favorite restaurants downtown (Center Stage) is now a sports lounge (big whoopie doo!) so I decided to grunge it over at Mermaids and buy a .99 Nathans hot dog and chocolate covered banana with nuts. I downed them both before my body could protest! This is perfect late night bar food at its best. Did I mention how LOUD Mermaids is? Met and took a picture with Fat Elvis who was so adorable and nice. Maybe I should have bought him a hot dog??
Using my 24 hour Deuce bus pass ($5.00) I did manage to walk through and play at the Venetian, Wynn, Luxor, Bally's, MGM, Paris, Mirage, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Harrahs, Caesars Palace, NYNY, O'Sheas, Treasure Island, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, Tropicana, Golden Nugget, Fremont, Plaza, Binions, Mermaids, Four Queens, Golden Gate and Fitzgeralds. I am happy to say I am now a shareholder at each of these casinos as they have much of my money.
Dec 17th, 2007, 08:41 AM
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Wow, strange things ARE afoot at the Circle K. (Hee!)
Did you really PLAY at all of those casinos within 24 hours??? Color me impressed. And thanks for the trip report. I'm heading to LV in a couple of weeks, so it's very helpful.
Did you really PLAY at all of those casinos within 24 hours??? Color me impressed. And thanks for the trip report. I'm heading to LV in a couple of weeks, so it's very helpful.
Dec 24th, 2007, 03:59 PM
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How very cool...real cowboys 
Did you go see any of the events?
Yeah, if you bite into food in a nice restaurant that is not going to be free...and it tastes that bad..complain!
Send it back..tell them to bring you something else!!
I want to go to Vegas
Did you go see any of the events?
Yeah, if you bite into food in a nice restaurant that is not going to be free...and it tastes that bad..complain!
Send it back..tell them to bring you something else!!
I want to go to Vegas
Dec 24th, 2007, 08:16 PM
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I am here in Vegas now and my first reaction was, "You played ALL those freakin' casinos?!" I bow to you, Donald Trump! Daaaaang!
In all seriousness I should tell you that their public education system is one of the best in the country. In other cities, teachers often fork out their own money to buy the supplies they need. In Vegas, anything the teachers ask for, they get. Thanks to gamblers like you & me. It kinda takes some pain away when I'm losiing money when I think, "It's for the children!"
In all seriousness I should tell you that their public education system is one of the best in the country. In other cities, teachers often fork out their own money to buy the supplies they need. In Vegas, anything the teachers ask for, they get. Thanks to gamblers like you & me. It kinda takes some pain away when I'm losiing money when I think, "It's for the children!"
Dec 27th, 2007, 05:23 PM
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To answer the original question, why would a cowboy need to be able to change a light bulb? They get all the light they need from their campfire.
Melissa - if you are going to use that information on financial support for the education system in your writing, a little more research may be in order. The last number I saw was that Nevada is 49th out of the 50 states in per-student funding for public education. There is also a big fight right now between the state government and the education establishment because of the governor's plans for a 4.5% across the board cut in state funding to all state agencies to make up for budget shortfalls. In fact, the teacher's unions are now trying to qualify a ballot initiative for the next election to raise gaming taxes on casinos with a win of over $1m per month with all of the money to go to public education.
Melissa - if you are going to use that information on financial support for the education system in your writing, a little more research may be in order. The last number I saw was that Nevada is 49th out of the 50 states in per-student funding for public education. There is also a big fight right now between the state government and the education establishment because of the governor's plans for a 4.5% across the board cut in state funding to all state agencies to make up for budget shortfalls. In fact, the teacher's unions are now trying to qualify a ballot initiative for the next election to raise gaming taxes on casinos with a win of over $1m per month with all of the money to go to public education.
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