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VEGAS JUNKET 2011....A LIVE (ALMOST) REPORT FROM THE CITY OF SIN!!!

VEGAS JUNKET 2011....A LIVE (ALMOST) REPORT FROM THE CITY OF SIN!!!

Old Mar 3rd, 2011, 04:06 PM
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VEGAS JUNKET 2011....A LIVE (ALMOST) REPORT FROM THE CITY OF SIN!!!

How lucky are We!!!

After spending a fabulous 5 weeks travelling the Californian coast/Nevada and a bit of Arizona, barely 9 months ago, we have been fortunate enough to win an all expenses paid trip for two (no kids this time) to Las Vegas. We have also taken the opportunity to extend our visit and have added 3 nights in LA at the end of the trip.

Our Itinerary has been mostly set for us on the 5 nights in Vegas, but any additiional ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated. As for LA, not much has been planned, so here is an opportunity to guide us to some of LA's best kept secrets and receive some instant feed back along the way.

I will attempt to post a run-down of each days events, whilst they are still fresh in my, mind, before heading off for breakfast on the following day. Well that is the plan, anyway.

Here is the itinerary, so far.....

MONDAY MARCH 7TH....

Depart our home in Mildura, Australia at 3am for the 5+ hour drive to Melbourne to catch a 10.15 domestic flight to Sydney.

Board a 1.15pm V Australia flight to LA and then transfer to a 11.15am, US West coast time, Delta flight to Vegas.

Book in to the Wynn Hotel.

Use our Wynn gift card at a yet to be determined restauraunt.

Attend a performanace of La Reve.

TUESDAY MARCH 8th...

Breakfast at wynn.

12.30..Meet the other delegates and join in on a "Dune Buggy Adventure.

4.30pm..Arrive back at Wynn...afternnoon and evening at leisure.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 9th...

Full Day at Leisure.

6.45pm..Meet the crew for dinner at Morel's French Steakhouse at the Palazzo.

THURSDAY MARCH 10th...

8.40am...Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour.

12.30pm...Arrive back at Wynn.

6.30pm...Meet again with our fellow travellers for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

FRIDAY MARCH 11TH...

Morning and Afternoon at our own devices.

6.30pm... Dinner at Zefferino's.

SATURDAY MARCH 12th...

Depart Vegas at 4.25pm on a Delta Flight to LA, arriving at 5.39pm.

Pick up our Ford Mustang hire car at Avis and drive to the Best Western Express at Marina Del Ray and book in to a 1 bedroom suite.

SUNDAY MARCH 13th...

Sunday driving day. Ref.... http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...onvertible.cfm

MONDAY MARCH 14TH...

Not much planned during the day, but we are on the "Standby List" for Jay Leno.

7.30pm...Orlando v Lakers game at the Staples Centre.

TUESDAY MARCH 15TH...

We dont need to take the car back until 7pm and our V Australia flight is not until 10.40pm.

We will play it by ear, but I am pretty keen to spend at least half a day at Universal Studio's as we missed it last time.


There is plenty already on the agenda, but we still have time for so much more. We will no doubt get the the Vegas Outlet Malls and spend many hours on the Gaming roon floor.

Is there anything else that we should not miss?
shanek is offline  
Old Mar 3rd, 2011, 05:10 PM
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I want to go with you!
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Old Mar 3rd, 2011, 08:06 PM
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Hoover Dam is amazing! For me, it is one of the highlights of the Vegas area.. it is just maybe a 30 minute drive out of town. Take the tour, spend a cocuple hours, it is well worth it! Incredible history, engineering and art deco tiles in the floor of the walkways!
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Old Mar 4th, 2011, 04:12 AM
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If you can rent a car for one of your free afternoons, a trip to Valley of Fire or Red Rock Canyon would be a fantastic way to spend a few hours. VoF is about an hour away, north on 15 and east at the brown sign; RRC is about a half an hour west.
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Old Mar 4th, 2011, 05:51 AM
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Ditto Red Rock Canyon. Very easy to find; lovely drive thru the park. Pay to get in, but worth it.

Glad to see you are staying at Marina Del Rey. You may even be staying in my favorite (old standard) Best Western there. For your drive, I'd certainly include the Pacific Coast Hwy and up into the Hollywood hills, Beverly Hills, Wilshire Blvd, and/or south to Southcoast Plaza for shopping.

Have a great time, Shane.
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Old Mar 4th, 2011, 12:04 PM
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Thanks for your suggestions.

We went to Hoover Damn in June last year, and I certainly agree that it is well worth the trip. It will be very interesting seeing it from the air on our Helicopter trip!!!

Red Rock Canyon seems like a worthwhile trip. I will probably hire a car on Friday and go for a drive out there. Alternatively, is there any other way of getting there? Can you catch a bus and then hire bikes to ride around? I am wondering if our "Dune Buggy" trip takes us out there.

Carol, We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express at Marina Del Ray. I dont think it is all that glamorous, but gets good reviews for service/location/rooms. They have just had a renovation and a 1 bedroom suite only cost me $500 for the 3 nights. It is said to be walking distance to the Marina and Venice Beach and they have their own bikes for hire.

Can you recommend some nice places to eat around the area. Views, atmosphere and great food would be nice and I'm not too worried about cost. We have saved money on accommodation so that we can splurge a little on everything else.
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Old Mar 6th, 2011, 01:22 PM
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Did you do the Warner Brothers tour last time you were in Los Angeles? If not, they are right around the corner from Jay Leno. So, if you are turned away from Leno, you could still probably get tickets for a late afternoon Warner Brothers tour, maybe 4pm to 6pm. My advice would then be to park at Universal metro lot and take the subway to Staples Center...don't drive it in 6pm traffic.
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Old Mar 16th, 2011, 04:09 PM
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In LA, if you can, get down to Long Beach or Manhattan Beach, maybe check out the Queen Mary. If you like cars, cruise along the pacific coast highway between Santa Monica and Malibu, you are sure to see some great exotic cars in this stretch. LA has some great roads for driving, maybe cruise Mulholland Drive to appreciate the roads through the canyons.

Paramount has a great Studio Tour if you can get tickets, you have a real good chance of seeing someone famous when taking this tour.

Since you are in the US, you may want to try what has been named by USA Today and GQ magazine as the best burger in the USA: Umami Burger at 850 S LaBrea, while you're on LaBrea stop in to High Voltage Tattoo and say hi to Katt Von D and Jesse James. Farmers market is a cool place to visit as well, right next to CBS studios, you see people like Craig Ferguson, Dr Drew, Mario Lopez amongst others in there all the time doing interviews or just grabbing lunch before taping.

Whatever you do, avoid being on the road after about 4:30 to 7:30 as traffic is horrendeous almost anywhere you go, I like to be allready settled into the beach while all that is happening.
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Old Mar 16th, 2011, 04:46 PM
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Shane, sure hope your Vegas/LA visit went well! Where did you end going and doing? We almost could've met up in LAX as I was in and out of there, between Reno and ORD!
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