Vegas Trip Report!!
 

Since I usually turn into Calamity Jane on trips, no matter how well planned, this one was actually close to perfect. I was there with whole family for my Father?s wedding (3x?s is a charm). We had arrived via America West from the East Coast. We had very smooth flights arriving on time, surprising for AW. My husband hates to fly, so I had him adequately sedated (actually took that advice from prev.thread here on fear of flying). My six year old who usually suffers ear pain was fine, thanks to all the advice I received from fellow foderites a couple of weeks earlier. (for any parent interested, I believe it was the children?s sinus chewable Sudefed that worked).

On arriving we were picked up by Las Vegas Limo, arranged by a friend. I had booked a Petite Suite at T.I. and was bumped up to a Tower Suite (this never happens to me) The room was wonderful. Huge his and her bathrooms. My bathroom had a jucuzzi tub large enough for two,
a walk in closet with dressers, a lighted makeup table and mirror and great ammenities that even included toothbrush and razer.

My husband?s had a huge marble glass enclosed shower with carved in marble bench (I guess if you felt you needed to rest during your shower!) comfy robes too.

The room had a marble dining table and ceiling to floor windows. The only thing was that the view was only of construction (three sites) My husband who is in construction didn?t mind that at all. He actually would sit in the window with the Binoculars watching it all!

I even found the nerve this trip to sit at the BlackJack Table. I have always wanted to play, but was always to intimidated. Hovering around one of the tables with my oldest daughter and her friend, a very friendly dealer asked if we wanted to give it a try. This guy was not only nice, he was a riot. I even won 70.00! So if you are going to LV any time soon, stop at TI and search the tables for a small older Asian dealer named Maurice. You may not win, but I guarantee you?ll have a good time.

I can?t really comment on the food at TI since we only ate breakfast there, pretty good at the Café, but I would skip it at Khauneville, I don?t know if they are any better at lunch or dinner. My husband & I had a great dinner at Delmonico?s. I have to say it was the best service we ever experienced. I had mentioned that we were celebrating my husbands B.D. and they gave us complimentary (although very small) apt and desserts. If you go make sure you try the BBQ shrimp, and country potatoes. We also had a nice casual dinner with the whole family at the Cheesecake Factory in Ceasars. We were paying the tab, so we were very happy that the prices were very reasonable. The menu include every type of cuisine. Even my vegetarian daughter and my picky father were able to find something they liked.

The wedding was held in TI?s Chapel and they really did a nice job. The Chapel is beautiful and it didn?t feel at all like an LV type wedding.

The only thing at TI that I didn?t like was the pool. I had heard that it was small, but it is really small for the size of the hotel and by the standards of most other hotels on the strip. Very hard to find an empty chair and forget drink service. Since the area was small though it was very easy to walk to the bar and get your own.

We only went to one show, Mystere. I had decided from posts on this website that this was one of the best on the strip, and once again Fodor?s comes through. The show was nothing short of amazing.

We took a day trip through Adventure Tours to the Valley of Fire. Although a bit expensive it was worth every penny. The Valley of Fire was natural beauty at it?s best. You are picked you up at your hotel in an SUV, and they only take four passengers. The only thing that dampened what would have been a great tour, was the other two passengers.

The two women, wearing pant suits and heels could not have had the slightest clue of what this tour was. They only thing I can think of is the Concierge at the Bellagio (where they told us more than once they had a large suite) recommended it. They did not want to get out of the vehicle, although it was part hiking tour. Complained about the heat, although it was only around 90, which by desert standards is not bad! I almost laughed out loud when one of them complained that the cabbies in Vegas were so rude that they would not stop when they tried to hail them from the street. They actually flagged down a delivery truck to take them back to their hotel. If the delivery truck had not stopped they would have had to take the bus!(how gosh!). The guide politely told them that cabs were not allowed to stop on the street to pick up passengers. For some reason this really ticked them off. They also needed to use the bathroom several times, but we had to travel to find ones they felt were acceptable, hey it?s the dessert!! They wouldn?t use one because they saw a flying beetle. Oh well, it was wonderful anyway. The park is like another world and you can actually view ancient Indian drawings.
At one point if you climbed up one embankment, you could see Lake Mead and the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Overall, a great trip partially due to this site. Thanks!

LOL, this is great!
I just want to know more:)
Tell us about Dad and the bride, is he going to live in Vegas now? What made him/them pick Las Vegas for the wedding? just curious~
I am glad that you seemed to take the tour companions in stride and with a good sense of humor!

How did your child like the trip and the sights, it must have been awesome to a little one~

Scarlette,

The story of my Dad & his new bride is actually quite a good one. My Dad retired from the police force here(PA) and moved to Vegas 5yrs ago. His 2nd wife never adjusted to the move and began returning frequently back home. Unfortunately she became involved with my father's ex police partner, who my Dad always said had a thing for her. She married him, two months after the divorce was final.

My father went into a deep depression. He had wanted this move most his life, sold most everything he owned to do it, only to find himself alone and isolated.

One day coming out of church he had a heart attack in the Church lot. In the hospital he met a nurse who was recently widowed. She was lecturing him about his poor diet (mostly fast food), he told her that he was alone and had never learned to cook. She confided that she loved to cook, but had no one to cook for. That was three years ago. I could not have been happier for them!

As for my little one, since my Dad lives there, we try to go once a year, so I have learned all the places for kids. She loves Vegas! In fact when she was around four, her preschool had all the children do an "all about me" poster which they hung up in the hall. On the posters children answered questions favorite color, food vacation etc. All the kids answered the vacation question as you would expect, the Beach, Disney, etc. Of course my daughter's said Las Vegas! I'm sure
it raised a few eyebrows of the other parents.

Hey, what a great story! Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Good luck to your Dad and his wife!!!

fantastic. tell us more. Sounds like your husband is an idiot who lets you sedate him with what ever you want.

Does he have a mind of his own???

What a lovely story! What a sweet romance! I wish them many happy years!
How great that your daughter has something besides Disney to refer to:)

do ignore the rude posters, they come out now and then, hit, then run:) and obviously have nothing to contribute but unpleasantness.

jor,

I guess it did sound that way, but I really do have to keep the pills. My husband's fear of flying is so bad that on one (short)trip he took 3 1/2 pills, he was only supposed to take one. By the time we landed I could barely get him off the plane. I have to admit though I do love how sweet and mellow he gets, hmm maybe just a half in his cheerios?

Postal,

About being in the right place, couldn't agree more. My Dad was never the going to church type. He had started going after his life fell apart. We have always told him that his now wife was an answer to his prayers. It had to be divine intervention, I mean he fell out in the church lot, and came to surrounded by boy scouts who had been there selling raffel tickets!