Trip Report for Las Vegas for 9/26-9/29

Hotel: Mirage (purchased w/airfare through Orbitz). Room was on the 18th floor, overlooking the pool. Good, clean room that was one of the remodeled rooms.

Friday (9/26):
Activities:
- Lunch @ Fin (Chinese restaurant inside the Mirage): Had soup + dim sum appetizer. More than enough for lunch. Cost about $50 for two people, so somewhat pricey for a small lunch.
- Dinner @ Firefly: Off the Strip, Spanish tapas place. Had 5:30 reservations. Place was pretty much empty, no reservations were really needed. Good food, good sangria. Not overly expensive ($50 for a lot of food). Definitely would visit again.
- Show at night: Cirque Du Soleil's LOVE @ the Mirage -- Hotel had a 25% discount for the late (10pm) show. Good crowd (too crowded to get drinks and make the show on time). Very good show. Would recommend.

Saturday: (9/27)
- Breakfast/Lunch @ Bouchon (The Venetian): Very nice service, menu, atmosphere. Would recommend highly.
- Dinner @ Enoteca San Marco (The Venetian): Received a 50% discount on entrees as part of tickets for the night show. Olive Garden-like restaurant. Service was spotty (took three tries to get olive oil for the bread). Menu/food was ok. No wow factor.
- Show: Phantom of the Opera @ the Venetian. Got tickets the day before @ tix4tonight. 25% for very good seats. Show was ok but is clearly a shorter version of the "real" show with a very fast, hurried pace. OK, but not great.
- Stratosphere: Walked from Mirage to the Stratosphere. Not the best idea in the heat. Rode two of the rides. Was too hot and dizzy for the third. View is great from the top. Rides are not for everyone.

Sunday: (9/28)
- Brunch @ Cravings (The Mirage): Good buffet selection. Nothing spectacular, but enough of a selection that we didn't leave wanting.
- Dinner @ the Eiffel Tower Resturant (Paris): Had the tasting menu. Very pricey ($98 per person + wine) but very good. Very nice service, great view of the Strip and the Bellagio fountains.

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a chance to sample many good restaurants.

You forgot to tell how much you've lost gambling

Only ended up playing the slots. And mainly the penny slots at that. Didn't keep track of the total gain. But probably ended up +$75. Actually, a better breakdown would be lost $25 and made $100 on a single spin (on a penny slot!) that cleaned that all up. Playing blackjack was on the list but never got around to finding a good low minimum table to play.

LOL people who win big usually put that into their first paragraphs!

We play pennies too. If I want to gamble, I take my money shopping