Only kidding about Michael Mina ... I've made MYSELF sick with MY OWN cooking for god's sake. As they say, #@%! happens.

I'm also interested in trying the Burger Bar(??) at Mandalay Bay ... anyone?? Guess it would be us girls for lunch ... perhaps splitting a burger and fries (gotta save room for dinner).

Thanks MerryTravel. I'm thinking I'm going to call and make a reservation for Mesa Grill ... I've looked at the menu on-line and "yum".

I'm daydreaming about the bread pudding at The Commander's Palace .. that stuff was so good my husband and I were chewing the meringue off the edges of the ramekin ... yah, we're classy.

hunterblu - I'm with you. We never dreamed we'd be going to Vegas every year after our first trip in 1992. Now we're going 2-3 times a year. It's a very relaxing vacation from reality for us. Sign up for all the players clubs next time. Even if you only gamble a bit, you might qualify for some freebies. I loooove getting the free stuff, as my spouse will attest. We found that our first few trips were jam packed, as yours was, and that we eased up a bit on the schedule with succesive trips. Now we plan for down time, walking around time, gambling and one new show or restaurant or other event each trip. I have to admit that one recent trip we were hard pressed to come up with a new experience. Going in to the extravagant bathrooms off the Caesar's lobby had to suffice. (We knew at that point we might have been to Vegas one too many times.) We still start planning our next trip when we get home.

I've done the burger bar, but....did I miss something? Maybe I had really really high expectations. at the end, it seemed like I had eaten a simple burger & fries.

I don't think we'll EVER get to the point where we'd actually have a room comped.....

we spent about $200 or so on video poker and slots (between the 2 of us) on this trip we just took and only accumulated 96 points....it seems like it would take a bunch of bucks to get a room comped, but then again, I don't know much 'bout compin'....

I feel ya, that is how I feel about San Diego....I love it, we live only 5 hours away by car, 1 hour by plane so we are fotunate enough to go about 2-4 times a year! It is nice when you find a place that is well suited to your tastes while on vacation. New Years is really hectic, the already terrible traffic conditions gets severly outrageous, because many of the visitors over New years decend from So. Cal., and they drive, bringing more cars to the valley. Plus, as you mentioned hotel rates are sky high, a rip off in my opinion, especially when a few days later the rates drop a few hundred dollars for the exact same rooms! If you want to come back again so soon, how about before Christmas or just after New Years, is that feasible in your schedule? By the way, I highly recommend Danny Gans, he is great, seen him about 5 times now and we would still keep on going. Our anniversary is next month and we usually like to get dinner and show, I'm thinking maybe "O" as we have never seen it! Anyway, I am so very pleased to hear that you like my hometown so much, makes for a nice change, most people tend to bash Vegas so much, yet they keep coming!

Oh, one more thing if you decide to come back there are so many "local" restaurants that are great. If you like Italian, I really suggest going about 15-20 minutes from the Strip to Ventano's. It is GREAT!! Go at night and they have really nice views of the Strip. http://www.ventanoitalian.com/ It is one of my favorite restaurants in town! Plus, it is in a nice area of the valley (Green Valley/Henderson).

Just wondering, is the new food court at Mandalay (back by the sharks) open yet? Looked interesting for a quick snack...

Hmm, not sure sylvia3, I was just there at Mandalay Bay over Labor Day weekend for the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert. But, I didn't go that far back...sorry.

The new food court at Mandalay Bay is open now, sylvia3. Looks good, with quite a few different options. Was there last week and have a trip report to post! Though since it was for work, I didn't get to venture out too much...but I go back in two weeks (also for work) and will be able to explore more!

vegasnative, Alas, it doesn't look like we'll get back until next year..... the holidays are out as we have a Breckenridge trip planned in December to visit our son in Denver, and I just can't bring myself to pay double/triple/quadruple prices for a new years stay. Plus, I'm not too keen on the greased poles and excess crowds :)

After new years thru April is out for me (tax season), so it will probably be next may, which would also be a good time to visit Zion again since we didn't get to see that area as much as we wanted

hunterblu - When I said I love free stuff, I meant all kinds of free stuff, from tacky key chains and T-shirts to rooms and meals. I love working the comp system. The comping has gotten tighter over the years, and yes, you do have to put some cash at risk. Keep in mind that the computers track how much money goes through the machines (or the pit boss keeps track of your average table bet and length of play)and not how much you lose or win. They're betting on the house edge over the long run, which exists for all bets other than the odds bet at the craps table, card counting blackjack players (who get banned if discovered), and rare video poker machines. The lower the house edge, the longer you can play theoretically, and the more points you can earn. For example, in the Harrahs/Caesars system, you have to put $20,000 through the slot machines to get enough points to qualify for platinum status, where they send you offers of free rooms with regularity. This might only cost you $100-$200, however, if you got very lucky and find a hihger payback machine (no way to know for sure) hit a succession of small to medium sized jackpots and kept putting the money back into the machine. Of course, you could be at a slot machine with a low payback rate or could be unlucky and go through $100 in an hour, or hit a bigger jackpot. Since the house edge on video poker machines is usually very low, e.g., 99.54% payback or 0.46% house edge on a full pay 9-6 Jacks or Better machine with perfect play - note I said perfect play, and you know what the payback is from looking at the posted payout table, the casino makes you put more $$ through a video poker machine to get the same number of points. At Harrahs/Caesars casinos, you have to put $40,000 through the machine to get platinum status. Any more, we get comps mostly because we've learned to play video poker without making too many mistakes or hitting the bad tail of a normal distribution of hands. (Although sometimes my spouse has a lucky run on the slot machines.) We used to get comps and cashback more easily, whether on slots or table games, but the minimums on table games have gone up everywhere in Vegas over the past 3 years. If you ever desire to make a serious run on the comp system, study, study, study, and be prepared for ups and downs. A good "just the facts" book on most of the casino games is the American Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling by Andrew Brisman. I don't know if it's been updated since 1999, so some of the recent exotic variations on games are not covered, and the chapter on regular poker is very short. One bet I'm willing to cover at almost any odds right now is that this is way more than you wanted to know about comping! Anyways, glad you had a good time in one of our favorite playgrounds.

Definition of Vegasitis: an unpleasant, annoyng, itch to go to Vegas. And it's so nice when you get a chance to scratch it. ((6))

nah.. too easy.

I had an itch in vegas once, but turns out it was a flea bite from my dog after doing some foliage tours in vermont, we stopped off in vegas on our way home.

I completely understand your excitement. I had been dreaming about visiting Vegas for years as younger person due to many reruns of Leaving las vegas, Casino, etc.

I finally went on a business trip and was itching to go ever since. I went again during the summer of 2003 and had a great time! I totally loved it!

And I still am itching to go back...but since it is so close and affordable, I have been traveling to farther away places first...

it is something about the bright lights of the strip, the way you feel your cares are far, far away and no one knows your name...and perhaps the sheer possible debauchery of it all!!

and mind you, on my last trip I had a great time! and only had 1 alcoholic drink. :)