it has been hectic getting back to work.
to anyone who has been following my story, thank you.
thurs Oct 30
awoke from the most restful sleep i%26#39;ve had on this trip maybe 830 or 900am or so. our one night stay at Luxor had come to an end, and again, although it was one of the non-renovated pyramid rooms, i liked it very much. cleaned up and said goodbye to our room 18-094 and checked out downstairs. went over to the Starbox at the bottom of inclinator bank 3 and had some coffee. at least the baristas at this location knew how to pull shots, decently strong, soy at the right temperature. we sat for a moment planning out the day.
onward back to the North Valet, a timeshare woman had approached us and i was telling her no thank you, but my dear sweet wife could not just walk away. %26lt;she told her a nice fabricated story about how we were leaving Las Vegas that day, but that it was our last time to the mainland US for several years as we were going back home to Hawaii to get things in order as we were gonna be moving to Japan. She had a job waiting for her at an English speaking school and i was somehow being sent by my employers, the federal gov%26#39;t, to a US Naval Shipyard.%26gt; either the woman believed us, or she knew that it was sooo BS that she shouldn%26#39;t even bother. she wished us well and we were on our way.
sitting outside at the N.Valet, we saw a peculiar bird, i think it was a crow. now, i know that crows aren%26#39;t anything special to most people, but again, as they don%26#39;t have %26#39;em in HI, i thought it was neat. it was inky, oily black and was sqwaking funny, but i could hear different inflections in its voice as it looked up at me. for some reason, we always see funny birds in Las Vegas. i also noticed 3 cars under covers in a velvet-roped area at the valet. one was a ferrari, another was a rolls, and the third was something special, looked like a chevelle with a huge blower snorkel on the hood level with the roofline. i figure the valets would be most interested in that one, as the luxury cars are most often leased or rentals.
out onto the road and over to the hard rock. not the HR casino, but to the restaurant in the parking lot. the night before, my BIL called and asked for a HRCafe Tee Shirt for his GF%26#39;s Dad. long story short, her pops is a big HRCafe fan and his LV shirt had somehow gotten ruined. and as my BIL says that he%26#39;s not likely to come to Las Vegas anytime soon (blasphemer!), if we%26#39;d pick on up since we%26#39;re going by. neither of us care for the HR, liked the decor, sure as hell didn%26#39;t care for peoples%26#39; attitude when we%26#39;ve visited. so ducked into the HRCafe%26#39;s merch shop, got the shirt and left. by this time, we were both hungry, it was maybe 115pm.
headed over to PH, dropped off the truck and walked over next door to Paris. i like the vibe of PH, i like the colors and the decor, but i%26#39;m not so sure about gambling there. something seems off to me. anyhow, over to Paris for MAG for lunch. we got a table pretty quickly, and the place was crowded. we usually drop in just as they open for lunch, but as it was getting close to 200pm, it was hectic. there was a doctors%26#39; convention of some sort in town and many of %26#39;em decended upon MAG for lunch. sat at our table inside and watched as many people made their way over to the bar, only to just stand in the middle of traffic. the bar was full already, there%26#39;s only 8 or so seats, but i guess so many folks told the hostess, ';nah, we%26#39;ll just wait at the bar';. so after a couple of couples would wait for 5-7 minutes for a spot at the bar (where people were actually dining already), they%26#39;d head back out front. the service was good, the food was good. each of us had chose to eat ';lighter';, each of us with the french onion soup, DW had an app of chicken liver pate w/ cornichons(sp?)-which looked like spam with toast. i had a duck cuvee(sp?) w/ beet salad. each of us also had cocktails, dunno what the DW had, but i had their house mojito, which while good, was not nearly as good as Fuente%26#39;s or Olives%26#39;. i do still enjoy MAG, but i can see why many people here on the board get turned off at it. our timing for lunch and how crowded it was made for a less leisurely feel. we always seat indoors to avoid the looky-loos out on the sidewalk and the temperature, but with the hustle and bustle, it wasn%26#39;t as pleasant as previous visits.
full of food and a little buzzed, we went back next door to walk it off and do our after MAG ritual of shopping at MM at PH. stopped in at Urban Outfitters, got some stuff. basically that%26#39;s how the rest of the afternoon went, poking into shops we don%26#39;t have at home and gathering some things we wanted. looked at my watch and noticed the time was 430pm-ish. was trying to move the DW along as we were to meet up with a friend for dinner when he gets off at 530pm.
so it was just about 500pm and i%26#39;m stuck texting Mike that we were running late. DW wanted to head back to the 4Q to get dressed for dinner before meeting up with our good friend Mike. so i blazed up Paradise which was wide open from Sands on north. got to the 4Q valet, told the valet we%26#39;d be only 10 minutes (so they don%26#39;t hafta move it, just leave the truck out front), lugged our loot to the room, changed up for the dinner and dashed back down to the porte cochere, and found the truck had been moved. went thru the lobby and over to the valet pick up and redeemed the truck. i glare over at DW who knows that she was making us late, but i know its of no use. somehow, we got down to Wynn to the main entrance and dropped of the truck, it was dark out and the lights were glittering and gleaming. i had texted Mike again to let him know we were on property. waited for a response, as it was around 700pm, called him and he was waiting by the buffet already.
Mike is on the verge of 40, good-looking and single. he lives in Henderson and works at Excalibur as an HR Dept Mgr. he%26#39;s the elder brother of my best friend, Kevin who also doesn%26#39;t live in HI anymore.
so because Mike works for MGM Mirage, i noticed that he usually prefers to visit non-MGM properties, so i was the one who had suggested a more ';neutral'; ground of Wynn for dinner.
i had my TCs ready to pay for the dinner, but Mike had cut me off at the pass for dinner. but no matter, i usually spot meals when we visit with him. we%26#39;re seated and we each survey the foodscape. DW and i had been before, but Mike had not. we went last in Dec 06 and remembered it being very good food. i had read most recently that they had Osso Bucco, which the DW adores, but alas, none that night. also gone were anything with Ahi, no Ahi Poke, no Spicy Ahi Temaki or Maki Sushi. although they had crab and manila clams and similar seafood things (which i don%26#39;t eat), we were a little disappointed that some of what we note as more expensive items were not on the menu anymore. what they did offer was of good quality, and dinner was enjoyable, but i%26#39;m not sure it was worth what our friend had shelled out for us at over $100 for 3.
conversation with Mike was funny as always, he%26#39;d ask about his mom, we talked about his SIL and things back home. as always, i%26#39;d ask him about the city and his point of view as a ';local'; and his perspective into the Las Vegas gaming industry, how the economy was affecting them there.
so after a most pleasant dinner with good company, we parted ways and wished our friend well as he had to work the next day. we instead walked over to Palazzo. it was still being built when we last visited, so i was very curious as to what the place was like. we walked thru the shops and then down to the casino level. i liked the marble floors of the shops, the same colors seem to carry throughout the public areas and they even seemed complimentary to those of the Venetian. played a little on the slots, but there was no going. when i finally got the DW to get up, we sat over in the lobby watching the young %26#39;uns (at least younger than us, early 20%26#39;s kids) gathering for a halloween event at LAVO. packs of girls would come in with their sexy themed costumes, come and go, come and go. finally the herd lined up near the door and the world was brought to order.
decided to make our way back to the truck, and somehow while walking, we agreed to go over to MB to go to Minus5. so that%26#39;s exactly what we did. dropped the truck at our fave valet at Mandalay Place, greeted by the scent of coconut and powder as the sliding glass doors parted and made our way up the escalator. i guess it was a bit after midnight or so, the shops were closed and there were only stragglers making their way to and fro MB-Lux or the other way around. so over to Minus5 ice lounge, looked over the price board and walked over to the cashier. admission plus 1 drink for me, 2 drinks for the missus. got fitted with coats, we were briefly briefed and into the ice lounge. we don%26#39;t get sub-zero temperatures at home, so drinking in such an environment added to the novelty, just about everything in the room was sculpted from crystal clear ice. cool color toned LED accent lights beamed the room and added to the ambiance. we agreed that it was quite fun and that maybe we%26#39;d be back. gathered up our things and purchased the souvenir photo their photog had snapped of us on an ice couch. %26lt;for my full Minus5 write-up, …tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g45963-i10-k23518… %26gt;
down to the MB casino level to walk around and acclimate. we both sat and played a little bit on the slots to be sure that i was alright to drive. stuck around for maybe half an hour then made our way back to 4Q and bed.
TR - 4Q, Believe, Lux, Zu, B-day, Halloween Day 5
Well, I was wondering when you%26#39;d be back. I%26#39;m really enjoying your TR. Waiting for more.....
M
TR - 4Q, Believe, Lux, Zu, B-day, Halloween Day 5
err,
it was duck -confit- at MAG. definitely different preparation.
I would wager that the bird you saw was not a crow, but a grackle. It is ';oily'; looking, with a black body and iridescent black/purple head. It is the size of a crow, but has many different songs, whereas the crow is more limited in its ';vocabulary';.
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