Trip Report 11/9 - 11/13

The Background - 9th or 10th time to Vegas. Went with the hubster to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. Stayed at Orleans (comped rooms) and also stayed one night at 4 Queens (first time staying on Fremont)

Trip Report 11/9 - 11/13

Travel Day - Sunday 11/9

Midwest flight left 2 hours late apparently due to the runway issues at McCarren. Oh well, gave us time to watch the Packers lose while hanging out at the airport.

Arrived at approximately 8:00 p.m. A bit of a taxi line, but as usual it went really fast. Fast check-in at Orleans and up to our room within a hour of landing. Yeah - I hear the slot machines calling already!

Nice room on the 18th floor. After a little room time (it is our anniversary week after all), went down to get my $50 in free play. Updated players cards and went in search of my lucky machine. Played a bunch of different penny slots and ended the evening a whopping $25 up. The hubster played some blackjack and we both enjoyed excellent drink service.

Trip Report 11/9 - 11/13

What was the issue at McCarran? Did you ever find out?

Yeah...i%26#39;ve had pretty good drink service at the Orleans too.

Monday, November 10

Ate breakfast at the Cafe ($50 food credit along with the comped rooms). Then took the shuttle to the Strip. Beautiful day (70%26#39;s) so we strolled up and down the strip checking out the various casinos. Went through Venetian and Wynn as I had never been to either. Strolled through Bellagio Conservatory (absolutely beautiful) and Mirage for old times sake (we usually stay there, but we had a bad experience - our fault - July, 2007 so we feel we have bad juju there! - A long story).

Decided to hit Toby Keith%26#39;s at Harrah%26#39;s for a late lunch/early dinner. Had a riot. Good country music and really strong drinks - got quite a little buzz going. Food was okay - just had munchies.

Hubby went to the Poker Room and I got rewarded for my stupidity. I made the cardinal sin of slot players - sat down at a machine without paying attention to the demonination. I ';thought'; I was playing a .25 machine (5 coin max), but was really playing a $1 machine. (What in the world was that machine doing among all the penny and nickel slots?) Anyway, I%26#39;m playing along when I notice that my money is rapidly disappearing. Just when I was going to cash out, I hit a nice jackpot and cashed out $250 ahead. Sometimes it pays to be blonde!

Walked over to Bill%26#39;s to watch Big Elvis - really crowded but a fun show. Decided we had enough of the strip so took the shuttle back to Orleans. Played some more slots/blackjack but no big wins. I lost a little and hubby broke even. Off to jump on the bed and get ready for Fremont on Tuesday.

EDRO-

There is a closed runway at McCaren. This is the issue.

Edro - They said something about the winds and one runway being shut down for repairs/construction or whatever, there were lots of delays.

Tuesday, November 11th

For this trip, I was able to talk the hubster into staying one night on Fremont. Since our room at Orleans was comped, we simply packed a small bag (no need to check out) and took a cab to Fremont. Got a really fun cab driver who was telling us stories about some of his more unusual fares. (I actually wanted to put a sanitary covering over the seat after some of his stories).

Checked in at 4 Queens (room was $39 plus tax) so obviously I wasn%26#39;t expecting much. Room was small but clean with a nice plasma tv. Tiny bathroom but it would certainly serve the purpose.

Walked through the various casinos checking out the tables / slots. Hubby decided to play some blackjack so off to the slots I went. Can%26#39;t remember if it was Fitzgerald or Fremont, but I got lucky on two different slots (one at each of the above casino%26#39;s). One was a Happy Days penny slot - shortly after I sat down I hit the record free spins bonus and got the 60 free spins. Sixty spins later, I was several hundred up - whoopee! I also hit a nice pay-out on a ';Anything but Sixes'; quarter machine. Got a couple nice bonuses and cashed out over $500 ahead. Donated some of it back to different casino gods, but had a fun afternoon.

Up to our room to shower and change for dinner at Hugo%26#39;s. Before dinner, we went to a 2nd floor outdoor sitting area (Vue @ Fitzgeralds?) to have a beverage and watch the first light show.

Hugo%26#39;s was really nice. Great service and the food was really good. Loved the personal attention with the table-side salads. The only down-side was a large group in the back who were a bit noisy. Overall, we really enjoyed the dinner.

Strolled over to California and through to Main Street Station just to check it out and then back to Fremont. Gambled at various casino%26#39;s and basically wandered around all night. I love Fremont Street! If the DH didn%26#39;t want to leave a particular casino or table, I could just head out to wherever I wanted. Found drink service to be pretty good at all the casino%26#39;s. Crashed at approx 3:00 am and I think we were both asleep immediately. Must have been a bit buzzed because when we work up on Wednesday, all the lights in the room were still on!

Wednesday, November 12

Hung around Fremont until around noon and then cabbed back to Orleans. Took a ';nap'; and then got ready for our dinner. Since 11/12 was our actual 25th anniversary, I decided that I wanted to eat at VooDoo at Rio. I had made reservations for 7:00 but found that we probably didn%26#39;t need them as the place wasn%26#39;t very crowded at all.

We took the shuttle to Gold Coast and then walked over to Rio. Up, up, up to VooDoo. Really nice table overlooking the strip. We ordered a steak/lobster dinner for 2 - it was awesome. Biggest lobster I%26#39;d ever seen and I especially liked the fact that they had pulled all the lobster meat out of the shell. Really good wait-service again tonight. Since it was our anniversary, they treated us to a dessert trio that was excellent.

We took an after dinner drink out to the Voo Doo Lounge. It was a beautifuly evening (at least by Wisconson standards) so we sat outside for quite a while just enjoying the view. We left Voo Doo around 10 pm and there wasn%26#39;t much of anything going on out there yet - guess it was way too early for the dance/party crowd. Hubster wanted to play at Rio for a while so we roamed around looking for lucky slots. Absolutely no luck for me, but DH really liked the openness of the casino and is making noises about staying there sometime.

Eventually we strolled back to Gold Coast and played there awhile. Again I was just feeding machines and boy were they hungry! Finally took the last shuttle back to Orleans and went to the Alligator bar for a nightcap. A Party Jackpot machine summoned me so I had to play awhile. Won back a little bit of the money I had donated earlier and then off to bed.

Thursday, November 13th - Time to pack and head for home. Luckily our flight didn%26#39;t leave until 6:00 pm so we had a leisurely breakfast and checked out around noon. Stored our luggage and DH went off to play some Poker. I popped around from machine to machine with no success. Finally settled on one of those community pig machines and had a riot. Got enough bonuses and pig-things to keep me playing for a couple hours. Cashed out a whopping $1 down.

Off to the airport where (again) our flight was delayed. Only an hour this time. Boarded our Midwest plane and gazed longingly at the Vegas lights.

Final Thoughts: Yes, the crowds might have been lower than other times, but there were still plenty of people. Found staff at all places to be very friendly and very appreciative of tips. When I did the final cash count - the trip ended up costing us a approximately $1,500 (that%26#39;s including meals, cabs, drinks, tips, gambling etc.) I had used frequent flyer miles for the plane fare and the only room we had to pay for was one night at 4 Queens so that really helped keep costs down.

Being the Vegas addict that I am, I immediately stashed most of the $$ we came home with in my Vegas Fund!

Sounds like a great time so far, makes me want to stay downtown next time even for a couple of nights, and I loved this part :

';Must have been a bit buzzed because when we work up on Wednesday, all the lights in the room were still on!';

too funny !!