Have a great New Year everyone
Suzy x
Day 1 (and 2) - Are We There Yet?
Set off from home at 4.45 - arrived in good time at Manchester airport to pick up our tickets and check in"¦.to be told that there was a 4hr 45 min delay - but it was ok because we got a £5 food and beverage voucher!!!!
Had the Servisair lounge booked so popped up and they gave us the option to call back later. Killed some time in the shops and then returned to the lounge. Good service and selection of drinks and snacks - well worth the money, and they kindly let us stay an extra hour ïÂÂÃ…Â Boarded and set off in good time - to be told as we were nearly there that there was snow in Vegas WTH???
Had to be diverted to Ontario, California where we spent 3 hours on the tarmac and a further 3 hours getting off, through Customs and sorting out accommodation for the night. After so much hanging around we were unwilling to wait hours for the hotel shuttle so walked it (including a climb over a fence and a hop over some train tracks). Next day, got dropped at the airport for our flight. Had a couple of cold ones in the bar and started to see the funny side (well tried anyway!!). Finally arrived in Vegas 28 hours late ïÂÂÅ’
By the time we had checked in at the MGM we only had enough energy left to cross over to the Excalibur for a couple of beers and hit the Studio Café back at MGM for fajitas (they were good fajitas - but not as spicy as I like them).
Day 3 - Shopping
Walked down to the Miracle Mile shops and had breakfast in Cheeseburger Las Vegas - not as cheap as La Salsa Cantina, but they had a queue of about 30 people waiting for it to open. Also went to the Fashion Show Mall and Forum Shops at CP before DH gave up and demanded beer (gee he had to twist my arm!!)
Day 4 - Barry Manilow
Went down to Tix4Tonite where we got our tickets, plus a voucher for 25% discount at TJs Steakhouse for about $150. The prime rib was good but they had the strangest version of potato au gratin that I have ever tried. The show was fantastic - he can sure belt them out!!! Few too many Christmassy songs but otherwise a great experience - added entertainment in the form of a rhythmically challenged lady in front of us - her body went at one speed and her hand was waving a glow stick around at another (neither of which matched the music!!)
Day 5 - Downtown
Watched the Liverpool - Arsenal match at the Sportsbook in the MGM - long time since I watched any football with just a coffee!!
Headed off to the Stratosphere to meet some fellow travel survivors - sat in the C bar with a few beers whilst they went up the tower. Got the Deuce down to Fremont Street and just wandered up and down for a little while. Saw someone on a scooter and wondered if it was one of the famous TA party?!!
Ended up in the Fremont for 99 cent margaritas, teaching our friend 3 card poker - jammy so and so hit Trip 3s!!! After we lost all our money (all $80 of it!!) we settled on the Magnolia for supper - prime rib, mash and gravy yummy!! And all for $10 including a salad!! Took in a light show and then headed back to the volcano and then the fountains.
Day 6 - The Gun Store and Blue Man Group
Took the CAT up Tropicana to the Gun Store - had a great time, shot a Grease gun, a shotgun and a sniper rifle - came to about $100 but well worth it. Quick shower and change and off to the Venetian for BMG. Man that place smells so strong that you can taste it!!! Tried to get a drink at one of the bars ($7 for a Bud) but DH had no id so we were knocked back (I am 36 and he is 35 so that has not happened for many years - we were not asked for id once last year but 3 times this trip - must be the moisturiser!!)
Popped outside to see what was nearby and ended up in Casino Royale - what a find!! Got a $1 Bud each, sat at a 5 cent VP machine for 20 mins and bought a bottle of water each - all for less than 2 Buds at the Venetian!!
BMG was great - very hard to describe - visual comedy/music? We both feel that we would have enjoyed it more after several more beers!! Spent a good deal of the time trying to avoid eye contact as we did not know whether the people they interacted with were plants or pre-selected!!
Day 7 - shopping, drinking and gambling
Returned to the shops that we had visited on our first day here to make our purchases - we like to explore the options and then decide at leisure what we are going to buy. Got back to the MGM about 3 - dropped the shopping off and hit the bar. The one that we had been to a couple of times was closed so we went to the one along the side of the casino and dropped $20 each into the VP machines. DH was up about $8 and I was down to about $6 - was getting ready for his sarcastic comment when I hit 4 deuces - $150 thank you!!!
Down to Bills for a little more VP and 3 card poker, then more of the same at Casino Royale. Spent about $280 in total and had such a blast - did not pay for 1 drink all night and were very drunk. I know that this is all a ploy by the casinos to part you from your money but to be honest, we could not get as drunk as we did, and have as much fun as we did without spending at least that much money back home.
Home the next day and thankfully the journey was incident free!!
General impressions - MGM was a pleasant hotel although the smell was a little overpowering at first - nowhere near as bad as the Venetian though. Beds were very comfortable. Saw 3 different rooms because of problems with the booking (as we arrived a day late). Standard rooms were fine - smoking room was terrible - very shabby furniture and cigarette holes in the sofa - we only stayed 5 minutes. Check in clerk gave us the run around but eventually we got a King Bungalow suite - non smoking!! Again this was very nice - probably worth an extra $10 - $20 a night but not much more.
Vegas seemed very busy in some places, but also saw a lot of staff hanging around - mostly in the "nicer" restaurants and higher limit tables - just my impression.
Shopping did not seem as good value - but that is down to the exchange rate!
So much that we did not get done due to the delay and feeling wiped out afterwards - need to start planning again!!!
