In any event, there's always time to write a Las Vegas trip report, right?
So, I had some Southwest flight credits I had to use before the end of November, so why not make a Vegas trip? I was considering doing the Rock and Roll Marathon, well the 10k portion of it, at least, but I did my 10k in Atlantic City at the end of October, so I didn't feel the need to attempt the Las Vegas one. Plus, I was only going for a short amount of time (4 nights), instead of my usual 7-10 days, plus another reason I was planning the trip was that I had quite a bit of free play and match play coupons to use. I figured my EV for the trip was around $400, so the seemed to make it worthwhile.
I did manage to get some friends to make the trip with me, well meet me in Las Vegas, at least. Bob headed out on Nov 5, with a side trip to Phoenix, and Catherine headed to LAS on Nov 7, with me finally arriving on Nov 9.
My office is less than a quarter mile walk to the Spring Hill Metro Station. I left around 2:07 PM, and from there it was a short ride (10 minites) to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, where I caught the Washington Flyer (Silver Line Express) bus to Dulles. By 2:56 PM, I was at the airport. Total price was around $8. ($5 for the bus, and I think $3.10 for the Metro).
With TSA Pre, the security line was a breeze, and I was at my gate in no time. I looked over my lunch options, and went with Potbelly ($10.65). I had a connection in ATL, and I was right next to my departure gate, and I was boarding B1. IAD-ATL was fine, I had a couple next to me, where she spent most of the trip leaning over and watching TV on her companion's computer. The ATL-LAS was not as good, there was a larger woman next to me, who lifted the armrest for more space. I made the best of it, taking advantage of the free movies Southwest offers now, and caught Ant Man and the Wasp. We had a slight weather delay out of ATL, but made up some time, and arrived at LAS around 9:38 PM, eight minutes late from our schedule arrival time.
As I only had my carry-on items, I went to passenger pickup and waited for Bob and Catherine to arrive. They arrived around 10:11 PM, and we were on our way!
Although it was Friday (presumably busy), I said we could stop at Bellagio and catch a fountain show and perhaps see the Conservatory. As we have Caesars Diamond cards (and it was probably the most convenient), we parked at Bally's/Paris, coming in the back way on Audrie. We got out to Bellagio around 10:44 PM, just in time for a fountain show.
We went in and went to the Conservatory. It was still decorated from when my friend saw them working on the change in September.
I still needed to check in at Golden Gate, Catherine was worried that my room might be cancelled, but I figured I should be okay. Even though it was a busy weekend due to the marathon. In any event, we dropped Catherine off at The D and arrived at Golden Gate around 12:13 AM. I went to the front desk and the clerk took my information and looked at the computer, he had a look of concern, which I didn't like. He got on the phone and was talking to someone, presumably the manager. He mentioned that I had a suite reservation, they had given all of them out, there were only two rooms left, and what can he do? He mentioned he had the penthouse suite available tonight, and after further talking with the person, he told me he would be able to put me in the penthouse tonight, but someone had it starting tomorrow, and I would need to leave that room by 11 AM. I said sure, as long as they had another room (preferably the suite I reserved) the next day. He said they were working on the rooms, but said I would get a suite. I said the penthouse would be fine (as if it wouldn't).
We went up to the fifth floor (because it is Golden Gate) and saw the room listing, 1 to the left and 2 to the right. But the room packet he gave me said, "50", and there didn't seem to be a room 50. After going down to room 2 and the key did not work, we went back to room 1, and the key worked.
Wow, the suite was just incredible. It was sad that I only had it for the one night, well, 10 hours. The pictures here do not to it justice. We spent about 30 minutes just taking photos of the room, but I still wanted to eat dinner!
So Bob and I headed to California and the Market Street Cafe, getting there around 1:32 AM. Of course, there was a long line, but it seemed to move quickly. Our service was pretty slow, but the food was fine. I was thinking about a steak, but ended up getting a loco moco, because The Cal.
I used the LVA 2-1 coupon, and although it says to take it to the slot club (which was closed), the cashier let me use it. She also took off the more expensive item ($6.99 versus $4.99) and the bill came to $5.40. Since it was Bob's birthday, I paid, and he left the tip.
Bob wanted to check something out at Main Street Station, so we headed over there. Since we were there, I had to play the Pay the Aces, No Faces machine. I didn't get more than two aces, but I did hit this:
I didn't have my card in, since I wasn't expecting to play much, and the slot attendant said I needed my card in to get a scratch card. I thought he was going to give me one when I put it in, and I think he would have if the supervisor person wasn't standing there. In any event, I did not hit another quad (or better), and cashed out for $75 (I cashed out at 200 credits, and there was $25 in quarters from the aces I hit). But a funny thing when I cashed the coins in at the cage. I saw that the display at the position had a flickering tens digit. And as the person went over to put the coins in, it was flickering on and off until it stopped at $75. But the "7" went out, just showing $5. When the guy came back, he looked at the display and gave me $5. I thought he was joking, but he seemed to be serious. I said, that it was way more than $5, and he looked at the display, and then the "7" came back on. He laughed about it and paid me the rest of my money. Really, did he think that a cup full of quarters only came to $5? Apparently seven never win. . .
So, it was after 3 AM, and I did need sleep, since I had been up since 7 AM the day before. Bob had his room at GG and I went up to my suite. He could have stayed in the second bedroom in the suite, but all of his stuff was in his room, plus he had to check out the next day anyway, and we were sharing my room on Sat, but now he couldn't put his stuff in my room, since the current room wouldn't be my room for the rest of the trip.
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