Socially Distanced Trip to Las Vegas, February 24 to March 2 - Day Five

We had breakfast scheduled at 9:00 AM, but I didn't get going until late and arrived there around 9:45 AM.  Kip slept in, so it was just Scott and I for breakfast at Magnolia's.  I got hash and eggs this time.

Hash browns with hash. . .

We get over to The D and the Vue Bar for the start of two days of play.  Always a grueling task to do 1,000 points at both properties over two days.  We do this to maximize the coupons, but in the future, I probably won't look to do the max.

A mimosa at his happy place!

We are looking to do most of our play before dinner at Andiamo at 7:00 PM.  Things apparently went well.

A nice straight flush!

Aces with a useless kicker. . .

I hit 16 quads and a straight flush, Kip hit 14 quads and a straight flush, and Scott hit an astounding 23 quads and two straight flushes!

We had a 7:00 PM reservation at Andiamo, and we're just across the casino from it.  Always enjoy my meals here (and really enjoyable on comps!).

Lobster Bisque!

NY Strip, Oscar style!

Coconut dream cake and cappuccino!

We all got drinks, appetizers, meals, desserts, and coffee and we were still around $100/pp ($306.55 total).  We had $360 in comps, so we were covered!  $20 each for tip, and we're done!

We head to Golden Gate to start our play there, getting there around 9:00 PM.  I still had around $40 in comps to spend before midnight, so I asked the bartender at Prohibition Bar what I could get for that.  He through out a few things and I decided that it had been a long time since I had some Johnnie Walker Blue.

Pretty smooth stuff!

He told me I still had comps left and offered me two bottles of Fiji water.  I asked Kip if she wanted them (since I knew she liked them), but she said she was okay.  I left those comps on the table!

We hit the machines around 9:30 PM.  Things went pretty well for me:

A straight flush!

And another straight flush!

I also hit six bonus quads (no aces), 13 quads overall, with the two straight flushes, and cashed out up around $425!  Kip hit nine quads and two straight flushes.  Scott "only" hit seven quads (including aces ones and three other bonus ones), plus a straight flush.  He'll probably make up for that later. . .

Socially Distanced Trip to Las Vegas, February 24 to March 2 - Day Four

Scott arrived last night, and we all were playing at Four Queens, so we met for breakfast at Magnolia's.  I think there was some sort of comment made on one of Kip's photos regarding bacon (since she's a vegetarian).  Therefore, every chance I get, I like to highlight the fact that she has bacon on her plate:

Bacon!

We had a 2-1 coupon for breakfast, so we got the same thing!

Queen's Breakfast (which apparently isn't on the menu anymore)

So we're doing the same 1,000 points at Four Queens as we did at Binion's, except we're playing 9/6 Jacks instead of 8/5 Bonus.  Our play went okay, it looks like I had a win after four hours of play.  Kip hit 11 quads and I hit 10.  Scott "only" hit seven, but he also hit a jack-high straight flush.  There was also a high probability that he was playing double double.

So close. . .

We weren't having dinner until around 8:30 PM, so we decided to have a late lunch back at Magnolia's (since Scott had a bunch of comps that he earned when he did a promo last June).  I got a prime rib dip, quite tasty.

Not a "French" dip. . .

According to my notes, we went to Binion's afterwards, I guess to hang out with Scott while he did his play there.  I remember Kip and I playing Hexbreaker because we thought it looked like a good play.  We got a line hit for around $90-some and cashed out at $78.50, without hitting the bonus.

We took a little break and then it was time for dinner at Hugo's!  Kip and I had to go pick up AH at Aria, so we had over there, pick her up, and head back downtown.  It's always a nice presentation there.

The bread.

The salad.

The lemon sorbet palate cleanser.

Surf and turf aux poive

The complimentary desserts.

Kip and I drop AH back off at Aria and head back downtown.  We had 12:30 AM reservations at Legacy Club.  I had heard that they were pretty strict about their dress code.  Kip had some footwear that were sandal-like, and they said she needed other shoes.  Most places seem to be more lenient regarding women's ware, but not here.  Kip said that was fine and Scott and I should just go, so he and I went up.

Not many choices in this elevator. . .

They have quite the (pricey) booze selection, and I decided to get something I haven't tried before:

Interesting top shelf liquor. . .

The main reason (I guess) you come here is the views, and they are pretty nice.

A view towards the Strip.

The full moon!

Seating areas and fire pits.

Seating area and fire pit.

Pioneers of Las Vegas.

Pioneers of Las Vegas.

The gold bar display.

It was a nice place.  I understand that now you need to make a deposit to reserve a spot, and they use that as credit on your drinks.  I don't know if they give that back to you if you just use comps.  I'm not sure I'd p-p-pay actual money to go back though.

Since I was here, I stopped at the sports book area:

I played some VP there and a cocktail waitress came by and asked me if I wanted a drink.  I hadn't noticed, but a drink ticket had come out of the machine I was playing.  I didn't know that was a thing there.  I wasn't planning on playing very long, then I hit this:

$190 profit for about 10 minutes of work. . .

I head back to Golden Gate and I believe Kip was already in bed (unless she was out on the casino floor).  I uploaded some photos before heading to bed, probably around 3:00 AM. . .

Socially Distanced Trip to Las Vegas, February 24 to March 2 - Day Three

It's a moving day going from Hotel Apache to the mini-suite at Golden Gate.  I still have the room for the night though so there's no hurry to move my luggage.

Kip and AH are at Cosmo, moving to Aria, and they invited me to brunch at Salt & Ivy using their comps, how could I refuse?  Brunch is from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM so I arrive there around 11:00 AM.

AH is able to check in, and we go up to the room real quick to drop things off before heading to brunch.

Always pretty nice views at Aria!

We get over to Salt & Ivy around noonish.  I believe we had a reservation (since I believe they were required).  We got a table inside, but near the atrium area.  Jacques checked out the drink list:

I might have passed on a cocktail, but Kip got the Smoked Old Fashioned and said it was one of the best cocktails she's ever had (and that's saying a lot!).

The Smoked Old Fashioned!

I ordered bacon and eggs, and although I ordered my eggs over easy, they came out scrambled.  I didn't want to have the eggs go to waste, so I didn't say anything, but AH and Kip told the waiter and he brought me the correct eggs.  I told them they had to help eat the scrambled eggs then, although everyone's portions were quite big!

AH is planning on play day at Aria while Kip and I head downtown.  We really don't have a plan for today,  It was around 2:00 PM, so we decided to head to Total Wine and More and pick up some makings for drinks we saw on the drink menu at Bugsy and Meyer's, it had Plantation Stiggins Pineapple Rum, limes, and simple syrup.  Okay, we fudged on the real limes and got juice, but we weren't going to make a big mess squeezing limes.

We had a couple of ideas on what to do, do some couponing, visit some casinos, but we ended up doing some "fun play" at Eureka.  And "fun play" at Eureka means full-pay Multi-Strike!  Yeah, it's a tough game, but it's good when you win, and in this case, we did!

Our fun play was both fun and profitable!

We were hoping for a double up, and we were close.  Kip went out to take a phone call and I was in charge of the play.  After going up and down, I finally decided to cash out at $60.25, a $10.00 profit each.  We were playing on Kip's card, and there was a coupon to get $10 in free play for 500 points.  We played some Not So Ugly Deuces to get the remaining points and got a $2.50 profit each for that.  We then turned the $10 in free play into $25 cash, so that's another $12.50 each!  So we had fun, and got $25 each!

We headed to Golden Gate, and got there around 6:00 PM.  We weren't able to get rooms on the same floor, but I was in room 33 and she was in room 43.  The suites are always nice, other than the funky bathroom set up.

I still had around $40 in comps at Binion's to use, so we headed to Chicago Brewing Company for dinner.  We got there around 6:30 PM.  We used the 2-1 beer coupon in the fun book we received when we checked into Hotel Apache on root beers.

We ordered the giant pretzel and pizzas.  I got a Chicago deep dish, which was good, Kip built her own 10" pizza.  The pretzel was so big, I had to take half of my pizza back to the room (well, we both did!).

Giant pretzel! 

Pizza!

The subtotal was $39.98, and the total with tax was $41.50.  Without the tax, I'd be at $48.91!  Almost perfect.  I tell the server that I wanted to charge the meal to my room at Hotel Apache.  He said I couldn't do that.  I told him the clerk at the front desk at Hotel Apache said I could (as well as quite a bit of advertising I had seen on their website and in their casinos).  He went to check and came back and said he learned something today, and that I was right.

So now we just finished eating and AH sends us a message telling us to meet her at Din Tai Fung for dumplings so she can blow out her comps!  We say sure, and head back over to Binion's so I can move my bags from there to Golden Gate and check out.  Apparently, the tax isn't forgiven on room charges as they are on regular comps, I saw the remaining balance on my folio on the TV:

I thought they might forgive this, but sure enough, there was a 43c charge on my credit card

We haul my stuff across Fremont Street to Golden Gate.  It was a Friday, so it was a bit crowded, and I said we should go through the front of Golden Gate as opposed to going through the casino.  I take a picture of my fabulous view from my room:

I'm usually in room 32, so this view is slightly off from what I'm used to.

Some friends of ours were having a Zoom call around 8:00 PM EST, so before we headed over to Aria, I called us in on our phone.  The Zoom defaulted our background to one of Circa, which was kind of interesting.  It was fun to see and chat with our friends.

We head over to Aria, and when we get to the parking garage, security is there and asked us if we were hotel guests.  We said we had a dinner reservation, and they let us in (I'm not sure what they would have done if we said we were just visiting).  In any event, we finally got to Din Tai Fung around 9:45 PM.

The place was pretty busy.  I had heard about this place for a while, and I was happy to give it a try.  AH and Kip wanted tea, and I saw fresh orange green tea, which I thought was hot, but it was iced.  They said it was fine.  The dumplings were very good, I will definitely come back here when I can.

It's time to make the dumplings!

The place settings.

Dumplings!

Nice buns!

After eating, I guess we decided we needed to walk it off, so we headed to Bellagio to see the fountain shows and Conservatory.  It was a bit windy, so it seems the fountain show was cut short.

That's all we got for a fountain show. . .

Around 11:45 PM, we got to the Conservatory, and now there is a roped line to get in.  I don't believe we waited too long, but the Conservatory was nice, as always.

The main display.

I took a selfie of us, but someone took a picture of us from further away.

Selfie!

Not a selfie!

Year of the Ox!

We headed back to Aria and AH went up to her room and Kip and I were heading back to the car.  There was this display heading towards self park.  My wife showed my daughter and asked me if those toys were available, which I didn't know.  I wasn't sure if I was getting back to Aria, so I asked AH later and she said they didn't (but later I found out they did, but on my most recent trip, the person told me they were out of stock for months. . .

Spoiler alert, I did get one of these on my trip to California later in the month, which I'll be writing about in a week or so (hopefully). . .

We got back to Golden Gate around 12:30 AM, still "early" for a Friday, but a full day for us.  Since we had purchase the drink makings, it was time for a nightcap!

Makin' drinks!

That capped off a pretty good day!