Spring Break trip to California and Nevada! - Day Four

Switching hotels, leaving Flamingo and going to Delano.

Goodbye Flamingo!

We headed over to The Mirage to go to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habit.  We've been a few times, but Tessandra enjoys seeing the dolphins and the big cats.

Selfie in the lobby!

Dolphin!

White tiger!

Dolphins!

The LOVE bus!

We stopped at Bellagio to see the Conservatory.  There was a bit of a line, as they were limiting the number of people in the Conservatory.

Inside the Conservatory.

Inside the Conservatory.

Inside the Conservatory.

Selfie in the Conservatory.

We got to Delano a little after 3:00 PM.  I was supposed to pick up my keys at a kiosk, but I didn't see any in the lobby, so I had to wait.  Pool time needed to be reserved, so I put our name in at 3:34 PM and hopefully we'd be able to get in.  At 3:50, I received a text that our pool access was ready, so we got changed and headed down to the pool.

Our room view!

When I stayed at Delano before, I knew that Tessandra would enjoy the pool area, but with COVID, the main issue was the limited access to the lazy river.  There was only one point of entry with limited access, so we spent a fair amount of time waiting in line, but one we got in, we had an enjoyable time.  I bought Tessandra a pool ring to bring (as opposed to paying for a rental).  It was a bit too small for me to use, but it was nice to have.  Even with the limited pool access, there seemed to be fewer chairs available, but Cath watched our stuff while we were in the pool.  After about an hour, we headed to the wave pool, which was a bit less crowded.

My Delano reservation had a $50 F&B credit, but with COVID, the restaurants were pretty limited.  We ended up walking to New York New York to have dinner at America.  We got there around 8:30 PM.  We passed through Luxor and Excalibur, and I saw parts of Luxor that still have the Egyptian theme.

We had a wee bit of a wait at America, but we finally got it.  Service was a bit slow, but the food was decent.

Chicken noodle soup.

BBQ plate.

We walked back to Delano and Cath and Tessandra went to bed.  Since we were staying, I decided to put in some play.  I got the myKONAMI $25 Free Play reward to use, plus my $20 Free Play from my room offer and I headed down to the casino.  There was only one person at the slot club booth, so it took a while to get the Free Play loaded.  No natural royals, but I did hit this:

I had some thought about going for it, but it was the right play.  After about an hour of play, I headed back to the room.

Spring Break trip to California and Nevada! - Day Four

 Tessandra and I got an early start by going to the pool.  Unsure how the access would work due to COVID, they didn't have a reservation system, so we got there soon after they opened.  It was a bit chilly, so it wasn't crowded at all.

Chillin' poolside!

We headed down to South Point to have lunch at the buffet, but there was a super long line, so we ended up going to Coronado Cafe.

A little loco moco!

After lunch we went to Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden.  It was nice weather and both were enjoyable.

We then had 7:30 PM dinner at Gordon Biersch.  They closed the ones in my area, and I still had some promotional credits I've earned with them, so I redeemed for an $80 gift card.  We ate outdoors, which was a bit chilly and the view wasn't the best. . .

Business park view.

Loaded Leprechaun Stout

Giant pretzel!

Lobster and Shrimp Mac and Cheese

After dinner, we just headed back to the hotel and called it a night. . .

Spring Break trip to California and Nevada! - Day Three

Sunrise over San Diego.

I tried to wake up early enough to catch the sunrise, I was a wee bit late on that.  We went down for breakfast and decided to eat at the restaurant, they had outdoor seating, which was nice.  Breakfast wasn't terribly exciting, but it was mostly free. . .

Marina view.

Breakfast and a view!

We went to a nearby beach before leaving for Las Vegas.  Tessandra enjoyed the fact that it was Dog Beach.

Dog Beach!

The marine layer.

First time in the Pacific Ocean!

The beach, and dogs!

We got to the beach around 12:30 and left the city around 2ish.  I would have liked to have left a little earlier, but we didn't have anything specific planned when we got to Las Vegas.  Traffic getting out of the San Diego/Los Angeles area wasn't great, but once we got away from the Metropolitan area, we made pretty good time, and we got to Flamingo, where we were staying the first two nights around 8:00 PM.

Diamond check-in had just closed, so we used the regular check-in line, which was all by kiosk.  I asked about an upgrade to attendant, but there was none to be had.  I reserved an executive GO room, which was fine.  We had a nice view of the Bellagio fountains.

Our room view!

I looked for a place for dinner earlier and saw a restaurant that looked cute called the Black Bear Diner on Tropicana.  It was a cute little place and the food was good, we'll try to get back here if we can. . .

Salad.

Smoked beef brisket!

After a stop to fill up the car, we went back to Flamingo.  The parking garage was full and the only spaces I saw available were marked for valet.  I knew that due to COVID, they were not offering valet parking, so I parked in one of those spots.  When I got to the room, I called to the front desk to make sure this was okay, and they told me it was not, that those spots were reserved for valet and I could be towed.  I told her that the hotel wasn't offering valet parking, so those spots weren't going to be used for valet, plus I didn't see any available spaces.  She told me I needed to go to the overflow lot behind the High Roller.  I decided I wasn't going to argue this point anymore, nor take the chance that my car would be towed, so I moved it to the overflow lot.

I got back to the room and was going to do a little play.  There  happened to be a fountain show going, so that was nice.

So, still being a bit ticked off about the parking issue, I went downstairs to the casino.  They say that you shouldn't gamble when you're angry, I guess since you might gamble more than you should.  That's probably true, since I blew through a couple of hundred on the crappy video poker at Flamingo ($1 7/5 BP).  I moved to some 25c 8/5 DDB STP, dropped another hundred, then this filled in:

Woot, woot!

So, an hour on the casino floor and I'm up!  I had earned a little over 500 points before, so I actually wasn't playing on card when I hit this, so doubly nice that it wasn't a "tracked" win.  So, 1:00 AM, and I'm finished for the night.  I guess that's just as well after the long drive to get here. . .

Spring Break trip to California and Nevada! - Day Two

Sunset in San Diego!

Gold status with Hilton meant we could get free continental breakfast for two.  I decided to order for pick up to eat in the room, but with COVID, service was pretty slow, so we ended up getting a late start to go to the San Diego Zoo.

We got to the zoo around 10:30 AM and there was a bit of a line to get in.  A friend of mine lives in San Diego, and he was the winner of the MPT Player of the Year trophy from 2019, but we never had a chance to meet up since then.  So before I went into the park, he was able to meet me and I presented it to him.

The 2019 MPT Player of the Year - Sionow

Contrary to the previous day, today was a bit hotter, so it wasn't the "best" day to be walking around the zoo, but we still had fun.

I don't need to go to Las Vegas to see flamingos!

Always have to see monkeys!

Polar bear!

View from lunch at Treetops Bistro

It wasn't even Wednesday!

Koala!

We left the zoo to head back to the watch the sunset at Sunset Cliffs.  We got lucky and found a good parking spot close to a good spot to view.

The setting sun!

I can see Mexico from here!

At Sunset Cliffs!

Almost there!

We had dinner at a nearby Mexican place, Miguel's Cocina.

A little Mexican beer.

Fajitas!

I wanted to take a shower when we got back, but for some reason, there was no hot water.  Although refreshing, a least a warm shower would have been nice!