Semi-Free Play-palooza, the trip to Las Vegas, The Recap

 

Checking out of Circa, 4:47 AM. . .

It was a fun, but not profitable trip.  This was one of the few trips where every day wasn't packed with gambling, in fact, we had several days where gambling was truly entertainment and not "work".  We checked out some new things and, as always, there were things we didn't get to do.

Day 1, Monday, September 26 (arrival day):

We got to see The Mirage volcano show, possibly for the last time.

We went to Red Dwarf, good drinks and pizza, will have to come back for more.  The burlesque show was. . . entertaining. . .

We stayed at Sam's Town for the first time (for me, at least).  I enjoyed the stay, the room was fine and the atrium view was really nice.  As I mentioned we checked in around midnight and left around 9:00 AM, so we really didn't spend much time there.  They have decent video poker, but the B Connected slot club isn't friendly for video poker players.  Although Kip's bag came out first, apparently TSA went through it, so things were a mess in her bag when we arrived at Sam's Town.  While I went to the casino floor, she was spending that time getting her bag cleaned up.

We did everything we planned to do this day!

Lunch:  DCA - Page

Dinner:  Red Dwarf

Entertainment:  The Mirage volcano, burlesque show at Red Dwarf, Sam's Town atrium

Day 2, Tuesday, September 27:

We had breakfast at Blueberry Hill at 3790 E. Flamingo.  This location isn't open 24/7, but they have two others that are.  The breakfast was good and the portions were large.

We picked up prosecco and bourbon at Total Wine.  They have a great selection and I'm assuming their prices are competitive.  I had a 5% back on my Chase credit card, so I got $4.98 back!  Kip and I also over estimated the amount of in-room drinking we'd do.  We ended up not having in-room mimosas each day (shocker), and we bought four bottles of prosecco (along with a bottle of bourbon and a bottle of Carolan's Irish Creme).  Kip brought a percolator, but the only room that didn't have a coffee maker was Circa.  I think we made in-room coffee in the percolator once.  We had mimosas on our last day at Plaza (in-room and poolside), and at El Cortez with Lola on Saturday.  We ended up giving a bottle to Scott to give to Sarah and Victor, and the other bottle ended up being left in the room at Circa along with the leftover Carolan's (the bourbon I took home).  I did mention the coffee maker situation to Kip, so in the future, so where we'll have rooms with coffee makers, we really won't have to bring the percolator (it does take up space).

We used my LVA coupon at OYO and won a little bit.

We stopped and checked out Mohegan Sun at Virgin Hotel.

We used our LVA coupons at Ellis Island and won a little bit and drank our lunch.

We picked up things at Target (snacks, distilled water, seltzer water).  Unfortunately, Kip's apples went to waste along with her new peanut butter, which arrived okay, but apparently was not allowed on the flight home.  We only got an 8-pack of seltzer, but I didn't start drinking it until we got to El Cortez, for some reason.  I guess I just wasn't thinking about it until I had to move it from Plaza to El Cortez (all of those liquids get heavy!).  The only thing I really needed was the distilled water for my CPAP machine.

We did my Plaza play and went down to El Cortez.

We missed out on going to Westgate (from having all of those drinks at Ellis Island), but we did that another day.  We also didn't arrive early enough to visit the hot tub at Plaza (well, we could have if we delayed my play, but we also didn't want to stay up too late playing).  We also missed out on going to Lappert's for ice cream.

Breakfast:  Blueberry Hill

Lunch:  Drinks at Ellis Island

Dinner:  Pop Up Pizza, Plaza

Entertainment:  Casino hopping, Gambling

Day 3, Wednesday, September 28:

We did have our in-room breakfast and coffee and started our play at The D.  I picked up Scott from the airport and we had lunch at Saginaw's at Circa.  Back to The D for more play, then to Pizza Rock for Happy Hour.  We used our LVA match plays at Downtown Grand (and won!), then more play at The D before dinner at Andiamo, and then even more play at The D!

Breakfast:  In-room

Lunch:  Saginaw's, Circa

Happy Hour:  Pizza Rock

Dinner:  Andiamo, The D

Entertainment:  Gambling

Day 4, Thursday, September 29:

Breakfast at Magnolia's at Four Queens, Plaza play, then stops at The World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, lunch at Fat Choy at Eureka (followed by some Multi-Strike fun play).  Then stops at Strat, Sahara, and Westgate (using the LVA free drink coupon).  Then parking at Wynn to go to El Segundo Sol for Loco Hour (a really good bargain).  Redeem free play at Wynn, then to Bally's to go to the Twilight Zone by Monster Glow Golf and The Lock inside The Cabinet of Curiosities.

Things we didn't get to do were using the Plaza hot tub after breakfast but before the Plaza play, and going by TI and Resort's World.  I didn't see the fountains of Wynn again.  And because we were so late at The Lock, there really wasn't time to go to Bellagio to see a fountain show or see the Conservatory (without being out too late).

Breakfast:  Magnolia's, Four Queens

Lunch:  Fat Choy, Eureka

Happy Hour:  El Segundo Sol

Entertainment:  Sightseeing, Casino hopping, Gambling, Glow Golf, Drinks at The Lock

Day 5, Friday, September 30:

After another breakfast at Magnolia's at Four Queens, Kip was able to get our laundry done at Busy Bee while I did my play at Plaza.  She also checked in to her room at El Cortez.  Our local friend, Jim, stopped by for lunch in our suite from Pop Up Pizza.  We drove over to Golden Tiki and then back to El Cortez to watch the live streams of All Casino Action.  Scott, Kip, and I enjoyed dinner at Oscar's at Plaza, and then drinks at Jammyland.

Again, we missed going to the Plaza hot tub after lunch, but before going to Golden Tiki.

Breakfast:  Magnolia's, Four Queens

Lunch:  Pop Up Pizza, Plaza

Happy Hour:  Golden Tiki

Dinner:  Oscar's, Plaza

Drinks:  Jammyland

Entertainment:  Gambling, All Casino Action live stream, Laundry (?)

Day 6, Saturday, October 1:

Breakfast in-room again, with mimosas that we took to the hot tub!  We headed to Aria, and brunch at Salt & Ivy, and then back to El Cortez.  Unfortunately the comp issue at Binon's/Four Queens prevented us from eating at Whiskey Liquor Up and Top of Binion's Steakhouse.  Our consolation prize was that we had dinner and drinks at Starboard Tack, and a second trip to Eureka.

We missed having drinks at Velveteen Rabbit.

Breakfast:  In-room

Lunch:  Salt & Ivy, Aria

Drinks:  Starboard Tack

Dinner:  Starboard Tack

Entertainment:  Plaza hot tub, Gambling

Day 7, Sunday, October 2:

Breakfast at Siegel's 1941 at El Cortez, and then we headed to White Owl Canyon.  We had a mostly nice hike.  I forgot to mention that on our way up the last hill, a couple was coming down with two dogs.  One of them was barking the whole time and was trying to go after us.  It bothered Kip a bit, since she was already concerned about the steep climb.  They apologized, I guess what can you do?  After the hike, we headed to Emerald Island in Henderson for lunch and the LVA Wheel of Cash spin, which worked out because Kip hit the $100!  Back to The D to take Scott to the airport, then dinner at Starboard Tack again.  We did some El Cortez play as well.

We missed out on going to Klondike Sunset and Rainbow Club in Henderson (LVA coupons), Pinball Hall of Fame, Distill - A Local Bar (LVA coupon), and Arizona Charlie's Decatur (LVA coupon).

Breakfast:  Siegel's 1941, El Cortez

Lunch:  Emerald Island Grille, Emerald Island

Dinner:  Starboard Tack

Entertainment:  Hike at White Owl Canyon, Gambling

Day 8, Monday, October 3:

Played a bit more at El Cortez, had lunch at Siegel's 1941 before heading to Circa.  We did our Golden Gate play and then dinner at 8 East at Circa, then drinks at Legacy Club.

Missed out on breakfast at Binion's (basically because we didn't know if the comp system was working), lunch at Chicago Brewing Company (because we ate lunch at Siegel's), another trip to Lappert's, and going to Stadium Swim.

Lunch:  Siegel's 1941, El Cortez

Dinner:  8East, Circa

Drinks:  Legacy Club, Circa

Entertainment:  Gambling, view at Legacy Club

Day 9, Tuesday, October 4:

We did do Stadium Swim in the morning, then lunch at Magnolia's at Four Queen's.  We chased the progressive royal flush at Golden Gate, headed to Golden Tiki to see Big Elvis during Happy Hour.  Back to Golden Gate to chase the royal again before heading to Four Queens to see Mike Hammer.  Then dinner at Hugo's afterwards.

We missed early Magnolia's breakfast and then lunch at Chicago Brewing Company.  Also missed Lappert's again, and Downtown Cocktail Room Halfy Hour.

Lunch:  Magnolia's, Four Queens

Happy Hour:  Golden Tiki

Dinner:  Hugo's Cellar, Four Queens

Entertainment:  Swim at Stadium Swim, Gambling, Big Elvis, Mike Hammer

Day 10, Wednesday, October 5:

Up early and out!

Semi-Free Play-palooza, the trip to Las Vegas, Days nine & ten

 

Ah, Stadium Swim.  It's like being on Fremont Street in the morning. . .

So, the last night in Vegas means a check-in to our flight home.  In this case, it was a 7:05 AM departure. so we had to be up then.  Compounding this is that I was having connectivity problems in the room.  I had to stand next to the window to be sure I was online to check-in.  Even though again, we were right on at 7:05 AM, we were in the B group.  I thought about us paying for the Early Bird, since we'd get that reimbursed on the credit card, but at the time, it wasn't clear that you could do it online (the wording before said you had to do it at the gate) which now they've clarified that you can do it online.  Oh well.

So I told Kip with the nice pool here, we should go.  I also promised her we'd be in the shade, at least for part of the time, so she agreed to go.  We missed the 8:00 AM early entry for hotel guests, but we got there around 9:00 AM, it still wasn't crowded.

Kip enjoying her private pool!

Jacques enjoying his private lounger.

View of the screens.

Apparently replacing a window.

I enjoyed a little swim while Kip enjoyed the water.  We chatted a bit about sportsbetting, since you can see the odds on the screens there.  After a while, we went to the hot tub for a bit.  We were there for about an hour and a half before we headed back to the room.

Kip enjoyed her time at Stadium Swim!

So after getting showered up, we were going to play at Four Queens, since I was "using" a comp for Mike Hammer tickets.  When I stayed there last year, I filled out the comment card and I was pretty complimentary (ha ha) about how much I thought the room was improved and how well my host was, the general manager responded and offered me two tickets to a show on my next stay (although this time I wasn't staying).  We probably didn't need to play, and I probably shouldn't have played since they stopped my offers, but I kinda felt like I had to play.  But, we still had to eat, so we decided on Magnolia's again, since Kip is trying desperately to use up her comps.  Fortunately the comp system was working.  I really couldn't decide what I wanted, so I ended up getting the hot beef sandwich.

Solid comfort food, right there. . .

We happened to see the progressive royal at Golden Gate (and therefore The D) was up to $1,700, so we gave it a chase (we didn't hit).  We had a 4:00 PM reservation at Golden Tiki because I saw that Big Elvis does a show there every first Tuesday of the month.  I hadn't seen him before (but Kip had and said he's good), so we're there and we like Golden Tiki, so why not?

Parking was a little easier on a Tuesday than a Friday so it was pretty easy getting in.  It also wasn't too crowded, but there still seemed to be a decent amount of people.

Big Elvis!

Dole Whip with dark rum!

Happy Hour!

Crab rangoons!

Blue Lagoon!

We started with Dole Whips, but then I got a Blue Lagoon, I think the first drink I got when I went there.  I was a bit hungry, so I ordered some crab rangoons, they were pretty good.  We were going to go to the Downtown Cocktail Room Halfy Hour (half priced drinks), which we were also supposed to do another evening on this trip, but didn't, but we were enjoying ourselves at Golden Tiki, and Big Elvis was there, so we stayed another set.

Big Elvis and his co-star (not sure that's the correct term)

We did need to get back to Four Queens by what I thought was 6:45 PM to pick up our tickets.  I misread what I wrote, and we were supposed to be there by 6:30 PM to pick up our tickets to be seated by 6:45 PM for the 7:00 PM show!  Erps.  We had gotten back to Circa and stopped at Golden Gate (the royal still hadn't been hit) so we took another shot before heading to the theater.  Fortunately, we were there before 6:45 PM and the box office person gave us our tickets.  We were seated at a table with two other people about three rows away from the stage.

We are reserved!

He gave a pretty good show.  I ended up being part of the show, much to my chagrin.  It was okay though, I think there were about a dozen people who ended up being part of the show.  There was one rather large man who Mike made a really active participant.  I believe his name was Dexter Morgan (yes, like serial killer).  One thing that amazes me is how he remembered everyone's name that participated, even mine.  He called me by name after the show when he was meeting and greeting people.  He gave me his card.  I thought about giving him Jacques' card, and I also thought about asking him to take a picture with Jacques, but we had an 8:30 PM reservation at Hugo's we had to get to (all the way across the casino).

Hugo's is always great and always great when it's comped.  It might not be as good as other steakhouses, but they have old school charm.

Welcome to Hugo's

The butter rosette.

Lobster bisque!

Fresh made salads!

The salad!

Prime rib!

The (complimentary) desserts!

We spent the rest of the evening collecting free play from various casinos.  We stopped at Golden Gate again and still no one hit the royal.  We had to get up super early for our 7:05 AM flight, but we gave it one last shot, since we hadn't hit a royal all trip (well other than me hitting that one on the Kenny Rogers bonus game).  Alas, we played until 1:00 AM and left the royal at $1,930.65.  Sadness, but we did need to sleep some!

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

We had a short sleep (I think we got up at 3:30 AM) and a quick shower.  We had to drop off the rental car at 5:00 AM, but we also had to top off the tank.  We stopped at the Maverik near the car rental facility, $7.30 to top off the tank.  A quick drop off at Avis, shuttle to the airport, check bags at the kiosk, through security (although my bag got pulled again because of the hand sanitizer and my umbrella).  I think we slept on the first leg to MDW.  We had enough time to get lunch, well since it wasn't too crowded in the terminal.

Fish and chips at Harry Caray's Shortstop.

I think we were going to have mimosas, but I think I ended up getting tequila and orange juice.  We landed at DCA around 5:00 PM, about 5 minutes late.  It took a while to get our bags, but Kip needed to wait for her friend to pick her up.  I waited with her, and since the pick up area was crowded, I told Kip to stand near the exit and I would look for her friend and wave her down, which I did.  By 6:00 PM I was on the Metro heading back to my office.  I called home to see if I should pick up dinner for everyone, and, no surprise, they wanted Silver Diner.  So I stopped there on the way home and got home with dinner around 9:00 PM, which seems like it would be pretty late for my daughter to have dinner!

Semi-Free Play-palooza, the trip to Las Vegas, Day eight

 

The view from Legacy Club

Last hotel change, last few nights in Las Vegas, where did they go?

We were going to have breakfast at 9:00 AM at Binion's, but we "had" more play to do at El Cortez.  We did our morning play, and then had lunch at Siegel's 1941.

Holy redraws, Batman!  That could have been a little better!

French Dip!

Kip got us a late check out, so we weren't rushed getting out of there.  We did see Victor doing a live stream, nothing too exciting.  We wished him well and told him we'd see him another time.

Our last hotel was Circa.  I had been getting Sun-Thu comped rooms, so I decided to take them up on it.  As I mentioned earlier, getting two beds was an additional $20/night upcharge.  If I could have gotten a Flex King room (with the murphy king), then it would have been free, but I didn't inquire about that (plus Scott has a host and plays a bit larger than I do).  In any event, it was fine.  We didn't have the Stadium Swim view that Scott had, we could see California though. . .

I can see California from my room!

It is a nice room, the two kings are nice, it has a refrigerator (but no coffeemaker).  Dual vanities are nice, plus there's a bench that has storage cubbies underneath.  A strange thing is that the toilet is set off in an alcove, but doesn't have a door (which it could).  The shower has built-in amenities in the wall (which some people don't like).  Another thing that bothered Kip and I was that the water was extremely soft, it left us with that "slimy" feeling after showering.

So around 4:00 PM, Kip and I started on my LVA Golden Gate coupon (the same $5 per 50 points as The D).  Apparently, between the two of us, we knocked out 1,000 points by around 6:45 PM.  Just in time for our 7:00 PM dinner reservation at 8 East.

I hadn't eaten there before, but I heard decent things about it.  I'm a pretty picky eater, but I did enjoy the things I tried.

One Night in Hong Kong

Spam Musubi

Dan Dan Noodles with shrimp

Sizzling shrimp

Brisket Fried Rice

Sizzling noodles

I heard a lot about the brisket fried rice, but I didn't enjoy that as much as I thought I would.  I really enjoyed the Spam musubi (which I've made at home).  $87 in food and $42 in liquor later (which we used our monthly comps) we were done.  We had a little time to refresh ourselves before our 9:00 PM reservation at Legacy Club.

Kip specifically packed "decent shoes" as the last time we tried to go, she was denied entry because she didn't have proper footwear.  There were no issues this time, thankfully!  We sat and waited for Bob to arrive.

The fabulous Miss Kip!

So the mailers I receive (and the correspondence with a concierge) indicated that the monthly comps weren't usable at Legacy Club.  We asked our server this and she said there would be no problem.  We also had the champagne toast for two LVA coupon, plus Bob had been given a free champagne toast coupon when he checked in to Golden Gate (which I thought was strange that I didn't get one checking in to Circa, where the lounge was located!).  I ordered us three toasts, but Bob said he wasn't having any, so Kip would have to drink two.

Champagne!

Cheers!

We were sitting inside, since outside seating cost more, but I asked our server if we could go out on the patio.  Of course!  So we did.

Cheers with a view!

I was out here in February last year, so it was a wee bit chillier then!  They did to some rearranging of the seating, and they move a couple of boards that listed the Vegas mavericks (I guess they were taking up too much viewing area).

Back inside, we had to figure out how to spend for our drinks.  We ended up with:

Blanton's Legacy Club Barrel

Weller Full Proof Legacy Club Barrel

As you can see, they list quite a few of the bourbons at "Market Price" (whatever that means).  Some of the prices our server gave us were less than some of the prices on the listed.  It is $25 spend per person to be there, and our bill was $92, so I think we made it.  The receipt did show that it was taken from my monthly comp offer.  Of course, we couldn't leave without taking a photo of one of Kip's favorites.

Kip has told me stories of her early trips to Las Vegas when she was living in LA.  Staying at Vegas World because they gave these incredible offers.  She didn't use a lot of them because she really didn't know the value like she does now.  Ah, the old days. . .

That must have been it, I don't see anything more in my notes!

Apparently we did go back to Golden Gate because I have a picture of us with Valeria and Dave.  The reason I missed this was because I didn't take the photo.

Semi-Free Play-palooza, the trip to Las Vegas, Day seven

 

From White Owl Canyon

So, the plan was breakfast at 9:00 AM and get to White Owl Canyon at 10:00 AM.  Well, we were up around 9:00 AMish and we could see the runners going by for the Vegas Strong 5k/1mi.  There were some street closures, but they probably wouldn't have affected our trip.  But, we were still running late. (what else is new, right)?

Good luck to all of the runners!

We did make a reservation the previous night (they apparently only take reservations for breakfast).  Scott was around and asked to join us.  Even though it wasn't crowded, the issue is that there aren't many people working.  The hostess was also bussing tables, and I think there was only one server working.  I did start the day with a good breakfast (as typical Vegas breakfasts should be).

Farmhouse breakfast!

We had comps to use, and we used them!  We then headed off for White Owl Canyon, and we arrived there close to noon.

The start of the trail!

So, one thing Kip didn't realize was that the start of the trail was a bit of a scramble.  From the NPS page, "The Owl Canyon hike starts out with a 70-foot (21-meter) descent along an unmaintained path near the middle picnic shade structure".  The map says, "Steep 45 ft drop".  Kip was a wee bit nervous about the descent, but with encouragement from me and getting her confidence, she made the decent.  Once at the bottom, we kinda lost the trail and went up another hill.

I knew we should have made the left at Albuquerque!

So if I had read the NPS page, I would have known to follow the left path, which we finally figured out.  One strange thing I saw were all of the seashells.

Odd seeing seashells in the desert!

From the NPS page (if you didn't already go to the link I provided):

Once in the canyon, the steep sides provide a shaded area. Look closely for animal signs, including droppings from birds on the ledges above your head. The sculpted conglomerate rock provides convenient perches where owls have been seen nesting.

The narrow canyon opens just below Lakeshore Road where a culvert provides easy access under the road.  You may continue up the wash and pass through a second culvert. Return the same route you came. 

On the correct path now!

In the canyon.

Culvert One.

Second culvert.

Nearing the end.

This is the end!

A look into the valley.

A look back at the canyon.

Kip surveying.

The last scramble up!

It was still a bit warm, although not blazing hot.  I meant to take an extra bottle of water to leave in the car but I forgot.  I did have a large water bottle with me.  We also didn't realize that it was 2.2 miles out and back, we thought it was 2.2 miles out.  So I set a timer for us to go out for an hour and come back, but once we realized that it was only 1.1 miles out, we decided to make it to the end of the trail.  Still, we are not in peak form, so it was a bit tasking.  It was a fun hike, though, I'd do it again, but I'm not so sure Kip would want to take the scramble again.

Since we were down that way, we were going to do a bit of couponing in Henderson, but we were pretty tired, so we just at least decided to go to Emerald Island for lunch (using an LVA BOGO entree coupon).  We got there around 3:00 PM.  In addition to the restaurant comp, they had a promo where if you earned 100 points, you got to spin the Wheel of Cash to win up to $100.

We got cleaned up as best we could in the restroom, checked out the casino, got our slot cards and then were trying to figure out the wait for lunch.  There was a line and they were calling names, so I asked how long the wait was.  She said it wasn't too long, so I put in our name and we were deciding whether to start playing or not when we got called up.

The restaurant has a very diner feel to it   I got the steak and shrimp, I believe Kip got salmon.

I thought this was my salad, but it was Kip's, but I already took a picture of it.

My salad!

Steak and shrimp!

Yes, the portion was huge and yes, I didn't finish it all, but it was good and I'd probably come back here.

So, Emerald Island is apparently famous for being the "All Penny Casino".  Seems that almost all of the machines are penny machines.  And an interesting thing is that some (if not all) of the penny VP machines have a better paytable than the 25c+ machines.  But, you can play 100 pennies, so you can play a full pay machine for $1 a spin, or a lesser machine for $1.25 a spin.  We found some 1c Not So Ugly Deuces machine that had a progressive royal.  We didn't hit any natural royals, but I hit three dirty ones and Kip hit one.  I managed to be even, I'm not sure how Kip did.

So we earned our Wheel of Cash spins and went back to the slot club to get our vouchers.  We went to the wheel area where an attendant met us.  Kip gave the first spin and it around and around, and finally stopped on a space that said, "Spin Again".  The attendants were getting excited though, excited about another spin, we weren't sure what that was about.  But then the attendant removed the "Spin Again" label to reveal $100!  Kip won $100! Woohoo!  Now it was my turn, and that was a hard act to follow, and sure enough, I ended up winning $10.  But $110 between the two of us, that's pretty good!

Emerald Island is a cute, little casino, but very smoky!  That might be the one reason not to go back. . .

We had to take Scott to the airport, so we told him we'd pick him up around 6:45 PM at the valet at The D.  We dropped him off at the airport and headed back to El Cortez for a little bit of play before headed back to Starboard Tack for dinner with Bob.  Back at The 'Tack, I got a Starboard Taquiri and a loco moco.

Starboard Taquiri!

Loco Moco!

I did need to fill up the car with gas, so GasBuddy found a "cheap" place for me to fill up at a Rebel station out on E. Bonanza.  It was $73.75 for 13.535 gallons ($5.449/gal)!  But, I did save $1.07 using my GasBuddy card.  I always remind myself not to complain about gas prices back home. . .

We got back to El Cortez and put in an hour or so more play in. . .