Vegas Vacation - Day Three

Wednesday was our last full day in Las Vegas. The first thing The Hubs and I did was wake up, go swimming, and hit the hot tub. In the morning in Vegas, it was about 45-50 degrees. Now we hate the heat, so that was perfect for us. It was a bit chilly getting out of the hot tub, but it was still heavenly.



We met up with my family at about noon at Harrah's once again. This time we were skipping the buffet and heading to Ming's Table, a delicious Chinese restaurant. My brother's friend Victor is the head chef and he had alerted him that we were coming. Chef Victor kept bringing out the most delicious appetizers I've ever tasted. I'm not a sushi fan, so I skipped that course. Then crab Rangoon and shrimp tempura came out. It was the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. I had never tried shrimp tempura before, but now I will probably order it wherever I can get it. We all ordered meals, which we probably shouldn't have as there was way too much food. I had the sweet and sour shrimp, The Hubs had General's Chicken, my mom had beef and broccoli, my sister had chicken lo-mein, and I can't remember what my brother had. If you can tell from the photos, there was way too much food for five people. And then the chef brought out wok friend lobster. Absolutely delicious. The best Chinese food I'd ever had. I recommend eating at Ming's Table if you're at Harrah's, for sure.











After lunch, The Hubs and I went back to the Gold Coast to chill out. I did some gambling and The Hubs watched some soccer. He also walked across the street and checked out the Palms. If we have the money to go back next year, we'd like to stay there. At about 5:00 we met up with my family to head out to the Old Las Vegas and Freemont Street. It was pretty nice, but I was hoping for more old neon signs and 1950s kitsch. I bought a shot glass in an old souvenir shop and we stopped to watch the light show above us. It was interesting. See for yourself. It was going on above our heads:



I walked around and took a bunch of photos of Old Vegas. I wish the neon turned out a little better.






At about 6:30 or so, The Hubs and I seperated from my family. They wanted to hit the buffet at the Golden Nugget and, well, we just couldn't stomach another buffet. So we went walking to find a bar named after us. We found it, and it was totally swanky inside. Perfect for a first or second date. It's too bad we were the only people in there at the time. We had a beer and relaxed.



We decided to check out a few punk/rockabilly/psychobilly bands playing at the Four Queens. The funny story behind this adventure is that we walked in the wrong door and may or may not have skipped the entrance fee, until a bouncer asked us if we were with the band. I can't lie, so I said "no". The Hubs was pretty mad at me at first, but the way the club is set up, we wouldn't have been able to go to the bathroom unless we had a wristband. So we paid and I felt better. Anyway, we didn't really enjoy the first band. The second band was better. The third band, The Pink Spiders, were awful (mostly because they were obnoxious and mean to the crowd), but the headliner, the HorrorPops were pretty good. I didn't know that there was such a huge Rockabilly scene in Vegas. Anyway, I didn't get may good photos since the place was packed and I couldn't get very close.



We left at about 10:30 or so and we asked one of the bellhops at the Golden Nugget if there was a shuttle service to the strip. He said "no", but that the Freemond Hotel had one. So we walked over and asked the bellhop there where we should get the shuttle. He said they didn't have a shuttle. We see a sign for the shuttle we took on Tuesday that took for-ev-er so we stand next to it. A shuttle that goes to the Vegas shopping district pulled up next to us and asked us where we wanted to go. We said "the strip" and so the dude told us to hop on. I'm pretty sure he was off the clock and he said it would be $5 per person. We knew that would be cheaper than taking a cab so we got on. The driver was super nice and he ended up taking us all the way to our hotel! It took us about 8 minutes to get from Downtown to our hotel, which totally rocked. That dude was so nice. I wish I got a photo of him. Oh well.

When we got back to the hotel, we were starving so we ate at the Monterrey room. We had sandwiches and fries and cheesecake. It hit the spot. I did some more gambling before heading up to the room where I found The Hubs zonked out. I fell asleep shortly after and slept pretty well.

Our third day was also a lot of fun. I knew that I would have to pack up and go home the next day, which made me kind of sad. Tomorrow, day four.

Vegas Vacation - Day Two

The second day in Vegas was pretty awesome. The Hubs and I went to breakfast (buffet #2) with my family. After breakfast, I did a little gambling while The Hubs went back to the hotel room to sleep off the bacon and eggs. I don't remember if I won $15 on Tuesday or Wednesday, but at any rate, I was up $15. Sweet.

When The Hubs woke up from his nap, we put on our swim suits and headed to the pool. It was heated and felt so good. After swimming a few laps we relaxed in the hot tub. Man, that's the life! When our fingers and toes were sufficiently pruned, we took showers, got dressed, and headed out to the Venetian.

It was a short walk from Harrah's (where the shuttle dropped us off) to the Venetian where we saw the enormous 2 mile canal and the gondola rides. The Hubs suggested we take the tour, but after hearing the gondola driver singing on the top of his lungs I said I'd pass.

We made our way to Madame Tussauds to see the wax replicas of celebrities. It was pretty fun. The only part that was totally lame was the "Terror!" tour part. I guess it was supposed to be scary, but there weren't any movie monsters to look at at all. The only thing that happened was some dude jumped out of the shadows with a chainsaw and said "Arrrgh!" I saw him coming, so I wasn't scared at all. It's a good thing we didn't have to pay extra for that part. I would have been pissed.

Here are some photos I took in the museum. And just like yesterday's disclaimer, click each photo to see it full sized. You'll thank me.













The rest of the photos can be found here.

After the wax museum, we decided to get on a shuttle to go to Mandalay Bay. Well, it took an hour to go about 3 miles down the strip because the shuttle stopped at every location along the way. That was pretty annoying, but cheaper than taking a taxi. We walked all the way through Mandalay Bay to get to the Shark Reef exhibit. I have to admit, I wasn't impressed. Ok, for an aquarium in the desert I'm impressed, but if it were anywhere else I'd demand my money back. We were in and out of there in about 15 minutes. $1 a minute. Sheesh. But I did get to take some great photos.







When it was all over, we walked all the way back through the Hotel, where we saw at least a half-dozen conventions going on. Vegas is the convention capital of the world, I suppose. We took a cab back to our hotel because the shuttle took way too long. The cab driver we had was a native upstate New Yorker like me, but moved to Vegas 20 years ago. He had a foul mouth and liked the Yankees. He would have lost points for that, but he was very nice. I'm pretty sure we took a nap and then walked over to the Rio where we met my family for dinner at the Carnival World Buffet (aka Buffet #3).





As you can see from the bottom left photo, they had pretty great desserts. But by this time, the buffet scene made me nauseous. I ate way too many shrimp and The Hubs ate too much prime rib. When dessert time came around, we could hardly eat another bite. Although I did have a bite of both of those tarts as well as a scoop of Creme Brulee gelato. Delicious.

Oh, the photo of that dude on the right? He was a supreme asshole. He kept bothering the table in front of him. There were three good looking women in their early 20s and he hit on them relentlessly for about an hour and a half. He kept asking them if he could buy them drinks. Ugh. He was smarmy and disgusting. Oh, and he kept complaining about how this country is going to hell all because of the "Flaming Liberals!" Yeah. He's a real catch, huh? I just like how you can see a sliver of The Hubs in the photo because I was being sneaky. Hehe.

After the Rio buffet, The Hubs and I passed out again. I woke up at midnight and decided to go downstairs and do some more gambling. I think this is when I won "big" and on these two machines. If you're in Vegas, play the Money Island and Tabby Cash penny slots. Tons-o-Fun!



I sat at the slots for about 2 hours. When I was up $50 I decided to call it quits. I went back up to the room and woke The Hubs up to tell him what I won. He was pretty happy. We watched some TV and tried to fall back to sleep, but we couldn't. So at abut 2:45am we went to the 80+ lane bowling alley above the casino to play a few games. They have 'graveyard bowling' from Midnight-8am. Shoes and games are only $1! And they have $1 beers as well. So we got our shoes, played two games and drank two beers. The whole event cost us $6. Not bad.







By the time we finished bowling, it was about 4:00am. We didn't fall asleep until 4:30. It was a pretty good day. We did a hell of a lot, that's for sure. Looking back now, that's the life! Being able to get up at 3am and go bowling? Stumble home at 1am and get some breakfast? Play the slot machines and drink free alcohol 24 hours a day? Yeah, I liked Vegas for sure.

Tomorrow, part 3. Until then, here's another random photo. That guy blows bubbles out of his butt. I wish it weren't so windy when I took the photo or you'd see what I mean.

Our Vegas Vacation - Day One

Thinking back on our 4 day, 3 night stay at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas makes my head spin. I feel like we did so much that I'm forgetting most of it. So, instead of making an enormous post where I cram in the details of all 4 days, I'll break it up into sections and post over the next few days. Yeah. That sounds like a plan.

Also, the photos will be scaled down. I urge you to click on them to see them in their full glory. The way nature intended.

The flight to Vegas was unremarkable. By that I mean that we got on the plane, spent almost 3 hours either sleeping or watching videos on our MP3 players, and then we got off. Pretty painless. When we got to the airport we found a taxi that took us to Harrah's where we met my mom, my sister, and my brother. My brother works at Harrah's, so pretty much all of our meals were comped (which was awesome). We had breakfast at the buffet. I have to admit, I hate buffets. Something about eating until you vomit isn't so appealing. But my family likes them so The Hubs and I went along for the ride. We were pretty sick afterward, but a nap at the hotel made us feel much better.





I was pretty overwhelmed with all the slot machines and poker tables and sports booking rooms. My only exposure to casinos as an adult was at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. And that's nothing compared to just one room in Harrah's. This was the very first thing I saw when we got to Harrah's, and it pretty much sums up the Vegas experience, real or imagined.



After breakfast and a short nap, we decided to walk down the strip and take in the sights. The Hubs and I aren't gamblers (ok, I gambled a little, but The Hubs wanted nothing to do with it) so we eventually separated from the family. We saw Paris and New York, which, I'm sorry to have to admit, was pretty cheesy. I mean, nice to look at, but the over all concept screamed "cheese" to me. The best part about New York New York was the pizza at a place called Sirrico's. Seriously. I took one bite of that pizza and it brought me right back to my childhood. I haven't had pizza that good since I left New York. I wanted to go back and get another slice, but there was so many other things to do.





I liked the statue of Liberty, but could have done without the plaque describing the heroes of 9/11. Call me an asshole, but yeah, didn't need to see that.



We stopped at an Irish Bar and had some really expensive drinks. The Hubs had a Guinness and I had a drink called a Michael Collins. Seriously, the best drink I've had in a very long time. It should be good, since it cost $10! I can't seem to find the recipe for it on the Internets, but it had vanilla vodka, caramel irish creme, some sort of butterscotch, and something else. SO GOOD!



After walking for what seemed like miles, The Hubs and I went back to the hotel to rest up. At dinner time, we took the shuttle back to Harrah's and met my family at my brother's restaurant. He's the executive chef of the Oyster Bar. For the next (almost) 2 hours we were treated with some of the best seafood I've ever tasted. I'm not joking when I say that the meal I had at the Oyster Bar was the best meal I've had in the 32 years I've been on this planet. Everything was super fresh, the presentation was outstanding, and the flavors were delicious. My favorite dishes of the night were the shrimp Crostini and the crab cakes. TO DIE FOR! If you like seafood, and you're in Vegas, you really need to try out the Oyster Bar.









The plan was that The Hubs (who doesn't eat seafood) and I would share a steak. Well, I could hardly finish these appetizers that just kept coming out so I left the steak to The Hubs. I did have a bite and it was very tender and flavorful. When I go back again I will have to make sure my brother lays off the fanfare and tells the chef on duty to stop bringing out so much food. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated it and it was delicious, but it was just too much for five people.

We took the shuttle back to the Hotel where we promptly passed out. We wanted to check out the local goth/industrial dance night, but the two of us were so exhausted that we didn't even have the energy to change out of our clothes! We literally passed out on the bed in our jeans and t-shirts, only to wake up at about 2am feeling hung over from the food coma we just endured.

That was Monday, day one. Stay tuned for Tuesday, which I hope to post tomorrow. Here's a random photo from our stay. Enjoy!