Been looking forward to this trip for several months now as there were 12 of us going to LAS to celebrate our friend's bachelorette party in Las Vegas! We had girls from MN, WI, SD and IL meeting us. Quite a nice turnout!
Arrived at LAS on time and met my friend M from Wisconsin at bag claim. My bag took forever to arrive, almost an hour from the time we landed. Usually faster than that in LAS. Oh well. We took a cab to the hotel, the cab line was not bad, a little line. (I think the bag holdup and taxi line was due to several Southwest flights landing at the same time I did.)
Got to the Flamingo and had a long check in line. We got beers and sipped them while waiting in line. Hey, we are in Vegas! It's ok! Got our room right away though which was nice.
Room: We had a standard Flamingo Deluxe room. Not much deluxe about it, just a plain hotel room. We did not find anything icky. No bugs, no mold, so it was fine. We went to eat lunch at Margaritaville (nachos and seared tuna appetizers, plus drinks, yum, yum) and then went to pick up our O tickets at the Bellagio for later that night.
Played a few slots at the Bellagio, (Wizard 5 cent) lost our money rather quickly and went over to Bills Gambling Hall for a round on the Wizard. (one cent) Things went better at Bill's and I signed up for the slot club as well. I saw Big Elvis was playing when I went to hand in my entries for the drawings. We went and watched him for a couple songs. Nice crowd! He sounds like Elvis too.
We went back to the Flamingo to get ready for our show and meet a couple others in the big group that had arrived. 3-4 of the group were going to Kid Rock at the Palms that night too.
M and I went back to the Bellagio and eventually decided to eat at Fix. She had steak I had scallops and we had a side of macaroni and cheese. The macaroni was sort of state fair like as it was in rectangles, breaded and fried. Very tasty though. Good meal, good service. Since it was early they were not too busy though. We made it to the show in time (good thing we got the tickets earlier as there was a long line at the box office.) Sat down and the show started.
We both enjoyed O a lot. I think you have to appreciate dance and acrobatics to enjoy a Cirque show. This was my first and I loved it. The stage for O is amazing. We were seated on the loggia, 3rd level on the side. So we could see what was going on with the stage. I suppose it is even more amazing if you can't see that part. The music was just ok, but I was impressed it was live. I bet Love would be great due to the music alone. That will go on my list for next time! After the show we gambled a bit and went to bed at midnight. That was late for us as we'd been up since 6am central time.
The next day we got up and went to buffet at Harrah's. I had a 2 for 1 coupon, so it was a good deal. Food was ok actually. I was not expecting much I guess, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Got ready for the pool next. Ran into some other girls from the group who had not gone to bed yet!! So we heard all about Kid Rock and the Palms. I guess they had fun at Moon and the Playboy Club. Sat at the pool all day. Had chairs since the all-nighters got chairs first thing! By the way, the Flamingo checks room keys now and bags, so no coolers. Unless you are really sneaky. Not sure it is open to the public either.
Anyway, we went to supper the second night, Friday at Margaritaville again, as a group. They had us split into 2 tables which was annoying. The website said they took reservations which they do not.
Then we were off to Pure at Caesars. We used a host, from LavishVegas.com to get in. I would not have done this normally, but with bottle service he comped our second bottle. OK. Better deal than we could've gotten on our own and we got right in like he said we would. Awesome! We were in the Red room and it was a fun night overall! I could get used to bottle service! Our server was very nice and the room host was helpful too. Stayed out till we could not anymore!
Felt ok the next day, Saturday. Went to the pool again for most of the day. Did some gambling later afternoon and ate at Serendipity 3 at Caesars for an early supper. Food and drinks were good. Drinks especially! Cute place too.
Went downtown after this. (Waited in a long taxi line at Caesars. What the heck!) Some of the group was at Ellis Island, but I lost a lot there last time so I was not into that idea. Figured we'd get away from the crowds in town for the fight. I forgot about the Hawaii and Las Vegas college football game though. There was a huge Hawaii tailgate behind the California. So the casinos were not too packed. Downtown we went to Main Street Station, Plaza, Golden Nugget, Golden Gate, Binion's. Met the new owner of the Golden Gate. Some guy in a salmon colored jacket. He asked us what we thought of the new daiquiri bar they just opened. We loved it as we each had 2 from there. The guy gave us $25 blackjack match play tokens for talking to him. Kinda nice of him I thought. I lost my match play bet, but I did leave up $20 after playing for an hour or so. They are trying to spiff up the place I think and make it more youngish. They had girls in little outfits serving drinks at the new daiquiri bar and dancing in a party pit. Whatever. No $5 tables tho. Only $10. Not sure about that. Too high for downtown probably.
Went back to the Flamingo after this as M wanted to go to bed since she had an early flight in the morning. I decided to call a couple others in the group to see what was up. They came to meet me and we went to Bills for some more blackjack. Found a crappy $5 table. Whatever. I knew it when I sat down. I figured I could not do better on a busy Saturday night anyway on the strip. So I ended up being up till 3am. ow.
Got up the next day at 7 am when I heard M leaving. Should've gone back to bed, but I got water and got ready. Went to watch the Vikings game with some friends from work that were in Vegas also. Went to Blondie's at Planet Hollywood. Vikes won, food was ok, beer priced ok.
After this we were going to wander to the sports book. I spotted Arnold Schwarzenegger in the PH mall. He was shopping! He had a crew of security and they would not let us take his picture. boo. Quite sure it really was him though! He's kinda short too! I assumed he was taller I guess. I never see celebrities so I was excited about this and called my DH right away to tell him! I'm not sure anyone believes us. Guess we need pics next time!
This last day is a blur as I was tired all day! Went down to Hooters to meet another co-worker who's son was getting married the next day. Walked all the way there and back. ow. After the walk we decided to eat At Toby Keith's and watch the rest of the Sunday night football game and eat. (We and a few bucks on it and won.) After this it was abut 9:30pm and I was wiped out so I got some waters and went to bed.
The next day I got up early and went to Mon Ami Gabi for a quiet breakfast with myself. It was empty and not hot yet so I got to sit outside. Good breakfast, great server and about the same price as any cafe on the strip. I stopped at ABC after that, gave the Wizard some money too and went to the outlet mall after packing up the room. I had not gambled as much as I planned on this trip so I got some goodies at the outlet mall. Had lunch and Margaritaville and headed to the airport. Guess the club and pool time cut into my gambling time more than I thought it would!
Overall, it was darn hot out there on this trip! I think highs were 103 to 104 most of the weekend. Monday was cooler though in the 90's. MN girls can't handle 100 I guess!
So it was a very busy weekend for us and for Vegas due to the fight in town. Did not get to do a few things I wanted to, but I’ll just save those ideas for the next trip. I can't wait to go back! Trying to figure out when that will be possible. Have to go with DH next time. He felt pretty left out this time even though it was a girls trip. Sorry so long, I tried to not ramble too much! Hopefully there is some good info in there though!
