I guess I’ll do this in two posts…..
Sunday: Pack everyone up (but Kevin) and head north to drop Fric and Frac at camp (a few posts coming on that front as well). Arrive early, but the camp sticks to the schedule and we really can’t register until 2:30 pm. Not a big problem, but, our flight for Vegas leaves at 7:40 pm, so, we are a bit rushed.
Tell the boys things will be a bit rushed…drop Matthew (and we don’t even see his cabin!)….drop Cpher (do have initial pictures of this) and head south.
GPS and google maps say the quickest way to go is down I-75 to the east. Mistake…get caught in lots of traffic and construction multiple times and any advantage we hoped to have gained by dropping Fric and Frac early is gone. Make the airport at 7 pm but do get through security very quickly and are at the gate before boarding starts.
Arrive Las Vegas at 9 pm local time….since we only have carry-on luggage (I’m happy…Suzanne isn’t) we can quickly clear the terminal to the rental car facility. Get car, drive down the strip, go to Robertos’s (Don Tortaco here in Vegas now) and head back to the Bellagio to check in. Catch the last of the fountain shows for the evening.
Monday: Beep. Beep Beep Beep. (long pause). Beep.
That’s what happened at 4 am….this beeping noise started. After spending 30 minutes making sure it isn’t any of our stuff we call the front desk and maintenance. And have to all back at 5:10 when they don’t show up. And sure enough, it means the mini bar has issues and the guy just turns the whole thing off.
But Suzanne is wide awake and I’m not…so she goes down to play in the casino while I sleep. She comes back in 2 hours and sleeps a little more while I read….
(Suzanne and I have our ‘staples’ on trips to Vegas…visiting the Bellagio conservatory is one of them)
Part of the deal that had us staying at the Bellagio for two nights was that we received $100 in food credit. We hit the buffet around 10 am to have brunch…..and then spent 30 minutes and two separate requests to managers wondering why we couldn’t get refills on drinks.
So, Beeps, Drinks, and then Suzanne sees on facebook that the show we were going to see Monday night (Human Nature) has been cancelled….and we get an email on Monday saying that the cruise we had booked for next spring break had been cancelled and, well, Suzanne is wondering why the travel gods have it out for her over the last few days!
These are the penguins slots….they are Suzanne’s absolute favorite and there was a little squeal of delight when we walked by them in the Bellagio.
Went over to the Cosmopolitan to check that out Monday afternoon….no pictures but took advantage of the player club sign-up deal…..if you lose $100 playing slots they will give you $100 in free play.
I play blackjack and the new Star Wars slots and end up ahead by about $70….the Star Wars game comes with this highlight
Suzanne: “I never do well at Star Wars slots”
Scott: “The force is not with you”
Suzanne: “I’m just not geeky enough!”
Suzanne ends up losing $100 so we go over and get the free play….she uses my winnings to play slots, and I use the $100 to play video blackjack (that free play doesn’t work on the nice new penny slot machines). And I do well enough to turn that $100 of play into $100 of real cash and collect the ‘winnings’.
The Jasmine restaurant at the Bellagio….a different view of the fountains then we’ve ever had before. My dinner was pretty good, Szechuan roasted chicken…there was a lot of it and it tasted great. Suzanne had the Kung Pao and was almost instantly hungry after dinner ended….
Superman slots at Bellagio. Did not do well here. Oh well…
Since Human Nature was cancelled we decided to see La Reve at the Wynn. Not a Cirque-brand show, but, it is totally Cirque-y…
But…they let you take pictures. Which is good, but, no mostly dark Iphone photo is ever going to turn out great…
The show was good….it wasn’t great…I think one of the things I like about Cirque shows…other than the absolutely breathtaking costumes and aerobatics, is the humor. Thought that was missing here…
Ended the night with our second late-night Mexican run….we were pretty (BEEP) tired as we made it back to the Bellagio.
Tuesday: Hung out pool-side Tuesday morning and then checked out and headed to lunch….
Suzanne had heard about this place…from reviews and from her friends. And it certainly was hopping; had to wait for 15 minutes for lunch and that line never got smaller.
The other side of the menu…..we watch a fair bit of cooking shows but none with this guy (Suzanne knows him, I am passingly familiar with his name, that’s it). Lunch was good; again, I enjoyed mine more than Suzanne liked hers. Fries were too soft, but they were tasty (especially with the different dipping sauces). I ended up choosing the chicken burger (hot mayo, blue cheese, some celery/carrot slaw) that was pretty tasty!
Headed over to the Venetian to check in….split up the stay to take advantage of the different deals. Will continue the story in the next post….
