Life and times of Craig on Planet Earth: Vegas Sept 9-12 2013

Back in February I was calling the Denver Embassy Suites to make a reservation for a business trip. After I booked a room, they asked me if I was interested in hearing a Hilton promotion. It caught me off guard, and I said ok.

It was for a timeshare pitch for Hilton Vacations. $200 for three nights in Vegas suite. I said no. Then they came back with $150 for three nights, plus 2 free show tickets, 2 free buffets AND a $200 gift certificate to be used at any Hilton property. Basically one free night somewhere. I said yes.

Then reality hit. Bronwen has no vacation left and this trip has to be used by end of the year. I figured it was over, I gave a nice $150 donation to Hilton. It is a timeshare deal, so Bronwen has to come with me.

Miraculously the WAC closed the kitchen for a week to redo the tiles. The trip is on!!!!

We flew out on a sunny September Monday at noon. We arrived in early afternoon, got checked in an headed out for dinner. We were at the North end of the strip. Between Circus Circus and Stratosphere. We walked towards Circus Circus, crossed the street to the Riviera and then decided to eat at the Peppermill. This place has a lot of history for me. as you can read about here. http://craigonearth.blogspot.com/2010/04/spring-break-in-vegas.html.

Suddenly the skies opened up and we were trapped in the Riviera! Lightning strikes were all around, I am pretty sure we saw one hit the top of the Wynn. Flash and thunder were instantaneous! It was wild. We waited 15 minutes and made a break for the Peppermill. We got a little damp and the a/c made it kinda cold, but the good ole Peppermill is as it always is, excellent.

After dinner we walked back home. The Hotel has only one bar, by the pool. It was closed at 8 pm due to weather.   B wanted to stay in and rest, so I took a walk to the Stratosphere. It was farther than I thought along a deserted Strip. This end of the strip looks like a ghost town. Many large casino projects ran out of money before they could complete them.

I walked around the Stratosphere and then headed home and checked out some gift shops on the way.

The next am I got up early and walked over to the Circus Circus for the buffet. $13.99. I went straight to the omelet bar and got a cheese, jalapeno and onion omelet. I then went to get hashbrowns and found that they were diced potatos. Lame.

The buffet was ok. I got enough to eat but I wouldn't go back.

B and I decided to get a daily bus pass for the Deuce and use that to get up and down the strip. Bad idea.   We slogged down to the Mandalay Bay and saw the Shark Reef. After that we had to head back for our sales meeting. The bus took over an hour to get back. It was a nightmare.

The sales meeting was not that bad. Bronwen didn't like it, but my mind was made up well before the pitch began. The salesman used a note pad and a pen to scribble complex mathematical equations on how we save so much money by spending $40k initiation fee and up to $3000 a year in fees and taxes. Uh uh...

I wanted to grab his pad, draw $50 x 3night + 2 free show tickets + $200 voucher = MY vacation plan, thank you very much.

Frankly, we were not thrilled with this property. At the first sign of rain, they close the pool AND the only bar on the property. There is NO other place very close to here. The bed was way too soft. The A/C does NOT turn off. The A/C in the hallway and elevator bank on our floor was set to about 38 degrees. The water pressure in the shower was bad, the shower door didn't shut right. Oh and no Robes and slippers! lol.

After we got out of the presentation, we headed out to see the Conservatory at the Bellagio. I never realized there was an off season in Vegas. This is it. The Conservatory was a pile of dirt and trucks. A sign indicated it was undergoing a seasonal change. Sigh.

We walked over to the Planet Hollywood to get our show tickets. On the way, lost as usual, wandering through the Miracle Mile Mall, I spotted something wonderful, Lobster Me!   A lobster fast food place. We ordered a Lobster shooter, which is a bloody Mary with Lobster meat in it! YUM!

We found the show and got our tickets. Then off to the Spice Market Buffet at PH for dinner.   The Spice Market was great! We ate sooo much!   After the buffet we tried to walk off the food to prepare for our show.

We saw Vegas the Show. It was about the history of the city. Dancing and singing the classics right up to the modern times. It was a great production! I wish we could see more shows like this!

After the show, we went to see the Sirens at TI. Treasure Island fighting ship show. It was fun, but I liked the original show better. It featured more high flying acrobatics and diving and less skanky half dressed dancing hos. The classy restaurant that was along side the water and show is now a Senor Frogs. At least TI is consistent in their attempt to be trashy!

On our last day, we got up and headed to the pool. It was a little overcast, high 70's. We went to the big double hot tub and had it to ourselves for most of our time. The sun came out and we went over to the pool for a while. It is a nice pool. I bet it must be just packed on weekends and holidays though.

After the pool, we went to Circus Circus to see the Circus performance. A silly clown did some tricks with a rope and wheel. Very talented whatever you call it. Then a lady did some arial acrobatics. It was a decent free show! We went up to AdventureDome after that and found it is closed on Mon-Thur through the slow season... sigh.

We left to find dinner. As we were leaving a quick tour of the Luxor, we were stopped by a Luxor staff who asked why we were leaving! B of course stopped to talk, I tend to just keep walking. She pointed to the mezzanine level, asked if we had been there. Nope. So we said we would check it out. Upstairs was a restauraunt called Rice and Company. We looked over the menu, decided to move on, then turned back and got a table. It was a good call. The food was great. B had the Phad Thai which comes with Chicken and Shrimp. Excess in my opinion, but she said it as really good. I ordered an avacado sushi roll and the Seared Ahi app. The sushi was decent, nothing spectacular, but it was a simple roll. Sushi seems to be specialty here. The seared Ahi was amazing. Served on home made won ton crackers with a delight of garnish and sauce. Very very good.

That night we saw a comedy show at the Riviera. 2 for 1 coupon got us in for $10 a piece. I want my money back! ha ha, no, it was worth $10, not much more. We did witness what can happen when you perform a magical act when you pick an incredibly dumb woman to participate. Best joke of night, as the act was falling apart before our eyes, he says, "if anyone is recording this, would you please post it to endofmycareer.com"!!!!

Next up and last up was a trip to downtown. Historic Vegas. We got there just in time for the 11 pm laser show. WOW. how lasers have changed since Glenn and I were there in 2001! It was very impressive, a Doors Tribute. We ate crappy pizza from a small pizzeria. We went to find a Keno room to relax and play Keno. I can't remember what casino it was, Golden Nugget I think. It was closed...

El Cortez was the next stop. Here I played some slots, my favorite, Wheel of Fortune, I hit two wheel spins, won back about $50, leaving me down about $100 in gambling. Cash out.

The last morning we went back to Peppermill for breakfast. Amazing!

I want to come back when the Wheel is done. Yep, our Seattle Wheel looks like training wheels to this enormous, world's largest Wheel under construction now.

Some observations:
I can't see a damn thing! All the casinos, restaurants and basically anything in print is too small and too dark to read. I felt half blind most the time.
So many foriegn tourists here. I really hope they travel to other parts of the US. It would be a shame to think that this is many foriengners only vision of the US.
Vegas needs to do something about the ghost casinos. They look creepy. Tear em down or help someone finish them.