Vegas Trip Report + Pics IV
January 5th, 2016 at 1:29:45 PM
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~~~~ VEGAS TRIP REPORT– DECEMBER 2015 ~~~~
One full year had passed since my last trip to Las Vegas and, after months of planning and anticipation, I was excited that it was time to head West once again!
I had gotten fairly spoiled by being able to enjoy TWO trips to Vegas per year during the first part of the 2010’s (i.e. 2011 – 2013), but circumstances have changed a bit whereby I’m only going once per year now. So needless to say, I was thrilled that December had finally rolled around and the trip dates had arrived!
My wife and I spent December 10th – 14th, 2015, in Las Vegas and we had a wonderful time. We stayed at the Mirage, had a rental car, and were able to again partake of the many fun activities/opportunities the city has to offer.
Below is a post for each day of the trip, along with some pictures of the various things we were able to participate in. As usual, there are some repeats of activities that have been enjoyed on prior visits (as well as some new events). I must apologize in advance for the poor quality of some of the pictures. I purchased a new cell phone recently and I like everything about it… except for the camera. :/
In keeping with the tradition of my prior trip reports, I’ll be blurring out our faces on any pics to keep the admissible evidence to a minimum. ;)
Thanks for reading!!
One full year had passed since my last trip to Las Vegas and, after months of planning and anticipation, I was excited that it was time to head West once again!
I had gotten fairly spoiled by being able to enjoy TWO trips to Vegas per year during the first part of the 2010’s (i.e. 2011 – 2013), but circumstances have changed a bit whereby I’m only going once per year now. So needless to say, I was thrilled that December had finally rolled around and the trip dates had arrived!
My wife and I spent December 10th – 14th, 2015, in Las Vegas and we had a wonderful time. We stayed at the Mirage, had a rental car, and were able to again partake of the many fun activities/opportunities the city has to offer.
Below is a post for each day of the trip, along with some pictures of the various things we were able to participate in. As usual, there are some repeats of activities that have been enjoyed on prior visits (as well as some new events). I must apologize in advance for the poor quality of some of the pictures. I purchased a new cell phone recently and I like everything about it… except for the camera. :/
In keeping with the tradition of my prior trip reports, I’ll be blurring out our faces on any pics to keep the admissible evidence to a minimum. ;)
Thanks for reading!!
You serious, Clark?
January 5th, 2016 at 1:30:27 PM
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DAY 1 OF 5 - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10TH
* ARRIVAL * $20 TRICK * HIGH LIMIT SNACK BAR * BURGERS * PUPPETS * STRIKING SILVER * GAMBLING WITH PIZZA *
After impatiently counting down the days leading up to our trip, the departure day finally arrived. We fly to Vegas out of Nashville, and had booked a non-stop flight which departed around 11:30am. We got to the airport early as usual, and I was able to enjoy my traditional breakfast from Whitt’s BBQ there in the Nashville terminal.
We took off on time and were on our way! After a smooth flight (aided by a nice rum & coke at the beginning of the journey) we began our descent into Vegas. I was sitting in the window seat, and was able to take a pic of Wayne Newton’s house as we prepared to land.
It is always a great feeling to look out and get that first glimpse of Vegas after the plane touches down and is heading towards the gate!
We retrieved our luggage…
…caught the shuttle to the rental car facility…
…and were soon driving up the Strip headed for the Mirage!
We parked in the self-parking garage at the Mirage and proceeded to the check-in area. Months earlier I had booked a “Run of the House” room on the MLife website. When booking the room, the run of the house option was like $80 less expensive, but the room type would not be assigned until check-in. Although I was anticipating being assigned a low-floor no-view room, I had already planned to have a little trick up my sleeve when it came time to check in. The “$20-trick” to be more precise.
We waited in the check-in line for about five minutes, and when our turn came I handed the clerk my driver’s license & my credit card, along with a folded $20 bill sandwiched in between the two. I had never tried the $20 trick before and was a little nervous, but the clerk just set the $20 over to the side and said “Let’s see if there are any complimentary upgrades available.”. She tapped away on her computer for about a minute, and then said they had a Strip-View room on the 21st floor available if I was interested. I told her that would be great, and she issued us two room keys (and picked up the $20 and said thanks).
We made our way over to the elevators to go up to the room, and were pleased to see they had separate elevators for floors 17-23. So during our trip we never had to wait very long for an elevator up or down!
The room was very nice and had a great view of the Strip.
The room also had a little snack center on the counter which said it would charge you if you picked anything up. The prices for the snacks were quite high ($10 for M&M’s, $13 for cashews, etc.), so I definitely didn’t partake of any items. I actually wish they had a glass case or something over it, because I was a bit worried the whole time about accidentally knocking some stuff over and then getting charged. There was a chair immediately to the right of the snack center, and when throwing my jacket onto the chair the sleeve swung out and came close to hitting everything. I was like… OH SNAP!! Anyway, we were very careful after that and remained charge-free from a snack-bar standpoint.
It was around 4pm by the time we were all unpacked and settled into the room, so it was definitely time to go get something to eat. We had BLT Burger on our itinerary for the first meal since it is located right there in the Mirage. In fact, all of our initial activities were purposefully planned to be in the Mirage (or close by) so we wouldn’t have to take the car out again on that first day, which worked out nicely.
BLT Burger was not crowded at all and there was no wait for a table. My wife ordered the Tex-Mex burger with a side-salad, and I went with the Kobe Slider Trio with skinny fries. My wife’s burger came with a small portion of chili, and she said it was some of the best chili she has ever tasted.
I had not tried Kobe beef before so I asked the waiter about the preferred preparation style, and he said medium rare was the way to go. The meat was definitely more red than the ground beef I’m used to eating, but it was extremely delicious. All three sliders were different (BLT, Blue Cheese, BBQ Onion) and my favorite was the BBQ Onion. Total cost for the meal was $60.
We had reservations for Terry Fator later that evening, so we left BLT Burger and walked over to the box office to pick up our tickets for the show. We then headed back up to the room to relax for a short while before the show. Well rested and still feeling full from our meal, we left the room around 7:10pm and proceeded down to the Terry Fator Showroom for the 7:30pm performance. As with the meal, it was nice to have the show located right there in the Mirage so we didn’t have to leave the room super early and get the car or anything.
The Terry Fator show was very entertaining and my wife & I really enjoyed it. Since it was December, the production had a holiday theme and was called “A Very Terry Christmas!”. His ventriloquism acts with the puppets were great, and he also sang several songs on his own. He is actually a very good singer and we were glad we chose to see this performance. Total cost for two tickets was $156 using a link from LVA.
Following the show we decided it was time for a little gambling! Inspired a couple months earlier by this thread started by ajemeister, a prominent part of the itinerary for this particular trip was to locate some of the Silver Strike machines throughout Vegas and then hopefully snag a few commemorative tokens. And, since there were two of these machines reported to be in the Mirage, we once again did not have to leave the property for our first Silver Strike search of the trip!
The two machines were side by side and were located not too far from the guest elevators, so we were able to find them fairly easily. I sat down at one of them, put a $20 in, and then turned it over to luck. The machine was not super generous on the regular payouts, but before too long we saw the Silver Strike symbol stop on the payline for the third reel. Ah, sweet success!!
The carousel above the machine lit up and started spinning, and then about ten seconds later dispensed one of the tokens. We lucked up, and our very first token happened to be one of the less common “colored” coins which came in a blue-tinted acrylic case. We were quite pleased!
It was around 9:45pm by now, and I had a hankering for a snack. We walked out of the Mirage and headed across the street to get a slice of pizza from the food court located between Harrah’s and Casino Royale. It had been two full years since eating at this place had done me (and my cousin) wrong, so I was hopeful that they had gotten their act together during this time. My cousin told me after I returned from my trip that I was a brave soul for trying that pizza again, but of course he was much sicker than I was when we both “got our clocks cleaned” back in 2013!
I ordered a slice of pepperoni & mushroom pizza along with a large drink ($11). The pizza tasted good (and I did not get sick), but in my opinion it just wasn’t as tasty as it used to be. It was a tad dry as well, which was a little disappointing. Who knows, maybe it was just an off-night for them. I may or may not give them another shot on my next Vegas trip. I’m from both Tennessee and Texas, so as somebody famous once said: “There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.” :)
After finishing my pizza, we strolled around on the Strip for a short while and took a few nighttime pics before easing back towards the Mirage. It had been a fairly long and busy day, so we called it done and headed back up to the room for the night!
.
.
.
DAY 2 TO FOLLOW…
* ARRIVAL * $20 TRICK * HIGH LIMIT SNACK BAR * BURGERS * PUPPETS * STRIKING SILVER * GAMBLING WITH PIZZA *
After impatiently counting down the days leading up to our trip, the departure day finally arrived. We fly to Vegas out of Nashville, and had booked a non-stop flight which departed around 11:30am. We got to the airport early as usual, and I was able to enjoy my traditional breakfast from Whitt’s BBQ there in the Nashville terminal.
We took off on time and were on our way! After a smooth flight (aided by a nice rum & coke at the beginning of the journey) we began our descent into Vegas. I was sitting in the window seat, and was able to take a pic of Wayne Newton’s house as we prepared to land.
It is always a great feeling to look out and get that first glimpse of Vegas after the plane touches down and is heading towards the gate!
We retrieved our luggage…
…caught the shuttle to the rental car facility…
…and were soon driving up the Strip headed for the Mirage!
We parked in the self-parking garage at the Mirage and proceeded to the check-in area. Months earlier I had booked a “Run of the House” room on the MLife website. When booking the room, the run of the house option was like $80 less expensive, but the room type would not be assigned until check-in. Although I was anticipating being assigned a low-floor no-view room, I had already planned to have a little trick up my sleeve when it came time to check in. The “$20-trick” to be more precise.
We waited in the check-in line for about five minutes, and when our turn came I handed the clerk my driver’s license & my credit card, along with a folded $20 bill sandwiched in between the two. I had never tried the $20 trick before and was a little nervous, but the clerk just set the $20 over to the side and said “Let’s see if there are any complimentary upgrades available.”. She tapped away on her computer for about a minute, and then said they had a Strip-View room on the 21st floor available if I was interested. I told her that would be great, and she issued us two room keys (and picked up the $20 and said thanks).
We made our way over to the elevators to go up to the room, and were pleased to see they had separate elevators for floors 17-23. So during our trip we never had to wait very long for an elevator up or down!
The room was very nice and had a great view of the Strip.
The room also had a little snack center on the counter which said it would charge you if you picked anything up. The prices for the snacks were quite high ($10 for M&M’s, $13 for cashews, etc.), so I definitely didn’t partake of any items. I actually wish they had a glass case or something over it, because I was a bit worried the whole time about accidentally knocking some stuff over and then getting charged. There was a chair immediately to the right of the snack center, and when throwing my jacket onto the chair the sleeve swung out and came close to hitting everything. I was like… OH SNAP!! Anyway, we were very careful after that and remained charge-free from a snack-bar standpoint.
It was around 4pm by the time we were all unpacked and settled into the room, so it was definitely time to go get something to eat. We had BLT Burger on our itinerary for the first meal since it is located right there in the Mirage. In fact, all of our initial activities were purposefully planned to be in the Mirage (or close by) so we wouldn’t have to take the car out again on that first day, which worked out nicely.
BLT Burger was not crowded at all and there was no wait for a table. My wife ordered the Tex-Mex burger with a side-salad, and I went with the Kobe Slider Trio with skinny fries. My wife’s burger came with a small portion of chili, and she said it was some of the best chili she has ever tasted.
I had not tried Kobe beef before so I asked the waiter about the preferred preparation style, and he said medium rare was the way to go. The meat was definitely more red than the ground beef I’m used to eating, but it was extremely delicious. All three sliders were different (BLT, Blue Cheese, BBQ Onion) and my favorite was the BBQ Onion. Total cost for the meal was $60.
We had reservations for Terry Fator later that evening, so we left BLT Burger and walked over to the box office to pick up our tickets for the show. We then headed back up to the room to relax for a short while before the show. Well rested and still feeling full from our meal, we left the room around 7:10pm and proceeded down to the Terry Fator Showroom for the 7:30pm performance. As with the meal, it was nice to have the show located right there in the Mirage so we didn’t have to leave the room super early and get the car or anything.
The Terry Fator show was very entertaining and my wife & I really enjoyed it. Since it was December, the production had a holiday theme and was called “A Very Terry Christmas!”. His ventriloquism acts with the puppets were great, and he also sang several songs on his own. He is actually a very good singer and we were glad we chose to see this performance. Total cost for two tickets was $156 using a link from LVA.
Following the show we decided it was time for a little gambling! Inspired a couple months earlier by this thread started by ajemeister, a prominent part of the itinerary for this particular trip was to locate some of the Silver Strike machines throughout Vegas and then hopefully snag a few commemorative tokens. And, since there were two of these machines reported to be in the Mirage, we once again did not have to leave the property for our first Silver Strike search of the trip!
The two machines were side by side and were located not too far from the guest elevators, so we were able to find them fairly easily. I sat down at one of them, put a $20 in, and then turned it over to luck. The machine was not super generous on the regular payouts, but before too long we saw the Silver Strike symbol stop on the payline for the third reel. Ah, sweet success!!
The carousel above the machine lit up and started spinning, and then about ten seconds later dispensed one of the tokens. We lucked up, and our very first token happened to be one of the less common “colored” coins which came in a blue-tinted acrylic case. We were quite pleased!
It was around 9:45pm by now, and I had a hankering for a snack. We walked out of the Mirage and headed across the street to get a slice of pizza from the food court located between Harrah’s and Casino Royale. It had been two full years since eating at this place had done me (and my cousin) wrong, so I was hopeful that they had gotten their act together during this time. My cousin told me after I returned from my trip that I was a brave soul for trying that pizza again, but of course he was much sicker than I was when we both “got our clocks cleaned” back in 2013!
I ordered a slice of pepperoni & mushroom pizza along with a large drink ($11). The pizza tasted good (and I did not get sick), but in my opinion it just wasn’t as tasty as it used to be. It was a tad dry as well, which was a little disappointing. Who knows, maybe it was just an off-night for them. I may or may not give them another shot on my next Vegas trip. I’m from both Tennessee and Texas, so as somebody famous once said: “There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.” :)
After finishing my pizza, we strolled around on the Strip for a short while and took a few nighttime pics before easing back towards the Mirage. It had been a fairly long and busy day, so we called it done and headed back up to the room for the night!
.
.
.
DAY 2 TO FOLLOW…
Last edited by: blount2000 on Jan 5, 2016
You serious, Clark?
January 5th, 2016 at 1:59:12 PM
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Thanks for posting your trip report Blount2000. I am looking forward to following your adventures.
If you were to take your token from the Silver Strike machine to the cage, would they exchange it for cash? If so, could you reverse it, and buy the tokens directly from the cage?
Apparently, there is a club for collectors: https://www.silverstrikers.com/
If you were to take your token from the Silver Strike machine to the cage, would they exchange it for cash? If so, could you reverse it, and buy the tokens directly from the cage?
Apparently, there is a club for collectors: https://www.silverstrikers.com/
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci
January 5th, 2016 at 2:13:17 PM
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Great report thus far Blount! I'm intrigued the "$20 trick" worked =P. Keep 'em comin!
Playing it correctly means you've already won.
January 5th, 2016 at 2:37:36 PM
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Love your trip reports Blount, probably my favorite. Your reports focus on things that I normally don't focus on when I'm out there, I find that refreshing!
January 5th, 2016 at 4:18:36 PM
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Excellent report - love the photos as well - following.
January 5th, 2016 at 6:32:28 PM
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Quote: AyecarumbaThanks for posting your trip report Blount2000. I am looking forward to following your adventures.
If you were to take your token from the Silver Strike machine to the cage, would they exchange it for cash? If so, could you reverse it, and buy the tokens directly from the cage?
Apparently, there is a club for collectors: https://www.silverstrikers.com/
Thanks! On the coins, they are marked as being $10 tokens and a sign on the machine said you could exchange them at the cage for $10 cash. I'd be curious to see if a person can purchase the tokens directly from the cashier. That would certainly be a quick way for me to add to my new collection! :)
Quote: RomesGreat report thus far Blount! I'm intrigued the "$20 trick" worked =P. Keep 'em comin!
Thank you! The research I did before the trip seemed to indicate that there was a fair chance at success using the $20 trick at the Mirage, so I was definitely pleased when it worked! Saved me a net $60 versus booking a Strip View room directly from the beginning.
Quote: MidwestAPLove your trip reports Blount, probably my favorite. Your reports focus on things that I normally don't focus on when I'm out there, I find that refreshing!
I appreciate those kind words, MidwestAP! We try to have a nice mix of activities, although we do tend to end up a little light on the gambling for some reason. We always have such a great time in Vegas with everything we do!
Quote: aceofspadesExcellent report - love the photos as well - following.
Thanks! I enjoy your trip reports as well and am always rooting for you to win big at the BJ tables!
You serious, Clark?
January 5th, 2016 at 6:38:48 PM
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DAY 2 OF 5 - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11TH
* KILLIN’ KENO * BISCUITS & GRAVY * LOSING BINGO * TIKI (Take 1) * IN-N-OUT * ENTER THE BUFFALO * BIG ‘E’ * MORE SILVER * ROCKING PIZZA * FREMONT ST. & ONE MILLION DOLLARS * CHEER *
I woke up Friday morning around 5am and quietly got dressed to head downstairs for my traditional early morning Starbucks and penny machines. I had noted the night before that the Starbucks in the Mirage didn’t open until 5:30am, so I had a little time to kill before making my way to procure a delicious caramel macchiato. I passed the time by playing some quick VP and hitting some Dragon Orb slots.
I played for about 10 minutes and then walked over to Starbucks where a line had already formed. There were about five folks ahead of me, so I didn’t have to wait too long to get my coffee drink ($7). At that price, I’m starting to realize that my early morning caramel macchiatos are beginning to get expensive! I pay less than $7 for a whole bag of my regular coffee at home (Community Coffee), but I treat the Starbucks as a splurge when I’m in Vegas.
After getting my coffee, I sat down and enjoyed it while slow-playing some of the stacked machines (lions, dragons, pandas, etc.) for a while without any picture worthy results. I eventually decided to switch things up and try a little Caveman Keno. And this is where I ended up hitting my biggest win on the whole trip!
I took a seat at the quarter keno machine and put in the TITO voucher I had cashed out from the penny slots. On my very first game I was having a little trouble getting the correct number of coins to bet, and somehow ended up betting three coins instead of the one coin I originally intended. A little perturbed at the inadvertent three-coin bet, I went ahead and started the game and was amazed and pleased to see it hit 6 of the 7 spots I had marked. That translated into a nice 735 quarter win!
I secretly congratulated myself on having the wisdom and supreme foresight to make that risky 3-coin bet (cough cough). I figured that after a big hit like that, things could probably only go downward from there so I immediately cashed out.
It was time to head to the room, so I swung back by Starbucks to pick up a regular blonde roast coffee for my wife ($5) and then took the elevator back upstairs to get ready for the day.
After getting ready, we headed out to retrieve the car and go get some breakfast. Our morning meal plans had been heavily influenced by the fact that I had an LVA 2-1 coupon for Crossroads Café at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. We were pleased with our experience here on our last trip, and were excited about the opportunity to enjoy their food once again.
We were seated around 9am, and I ordered their biscuits & gravy (with egg topper & hash browns), and my wife chose their Rock Steady breakfast skillet. Both dishes were fantastic, and I really shouldn’t have cleaned my entire plate… but clean it I did! Total cost of this meal was $34.
Breakfast now behind us, it was time to play some bingo so we headed back to the car and drove on over to the Gold Coast. We arrived around 10:15am, parked the car, and moseyed inside with plenty of time to spare for the 11am bingo session. As always, I had to get my B-Connected players card reprinted because I had forgotten it back in the room.
We bought in for our normal blue-paper-packs, but I shook things up a bit by getting an electronic unit with an enhanced load of cards in it. We picked up a couple of daubers from the vending machines, a couple of beverages (coffee for her, beer for me), and then took a seat to wait for the session to begin. I was super-excited about the extra cards in my electronic machine and how it would certainly elevate my chances at hitting a bingo and winning some cash!
Whenever my family asks if I won at the casino, I sort of answer them in code. If I did win money, I have no trouble at all giving a nice direct answer: “Did I win money? Heck yeah I won money! Why do you think I went there!? I’m actually offended by your question.”
Contrast that to my answer if I didn’t win: “Did I win money? Man, I had a great time at the casino. Had a blast. Yes indeed, a wonderful time had by all.”
That being said, back to the topic of our bingo game. We had a great time. An absolute blast. A wonderful time had by all. ;)
Thankfully the beating at the Gold Coast ended promptly at noon, and we were on our way to one of the more highly anticipated items on our itinerary for this trip – a visit to a new tiki bar called The Golden Tiki over on Spring Mountain Road. I’ve enjoyed hitting Frankie’s Tiki Room for several years now, so I was thrilled when I heard that a new tiki bar was opening back in August.
We arrived at the Golden Tiki around 12:15pm and parked right out front. The outside of the building has some nice tiki decorations and such, but the real tiki pizazz is on the inside. We went inside and chose a high-top table over on the right side of the bar. Service was quick, and the waitress presented each of us with drink menus to look over. I have a modest collection of tiki mugs which I always like to add to, so we asked the waitress which mugs they had available at the moment. She was real nice and actually went to get a small cart to roll out and show us examples of all the mugs they had on hand.
After considering the menu for a bit, I ended up ordering a drink called the Banana Batida, and my wife ordered a virgin pineapple & orange juice concoction. Both drinks were very good (mine more so since it had alcohol in it), and the two tiki mugs are nice additions to my collection.
I also enjoyed a free shot of their private reserve rum using a voucher I had printed off of their website. The rum was very smooth and quite tasty!
Compared to Frankie’s, the Golden Tiki is a bigger space for sure. It doesn’t quite have the chill, dive-bar feel that Frankie’s has, but it’s also only a few months old so that will probably come in time. Overall, we were very impressed with the Golden Tiki and will definitely add it to our repertoire of must-do activities whenever we are in Vegas. Total cost for the drinks and two tiki mugs came to $60.
We departed the Golden Tiki around 2pm and decided it was time for some lunch. We missed out on eating at In-N-Out on our last trip, and we weren’t about to make that same mistake again! So we headed over to the In-N-Out on Dean Martin Drive to get a bite to eat. I enjoyed a cheeseburger & fries, while my wife had some fries and a chocolate shake. In-N-Out has never disappointed us! Total cost for this meal was $10.
We left In-N-Out around 2:45pm and headed back to the Mirage to rest up and collect ourselves for a spell. We relaxed in the room for about an hour, and then around 4pm I started to get antsy and was ready to get back out for a bit. My wife said she preferred to continue resting and would hang out in the room for a while longer if I wanted to go do my own thing for a while. She didn’t have to tell me twice, and I was soon out the door and on the way downstairs.
I decided to walk across the street and spend a little time at Harrah’s & Casino Royale before embarking upon my true mission (which was to ease over to the Venetian and see if I could find some Silver Strike machines).
I walked around in Harrah’s and saw that Big Elvis was performing in the space where the dueling piano bar is located. The place was totally packed and there were no seats available at all. I stepped inside just to snap a quick pic, and was swiftly told to get out of the way. Those Big Elvis fans are serious!
Freshly shunned from the Big Elvis show, I decided to browse the machines at Harrah’s and find something to play. As I’m walking among the aisles of slots, the extra-loud screech of an eagle rings in my ears and my attention is immediately drawn to a machine I have of course seen before, but have never played – BUFFALO. I don’t know how this game has stayed off my playing radar for so long, but it’s definitely on there now. I found this game to be extremely fun and it ended up being one the primary games my wife & I played during the remainder of the trip!
After playing at Harrah’s for a while, I proceed to ease over to Casino Royale to see how my luck would run. They had some construction going on by the bar, and the table games appeared to be moved towards the back. I made a quick pass in an effort to see if they had reinstated my beloved Star Wars machines, but no such luck. I settled for playing a Vibrant 7’s machine for a short while before moving on.
Exiting Casino Royale, I headed over towards the Venetian to search for their Silver Strike machines. For some reason I always have trouble getting into the casino part of the Venetian and end up walking all over the place trying to find it, and this time was no exception.
Finally in the casino, I ambled around and eventually located the Silver Strike machine. I put my $20 in and very quickly hit for an additional 40 credits which gave me a little cushion to keep playing for a shot at a commemorative coin. It took a little while, but I ultimately ended up harvesting two Silver Strike tokens from this machine. Winning two coins in one sitting was a nice surprise!
It was around 6pm at this point, so I decided to stroll back to the Mirage and see if my wife was ready to hit the next item on our schedule which was a trip Downtown. She was indeed ready, so we got in the car and headed North!
We parked in the lot at Main Street Station, which is very convenient and had plenty of room. Our first order of business was to get some dinner at a place we really enjoyed on our prior trip – Pizza Rock. We enjoyed a delicious pepperoni/mushroom/onion pizza with a gluten-free crust. I prefer a nice crispy crust on my pizza, and this one did not disappoint! Total cost of $37 for the pizza and two drinks.
Following our meal at Pizza Rock, we made our way over to Fremont Street to catch the 8pm light show. The theme of the show was the band Heart, and we were able to hear some great familiar tunes from one of our favorite bands.
After the light show, we walked into the 4 Queens casino with the purpose of getting a coin from one of their Silver Strike slots. They had a bunch of the machines to choose from, and we selected one and put in our $20. Although we didn’t get a repeat of the two-coin win I experienced at the Venetian, we were at least rewarded with a win of one token! (You’ll notice that the security guard over on the left didn’t seem too concerned about me taking a picture in the casino). :)
Exiting the 4 Queens, we headed over to Binion’s so I could play the Star Wars machines we found here last year. Sadly, Binion’s had followed the lead of Casino Royale and had gotten rid of the Star Wars slots. I played for a while on a Walking Dead machine, which was fun (but not as fun as my SW Slots). I did hit $30 on it, so I can’t complain too much.
Finished with playing slots at Binion’s, we decided to get our picture taken with the $1 million cash Binion’s has on display. There was a short line, and we waited about 5 minutes for our turn. The nice lady taking the pictures said it would be about a 25-minute wait to get the printed pic if they used their camera. She said we were welcome to use our own camera if we didn’t want to wait. So we handed her my wife’s camera and she took the pic for us. Wish I could have stuck all that cash in my pocket!!
It was around 10pm, so we elected to say goodbye to Fremont Street and ease back towards the car. We stopped by Main Street Station so I could play a bit & take a shot at getting 50 points on my card, which would mean free parking! My wife told me: “You do realize you’re fixing to lose $20 in an attempt to get $5 of free parking?” Undeterred by her lack of faith in my slot prowess, I put my $20 in a Forbidden Dragons machine and began racking up the points! Unfortunately, luck was not on my side and by the time my $20 had evaporated I had only accumulated around 30 of the 50 points needed for free parking. :/ I knew better than to put in another $20 to try to get the remaining points.
We left Main Street Station, retrieved the car from the parking lot, and headed back to the Mirage. After parking and entering the Mirage, we noticed that the property had been overtaken by a HUGE number of cheerleader groups. It turned out that the finals for a big national cheer competition were being held at the Mirage on this particular weekend. It was a little odd seeing so many groups of young kids walking through the casino at all hours, but everyone was well-behaved and seemed to be having a great time.
Anyway, we called it a night around 11:30pm and hit the sack for a good night’s sleep!
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DAY 3 TO FOLLOW…
* KILLIN’ KENO * BISCUITS & GRAVY * LOSING BINGO * TIKI (Take 1) * IN-N-OUT * ENTER THE BUFFALO * BIG ‘E’ * MORE SILVER * ROCKING PIZZA * FREMONT ST. & ONE MILLION DOLLARS * CHEER *
I woke up Friday morning around 5am and quietly got dressed to head downstairs for my traditional early morning Starbucks and penny machines. I had noted the night before that the Starbucks in the Mirage didn’t open until 5:30am, so I had a little time to kill before making my way to procure a delicious caramel macchiato. I passed the time by playing some quick VP and hitting some Dragon Orb slots.
I played for about 10 minutes and then walked over to Starbucks where a line had already formed. There were about five folks ahead of me, so I didn’t have to wait too long to get my coffee drink ($7). At that price, I’m starting to realize that my early morning caramel macchiatos are beginning to get expensive! I pay less than $7 for a whole bag of my regular coffee at home (Community Coffee), but I treat the Starbucks as a splurge when I’m in Vegas.
After getting my coffee, I sat down and enjoyed it while slow-playing some of the stacked machines (lions, dragons, pandas, etc.) for a while without any picture worthy results. I eventually decided to switch things up and try a little Caveman Keno. And this is where I ended up hitting my biggest win on the whole trip!
I took a seat at the quarter keno machine and put in the TITO voucher I had cashed out from the penny slots. On my very first game I was having a little trouble getting the correct number of coins to bet, and somehow ended up betting three coins instead of the one coin I originally intended. A little perturbed at the inadvertent three-coin bet, I went ahead and started the game and was amazed and pleased to see it hit 6 of the 7 spots I had marked. That translated into a nice 735 quarter win!
I secretly congratulated myself on having the wisdom and supreme foresight to make that risky 3-coin bet (cough cough). I figured that after a big hit like that, things could probably only go downward from there so I immediately cashed out.
It was time to head to the room, so I swung back by Starbucks to pick up a regular blonde roast coffee for my wife ($5) and then took the elevator back upstairs to get ready for the day.
After getting ready, we headed out to retrieve the car and go get some breakfast. Our morning meal plans had been heavily influenced by the fact that I had an LVA 2-1 coupon for Crossroads Café at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. We were pleased with our experience here on our last trip, and were excited about the opportunity to enjoy their food once again.
We were seated around 9am, and I ordered their biscuits & gravy (with egg topper & hash browns), and my wife chose their Rock Steady breakfast skillet. Both dishes were fantastic, and I really shouldn’t have cleaned my entire plate… but clean it I did! Total cost of this meal was $34.
Breakfast now behind us, it was time to play some bingo so we headed back to the car and drove on over to the Gold Coast. We arrived around 10:15am, parked the car, and moseyed inside with plenty of time to spare for the 11am bingo session. As always, I had to get my B-Connected players card reprinted because I had forgotten it back in the room.
We bought in for our normal blue-paper-packs, but I shook things up a bit by getting an electronic unit with an enhanced load of cards in it. We picked up a couple of daubers from the vending machines, a couple of beverages (coffee for her, beer for me), and then took a seat to wait for the session to begin. I was super-excited about the extra cards in my electronic machine and how it would certainly elevate my chances at hitting a bingo and winning some cash!
Whenever my family asks if I won at the casino, I sort of answer them in code. If I did win money, I have no trouble at all giving a nice direct answer: “Did I win money? Heck yeah I won money! Why do you think I went there!? I’m actually offended by your question.”
Contrast that to my answer if I didn’t win: “Did I win money? Man, I had a great time at the casino. Had a blast. Yes indeed, a wonderful time had by all.”
That being said, back to the topic of our bingo game. We had a great time. An absolute blast. A wonderful time had by all. ;)
Thankfully the beating at the Gold Coast ended promptly at noon, and we were on our way to one of the more highly anticipated items on our itinerary for this trip – a visit to a new tiki bar called The Golden Tiki over on Spring Mountain Road. I’ve enjoyed hitting Frankie’s Tiki Room for several years now, so I was thrilled when I heard that a new tiki bar was opening back in August.
We arrived at the Golden Tiki around 12:15pm and parked right out front. The outside of the building has some nice tiki decorations and such, but the real tiki pizazz is on the inside. We went inside and chose a high-top table over on the right side of the bar. Service was quick, and the waitress presented each of us with drink menus to look over. I have a modest collection of tiki mugs which I always like to add to, so we asked the waitress which mugs they had available at the moment. She was real nice and actually went to get a small cart to roll out and show us examples of all the mugs they had on hand.
After considering the menu for a bit, I ended up ordering a drink called the Banana Batida, and my wife ordered a virgin pineapple & orange juice concoction. Both drinks were very good (mine more so since it had alcohol in it), and the two tiki mugs are nice additions to my collection.
I also enjoyed a free shot of their private reserve rum using a voucher I had printed off of their website. The rum was very smooth and quite tasty!
Compared to Frankie’s, the Golden Tiki is a bigger space for sure. It doesn’t quite have the chill, dive-bar feel that Frankie’s has, but it’s also only a few months old so that will probably come in time. Overall, we were very impressed with the Golden Tiki and will definitely add it to our repertoire of must-do activities whenever we are in Vegas. Total cost for the drinks and two tiki mugs came to $60.
We departed the Golden Tiki around 2pm and decided it was time for some lunch. We missed out on eating at In-N-Out on our last trip, and we weren’t about to make that same mistake again! So we headed over to the In-N-Out on Dean Martin Drive to get a bite to eat. I enjoyed a cheeseburger & fries, while my wife had some fries and a chocolate shake. In-N-Out has never disappointed us! Total cost for this meal was $10.
We left In-N-Out around 2:45pm and headed back to the Mirage to rest up and collect ourselves for a spell. We relaxed in the room for about an hour, and then around 4pm I started to get antsy and was ready to get back out for a bit. My wife said she preferred to continue resting and would hang out in the room for a while longer if I wanted to go do my own thing for a while. She didn’t have to tell me twice, and I was soon out the door and on the way downstairs.
I decided to walk across the street and spend a little time at Harrah’s & Casino Royale before embarking upon my true mission (which was to ease over to the Venetian and see if I could find some Silver Strike machines).
I walked around in Harrah’s and saw that Big Elvis was performing in the space where the dueling piano bar is located. The place was totally packed and there were no seats available at all. I stepped inside just to snap a quick pic, and was swiftly told to get out of the way. Those Big Elvis fans are serious!
Freshly shunned from the Big Elvis show, I decided to browse the machines at Harrah’s and find something to play. As I’m walking among the aisles of slots, the extra-loud screech of an eagle rings in my ears and my attention is immediately drawn to a machine I have of course seen before, but have never played – BUFFALO. I don’t know how this game has stayed off my playing radar for so long, but it’s definitely on there now. I found this game to be extremely fun and it ended up being one the primary games my wife & I played during the remainder of the trip!
After playing at Harrah’s for a while, I proceed to ease over to Casino Royale to see how my luck would run. They had some construction going on by the bar, and the table games appeared to be moved towards the back. I made a quick pass in an effort to see if they had reinstated my beloved Star Wars machines, but no such luck. I settled for playing a Vibrant 7’s machine for a short while before moving on.
Exiting Casino Royale, I headed over towards the Venetian to search for their Silver Strike machines. For some reason I always have trouble getting into the casino part of the Venetian and end up walking all over the place trying to find it, and this time was no exception.
Finally in the casino, I ambled around and eventually located the Silver Strike machine. I put my $20 in and very quickly hit for an additional 40 credits which gave me a little cushion to keep playing for a shot at a commemorative coin. It took a little while, but I ultimately ended up harvesting two Silver Strike tokens from this machine. Winning two coins in one sitting was a nice surprise!
It was around 6pm at this point, so I decided to stroll back to the Mirage and see if my wife was ready to hit the next item on our schedule which was a trip Downtown. She was indeed ready, so we got in the car and headed North!
We parked in the lot at Main Street Station, which is very convenient and had plenty of room. Our first order of business was to get some dinner at a place we really enjoyed on our prior trip – Pizza Rock. We enjoyed a delicious pepperoni/mushroom/onion pizza with a gluten-free crust. I prefer a nice crispy crust on my pizza, and this one did not disappoint! Total cost of $37 for the pizza and two drinks.
Following our meal at Pizza Rock, we made our way over to Fremont Street to catch the 8pm light show. The theme of the show was the band Heart, and we were able to hear some great familiar tunes from one of our favorite bands.
After the light show, we walked into the 4 Queens casino with the purpose of getting a coin from one of their Silver Strike slots. They had a bunch of the machines to choose from, and we selected one and put in our $20. Although we didn’t get a repeat of the two-coin win I experienced at the Venetian, we were at least rewarded with a win of one token! (You’ll notice that the security guard over on the left didn’t seem too concerned about me taking a picture in the casino). :)
Exiting the 4 Queens, we headed over to Binion’s so I could play the Star Wars machines we found here last year. Sadly, Binion’s had followed the lead of Casino Royale and had gotten rid of the Star Wars slots. I played for a while on a Walking Dead machine, which was fun (but not as fun as my SW Slots). I did hit $30 on it, so I can’t complain too much.
Finished with playing slots at Binion’s, we decided to get our picture taken with the $1 million cash Binion’s has on display. There was a short line, and we waited about 5 minutes for our turn. The nice lady taking the pictures said it would be about a 25-minute wait to get the printed pic if they used their camera. She said we were welcome to use our own camera if we didn’t want to wait. So we handed her my wife’s camera and she took the pic for us. Wish I could have stuck all that cash in my pocket!!
It was around 10pm, so we elected to say goodbye to Fremont Street and ease back towards the car. We stopped by Main Street Station so I could play a bit & take a shot at getting 50 points on my card, which would mean free parking! My wife told me: “You do realize you’re fixing to lose $20 in an attempt to get $5 of free parking?” Undeterred by her lack of faith in my slot prowess, I put my $20 in a Forbidden Dragons machine and began racking up the points! Unfortunately, luck was not on my side and by the time my $20 had evaporated I had only accumulated around 30 of the 50 points needed for free parking. :/ I knew better than to put in another $20 to try to get the remaining points.
We left Main Street Station, retrieved the car from the parking lot, and headed back to the Mirage. After parking and entering the Mirage, we noticed that the property had been overtaken by a HUGE number of cheerleader groups. It turned out that the finals for a big national cheer competition were being held at the Mirage on this particular weekend. It was a little odd seeing so many groups of young kids walking through the casino at all hours, but everyone was well-behaved and seemed to be having a great time.
Anyway, we called it a night around 11:30pm and hit the sack for a good night’s sleep!
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DAY 3 TO FOLLOW…
Last edited by: blount2000 on Jan 6, 2016
You serious, Clark?
January 5th, 2016 at 7:06:48 PM
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Cool Tiki mugs
Ya know - I've never been to a Tiki Bar
Did you get the In-And-Out burgers "animal style"?
Next time I am in Vegas I might have to try those Silver Strike machines (keep posting the locations, especially on the Strip, if you can please)
Ya know - I've never been to a Tiki Bar
Did you get the In-And-Out burgers "animal style"?
Next time I am in Vegas I might have to try those Silver Strike machines (keep posting the locations, especially on the Strip, if you can please)
January 5th, 2016 at 7:59:48 PM
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Quote: aceofspadesDid you get the In-And-Out burgers "animal style"?
After googling "in-n-out animal style", I certainly wish I had ordered them that way. Next time for sure!
You serious, Clark?
January 5th, 2016 at 8:17:39 PM
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Quote: blount2000After googling "in-n-out animal style", I certainly wish I had ordered them that way. Next time for sure!
Here is a list of all the In-And-Out "secret menu" items
ENJOY!
January 5th, 2016 at 10:12:04 PM
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Quote: RomesGreat report thus far Blount! I'm intrigued the "$20 trick" worked =P. Keep 'em comin!
I've never had the $20 bribe fail. I've also
never failed to get the valet guy who says
'hotel guests only' to take my car after
I give him $5. Works every time.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
January 6th, 2016 at 6:22:14 AM
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DAY 3 OF 5 - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12TH
* WINDY CHANGE OF PLANS * TIKI (Take 2) * EL CORTEZ SILVER * MARGARITAVILLE * SOUVENIRS * NYP * SOCIAL LIFE PIZZA * PALAZZO SILVER *
Up at the crisp time of 5:05am, I headed downstairs for my daily start of coffee and penny slots. I was actually first in line at Starbucks when they opened at 5:30am, so I was able to get my caramel macchiato quickly ($7) and took a seat out on the casino floor to begin my early morning slow-play.
I spent my time this morning on a few different machines, but none were super kind to me and the only things I ended up with were a couple of barely picture-worthy small hits.
I finished playing around 6:30am and headed back to Starbucks to pick up my wife’s coffee. Well, the line at Starbucks was crazy long and stretched well into the corridor, so I decided to just walk across the street to Harrah’s with the hope that it wouldn’t be super busy like the Mirage was. Once over at Harrah’s, I made my way to the Starbucks and there were maybe two people in line. I got a blonde roast coffee for my wife ($5) and went back over to the Mirage where I walked past the still super-long line at Starbucks. I then went back up to the room to get ready for the day.
The first item on our agenda for today was a 9:30am zip-line tour of Bootleg Canyon (inspired by this post by MrV). Neither one of us was very hungry this morning, so we decided to just skip breakfast and get on the road. We retrieved the car and began the pleasant drive toward Boulder City. We were about halfway there when my phone rang with a call from the zip-line company. They said that all of the tours this morning had been cancelled due to high winds. :/
I was able to reschedule our tour for the next morning, and we turned around and headed back towards Vegas.
Our morning plans suddenly freed up, we decided to go hit one of our favorite spots in Vegas – Frankie’s Tiki Room! It was a little earlier (8:45am) than our normal times for hitting Frankie’s, but I believe a delicious tiki drink can always hit the spot morning, day, or night!
We arrived at Frankie’s (which is a 24-hour place), but when we tried to pull open the door it was locked. There was a doorbell, so we rang it and waited for a bit. Nobody came to the door so we figured they must be closed, even though there were a couple of cars in the parking lot. We got back in the car and decided to call their phone number to see if there was a recording or something that would possibly shed some light on the situation. The phone rang for a moment, and then surprisingly someone answered. I asked him what their hours were and he said that they were open right now. I told him that we were outside and the door was locked and nobody had respond to the doorbell, and he said to try opening the door again. We got out of the car and tried the door, and it opened up this time. Not sure exactly what the deal was on the locked door, but we were glad to finally get in!
Frankie’s was not crowded at all, and there were only a couple of people inside. My wife and I chose a seat in the back booth area and took a look at the drink menu. I already have most of Frankie’s custom tiki mugs in my collection, and unfortunately they had not released a new mug since our last visit. So I chose my favorite drink – a Kahiki Kai – in a regular cocktail glass and my wife went with a pineapple/orange juice cocktail in a Frankiestein mug (we now have two of these mugs). $35 total for the drinks and the mug.
Hanging at Frankie’s is always fun, and this time was no exception. I think the drinks are fantastic at both Frankie’s and The Golden Tiki, but Frankie’s just seems to have a little more relaxed vibe to it. Maybe some of that is just familiarity with the venue. Either way, we would come back and hit Frankie’s once again later in the trip!
We enjoyed our drinks and chilled at Frankie’s until around 10am, and decided we would head downtown and see if we could win a Silver Strike coin from the El Cortez. Traffic was not bad at all, and we didn’t have any trouble getting there. When we tried to enter the parking garage, there was a security guard that said we had to either be a hotel guest or have a players card to park. We told him it was our first time visiting the property, so he said we could go ahead and enter the garage.
We parked the car and made our way into the casino. We didn’t have any problems finding the Silver Strike machine, and $20 later my wife had won two of the tokens! One had a picture of Bugsy Siegel on it, and the other had a picture of Kenny Epstein/Jackie Gaughan on the front. Nice additions to our growing collection of Silver Strikes.
We exited the El Cortez around 11am, and made the decision to go get some lunch. We left downtown and chose to go back to the Strip by taking Las Vegas Blvd the entire way.
It was a nice scenic drive (some parts more scenic than others!), and we soon found ourselves getting close to our lunch destination – Margaritaville in the Flamingo hotel. We took a left off of the Strip and ended up parking the car in the self-parking garage for the Cromwell and then walking to the Flamingo.
We had never eaten at Margaritaville before, but had seen where it had received some nice reviews so we were eager to try it out. We only had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated, which was not bad at all. Once at our table, we looked over the menus and I decided to order the Buttermilk Fried Chicken which ended up being very tasty. My wife chose the Volcano Nachos which she said tasted mighty fine as well. Total cost for this meal was $54.
We were done with lunch around 12:30pm and decided to go spend some time in the South Strip area. We parked the car at NYNY and proceeded inside to enjoy a little gambling. We had stayed at NYNY on our trip the year before, and it was nice to be in familiar territory. My wife later told me that she liked staying at NYNY more than she did at the Mirage, but that may be because NYNY was her first experience with Las Vegas. I told her we’d probably be staying at the Rio next time, so she will ultimately get some exposure to several different properties.
Once inside NYNY, we concentrated our play on our newly found Buffalo slot machines. My wife’s machine was very kind to her, and she built it up to over $90 off of a $20 buy-in. Who knows, maybe this game will get old to us eventually, but right now we are both really enjoying it!
We finished playing our Buffalo machines at NYNY and proceeded outside across the pedestrian walkway to hit the big souvenir store on the other side of the street next to the MGM. We picked up some nice souvenirs for our kids and some of our friends. This place seems to have very reasonable prices on almost everything, so we were able to get quite a few things!
It was after 3pm by now and we were both getting a little tired. I asked my wife if she wanted us to go check out MGM and Excalibur, or if she would prefer just going back to the Mirage to rest up for a bit? She said that she’d rather us head back to the Mirage, so we crossed back over the pedestrian walkway into NYNY to go to the car. But not before I made a quick stop in NYNY to enjoy a slice of my favorite Vegas pizza at New York Pizzeria (NYP)! Crispy and delicious as always ($11)!
On the way out we also took a free picture at the NYNY photo kiosk which we emailed to ourselves. :)
We made our way back to the Mirage and relaxed for a while in the room. I filled out some postcards to be mailed, as well as responding to a few emails. After resting up, we made a quick run over to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things and on the drive back I took a nice picture of the Wynn/Encore with some neat reflections on the buildings.
After getting ready for the evening, we left the room around 7pm and walked over to the Venetian to get some dinner. We had scoped out a place at the Venetian called Social Life Pizza beforehand, and after a fair amount of searching finally found it. We ordered a pepperoni pizza with mushrooms on a gluten-free crust. The service here was excellent and very friendly, and the pizza itself was good. Not great, just good. Although we enjoyed the pizza, I don’t think it will warrant a return visit from us in the future. ($20).
Full and semi-satisfied, we left Social Life Pizza around 8pm and walked from the Venetian over to the Palazzo to take a shot at some more Silver Strikes. We took a couple of pics in front of the Christmas displays in the walkway between the Venetian & Palazzo.
The Silver Strikes machine at the Palazzo was fairly difficult to find, and of course already had somebody playing on it. We watched a lady win three of the Silver Strike tokens while we waited unobtrusively at some nearby machines. She finally got up after about 15 minutes and we immediately occupied her vacated spot.
The machine at the Palazzo had a nice two-person seat, so my wife and I were able to sit together while playing. My wife did the playing, and a $20 buy-in earned us three Silver Strike tokens (including one of the coveted blue-encased colored coins)! I figured after seeing the original lady win three of the tokens that the machine would end up being either very generous or very stingy, and luckily for us it was very generous!
My wife was not feeling super-great, so we decided to just stroll around a bit on the strip & then head back to the Mirage . Leaving the Palazzo, we saw where CNN was setting up equipment and tents & such out in front of the Venetian in anticipation of the presidential debate later that week. I guess they must have to get everything set up way in advance.
Once back at the Mirage, my wife headed on upstairs to the room while I hung around for a while trying my luck on some of my penny slots. I played for a long time on a stacked dragons machine, but the largest hit was only 800 credits.
I also played a little VP, with the only hit being three of a kind. Not really picture worthy, but that hasn’t ever stopped me in the past. :)
Around 10:30pm I elected to ease on back to the room. As I was walking to the elevators, I saw where one of the Terry Fator Silver Strike machines was free, so I stopped by to take a chance with another $20 before calling it a night. Luck was with me, and I hit another blue-cased token. That was a mighty fine way to end the evening!
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DAY 4 TO FOLLOW…
* WINDY CHANGE OF PLANS * TIKI (Take 2) * EL CORTEZ SILVER * MARGARITAVILLE * SOUVENIRS * NYP * SOCIAL LIFE PIZZA * PALAZZO SILVER *
Up at the crisp time of 5:05am, I headed downstairs for my daily start of coffee and penny slots. I was actually first in line at Starbucks when they opened at 5:30am, so I was able to get my caramel macchiato quickly ($7) and took a seat out on the casino floor to begin my early morning slow-play.
I spent my time this morning on a few different machines, but none were super kind to me and the only things I ended up with were a couple of barely picture-worthy small hits.
I finished playing around 6:30am and headed back to Starbucks to pick up my wife’s coffee. Well, the line at Starbucks was crazy long and stretched well into the corridor, so I decided to just walk across the street to Harrah’s with the hope that it wouldn’t be super busy like the Mirage was. Once over at Harrah’s, I made my way to the Starbucks and there were maybe two people in line. I got a blonde roast coffee for my wife ($5) and went back over to the Mirage where I walked past the still super-long line at Starbucks. I then went back up to the room to get ready for the day.
The first item on our agenda for today was a 9:30am zip-line tour of Bootleg Canyon (inspired by this post by MrV). Neither one of us was very hungry this morning, so we decided to just skip breakfast and get on the road. We retrieved the car and began the pleasant drive toward Boulder City. We were about halfway there when my phone rang with a call from the zip-line company. They said that all of the tours this morning had been cancelled due to high winds. :/
I was able to reschedule our tour for the next morning, and we turned around and headed back towards Vegas.
Our morning plans suddenly freed up, we decided to go hit one of our favorite spots in Vegas – Frankie’s Tiki Room! It was a little earlier (8:45am) than our normal times for hitting Frankie’s, but I believe a delicious tiki drink can always hit the spot morning, day, or night!
We arrived at Frankie’s (which is a 24-hour place), but when we tried to pull open the door it was locked. There was a doorbell, so we rang it and waited for a bit. Nobody came to the door so we figured they must be closed, even though there were a couple of cars in the parking lot. We got back in the car and decided to call their phone number to see if there was a recording or something that would possibly shed some light on the situation. The phone rang for a moment, and then surprisingly someone answered. I asked him what their hours were and he said that they were open right now. I told him that we were outside and the door was locked and nobody had respond to the doorbell, and he said to try opening the door again. We got out of the car and tried the door, and it opened up this time. Not sure exactly what the deal was on the locked door, but we were glad to finally get in!
Frankie’s was not crowded at all, and there were only a couple of people inside. My wife and I chose a seat in the back booth area and took a look at the drink menu. I already have most of Frankie’s custom tiki mugs in my collection, and unfortunately they had not released a new mug since our last visit. So I chose my favorite drink – a Kahiki Kai – in a regular cocktail glass and my wife went with a pineapple/orange juice cocktail in a Frankiestein mug (we now have two of these mugs). $35 total for the drinks and the mug.
Hanging at Frankie’s is always fun, and this time was no exception. I think the drinks are fantastic at both Frankie’s and The Golden Tiki, but Frankie’s just seems to have a little more relaxed vibe to it. Maybe some of that is just familiarity with the venue. Either way, we would come back and hit Frankie’s once again later in the trip!
We enjoyed our drinks and chilled at Frankie’s until around 10am, and decided we would head downtown and see if we could win a Silver Strike coin from the El Cortez. Traffic was not bad at all, and we didn’t have any trouble getting there. When we tried to enter the parking garage, there was a security guard that said we had to either be a hotel guest or have a players card to park. We told him it was our first time visiting the property, so he said we could go ahead and enter the garage.
We parked the car and made our way into the casino. We didn’t have any problems finding the Silver Strike machine, and $20 later my wife had won two of the tokens! One had a picture of Bugsy Siegel on it, and the other had a picture of Kenny Epstein/Jackie Gaughan on the front. Nice additions to our growing collection of Silver Strikes.
We exited the El Cortez around 11am, and made the decision to go get some lunch. We left downtown and chose to go back to the Strip by taking Las Vegas Blvd the entire way.
It was a nice scenic drive (some parts more scenic than others!), and we soon found ourselves getting close to our lunch destination – Margaritaville in the Flamingo hotel. We took a left off of the Strip and ended up parking the car in the self-parking garage for the Cromwell and then walking to the Flamingo.
We had never eaten at Margaritaville before, but had seen where it had received some nice reviews so we were eager to try it out. We only had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated, which was not bad at all. Once at our table, we looked over the menus and I decided to order the Buttermilk Fried Chicken which ended up being very tasty. My wife chose the Volcano Nachos which she said tasted mighty fine as well. Total cost for this meal was $54.
We were done with lunch around 12:30pm and decided to go spend some time in the South Strip area. We parked the car at NYNY and proceeded inside to enjoy a little gambling. We had stayed at NYNY on our trip the year before, and it was nice to be in familiar territory. My wife later told me that she liked staying at NYNY more than she did at the Mirage, but that may be because NYNY was her first experience with Las Vegas. I told her we’d probably be staying at the Rio next time, so she will ultimately get some exposure to several different properties.
Once inside NYNY, we concentrated our play on our newly found Buffalo slot machines. My wife’s machine was very kind to her, and she built it up to over $90 off of a $20 buy-in. Who knows, maybe this game will get old to us eventually, but right now we are both really enjoying it!
We finished playing our Buffalo machines at NYNY and proceeded outside across the pedestrian walkway to hit the big souvenir store on the other side of the street next to the MGM. We picked up some nice souvenirs for our kids and some of our friends. This place seems to have very reasonable prices on almost everything, so we were able to get quite a few things!
It was after 3pm by now and we were both getting a little tired. I asked my wife if she wanted us to go check out MGM and Excalibur, or if she would prefer just going back to the Mirage to rest up for a bit? She said that she’d rather us head back to the Mirage, so we crossed back over the pedestrian walkway into NYNY to go to the car. But not before I made a quick stop in NYNY to enjoy a slice of my favorite Vegas pizza at New York Pizzeria (NYP)! Crispy and delicious as always ($11)!
On the way out we also took a free picture at the NYNY photo kiosk which we emailed to ourselves. :)
We made our way back to the Mirage and relaxed for a while in the room. I filled out some postcards to be mailed, as well as responding to a few emails. After resting up, we made a quick run over to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things and on the drive back I took a nice picture of the Wynn/Encore with some neat reflections on the buildings.
After getting ready for the evening, we left the room around 7pm and walked over to the Venetian to get some dinner. We had scoped out a place at the Venetian called Social Life Pizza beforehand, and after a fair amount of searching finally found it. We ordered a pepperoni pizza with mushrooms on a gluten-free crust. The service here was excellent and very friendly, and the pizza itself was good. Not great, just good. Although we enjoyed the pizza, I don’t think it will warrant a return visit from us in the future. ($20).
Full and semi-satisfied, we left Social Life Pizza around 8pm and walked from the Venetian over to the Palazzo to take a shot at some more Silver Strikes. We took a couple of pics in front of the Christmas displays in the walkway between the Venetian & Palazzo.
The Silver Strikes machine at the Palazzo was fairly difficult to find, and of course already had somebody playing on it. We watched a lady win three of the Silver Strike tokens while we waited unobtrusively at some nearby machines. She finally got up after about 15 minutes and we immediately occupied her vacated spot.
The machine at the Palazzo had a nice two-person seat, so my wife and I were able to sit together while playing. My wife did the playing, and a $20 buy-in earned us three Silver Strike tokens (including one of the coveted blue-encased colored coins)! I figured after seeing the original lady win three of the tokens that the machine would end up being either very generous or very stingy, and luckily for us it was very generous!
My wife was not feeling super-great, so we decided to just stroll around a bit on the strip & then head back to the Mirage . Leaving the Palazzo, we saw where CNN was setting up equipment and tents & such out in front of the Venetian in anticipation of the presidential debate later that week. I guess they must have to get everything set up way in advance.
Once back at the Mirage, my wife headed on upstairs to the room while I hung around for a while trying my luck on some of my penny slots. I played for a long time on a stacked dragons machine, but the largest hit was only 800 credits.
I also played a little VP, with the only hit being three of a kind. Not really picture worthy, but that hasn’t ever stopped me in the past. :)
Around 10:30pm I elected to ease on back to the room. As I was walking to the elevators, I saw where one of the Terry Fator Silver Strike machines was free, so I stopped by to take a chance with another $20 before calling it a night. Luck was with me, and I hit another blue-cased token. That was a mighty fine way to end the evening!
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.
.
DAY 4 TO FOLLOW…
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 6:33:56 AM
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Can I just say - I've never heard of the "$20 trick"?
I will try that next time I stay at a casino hotel.
I will try that next time I stay at a casino hotel.
"Those who have no idea what they are doing, genuinely have no idea that they don't know what they are doing." - John Cleese
January 6th, 2016 at 7:38:09 AM
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You're way too skinny for all the crap you say you eat!
You might even be able to look down and see your "junk."
You might even be able to look down and see your "junk."
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
January 6th, 2016 at 8:39:49 AM
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Quote: teddysYou're way too skinny for all the crap you say you eat!
You might even be able to look down and see your "junk."
LOL!
I definitely indulge WAY more than usual whenever I'm in Vegas versus when I'm at home. I eat so much that it seems to take me the better part of a week to get back to feeling normal after returning from my trip.
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 8:59:17 AM
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Nice trip report, as always. Let's not deteriorate into 'normal' feelings in this TR.Quote: blount2000Quote: teddysYou're way too skinny for all the crap you say you eat!
You might even be able to look down and see your "junk."
LOL!
I definitely indulge WAY more than usual whenever I'm in Vegas versus when I'm at home. I eat so much that it seems to take me the better part of a week to get back to feeling NORMAL after returning from my trip.
Go win some money, see another show, try that REALLY big burger down the street, give your wife a big hug and kiss (don't tell her it's from me, she will not think that's funny).
Oh....., keep posting, we are sitting on the edge of our couch waiting for the next installment.
You truly, and I know it's hard to tell if I'm being sarcastic, unless I state, and HERE I DO state, I am not being sarcastic. I'm virtually riding/walking/moseying along w/you, and I'm having fun.
Youuuuuu MIGHT be a 'rascal' if.......(nevermind ;-)...2F
January 6th, 2016 at 9:06:39 AM
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Quote: teddysYou're way too skinny for all the crap you say you eat!
You might even be able to look down and see your "junk."
And here I thought you were going to chastise him about the 7/5 JoB :-)
DUHHIIIIIIIII HEARD THAT!
January 6th, 2016 at 10:30:42 AM
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Great report as usual Blount2000! I really enjoy your commentary. It's just like being there. I was reflecting how great this board is for bringing trip reports like yours and AceofSpades' together in one place. Different player goals and experiences, but I still enjoy them all. Viva WoV!
When you left El Cortez for the Strip, you may have passed the pawn shop from the "Pawn Stars" T.V. show. Of course you also passed the jail shortly after that...
Was the price of the meal at Margaritaville just for the food, or did it include lots of drinks? It struck me as really expensive for nachos and chicken alone.
Are the colored Silver Strive tokens worth more than $10 in redemption? I also note the sticker on the machine describing a "30 token for 1" exchange at the cage. I wonder if you could combine tokens from different joints to do the deal? Is one of these $300 tokens in your future?
I am looking forward to the next installment...
When you left El Cortez for the Strip, you may have passed the pawn shop from the "Pawn Stars" T.V. show. Of course you also passed the jail shortly after that...
Was the price of the meal at Margaritaville just for the food, or did it include lots of drinks? It struck me as really expensive for nachos and chicken alone.
Are the colored Silver Strive tokens worth more than $10 in redemption? I also note the sticker on the machine describing a "30 token for 1" exchange at the cage. I wonder if you could combine tokens from different joints to do the deal? Is one of these $300 tokens in your future?
I am looking forward to the next installment...
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci
January 6th, 2016 at 11:07:18 AM
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$7.00 for a cup of coffee is insane, makes
me glad I never took up the habit. My
wife goes there but never with me. I always
tell her the places where a lot of the coffee is
grown has child labor that they pay 30
cents an hour to. She'll tell me to shut up.
me glad I never took up the habit. My
wife goes there but never with me. I always
tell her the places where a lot of the coffee is
grown has child labor that they pay 30
cents an hour to. She'll tell me to shut up.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
January 6th, 2016 at 11:43:05 AM
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I am beginning to like your wife Bob and I second her motion 😀.Quote: EvenBob$7.00 for a cup of coffee is insane, makes
me glad I never took up the habit. My
wife goes there but never with me. I always
tell her the places where a lot of the coffee is
grown has child labor that they pay 30
cents an hour to. She'll tell me to shut up.
Great job on the trip report blount2000! A very enjoyable read.
January 6th, 2016 at 12:08:49 PM
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Quote: ukaserexCan I just say - I've never heard of the "$20 trick"?
I will try that next time I stay at a casino hotel.
I had heard of it before, but never worked up the courage to try it before this trip. I'm glad it was successful for me.
I did some of my preliminary research on the $20 trick at this site.
Hope it works for you when you get the occasion to try it out!
Quote: TwoFeathersATLNice trip report, as always. Let's not deteriorate into 'normal' feelings in this TR.
Go win some money, see another show, try that REALLY big burger down the street, give your wife a big hug and kiss (don't tell her it's from me, she will not think that's funny).
Oh....., keep posting, we are sitting on the edge of our couch waiting for the next installment.
You truly, and I know it's hard to tell if I'm being sarcastic, unless I state, and HERE I DO state, I am not being sarcastic. I'm virtually riding/walking/moseying along w/you, and I'm having fun.
Thanks 2F! Writing up my report always allows me to kind of "relive" the trip, so I am having fun again as well.
Quote: IbeatyouracesAnd here I thought you were going to chastise him about the 7/5 JoB :-)
I hear you! I was sure hoping to find some of the 9/6 machines like I found at NYNY last year, but no such luck.
Quote: AyecarumbaGreat report as usual Blount2000! I really enjoy your commentary. It's just like being there. I was reflecting how great this board is for bringing trip reports like yours and AceofSpades' together in one place. Different player goals and experiences, but I still enjoy them all. Viva WoV!
When you left El Cortez for the Strip, you may have passed the pawn shop from the "Pawn Stars" T.V. show. Of course you also passed the jail shortly after that...
Was the price of the meal at Margaritaville just for the food, or did it include lots of drinks? It struck me as really expensive for nachos and chicken alone.
Are the colored Silver Strive tokens worth more than $10 in redemption? I also note the sticker on the machine describing a "30 token for 1" exchange at the cage. I wonder if you could combine tokens from different joints to do the deal? Is one of these $300 tokens in your future?
I am looking forward to the next installment...
Thanks Aye! The cost of the meal at Margaritaville was for just the two entrees and two drinks (+ tax & tip). In my opinion, almost all of their menu items were a little "high-stepping" in the price department.
I do indeed have one of those special $300 tokens on my radar for future visits! If I'm lucky, maybe it will only take one more trip. :)
Quote: EvenBob$7.00 for a cup of coffee is insane, makes
me glad I never took up the habit. My
wife goes there but never with me. I always
tell her the places where a lot of the coffee is
grown has child labor that they pay 30
cents an hour to. She'll tell me to shut up.
Yep, it's getting harder and harder for me to turn loose of that much money each morning for the coffee when I'm in Vegas. The daily cost of my little morning tradition has definitely gone up over the past few years.
Quote: AB21Great job on the trip report blount2000! A very enjoyable read.
Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying the report thus far!
Last edited by: blount2000 on Jan 6, 2016
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 12:12:28 PM
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DAY 4 OF 5 - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13TH
* ZIPLINE SUCCESS * TIKI (Take 3) * P.F. CHANG’S * HIGH ROLLING * BATTISTA’S * FINAL SILVER & SLOTS *
On our final full day in Vegas I was up and about again around 5am to enjoy my last morning of slow-play penny machines and a piping hot caramel macchiato. The Starbucks opened about 10 minutes late for some reason, and there was a fairly good sized line by that point. Luckily I was near the front and was soon sitting down with my coffee at some Quick Hit slots. I snagged a couple of small wins on these machines, but unfortunately no big hits.
Remembering the long line at Starbucks at the Mirage, I decided to go play some slots at Harrah’s in anticipation of picking up coffee for my wife when the time came. While at Harrah’s I had a nice hit or two on a Queen of the Wild and a Buffalo machine.
Around 6:30am I finished up playing and walked right over to the Starbucks in Harrah’s (no line!) and purchased a blonde roast coffee to take back to my wife. Coffee in hand, I once again walked past the long line at the Mirage Starbucks and knew I had made the correct decision to stick with Harrah’s.
After getting ready in the room, we headed out for our first activity of the day – the zip-line tour of Bootleg Canyon which had been rescheduled from yesterday due to high winds. We had to be in Boulder City at 9:30am, so we retrieved the car and left the Mirage around 8:30am for the nice scenic drive.
We arrived at the FlightLinez facility on time and joined a group of 8 other people who would be taking the tour with us. The group went through about 15 minutes of training & preparation, and then we all loaded up on a big bus for the ride to the top of the mountain where the tour would begin.
Once near the top of the mountain, they parked the bus and we were all given pieces of zip-lining equipment to carry with us on the 10-minute walk to up to the actual starting point. The equipment was pretty heavy so I was huffing & puffing all the way up. I’d like to think it was the high altitude, but more realistically it was probably the fact that I am a bit out of shape!
You can see Las Vegas way off in the distance in the first picture below.
The tour consisted of four sets of zip-lines ranging from 1150’ to 2550’ in distance. The rides were quite fast and windy, and it was colder than I anticipated which made me wish I had brought my heavy jacket with me.
Several of us got stuck near the bottom of one of the tracks when we didn’t make it all the way to the landing area, and the guides had to come out and “rescue” everybody by snaking out there and manually pulling us to the platforms at the bottom.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience and was probably the highlight of our trip! At $135 per person, it was not an inexpensive activity, but we felt it was well worth it. I also used a coupon code I found online to get $24 off per ticket, so that helped ease the financial pain. :)
We took the bus back to the bottom of the mountain and were headed back towards Vegas around 12:30pm. Once back near Vegas, we decided to hit Frankie’s Tiki Room for one last round of drinks. I enjoyed a Malekula and my wife had another of the pineapple/orange juice beverages she has come to love.
We hung around Frankie’s for about an hour, and then bid it farewell in search of some lunch. We had once again skipped breakfast so we were ready to get a bite to eat!
We chose to eat at P.F. Chang’s over on Green Valley Parkway, where I enjoyed their honey crispy chicken and my wife ordered their Mongolian beef. Both dishes were delicious and definitely hit the spot!
Finished with lunch, we headed back to the Mirage around 3pm to rest up and get some preliminary packing & cleaning done. It’s always a little depressing to start the packing process since it kind of represents the “beginning of the end” for the trip, but I prefer to not wait until the last minute to make sure everything will fit into my suitcase!
After packing and resting for a while, we left the Mirage around 5:30pm to embark on our final two activities for the trip – The High Roller & Battista’s. I had purchased two of the “anytime” high roller tickets on a Cyber Monday sale for $25 each, and of course we wanted to use them for a nighttime ride so we could enjoy the city lights.
We parked in the lot behind the High Roller, and made our way inside. It was not very crowded at all, although you could tell that they were set up for large lines since there seemed to be miles & miles of queues and gates (which we just walked through with no delays).
We got in the boarding queue and within 5 minutes were entering one of the big pods. The views on the ride were spectacular, and we felt that seeing all of the city lights was a great capstone activity for a trip to Vegas!
We left the High Roller around 6:30pm and then walked the short distance over to Battista’s Hole in the Wall restaurant for our final Vegas dinner. We had a 7:30pm reservation, but they had no trouble accommodating our early arrival and we were seated within a few minutes.
At Battista’s, I ordered my usual Chicken Rio and my wife enjoyed a Garlic Shrimp Scampi dish. We also partook of their unlimited wine and garlic bread, which are always tasty. Last year, my wife was not impressed with their veal marsala, but this year she said the shrimp dish was extremely good. And finishing up the meal with a cup of their “cappuccino” (i.e. hot chocolate) is always a treat. Total cost for this meal was $70 after using a $10 off coupon I cut out of the back of the What’s On magazine.
For the first time ever, Battista’s accordion player – Gordy – did not make his way to our table to play a song. I didn’t see/hear him at all for the first 20 minutes we were there, and I was starting to wonder if maybe he wasn’t there anymore, but he eventually made his way throughout other parts of the restaurant. Just not to our table. Having Gordy play a song is part of the Battista’s tradition, so I was a bit sad we missed out this time. Looking back I suppose I could have just went and asked him to do it, but hindsight is 20/20.
We left Battista’s around 8:15pm and made our way to the gas station to fill up the rental car in anticipation of returning it early the following morning. Rental car full of gas ($27), we headed back to the Mirage. We took a couple of pictures in front of the Christmas displays on our walk back into the hotel.
We were also able to take a pic of the Volcano erupting in front of the Mirage from our hotel window. I thought the Volcano stopped erupting at 8pm, so this 9pm show was a treat.
After finishing up our packing in the room, we headed back down to the casino to enjoy some final slot play. We had a couple nice hits on a Far East Fortune machine, and I got a very nice one on my Dragon Orb slot.
Around 10pm we decided it was time to finish up the trip with one last shot at another Silver Strike token. We walked over to the Terry Fator machines, put in a $20, and with about 15 credit remaining hit a final Silver Strike coin to add to our collection. A superb way to end the gambling portion of our Vegas trip!
We were back in the room by 10:30pm, and hit the sack in preparation for our early morning departure!
.
.
.
DAY 5 TO FOLLOW…
* ZIPLINE SUCCESS * TIKI (Take 3) * P.F. CHANG’S * HIGH ROLLING * BATTISTA’S * FINAL SILVER & SLOTS *
On our final full day in Vegas I was up and about again around 5am to enjoy my last morning of slow-play penny machines and a piping hot caramel macchiato. The Starbucks opened about 10 minutes late for some reason, and there was a fairly good sized line by that point. Luckily I was near the front and was soon sitting down with my coffee at some Quick Hit slots. I snagged a couple of small wins on these machines, but unfortunately no big hits.
Remembering the long line at Starbucks at the Mirage, I decided to go play some slots at Harrah’s in anticipation of picking up coffee for my wife when the time came. While at Harrah’s I had a nice hit or two on a Queen of the Wild and a Buffalo machine.
Around 6:30am I finished up playing and walked right over to the Starbucks in Harrah’s (no line!) and purchased a blonde roast coffee to take back to my wife. Coffee in hand, I once again walked past the long line at the Mirage Starbucks and knew I had made the correct decision to stick with Harrah’s.
After getting ready in the room, we headed out for our first activity of the day – the zip-line tour of Bootleg Canyon which had been rescheduled from yesterday due to high winds. We had to be in Boulder City at 9:30am, so we retrieved the car and left the Mirage around 8:30am for the nice scenic drive.
We arrived at the FlightLinez facility on time and joined a group of 8 other people who would be taking the tour with us. The group went through about 15 minutes of training & preparation, and then we all loaded up on a big bus for the ride to the top of the mountain where the tour would begin.
Once near the top of the mountain, they parked the bus and we were all given pieces of zip-lining equipment to carry with us on the 10-minute walk to up to the actual starting point. The equipment was pretty heavy so I was huffing & puffing all the way up. I’d like to think it was the high altitude, but more realistically it was probably the fact that I am a bit out of shape!
You can see Las Vegas way off in the distance in the first picture below.
The tour consisted of four sets of zip-lines ranging from 1150’ to 2550’ in distance. The rides were quite fast and windy, and it was colder than I anticipated which made me wish I had brought my heavy jacket with me.
Several of us got stuck near the bottom of one of the tracks when we didn’t make it all the way to the landing area, and the guides had to come out and “rescue” everybody by snaking out there and manually pulling us to the platforms at the bottom.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience and was probably the highlight of our trip! At $135 per person, it was not an inexpensive activity, but we felt it was well worth it. I also used a coupon code I found online to get $24 off per ticket, so that helped ease the financial pain. :)
We took the bus back to the bottom of the mountain and were headed back towards Vegas around 12:30pm. Once back near Vegas, we decided to hit Frankie’s Tiki Room for one last round of drinks. I enjoyed a Malekula and my wife had another of the pineapple/orange juice beverages she has come to love.
We hung around Frankie’s for about an hour, and then bid it farewell in search of some lunch. We had once again skipped breakfast so we were ready to get a bite to eat!
We chose to eat at P.F. Chang’s over on Green Valley Parkway, where I enjoyed their honey crispy chicken and my wife ordered their Mongolian beef. Both dishes were delicious and definitely hit the spot!
Finished with lunch, we headed back to the Mirage around 3pm to rest up and get some preliminary packing & cleaning done. It’s always a little depressing to start the packing process since it kind of represents the “beginning of the end” for the trip, but I prefer to not wait until the last minute to make sure everything will fit into my suitcase!
After packing and resting for a while, we left the Mirage around 5:30pm to embark on our final two activities for the trip – The High Roller & Battista’s. I had purchased two of the “anytime” high roller tickets on a Cyber Monday sale for $25 each, and of course we wanted to use them for a nighttime ride so we could enjoy the city lights.
We parked in the lot behind the High Roller, and made our way inside. It was not very crowded at all, although you could tell that they were set up for large lines since there seemed to be miles & miles of queues and gates (which we just walked through with no delays).
We got in the boarding queue and within 5 minutes were entering one of the big pods. The views on the ride were spectacular, and we felt that seeing all of the city lights was a great capstone activity for a trip to Vegas!
We left the High Roller around 6:30pm and then walked the short distance over to Battista’s Hole in the Wall restaurant for our final Vegas dinner. We had a 7:30pm reservation, but they had no trouble accommodating our early arrival and we were seated within a few minutes.
At Battista’s, I ordered my usual Chicken Rio and my wife enjoyed a Garlic Shrimp Scampi dish. We also partook of their unlimited wine and garlic bread, which are always tasty. Last year, my wife was not impressed with their veal marsala, but this year she said the shrimp dish was extremely good. And finishing up the meal with a cup of their “cappuccino” (i.e. hot chocolate) is always a treat. Total cost for this meal was $70 after using a $10 off coupon I cut out of the back of the What’s On magazine.
For the first time ever, Battista’s accordion player – Gordy – did not make his way to our table to play a song. I didn’t see/hear him at all for the first 20 minutes we were there, and I was starting to wonder if maybe he wasn’t there anymore, but he eventually made his way throughout other parts of the restaurant. Just not to our table. Having Gordy play a song is part of the Battista’s tradition, so I was a bit sad we missed out this time. Looking back I suppose I could have just went and asked him to do it, but hindsight is 20/20.
We left Battista’s around 8:15pm and made our way to the gas station to fill up the rental car in anticipation of returning it early the following morning. Rental car full of gas ($27), we headed back to the Mirage. We took a couple of pictures in front of the Christmas displays on our walk back into the hotel.
We were also able to take a pic of the Volcano erupting in front of the Mirage from our hotel window. I thought the Volcano stopped erupting at 8pm, so this 9pm show was a treat.
After finishing up our packing in the room, we headed back down to the casino to enjoy some final slot play. We had a couple nice hits on a Far East Fortune machine, and I got a very nice one on my Dragon Orb slot.
Around 10pm we decided it was time to finish up the trip with one last shot at another Silver Strike token. We walked over to the Terry Fator machines, put in a $20, and with about 15 credit remaining hit a final Silver Strike coin to add to our collection. A superb way to end the gambling portion of our Vegas trip!
We were back in the room by 10:30pm, and hit the sack in preparation for our early morning departure!
.
.
.
DAY 5 TO FOLLOW…
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 12:14:38 PM
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Quote: TwoFeathersATLNice trip report, as always. Let's not deteriorate into 'normal' feelings in this TR.Quote: blount2000Quote: teddysYou're way too skinny for all the crap you say you eat!
You might even be able to look down and see your "junk."
LOL!
I definitely indulge WAY more than usual whenever I'm in Vegas versus when I'm at home. I eat so much that it seems to take me the better part of a week to get back to feeling NORMAL after returning from my trip.
Go win some money, see another show, try that REALLY big burger down the street, give your wife a big hug and kiss (don't tell her it's from me, she will not think that's funny).
Oh....., keep posting, we are sitting on the edge of our couch waiting for the next installment.
You truly, and I know it's hard to tell if I'm being sarcastic, unless I state, and HERE I DO state, I am not being sarcastic. I'm virtually riding/walking/moseying along w/you, and I'm having fun.
I totally agree, your trip report paints a picture in my head as I read, like I am watching a movie. Really enjoying reading about your trip, refreshing to see people do so many non gambling things in Vegas. I collect casino chips from every casino I go to (418 so far) and your tokens are giving me the urge to collect those as well. I keep saying to myself one hobby at a time lol.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 6th, 2016 at 2:26:04 PM
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Quote: PokerGrinderI collect casino chips from every casino I go to (418 so far) and your tokens are giving me the urge to collect those as well. I keep saying to myself one hobby at a time lol.
It's darn attractive, but at $10 each, I am not sure I could justify keeping them as souvenirs. Any sense of what the secondary market is like? Could a blue capsule sell for like $25?
Sad to see the trip winding up. Why did the zip line come up short? Did the "zippers" prematurely pull the brakes? I was at Fremont Street recently, and saw the same thing with three or four zippers on the "Slotzilla" wires. I walked out of the Golden Gate, and looked up to see them stopped about 50-70 feet short of the platform. They were just dangling there for several minutes. I was curious how they were going to get the folks down, and hung around to see the operators roll out from the landing platform, hook them up and hand over hand, manually tow them in. I don't think these folks had manual brakes since they were in "Flying Superman" mode.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci
January 6th, 2016 at 2:43:53 PM
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PF Chang's honey chicken and mongolian beef YUMMMY!
Have you tried the garlic noodles?
Have you tried the garlic noodles?
January 6th, 2016 at 3:03:48 PM
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Quote: PokerGrinderI totally agree, your trip report paints a picture in my head as I read, like I am watching a movie. Really enjoying reading about your trip, refreshing to see people do so many non gambling things in Vegas. I collect casino chips from every casino I go to (418 so far) and your tokens are giving me the urge to collect those as well. I keep saying to myself one hobby at a time lol.
Thanks, I appreciate the compliment! I am always happy when folks enjoy my reports.
I love to read Vegas trip reports myself, and have spent many an hour doing so over the years. :)
On the tokens, there is just something special about getting an immediate physical prize from hitting on a slot machine. Especially in this day and age of TITO where you don't even get the coins falling into the slot machine tray when you hit.
Don't get me wrong, I love TITO and the convenience it provides & would not want to go back to the old way. It's been a LONG time since I've looked down at my fingers and seen them all darkened by "coin dust" from handling a bunch of nickels & quarters, and I'm ok with that!
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 3:04:34 PM
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Quote: AyecarumbaIt's darn attractive, but at $10 each, I am not sure I could justify keeping them as souvenirs. Any sense of what the secondary market is like? Could a blue capsule sell for like $25?
Sad to see the trip winding up. Why did the zip line come up short? Did the "zippers" prematurely pull the brakes? I was at Fremont Street recently, and saw the same thing with three or four zippers on the "Slotzilla" wires. I walked out of the Golden Gate, and looked up to see them stopped about 50-70 feet short of the platform. They were just dangling there for several minutes. I was curious how they were going to get the folks down, and hung around to see the operators roll out from the landing platform, hook them up and hand over hand, manually tow them in. I don't think these folks had manual brakes since they were in "Flying Superman" mode.
I'd be surprised if the tokens are worth much more than face value. Especially the ones I won since they are all still currently in play. Maybe once they get "retired" they could go up in value. I'll keep my fingers crossed! ;)
The guides said that the zip line came up short mainly due to the wind blowing pretty strong in the opposite direction (i.e. folks going directly into the wind), which really slowed people down when they got to the more level portion of the zip line near the platform. It must have happened quite a few times in the past because they had the "rescue procedure" down to a science for sure!
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 3:05:31 PM
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Little known fact: Battista's is owned by Caesars and if you ask nicely, you can get them to comp it.
Edit: Don't quote me on that. They own the strip center that the restaurant and the dive bar are in, but I'm not sure if they have anything to do with the restaurant. Secondhand info.
Edit: Don't quote me on that. They own the strip center that the restaurant and the dive bar are in, but I'm not sure if they have anything to do with the restaurant. Secondhand info.
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
January 6th, 2016 at 3:05:39 PM
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Quote: aceofspadesPF Chang's honey chicken and mongolian beef YUMMMY!
Have you tried the garlic noodles?
I have not tried those yet. I have a feeling I need to put that on my to-do list!
We do have a PF Chang's in Nashville, so at least I won't have to wait a whole year until my next Vegas trip to try them.
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 3:07:15 PM
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DAY 5 OF 5 - MONDAY, DECEMBER 14TH
*** HOMEWARD BOUND!! ***
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9am, so we were both up by 5:30am finishing up the final packing and preparing to leave. We were around 95% packed already, so by the time 6am rolled around we were logging into our account on the TV and checking out.
We left the room and made our way to the parking garage to get the car. We drove to the rental car center, returned the car, and then took the shuttle to the airport. The security line was fast-moving, and we found ourselves sitting at the gate with plenty of time to spare. I used this time to enjoy a light breakfast from Burger King in the terminal while my wife read her Kindle.
The airline announced our plane would be arriving a little early, so I snapped a quick picture of it as it taxied up to Gate C22.
The return flight home had a strong tail-wind and was super-fast, so we were landing in Nashville less than 3½ hours later. We retrieved our luggage, got the car from long-term parking ($45), and were back at home by 3:30pm CDT.
A fantastic Vegas trip completed safely and without any major problems! What more can a person ask for? I’ll tell you what -- another trip to Las Vegas!!
:)
****************************************
REFLECTIONS:
This was another great trip which we both enjoyed very much. Since this was my wife’s second time in Vegas, she had a little better idea of the things she wanted us to do which worked out very well.
We ended up with a total of 11 of the Silver Strike tokens, and the process of searching for them at the various Vegas properties was a mighty fun component of our trip. I foresee us attempting to collect even more of them on our next trip to Vegas. As mentioned, the signage indicated that you can go to the cashier and trade 30 of them in for an extra-special $300 commemorative coin, so hopefully we’ll eventually get the chance to do that!
Regrets? Not many. There were a few activities that we had planned to enjoy, but didn’t. However that’s usually the case when there are so many things to do and a limited amount of time in which to do them. I do regret the fact that I didn’t play a single table game while I was there. That is very unusual for me, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. Plus, there is always next time! ;)
Total cash cost for this trip came to just a touch over $2,100 for everything, including a net gambling loss of around $100. That net gambling loss would have been a bit higher if not for my nice Keno win and the fact that I’m counting the $110 face value of the Silver Strike tokens as a win. As in the past, we used points for the air travel so that didn’t cost any cash.
And, as in prior reports, I like to post the tentative itinerary I developed beforehand and used for the trip. The itinerary is always loose and flexible, so the actual results varied a bit from the planned activities.
Thanks again for reading!!
blount2000
*** HOMEWARD BOUND!! ***
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9am, so we were both up by 5:30am finishing up the final packing and preparing to leave. We were around 95% packed already, so by the time 6am rolled around we were logging into our account on the TV and checking out.
We left the room and made our way to the parking garage to get the car. We drove to the rental car center, returned the car, and then took the shuttle to the airport. The security line was fast-moving, and we found ourselves sitting at the gate with plenty of time to spare. I used this time to enjoy a light breakfast from Burger King in the terminal while my wife read her Kindle.
The airline announced our plane would be arriving a little early, so I snapped a quick picture of it as it taxied up to Gate C22.
The return flight home had a strong tail-wind and was super-fast, so we were landing in Nashville less than 3½ hours later. We retrieved our luggage, got the car from long-term parking ($45), and were back at home by 3:30pm CDT.
A fantastic Vegas trip completed safely and without any major problems! What more can a person ask for? I’ll tell you what -- another trip to Las Vegas!!
:)
****************************************
REFLECTIONS:
This was another great trip which we both enjoyed very much. Since this was my wife’s second time in Vegas, she had a little better idea of the things she wanted us to do which worked out very well.
We ended up with a total of 11 of the Silver Strike tokens, and the process of searching for them at the various Vegas properties was a mighty fun component of our trip. I foresee us attempting to collect even more of them on our next trip to Vegas. As mentioned, the signage indicated that you can go to the cashier and trade 30 of them in for an extra-special $300 commemorative coin, so hopefully we’ll eventually get the chance to do that!
Regrets? Not many. There were a few activities that we had planned to enjoy, but didn’t. However that’s usually the case when there are so many things to do and a limited amount of time in which to do them. I do regret the fact that I didn’t play a single table game while I was there. That is very unusual for me, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. Plus, there is always next time! ;)
Total cash cost for this trip came to just a touch over $2,100 for everything, including a net gambling loss of around $100. That net gambling loss would have been a bit higher if not for my nice Keno win and the fact that I’m counting the $110 face value of the Silver Strike tokens as a win. As in the past, we used points for the air travel so that didn’t cost any cash.
And, as in prior reports, I like to post the tentative itinerary I developed beforehand and used for the trip. The itinerary is always loose and flexible, so the actual results varied a bit from the planned activities.
Thanks again for reading!!
blount2000
You serious, Clark?
January 6th, 2016 at 6:56:40 PM
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What can I say other than,
You da Man!
Thx
You da Man!
Thx
Youuuuuu MIGHT be a 'rascal' if.......(nevermind ;-)...2F
January 6th, 2016 at 7:04:28 PM
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Great TR - loved the pics and the details of your excursions outside the casinos
I also enjoyed the Silver Strike details - although I am not a slot player, winning a silver coin is pretty cool and I might devote some time to playing them on my next trip to Vegas
I also enjoyed the Silver Strike details - although I am not a slot player, winning a silver coin is pretty cool and I might devote some time to playing them on my next trip to Vegas
January 6th, 2016 at 7:19:33 PM
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Quote: AyecarumbaIt's darn attractive, but at $10 each, I am not sure I could justify keeping them as souvenirs. Any sense of what the secondary market is like? Could a blue capsule sell for like $25?
That is the reason or one of the reasons that I wouldn't start collecting them. My collection of $1 chips and a few $5 chips mixed in is an inexpensive hobby. At $10 a piece that would get expensive lol. Also I don't need a new addiction :)
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 6th, 2016 at 7:21:25 PM
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I have gotten good prices on silver strikes. Anything with an animal on it usually does well. I think if you're patient and sell them on Ebay you can get a nice mark up.Quote: blount2000
♪♪Now you swear and kick and beg us That you're not a gamblin' man Then you find you're back in Vegas With a handle in your hand♪♪ Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you're able In the land of casinos and money You must put them on the table♪♪ You go back Jack do it again roulette wheels turinin' 'round and 'round♪♪ You go back Jack do it again♪♪
January 6th, 2016 at 7:33:11 PM
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Like everyone else I really enjoy your trip reports. I wish I was as good as you at telling the story, or remembering for that matter.
You also made me want to check out this Silver Strike machine
You also made me want to check out this Silver Strike machine
January 6th, 2016 at 10:38:47 PM
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Very much enjoy your TR's, Blount! Great details.
You will not see any more Star Wars slots. Disney Studios bought the franchise in 2012 or 13 (I forget) and they decided that the Disney brand was not compatible with slot themes, so they've phased out allowing them. I think it's taken a while, since casinos had contracts with the distributors, but they're pretty much off the floor nationwide. (I'd say they definitely are as of about a year ago, but I don't know that for sure.)
There's also been some indication that the same fate is happening to Marvel Comic properties, as Disney bought them too. Which sucks, because one of the best machines I've ever played is an Iron Man game with a long console.
You will not see any more Star Wars slots. Disney Studios bought the franchise in 2012 or 13 (I forget) and they decided that the Disney brand was not compatible with slot themes, so they've phased out allowing them. I think it's taken a while, since casinos had contracts with the distributors, but they're pretty much off the floor nationwide. (I'd say they definitely are as of about a year ago, but I don't know that for sure.)
There's also been some indication that the same fate is happening to Marvel Comic properties, as Disney bought them too. Which sucks, because one of the best machines I've ever played is an Iron Man game with a long console.
If the House lost every hand, they wouldn't deal the game.
January 6th, 2016 at 10:44:38 PM
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Quote: JW17You also made me want to check out this Silver Strike machine
I know right - seems like such a cool machine...I'm still trying to figure out why the "blue" coins are so sought after...also, how much actual silver is in each coin?
January 7th, 2016 at 3:45:42 AM
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Thanks again to everyone for the kind comments on my trip report. I am very happy that folks enjoyed reading it!
I'm also glad to see where the report has sparked some interest in the Silver Strike machines. I think they are mighty neat, and (as ajemeister said) I don't know how I had never heard of them before until just recently.
On the silver content, according to the signage on the machines the ones I have are silver plated brass. However, the signage also said that some of the tokens are made of .999 fine silver and are stamped as such. My understanding is that the ones in the red-colored cases are the real silver tokens.
BBB - That's a real bummer to hear about my Star Wars machines not coming back. It had not even occurred to me that the Disney purchase might have something to do with it. :(
I'm also glad to see where the report has sparked some interest in the Silver Strike machines. I think they are mighty neat, and (as ajemeister said) I don't know how I had never heard of them before until just recently.
On the silver content, according to the signage on the machines the ones I have are silver plated brass. However, the signage also said that some of the tokens are made of .999 fine silver and are stamped as such. My understanding is that the ones in the red-colored cases are the real silver tokens.
BBB - That's a real bummer to hear about my Star Wars machines not coming back. It had not even occurred to me that the Disney purchase might have something to do with it. :(
You serious, Clark?
January 7th, 2016 at 7:34:17 AM
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Great TR blount! It was a fun interesting read. Perhaps if I want to pump some "slot action" on my card(s) I'll find a Silver Strike machine?? =)
Playing it correctly means you've already won.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:44:51 AM
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Thanks for the trip report Blount! I enjoyed it very much, and look forward to the next one. How often do the tiki mugs get updated? I am surprised Frankie's didn't have any new ones for your collection. Were they just sold out, or do they not come out with new ones that often?
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci
January 7th, 2016 at 11:53:28 AM
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Quote: RomesGreat TR blount! It was a fun interesting read. Perhaps if I want to pump some "slot action" on my card(s) I'll find a Silver Strike machine?? =)
Thanks Romes! It could be worth your while to get some of your slot play on a Silver Strike machine. Especially if you happen to hit one of those red-cased ones that are made of real silver. :)
Quote: AyecarumbaThanks for the trip report Blount! I enjoyed it very much, and look forward to the next one. How often do the tiki mugs get updated? I am surprised Frankie's didn't have any new ones for your collection. Were they just sold out, or do they not come out with new ones that often?
You are welcome, and I'm glad you enjoyed the report! I was disappointed myself that Frankie's didn't have any new mugs. It seems like they have been releasing one every 12 to 18 months, so I figured it was time for a new mug. But no such luck.
They do occasionally release special limited-edition small-production mugs for anniversary dates, but those usually run around $100 each. So as you can imagine those don't make it into my collection. ;)
You serious, Clark?
January 7th, 2016 at 1:59:44 PM
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This is one of the BEST reports I have read in a long time!
Tons of detail and loads of pictures are just what I like.
Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
Tons of detail and loads of pictures are just what I like.
Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
Blonde4ever's articles on
https://blonde4everdoesvegas.blogspot.ca/
January 7th, 2016 at 3:15:57 PM
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how much are those silver strike coins worth?
what do you do with them? exchange them for something?
how many do you have total?
what do you do with them? exchange them for something?
how many do you have total?
Craps is paradise (Pair of dice).
Lets hear it for the SpeedCount Mathletes :)
January 7th, 2016 at 8:04:28 PM
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Quote: Blonde4everThis is one of the BEST reports I have read in a long time!
Tons of detail and loads of pictures are just what I like.
Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
Wow, thanks for that great compliment! Like you, I love seeing pictures of Vegas so I try to include as many photos as I can in my reports.
I have read MANY reports on your site, and I highly encourage folks who love Vegas trip reports to check it out!
LasVegas4Ever
Quote: 100xOddshow much are those silver strike coins worth?
what do you do with them? exchange them for something?
how many do you have total?
They have a face value of $10 each, but I'm hoping they may ultimately have a higher "collectible" value at some point.
If a person doesn't want to keep/collect them as souvenirs, then they can be cashed in at the casino cage for the $10 face value. Or you can also exchange 30 of them for a special $300 face value coin. I'm hoping to eventually get enough of them to maybe get that $300 token.
There is actually a club you can join after winning a Silver Strike. It is only $10 to become a member, so I may do that myself.
Silver Strikers Club
I ended up with a total of 11 coins, so I'm on my way to having enough to exchange for that special token!
You serious, Clark?
January 8th, 2016 at 2:18:01 PM
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Fun trip report and I was interested in your Tiki discovery. My wife and I love Tiki drinks and have always wanted to go to Frankie's but it is a bit out of the way, since I would likely drink enough to put me in a condition unsafe for driving. We are going to be in Vegas next week so maybe we will check out one or both Tiki spots with the help of an Uber.
One note I found surprising is that you mentioned collecting points to avoid paying $5 for parking at Main Street. I often hit Main Street and have never paid for parking. I usually go during the day. Do they charge only at busy times? I like to play 9/6 JoB at the bar there. The bartenders are usually super friendly considering I only tip the standard $1.
One note I found surprising is that you mentioned collecting points to avoid paying $5 for parking at Main Street. I often hit Main Street and have never paid for parking. I usually go during the day. Do they charge only at busy times? I like to play 9/6 JoB at the bar there. The bartenders are usually super friendly considering I only tip the standard $1.
January 8th, 2016 at 5:11:02 PM
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Quote: jml24Fun trip report and I was interested in your Tiki discovery. My wife and I love Tiki drinks and have always wanted to go to Frankie's but it is a bit out of the way, since I would likely drink enough to put me in a condition unsafe for driving. We are going to be in Vegas next week so maybe we will check out one or both Tiki spots with the help of an Uber.
One note I found surprising is that you mentioned collecting points to avoid paying $5 for parking at Main Street. I often hit Main Street and have never paid for parking. I usually go during the day. Do they charge only at busy times? I like to play 9/6 JoB at the bar there. The bartenders are usually super friendly considering I only tip the standard $1.
We've only gone to Main Street at night, and they have a security guard at the entrance booth that collects $5 for parking and then gives a receipt & a card saying how you can get the parking fee refunded if you earn enough same-day points (or get it validated in one of the restaurants if you eat there). A few years ago I was able to just show my player's card to the guard and there wasn't any fee, but I guess those days are gone.
Hope you enjoy one of the Tiki spots if you are able to check them out. We really like both places.
Below is a link to the page on the Golden Tiki's website where you can print it out and get a free shot of their private reserve rum. I had no problems at all getting my free shot, and it was very good!
Free Shot of Rum
Glad you enjoyed the report!
You serious, Clark?
January 11th, 2016 at 8:33:17 AM
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Great report - thanks for taking the time!
January 11th, 2016 at 8:40:57 AM
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Quote: NostronGreat report - thanks for taking the time!
You are very welcome! I'm glad you liked the report!
You serious, Clark?
September 29th, 2016 at 7:58:11 PM
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Blount2000,
Well done trip report, esp the pics and commentaries.
We are about to embark on our own 4-day trip to Las Vegas, our first trip together in over 10 years!
I would like to know how to go about adding pictures to a trip report.
The WOO's "click here for formatting codes" says link=http://www.example.com/]Example
However, I've no idea how to do that. I noticed your picture source is from imgur.com?
Thanks for your advice, or anyone else who can enlighten me.
Well done trip report, esp the pics and commentaries.
We are about to embark on our own 4-day trip to Las Vegas, our first trip together in over 10 years!
I would like to know how to go about adding pictures to a trip report.
The WOO's "click here for formatting codes" says link=http://www.example.com/]Example
However, I've no idea how to do that. I noticed your picture source is from imgur.com?
Thanks for your advice, or anyone else who can enlighten me.
Eat real food . . . and you won't need medicine (or a lot less!)
