In point form, because I am still damn dehydrated, the plane was very delayed last night, and I’ve got lots of work to do:
Destination: Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada! (but oh the desert is dry! I feel so, so crusty)
Airline: West Jet – Captain Dave missed the runway on the first approach in, so we got an extra roller-coaster ride and some sore ears upon arrival (can we say 1,000-10,000 feet in 3.6 seconds?)
Hotel: Planet Hollywood (Formerly the Aladdin) – yay for the birthday upgrade! We got a junior suite on the 50th floor
Shows: Random comp tickets to Jay Leno at the Mirage on Friday (6th row centre) and bought tickets to Blue Man Group on the 28th
Sights: It was too damn hot to walk around much, so we pretty much stuck to the Centre Strip – Bellagio, Paris, Bally’s, Flamingo, Mirage
Shopping: Oh the shopping! I can’t wait to go back in November (work-trip for DevConnections) to load up again!
Fooding: Amazing Birthday Dinner at the Eiffel Tower! Six course tasting menu with accompanying flight of wine and beautiful views.
Relaxing: I’m glad we brought the bathing suits anyway, because we spent most of Sunday in the hotel pool before heading to the airport.
Gambling: we watched lots of tables, but with minimums starting around $10 and my severe lack of any skill at card games whatsoever, I figure I’ll practice at the casinos here a bit longer and try gambling on the next trip. We did hang out at the penny slots for a while to take advantage of the free drinks though!
And that’s all she wrote folks – I’m in love with Las Vegas, it really is like Disneyland for grownups, and we’re already planning our next trip!
Hey! I guessed right! š Do I win a prize?? š
Glad to hear you had a good time. I personally hate Vegas but I’ve only ever been there for work conferences and never gone to any shows so maybe I’m selling it short.
How was the Leno show?
Lynn: How ’bout half a prize, since you were half right: we didn’t get married there (though the temptation to post a suggestive picture of us outside a wedding chapel was high). Of course, the “prize” would just be the satisfaction of knowing you were right – so you may as well have the whole thing.
erin: I can see how not being free to wander and/or hang out poolside would skew things. Also, getting things done in the oppressive heat with that many people sounds like no fun at all.
Leno was… okay. His whole standup routine is “current events” and most of the jokes were recycled from his shows, and spanned “news” over the past 6-8 months. The audience were all about twice as old as us though, and they seemed to like it. But hey, free is free, so I can’t really complain!
Let me know when you plan to go next (or vice versa) and maybe we can socialize a bit down there.
personally i’m a fan of going during the winter.. less people, cheaper, and cooler.
The casinos downtown generally have lower limits if you want to risk less money gambling. Or the smaller casinos on the strip.
I went downtown for the first time last trip, and it has a lot of character. I’m going to try staying in a hotel or hostel there next visit.
The bus (called ‘the deuce’) from the stripdowntown is only $2 and 20’ish minutes each way. A way better way to commute than that inconvenient and expensive monorail.
Don’t forget that you can shoot a machinegun (in a gun range) in vegas for $20. You of all people should appreciate that!
I’m down there next in November for DevConnections, then again in May for Interop – not sure how much time I’ll have for socializing, though!
I really had no idea how much there is to see and do there – we didn’t even make it out of the centre strip, nevermind downtown. All on the list for the next few trips.