Category Archives: Las Vegas

Las Vegas Trip Report: I am Serious, Do Not Go To the ATM

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Thursday, January 3, 2008

This is part three of a four part Las Vegas trip report.  To start at the beginning, go here!

I woke up with $20 cash left from last night’s losing session.  My “no ATM until you have no cash left” rule is still in effect so I need to get to losing it!

I took the bus downtown.  My first stop is Fitzgeralds, where I have $10 free slot play on my card.  I LOVE casinos that give you free slot play as a promo.   I got $5 in one shot but ended up playing it down and left with zero for my free play.

I walked over to the El Cortez to eat breakfast (at noon).  I lost ten bucks here.  Sigh.

Back to Fitzgeralds with $10 to spend before I hit the ATM.  OH HEY, again it worked.   I put the $10 into Monopoly and cashed out with $50.  I went and got fives for that and came back and won AGAIN. I did this a few times and ended up with $160.

I really love my ATM rule.

I took my new found winnings and decided to head to Binions.  I have a love/hate relationship with this casino.   I’ve never had an okay day here.  Only great ones or terrible ones.   You never know which one you are going to get, which I guess is why it’s called gambling.   This is also the one casino where I don’t get mad at myself for losing because even if I do, I am guaranteed to rack up enough comps for a Binions burger.

I played a Press Your Luck slot and it gives me NOTHING at all.  What is up with this machine?   It gave me so much money just last week!

Stopped for a Binions burger, then went back to Fitzgeralds.

I went upstairs to my favorite nickel triple play machine.   As I have mentioned before, this machine is my baby.   I’ve noted that she sometimes has sound and sometimes doesn’t.   I like it better when she has sound.   I’m sure she is going to die one day soon – twice now I have been to her and she wouldn’t accept bills.  I have a feeling that after I hit all three progressive royal jackpots, they are going to take her away.

This is as far as my notes go.  I HATE when I do that.   I’m too senile to remember what else I did this day.   I do know that I was in my room on time to watch Without a Trace.   So maybe that last entry was made around nine-ish and I went back to my room at that point.  Maybe I went back because I won, maybe I went back because I lost. I don’t know.  I’ll never know……

Want to continue reading?  Next and last part is here!

Las Vegas Trip Report: Atm Rule: Do Not Go to the ATM Until You Have Zero Dollars

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Wednesday, January 3, 2008

This is part two of a four part Las Vegas trip Report.  If you want to start at the beginning, go here!

I woke up from a dream that a housekeeper had come into my room to tell me she switched my home made “do not disturb” sign with a real one.  I had to actually open the door to make sure it was just a dream and it was.   My homemade sign was still on the door.

Well I’m up now so time to go out!   I am dressed and on the elevator at 8:00 am.  I am very tired and I have a headache but neither of these are going to stop me from being in Vegas.

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Las Vegas Trip Report: Las Vegas by Way of Atlantic City

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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Today I am traveling to Atlantic City, to catch a flight on Spirit Airlines to Las Vegas.  The total cost of the flight was $81 round trip.   I have never in my life paid that little for a one way, let alone a non-stop round trip.  What a great deal.

Another monumental event in today’s trip is that I had ZERO problems at all getting to the airport/getting to Vegas.  This has never happened to me before.   What a smooth trip.

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Las Vegas, Nevada: Closing Day at the Westward Ho, Crazy Lady at the El Cortez and My Revenge on Loud Hotel Guests

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So, shortly after booking my December trip to Las Vegas, I read that the Westward Ho would be closing their doors on November 17.  I wanted to go, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to have two trips so close together.   I’d have to fund this trip with my December Vegas funds and I didn’t really want to do that.   Of course, I didn’t abandon the thought.  I checked my Harrahs offers and found I had two free nights at the Rio.   Well that was it, I was going to Las Vegas to say goodbye to the Ho!

Thursday, November 16, 2005 – Day One of Four

I left work at 5:00 and took the air train to JFK.  I wouldn’t do this if I had luggage with me.  Most subway stops in NYC (including the ones at my home and my job) don’t have escalators.  But since I just had a small bag, it was okay.

JetBlue flight departing at 7:15pm.  Or it was supposed to be.   We boarded and the doors were shut the door at 7:10.  At 8:00 we got an announcement that it would be another 45 minutes.    I hate that.  I also couldn’t get my two favorite channels (Travel Channel and VH1 Classic).   That sucked too.

After sitting on the plane for about seven hours, we’re in Las Vegas!

I took a shuttle to the Rio.  I have two nights comped here.  I’m supposed to have a premium “suite” with strip view, but I don’t.   No complaints though as it’s free.   I get room 471 in the Ipanema tower.   The bed was so comfortable.  I love the Rio rooms.

Rio, Las Vegas. Room 471 in the Ipanema tower

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Las Vegas, Nevada: Nearly One Decade Ago

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I am working on a project of uploading all my old Las Vegas trip reports (there are somewhere between 200-300 individual days).  I am right now up to November, 2003. These pictures are all from that one trip.  I was kind of surprised when going through the disc these are saved on.  I have been going to Las Vegas so regularly that I have seen all the changes as they happen. But to suddenly look back and see all the changes at once kind of astounded me.

Here are things that either no longer exist, have changed, or were just being built nearly a decade ago.  I have plenty more pictures to share, many of things that no longer exist. Be patient and you shall see them all as I get further into this project.

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Best Las Vegas Hotel Room vs. Worst Las Vegas Hotel Room

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I have been to Las Vegas more times than I have been anywhere else in the world.  I don’t keep a running count, but if you held a gun to my  head and made me answer, I would yell out “THIRTY!  DON’T SHOOT!”

I am in the process of a very intense project of uploading so much Vegas stuff on here.  But in the meantime, I will be doing some shorter posts.

Today, we will visit the top best and bottom worst rooms I have stayed in.   Please keep in mind, I am not stating these are the best and worst in the entire city.  Just out of what I personally have experienced.

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An Ode to Hotel Beds

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I could not even count how many times people have said “You look like you need a vacation from your vacation” to me at work when I return from time off looking like I am sleep walking.  It is always followed by a huge laugh by whoever said it, which is typical of office life.  Say something generic and predictable and then laugh hysterically as if what you said was not generic or predictable.  How do these people live with themselves.

All the traveling I have done in the past two months has left me exhausted.  I am not at all complaining.  I am just explaining why I am walking around my job looking like a zombie.  I have been “You need a vacation from your vacation”-ed at least twelve times this week.  I don’t need a vacation from my vacation, I need a vacation from YOU AND YOUR BORING AND PREDICTABLE OFFICE SPEAK.

But I am not going to write about how much I dislike stereotypical office workers today.  Well not anymore than I already have anyway. Today I am going to write about beds.  Because I am tired. And I want to be in bed right now.  Because i am so tired.  Did I mention TIRED?

This morning as my alarm went off, I rolled over to hit the snooze button.  I was greeted by the most perfect temperature of cool air flowing in through my window.  I did not want to get out of bed.  It is perfect sleeping weather.  I was so comfortable.   My fancy bed, fancy mattress, mattress pad, 1000 thread count sheets, crisp and clean duvet cover that still has a slight scent of bleach from the last time I washed it.   Absolute perfection.

I am so looking forward to going back home after work today, getting into pajamas that were washed with fabric softener in a washing machine, then dried in an actual dryer, coming out so soft.  Then I will crawl into my bed with my newest Lonely Planet guides that I scored at the library last night (I got Bali, Borneo and Papua New Guinea) and just pass right out and sleep forever.  Because I am so tired.

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That Time There Was a Ball Gag in My Las Vegas Hotel Room.

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So I love Las Vegas.  I have been there 238947382 times and the amount of pages worth of trip reports I have for my many trips, is eleventy billion times that number.

Today, we shall be revisiting a single day back in December of 2008:

Monday, December 29, 2008 – Day Eighteen of Twenty One

Today is laundry day.  I don’t really need to do laundry anymore this trip but I need to be at a machine where I put in money and take SOMETHING out of it.

Today is also moving day.  I’m leaving Fitzgeralds and checking into Sahara.

Once packed, I called the bell desk to have my bags picked up and stored. I then pulled a Ross-from-Friends and stayed in my room until checkout. This was a mistake because my channel flipping got me the Maury Povich show. Today’s theme is “Pregnant at 13 – Who is the Father”.  It seems a whole lotta under aged chicks boffed a whole lotta dudes and don’t know WHICH predator the father is. As if this isn’t disturbing enough, there was never a mention of statutory rape, nor were there any police officers there to bum rush the stage to handcuff anyone who was proven to have committed statutory rape once the paternity results were in.

That’s enough, I am out of here.

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