Once again it takes me 76 years to put up a trip report!

This trip was originally going to be 3 days in March.  Then a week.  Then JetBlue cancelled Mint flights from NYC.  Then Delta’s flights went sky high.  So I said fuck it and went to Atlantic City.

Then somehow I ended up booking a Vegas trip.  I don’t really remember what was going through my head when booking.  I know that at many points during Covid, I decided to bank my vacation so I can use it to go to new (to me) countries when it is over.  And then somehow ended up booking a week in a half in Vegas.  Not even working, just vacationing.

Oops?

I am flying to Vegas on JetBlue Mint.  I am downstairs in my lobby at 6:30 AM waiting for my Uber. There is a strange man in my lobby at 6:30 AM who scared the fucking lights out of me when I opened the main door and saw him standing there.  There are only 4 apartments in my building so it is extremely uncommon to see strangers, let alone strangers at 6:30 AM.  I may or may not have screamed a bit.  He was just as shocked to see me.  He was dropping off something for one of my neighbors (at 6:30 AM?) and she also got a bit stunned when SHE opened the main door and saw ME standing on the other side of it.  Fun times in my lobby.

My Uber comes and I am at JFK in about 25 minutes, which is way better than last time when it took 2.5 hours.

I am checking in using the Mint counter. Since I am still honoring the 6 feet social distancing (as outlined by the circle on the floor telling you where to stand) some guy comes up and decides I am not on line and tries to cut me.  So I pull out a knife and screamed “CUT ME?  I’LL CUT YOU MOTHER FUCKER” except that last part was only inside my brain.

I did wait a bit though, until there were way more people on the actual line behind me, to tell point out the end of the line to him.  I never pointed out the end of the line to the people who entered the little Mint lobby area from the outside entrance (meaning they literally walked in through a door that came from outdoors, rather than from inside the airport) and thought that entering simply meant they were the line, and never considered that the LINE OF PEOPLE LINED UP from outside the Mint area were on the actual line.  They found out when they thought it was their turn to go to the counter and I evil eye’d them the fuck out of my way as I proceeded to the counter.

Not quite sure when it hit me that I forgot to pack a toothbrush, but it did when I was still at JFK.  So I proudly purchased a $9 toothbrush at Hudson News, all excited that LOOK AT ME! I WILL BE SO HAPPY AND PLEASED WITH MYSELF WHEN I GET TO MY ROOM, only to discover my JetBlue Mint amenity kit came with a free toothbrush.

JetBlue Mint, more like JetBlue MEH, AMIRITE.  Okay maybe not.  I love flying without anyone next to me, with a door that shuts, where I can lay down and not even see any other person in my line of sight.   The beds are not THAT comfortable physically, but mentally they are the most comfortable thing ever.   Recline and byeEEEEEEEEEEEE to all the people.

JetBlue served hot meals throughout Covid.  This wasn’t a huge perk to me because I didn’t like most of the menu items, but today I am getting BREAKFAST which includes FRENCH TOAST HELLO I LOVE YOU.

We get near Vegas and are descending when suddenly we start ascending….excuse me sir?  Vegas is down there?   Something something plane runway, we are now circling the Strip in the sky.

I was excited to see Resorts World from the sky.  She was not yet open on this trip, but has since opened in real life.
FINALLY we are on the ground YAY.

I had booked car service from the airport because fuck it.   Uber and Lyft are reported to have insane wait times.  I hate cabs in Vegas.  And I wanted to stop and get cigarettes on my way at Paiute Smoke Shop.

My car turns out to be a full blown limo.  Oh how this was wasted on me.

My first hotel is Plaza.  I haven’t stayed here in well over a decade.  I had played here to attempt to get offers and offers I did get!  3 comped nights, but paying the resort fee.  I did it though because I saw a video from Alice in Casinoland and the room looked really nice.

Well the joke is on me because I paid a resort fee for a pretty terrible room.  It was one of THOSE rooms.  Where the air conditioner never cools the room down.  Where there is a spot for a refrigerator but there is no refrigerator.  Where housekeeping left a sticker from the previous guest’s Gold Bond powder on the nightstand.

And the bathroom door.

No I did not ask to change rooms, I simply decided I would never stay here again.  This also means I don’t need to earn my keep because I’d like to never stay here again.

I am completely exhausted by I must play Buffalo.  I lost $150.  Then I went to Circa to grab some food and lost $350.  As always I am wondering WHY THE FUCK did I have this much to lose when my daily budget is not $500?!

I got a pastrami sandwich from Saginaws to go and was back in my room at 4:40.   I ate and tried to nap, but couldn’t fall into a full sleep because it was warm in my room.

I wake up at 10:00 PM and am back out by 11:00.   This means I am now on overnight schedule, which is a schedule I miss in Las Vegas.

I head to Circa because they have 24 hour iced coffee at Jackpots, which is overpriced but at least it exists.

As I am walking through Plaza, maybe 2% of people are wearing masks.  I don’t even mean people are wearing them below their nose.  I mean people don’t have them on their faces at all.  There is still a mask mandate at this point but clearly Plaza is over enforcing it.

I can’t win on anything I try tonight.  I can’t even manage to break even or keep going.  Every bill I put in a machine is gone in minutes and this is not very fun.

Oh well, so much for being out overnight!  I am back in my room by midnight.

I hate when the first day of a trip is like this.

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