Monday, December 19, 2005 – Day Seven

I up at Monte Carlo at 8:30 and out by 9:30.  I stop at the food court for breakfast.  On my way back to the room, I stop at a bill breaker to break my $20’s into $5’s. Well the machine eats my money and starts flashing “Call Attendant”.  About half an hour later, an attendant comes.  So frustrating.

I check out of the Monte Carlo and take a cab to the Westin.  This was a last-minute hotel choice as the Westin is going non-smoking on January 1.  I wanted to get a stay in before they did.

The employees here are very friendly, very customer service oriented.  I get out of the cab and the Bellman grabs my luggage and walks me to the front desk.  Along the way he asks me last name and then when we reach the desk, he tells the woman checking me in “I’ve got Miss LifeOnAShelf” here ready for check in”.  I get room 409 and the first thing I do is try out the Heavenly Bed”  Wow is it heavenly!   I want one!  There is a coffee pot with Starbucks coffee and half and half in the bathroom.  The shower features two showerheads.  I have a nice view.  The window has a roll down window shade.  The room is pretty small, although it might just appear that way with the HUGE bed taking up so much space.  If they weren’t going non-smoking, I’d definitely stay here again.

I go downstairs and play and lose a LOT.  My stupid card won’t work either and I’m too lazy to go get a new one.

Finally I go back upstairs and nap for an hour before heading over to the Palms for a facial.   My therapist was named Jennifer.  She had really long nails and the massage part of the facial featured her running them lightly all over my arms.  That felt so good.

When I was done, I walked over to the Gold Coast to meet my sister for lunch.  We had the buffet.  I love their Chinese noodles.

I played a Drew Carey slot machine and this time he gave me $85.  I love this game!  I never saw it anywhere other than the Gold Coast during my trip.

We shuttled to Barbary Coast and my plans were to walk back to the Westin to visit my heavenly bed.  My sister followed and watched television while I napped.

I got up and we were out by 8:00, at which time both the gift shop and Starbucks inside Westin were closed.   Come on now.

Play and lose and lose and lose and lose and lose.

We walk over to the Flamingo and use my American Casino Guide $10 free slot play coupon.   I am told I need to play $10 in order to get $10 and then I end up getting handed $10 cash.    honor system?

We went to Caesars to see the spiral escalator.  Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I have no reason to ever go inside there ever again.

We stopped at Imperial Palace so my sister can drop something off in her room. Out to O’Sheas where I win $95 on a Hot Hot Penny machine.  I really loved these machines.  However, I only seemed to get the bonus when playing 2-per-line.  Anything more (or less) and I never got a thing.  These machines also have individual volume control, which I thought was cool.

We walk over to Ellis Island for their steak special. I lose a bunch of money on our way to the restaurant.  Despite having about fifty Ellis island coupons, I somehow didn’t have one on me.   The meal was good, but not as great as my sister remembered it.  Which is good for me because I don’t have to spend another twelve months listening to “I WANNA GO TO ELLIS ISLAND FOR STEAK!!!!!”.

Once we’re done, we part ways and I lose the rest of my winnings at the Westin.  Now it is time for bed.  But since I didn’t write down what time I went to bed, we’ll just have to let that remain a mystery.

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