This is an old Las Vegas trip report that I am posting for the entertainment of Las Vegas addicts. While it was current at the time it was written, a lot of it is now completely outdated.  Much of what you read about may no longer exist.

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 – Day Five of Nine 

This morning we are awake early for our last day downtown. We made our way to the Golden Nugget for breakfast. As usual there was a line. While we were waiting, I put two quarters in one of the slot machines against the wall alongside the buffet line.  I won $40!  So much more exciting than being comped!

After eating, it’s gambling time. Lost on the new Family Feud slot. Over to the Four Queens. I play a Money Storm slot machine.  This game is either REALLY good or REALLY bad when you play it. This time it was really bad. But my mother won $50 on a game called “Dragons Gold.”

We went back to the Plaza and lost some more money.  Then we headed to the strip as we are switching hotels and moving into the Barbary Coast.

We arrive at 12:00 and check in is a breeze. We get room 312 which has a GREAT view of the Bellagio fountains.

[Editor’s note:  Remember when you could still see Jockey Club?  Also note the absence of the Bellagio Spa Tower!]

Cool view, right?  OH BUT NOT AS COOL AS THE SUNSET PICTURE!

And if you nearly break the bathroom window as I did, you can get some great pictures Paris’s Eiffel Tower as well.

Off to Aladdin we go for their daily slot tournament.

On the way there, we stopped outside Ballys, where if you don’t have a Park Place Connection card, you can sign up and you get to spin a wheel for a free gift. My mother signed up and got a Park Place Connections coupon book.

Continuing onto the Aladdin, it’s time for the tournament! If you haven’t ever done this, you definitely should. It’s $25 and if you lose, you still get $10 free play in slots and your choice of gifts.  One of the gift choices is a $20 food credit. So you end up with $30 for your $25.

I was excited that you can use the food credit at Starbucks, but then disappointed that you can use it only once. I had no need for FOUR Frappucinos, although that does sound damn good right about now.

We both lost but my mother got an Aladdin denim jacket and I got us the food credit so we could both get a buffet. I used my $10 freeplay in a Wheel of Fortune slot and lost. My mother did the same.

We walked all through the Desert Passage Mall. I’ve never been in there before and I’m glad we took the time to see it because there is a COW PARADE going on!!!

There were a bunch of ceramic cows on display, most of them had cutesy names. Once the “parade” was over, they were sold to raise money for charity.  You can see the cows here:

We tried to go to the Aladdin lunch buffet but we were too late. So we made our way to Caesars again for the Cheesecake Factory. This time we had cheesecake! Caesars was a huge mess. The Celine Dion show was making its opening night debut at The Colosseum at Caesars, which was built specifically for her show.  It was pure chaos walking through the casino. They had a red carpet and they were trying to keep everyone off it. This just caused swarms of people to line up at the red carpet. Keep in mind it was only about 3:00 at this time. So I can’t even imagine what it was like later on.

We go back to the Barbary Coast for one of our naps. This time I can’t sleep at all. I sit up watching television. I let my mother sleep but I demand she gets up once the Celine Dion opening night special comes on CBS. It is pretty cool to be watching something on television and know it’s going on live across the street from us.  We start to watch it but then I notice that we can see the special being broadcast on the Ballys sign right outside our window!

Time to go outside!

We head to Paris. I win $25 on a Texas Tea slot machine. I usually don’t win anything in Paris so I’m all happy. We move over to the Bellagio and I win $50 on an American Bandstand slot and then $35 on an Uncle Sam slot. Uncle Sam is a GREAT game. I love this game. I played forever on $5 before cashing out. I hope they are easier to find on my next trip.

Back to the Barbary Coast. Here I played this new quarter game named Hotline.  It’s a phone and when you get the bonus it calls someone and you win. I never did get the bonus, which drove me nuts. But I got $50 with one bar and two double symbols. Good enough.

We had a late dinner in the Victorian Room inside the Barbary Coast. The food here is so good and so cheap late at night.

Off to bed.