That Time I Went to Las Vegas During a Pandemic

I wake up on day sixteen, which is my last day, at Fremont Hotel Downtown.   I am up and out at 5:20 am to get my gamble on before leaving.

First top Dunkin Donuts.  Second stop is The D to get rid of all my quarters.

Back to Fremont to play some Ultimate X video poker.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND.

It is only 7:01 am when I get to my room to sort out my cash.

I have dining credit at Fremont and against my better judgement, I actually use it at Paradise Cafe.  It was not good.   This place is not good for breakfast.  It just isn’t.

I play some more and my winning streak is over.  Until it isn’t.

Back to the room to sort myself again!  It is now 9:30.   I decide this is the end for me.   I finish packing, drink the rest of all the water in my room.   And head to the airport.

One last chance….

But not enough to cancel my flight home.

I flew Delta home and this showed up on the Delta app on my phone:
It is actually incorrect because I ended up changing that flight to leave earlier.

I had a lot of wins on my last couple of days, which was super sweet.  Normally I deposit my wins in my bank account, but this time I decide to keep them to bring back with me next time.

What is up next?   I have one more post to put up about packing.  I get questions from time to time on how I pack for long trips.  I will be showing you.

My next trip is on October 24.  I am flying Delta One, which means I have a lay down flat seat.  For that trip, I am working three days and 13 of them are mine all mine.  I will be there for opening night at Circa.

I also plan to start doing some hotel reviews. I never do them because most of you reading this are regular readers who don’t need hotel reviews because you have probably stayed in all of them yourselves.  But I want to draw some more traffic to my blog so hotel reviews it is.

Until next time….

If you want to go to the beginning, click here

27 thoughts on “That Time I Went to Las Vegas During a Pandemic

  1. David

    I love reading your trip reports even if this one is from August. I’ve been itching to go to Vegas since July but having to stay home two weeks afterwards is a no go for me unless I’m able to work remote from home. I will get to if the infection rate reaches 3% in the city. I hope to run into you at some point either in nYc or Vegas so you can teach me how to earn all those Vegas comps or you can use the binions food credit on me! Enjoy your next trip in a few weeks. Jealous!

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      I am fortunate that I am working from home (or Vegas) for now. I may go again at Christmas / New Years since I have 2 four day weekends in a row. I feel like if you want comps at Binions, all you have to do is breathe inside and they accumulate on your card 🙂

      Reply
  2. NANCY

    wow- such a good report – even with having to work — but now you are on vacation… I love this report since this is all the traveling I will be doing for a while..

    Reply
  3. Jan Poole

    Oh goody! I love to see Jennifer putting her life on a shelf in Las Vegas in my inbox! Let me get a vanilla Crown and diet coke and settle in for a good read!

    Reply
  4. NANCY

    haha- putting the hot dime in your bra…surprised the host called and gave you the $30…but glad you accepted it as a win… never stayed at Paris but it looks nice

    Reply
  5. Tony b

    Nice TR! Did your itching areas has red dots? I had it the Hawaii a few years ago and it turned out to be sun poisoning. I’m thinking it’s age catching up to get even for all that time roasting in the sun when you’re younger.

    Seems like downtown was much nicer to you than the strip slots.

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      I didn’t have red dots, but it did occur to me it might be sun poisoning. I was barely outside, but considering there are weeks in a row where the only time I leave my apartment is to throw out garbage, my body is not used to the sun at all.

      Downtown is my favorite. But when you are losing, you have to get out of there because it is too easy to just keep going. At least on the Strip, a walk to the casino “next door” takes a bit and breaks it up.

      Reply
  6. Janice Hart

    I loved your trip report, as always. You have such an interesting style of writing!! I was there for a week in June, staying at the Plaza, just before the mask mandate was announced.

    We had a great time staying downtown. I am not a strip type of person at all, I prefer the likes of the Orleans and/or Palace station for my play. I always play video keno, rarely do I play pennies.

    I’ll look forward to your October trip. I Hope the Flusher visits again soon also, but with Canada being closed, it’s not likely.

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      Thanks Janice! I think Flusher is waiting for a vaccine. There’s the whole issue of not being covered for Covid if you are traveling from Canada. It really seems unfair.

      I keep staying on the Strip because I am Diamond, so no resort fees. And MLife likes me right now, but they won’t after they realize I keep stiffing them. But I want to get some content to start doing hotel reviews. May as well before those comps all dry up.

      Reply
  7. Rick Cicotta

    I will miss Vegas this year for the first time since 1969, well over 200 trips since. I’m bummed, pissed and depressed. So I stopped reading blogs and trip reports. That is, till yours came up on FB. I loved the shit out of it. So much so, that I promise not to hate vegas until I can go again myself. I stopped writing my own trip reports about 4 years ago. But maybe I will now be inspired! Thanks so much….

    Rick1323

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      I am so sorry you are missing out on Vegas this year! I love looking back on older trip reports so I can see a common theme of what causes my degeneracy and I always find something I had forgotten about. I definitely recommend writing them even if you keep them to yourself.

      Reply
  8. Cathie

    My morning was so great because I got to read an entire trip report from you! So happy you had a winning tip and another in the wings! Keep finding pennies!

    Reply
  9. Vice

    Nice report!

    We went last July and despite COVID, had a great time as usual. Our next trip is Oct 27 – Nov 3 so we will be there the same time as you. Were at Bally’s and then GVR. We usually stay the 2nd leg of the trip at the Cal but Boyd has pissed me off with their lack of points for VP.

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      I am actually considering the Cal for this trip because I want to start doing hotel reviews and I have not stayed there in awhile. But it is not as close to the Dunkin Donuts as Fremont. I might die.

      Reply
  10. Christina Marie

    “The machines here only have seats at every other machine. Some guy pulls a chair next to me and asks me if I like the machine I am playing. Go die. I asked him if he wanted the machine and he said no. So like…don’t do that.”

    lol, your trip reports always crack me up. As a woman who likes to go to Vegas to actually GAMBLE, I can relate. There’s always some drunk douche at least once a night, and I’m like, uh, no, you are getting in my way of losing money.

    Reply
  11. Joanne

    Jennifer, you crack me up every time. I laughed out loud when you described your door kick stretch fake out move. Are any buffets still open in Vegas?

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      Hi Joanne!

      The only buffets currently open are Cosmopolitan and South Point. I know nothing about how South Point is operating. At Cosmo, there are barriers up at the buffet to keep you away from the food. You point from 6 feet away at what you want, and an employee grabs it and puts it on your plate. I assume they also have limited options.

      Reply
  12. NANCY

    I didn’t want this to end but its only 10 days until you are back again…. I know I already commented a few times on this report but so what? I want to say I want to stay at the Luxor next time I am in LV… haven’t stayed there in years but always had fun times in that casino and your stay there reminded me of that… I can’t imagine what all those kids were doing – sounds like they were camping! crazy…

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      Oh I cannot wait to be out of here! I am staying at Luxor again on my first night. This time in a pyramid room. I have a lot of comps I normally would not have (Bellagio, Aria, etc) and am considering doing a mega trip and trying to get current photos of all rooms so I can do reviews. Some of my room photos are 15 years old by now! I tried planning it out and realized sadly that even 31 days in Vegas is not enough to do all of this AND also, degenerate gamblers should probably not go to Vegas for 31 days.

      Reply
  13. Mike/ mbny2000

    At one point before, you had mentioned that this trip might not happen, but I’m so glad it did. Once again, another great report. I lost track, but I’d like to think maybe you came out a little ahead from playing. Either way, I think the trip was definitely worth it. I was unable to get out to LV this year; to many hassles after the Covid closures, so waiting until next years seemed like the right move for me. You did it and had your usual great time. Good for you. Thanks again, and I know the next trip will be just as great or better.

    PS; your quote about the Fremont; ” Noticeably gone is the cantaloupe scented cleaner. Whatever they are using instead, smells like Raid. ”

    You. Are. The. Best.

    You. Are. The Best.

    Reply
    1. jennifer Post author

      Thanks for the kind words! I did NOT come out ahead, but just a tiny bit under. I hope my next trip can fund my December trip. Crossed fingers!

      And it really does smell like Raid. HATE.

      Reply
  14. Pingback: Las Vegas Travel Blog: Yes, I Packed 9 Hotels Into an 11 Night Stay - i put my life on a shelf

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.