Adventures in Dining and Sightseeing...With Some Gambling Thrown In!

March 25-29 Trip Report

Tuesday, March 25th

Another day at work, another day in paradise.  If I HAVE TO go to work, then it's a really good thing when I get to take off work early, go pick up my mom, and go to the airport in order to fly to VEGAS!  There are worse things in life, are there not?  (That was a rhetorical question.)  

Once again I have a TON of photos.  I think I am going to do separate posts for the DaVinci exhibit, The Linq expansion, and the Liberace exhibit because I just went a little crazy with pics.

Night view of the High Roller from our Harrah's room

We were once again at Harrah's with mom's free rooms, so we put our stuff away, checked out our night view, and headed down to the Oyster Bar at Harrah's for dinner.

I think we both overlooked the Oyster Bar because we thought "they just serve oysters".  Wrong!  Very good food, and very reasonable.  Mom had the Cajun Scallops with pasta, and I had the Crab Louis Salad.  Very delicious food choices for us.  I also tried a drink called a 'Red Tide'-made with Belvedere Black Raspberry vodka, Chambord Black Raspberry liqueur, watermelon schnapps, orange juice, cranberry juice and fresh sour.  Yummy!

Bread basket goodies

Red Tide

Cajun Scallops

Crab Louie Salad

I tried the Ferris Buehler's Day Off slots at Harrah's.  I have to say that I really, really like them, and not because I won a lot of money on them, because I didn't.  They just have a LOT of different bonuses, and a random expanding 'Collossal Wheel', so you always have something interesting come up.  I played these every day, and had fun playing them, even when I didn't win, which was most of the time.

The Linq area looks pretty at night

The nice lady at Harrah's Diamond check-in, Melissa, sent a Happy Birthday card up to the room while we were out.  Cute!  Mom is only Platinum and I am lowly Gold, so it was a nice gesture.

Wednesday, March 26th

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Mom's 65th birthday - a day of choices for her.  She decided to try The Henry at The Cosmopolitan for breakfast because I'd talked about it and she thought the Cinnamon Roll French Toast sounded good.  She got that and I got the California omelet, which had avocados and mushrooms and a side of breakfast hash browns that were like a delicious casserole.  All very good, but I will keep trying other things if I go back again because I like to try different breakfast stuff (and they do have several versions of Eggs Benedict on their menu, which is a bonus).

Cinnamon Roll French Toast at The Henry

My California Omelet doesn't look as impressive, but it was good!

Tried the Back to the Future slots at Cosmo - I don't know if they were out in January, but I must have missed them.  I got to the bonus round 3 times, and picked the same dang train bonus every time.  I wanted to try the other stuff, but it was apparently impossible for me.  We saw Liberace's car, and I was pleased to see that the whole Liberace exhibit was still open, even though the website said it was supposed to close at the end of February.  Score!  The exhibit is open from 3-9 daily, and they take donations only, so there is no set admission price.  We made plans to come back the next afternoon, since we were going to be back for dinner at Holsteins on Thursday.  Mom found some Fireball slots that let her play for a while, and then we decided it was time to move on.  Windy, windy day outside!  Gusts to 50 MPH felt like you'd get knocked over, especially on the escalators.

Liberace, we will return again!

On to Bellagio for Spring Conservatory photos.  Once again, I'm only "Meh!" on the design.  The 'tree house' was a bit boring, but I did like the Koi fish and the underwater cameras.  I think the caterpillars might have been new (or new to me), but most everything else was recycled.  Again, it's not that I don't like recycling, but there was nothing "Wow!" about it.  We found more Fireball slots to keep us happy for a bit, and I tried the Walking Dead slots, but they creeped me out too much to do more than play $20 through them.  I'm just not a fan of zombies overall.  No bonuses didn't help, either.  Tried to play more of the Phantom of the Opera, but he has apparently lost all love for me, as I discovered a cold shoulder by the Phantom at every casino.

Bigger greenhouse with butterflies...

I remember these flowers!

It smelled fantastic!

Getting down to their level...

One of two Koi ponds.

A very boring tree house, sorry.

Loved the underwater cameras on both sides!

I forgot what the smaller, bluish-purple flowers are, but I asked about them specifically.

These are always impressive.

I do like the caterpillars.

We spent a bit of time in The Mirage, but found nothing that didn't just suck our money right up, which was unfortunate.  I really like The Mirage, but I can rarely hit anything in there.  We dropped plenty of money there before we headed over to Caesars Palace, where we enjoy pretty much everything.

Caesars Palace, take one!

Mom's choice for her birthday "linner" (lunch/dinner) was her favorite-est place in Vegas: Bacchanal Buffet.  This was my first time going to this buffet for something other than breakfast, and it was good as usual.  We like to pace ourselves through our Bacchanal buffet meals and seriously have lots of time between plates so that we are there for 2 hours or more, just chatting and enjoying the time, not rushing or trying to cram food into our faces.  Even so, with 2 hours in a buffet, you're bound to end up trying lots of food, even if it IS small plates!

Stuff I tried:
Lobster Corn Chowder - good; nice and thick
Shrimp and grits - delicious!
Cold boiled shrimp - it is what it is, and that's okay
Lobster shooter - bleh! no likey!
Lobster and leeks - very good; lots of flavor
Brussels Sprouts with bacon - yum!
Truffle fries - very good; good seasoning
Mushroom and cheese polenta - absolutely yum!  cooked just right...
Cheeseburger slider - mine was delicious (mom didn't like hers - her top bun was too hard)
Truffle scalloped potatoes - unusual and very good; lots of flavor
Greek salad - unexpectedly spicy and delicious
Spicy edamame - spicy, crispy and flavorful
Sui mai - delicious as always (I am a sui mai addict)
Chicken and Shrimp Pad Thai - too cold, not a lot of flavor - bleh!
Dim sum - good stuff, nice as firm, warm and delicious flavor in the pork
Crab sushi - very good, especially for a buffet
Raspberry tart - not a fan; it had chocolate, but it didn't taste like chocolate.  Gross...
Molten Chocolate Cake - warm, delicious, and a great way to end a meal!

They brought mom a plate with macaroons and other stuff (some good, some not), and "Happy Birthday Carolyn" on it.  Cute!

The only picture of my mom I'll probably ever post - she hates them.  Happy birthday!

Gambling at Caesars afterwards was very bleh!  Nothing was hitting, and it was a very non-Caesars end to the day.  We played a long time before we decided to go over to The Quad and check out what was new, and we were glad we did.  Additional areas have been opened up, and there are more games to play.  I really like the flow of the casino now, and you can still see traces of Imperial Palace here and there.  I had good luck on the True Blood machines, which allowed me to play for quite a long time, but didn't hit any large bonuses then.

We ended the night back at Harrah's, and it was mostly crappy stuff for me.  I managed to try to lose ALL of my daily money in The Hangover slots before I FINALLY hit a great bonus on the Reels O'Dublin Hot, Hot Penny slot machine that I always have to play in Harrah's.  After a great bonus, I ended up cashing out $186 which left me down only $35 for the day.  It turned out to be  a really good thing, because I accidentally miscalculated my gambling money and forgot to bring one whole day's worth of gambling money.  WHAT???  Yes, it's true - so I saved myself by NOT losing much that day.

40-cent spins...not bad!

Thursday, March 27th

Mom decided she wanted to try Society Cafe @ Encore this morning.  I'd been there for breakfast during another solo trip, and I really enjoyed it.  Mom had a ham and mushroom omelet, and I had the Huckleberry Souffle' Pancakes.  Good stuff.  Once again, if I go back, I will try something different.  It's a beautiful restaurant, and I enjoy people-watching there.

Mom's Ham and Mushroom Omelet

Huckleberry Souffle' Pancakes

No, thank you!  They all sound gross...

I played some Rapunzel slots I'd never seen before.  They are pretty much the same as the Alice in Wonderland slots, so no big surprises there.  While I was playing that, mom hit a small progressive on a Triple Time Progressive slot machine that neither of us had ever seen before.  She has no idea what triggered it.

On to Wynn, where I tried the Avatar slots - not a fan.  I don't know if I just don't get them or what (I liked the movie), but I didn't enjoy the slots, even though I hit several bonuses.  I took a couple of photos of the carousel - no major Spring decorations here.

I do love the Encore butterflies.

Wynn's carousel

Up close on the Wynn roses.

Palazzo was our next stop, and I HAD TO sit down and play the LAST of the classic Lord of the Ring slots that I think are around.  I enjoyed myself for quite a long time, playing on the same $20 and just enjoying the fact that they were the original slots that I love SOOOOOOO much!

Palazzo decorations

A Palazzo bathroom I don't remember, which is odd...

At The Venetian, my first goal was to check out the DaVinci exhibit, which is $27.50 per person for non-Vegas residents (there is a student and Senior citizen discount available, too - I am neither).  I highly enjoyed the exhibit because I didn't realize how much DaVinci was really involved in.  I would recommend it to anyone and will post the photos from the exhibit separately.  

More DaVinci photos later!

We headed over to check out The Linq area and see the High Roller (not get on it!), which had a "soft opening" that week.  We wanted to check out the shops and restaurants so we could decide what looked interesting for future information.  Mom was happy, happy, happy to see the Ghiradelli shop open again.  The Sprinkles Cupcakes shop looks interesting but had a HUGE crowd inside.  For new food places, I wouldn't mind stopping into Haute Dog and the Flour and Barley restaurant for starters.

Hahahahahaha...no....

Next it was on to The Cosmopolitan to check out the Liberace exhibit.  As I said before, it's open from 3-10 p.m. daily, and they don't charge anything to see it.  They accept donations only.  I really enjoyed looking at everything.  I can't even imagine trying to put on those costumes and perform, but what a showstopper they had to be!   Loved it and glad I got to see it.

Help us, little Buddhas!

I found some more True Blood machines in the back, towards the Vesper Bar, but they were horribly mean to me.  I also tried some Beverly Hillbilly Millionaire slots, which were also not very nice to me before I gave up and decided I would try the Fireball slots at the front with mom.  
At this point we were starving because we didn't have a huge breakfast, and I'd made a reservation for Holsteins at 7:30 p.m. because OpenTable showed them unavailable for most of the afternoon and evening.  At about 6:30 p.m. our stomachs were starting to eat themselves, and we finally gave in and went up to the second floor to see if there was any way we could get in any earlier.  They found my reservation and were able to seat us at 7:00 p.m., instead (thank God!).

Cute menu.

Yummy Cajun popcorn!  Used to be Truffle Butter popcorn, but I can live with the change.

Lobster Rolls for the "Small Bites" menu, with fries added on.

Why my mom calls Holsteins "The Pink Cow"

Cute artwork!

We both enjoyed Lobster Rolls from the "Small Bites" menu - me with extra fries and mom had hers with onion rings.  Soooooo good!  They come with cole slaw, but trust me when I say we ate EVERY BITE, including ALL of the Cajun popcorn appetizer they brought us.  I also tried a drink recommended by the waiter that's called a Ginger Julie - it has muddled mint and lemon, ginger beer, and Pendleton Canadian whiskey.  Smooth!  I could have had a second one easily.

Still not sure about this...

We took a leisurely stroll back to The Quad, where I had excellent bonus rounds on True Blood and was a happy girl.  I doubt they will be my friend on the next trip, but we'll see.  Back at Harrah's after that, where I found the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (LOTR ROTK) slots I'd apparently missed because they were put over in the $1 slot area next to the sports book, and I don't play dollar slots, so why would I look for them there?  I played for a long, long time on them and actually hit several bonuses, which I'd been unable to hit before.  Nothing big or earth-shattering, but nice enough to keep me going for a while.  

Suddenly I had the urge to go back to The Hangover slots and give it ALL back, and then some!  what the hell is wrong with me?!?!?!  After all of that, I ended up way, way down for the day, and called it a night at almost 2 a.m.

Friday, March 28th 

Our last full day in Vegas.  We grabbed Starbucks coffee at the less crowded upstairs store in Harrah's for a hold-over until lunch.  We were planning on lunch AND dinner today, so no breakfast plans.  Make room for Vegas food!  

Back over to Caesars to see if the gambling was better today, and YES, it was!  I tried a Moo La-La slot I'd never seen before, back by the buffet, and I turned $20 into $120 over the course of...what?  An hour and a half or so?  I played for quite a long while and enjoyed it.  Cute machine.  Also found it at Paris later.  

Moo La-La c'est magnifique!
40-cent spins, people...

On to Gordon Ramsay Pub for lunch right at 11 a.m.  This was my absolute favorite meal of the trip!  The restaurant has a great atmosphere, the staff had wonderful "uniforms", and the food and drinks were excellent.  Mom had the Fish and Chips and I had the Bangers and Mash - one pork, one beef, and one chicken sausage, all well flavored and not huge portions, served over mashed potatoes and surrounded by a moat of onion soup.  Oh, it was so good!

I loved everything about this place, and I'm not a big fan of Gordon Ramsay himself.

Bar area

Wall decor...

Fish and Chips

Bangers and Mash

I can't forget the drink because it had the best name of all - God Save the Queen!  It had Bombay London Dry Gin, Dubonnet Rouge, St. Germain, grapefruit juice and Peychaud's Bitters.  Stout!  Oh, it was good.  Also my favorite drink of the trip.  I will be back, because we were too stuffed to try the Spotted Dic for dessert, and that was part of the plan.

God Save the Queen!

After lunch, I managed to play Gold Fish for a nice little triple-your-money win before we headed over to Flamingo to see if the machines had gotten any nicer since January (they had not).  I played Lobstermania 2 and got the minor progressive for $26, but it doesn't last long on a 60-cent per spin machine, y'know?

Over to The Linq and back to Ghirardelli's, where I managed to make a nice Tetris tower of chocolates in my one-price-fits-all box (hey, it was a challenge, and I accepted it) for $19.  Mom finally got her Ghirardelli chocolate fix, and she was a happy camper.  Back to The Quad for more True Blood slots, got the "Spin the Bottle" bonus at last and hit Lafayette's progressive on my first pick, with only one pick available.  Seriously, I am good at picking progressives if I get the choice in a bonus.

We took our chocolates back to the room so we could grab a cab over to Paris before dinner at Bubba Gump's (next to Planet Hollywood).  Mom's legs were kaput!  I found the Moo La-La slots again and had a fun time, outlasting several other people in the seat next to me, which is always fun.

The High Roller from our room - day shot.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is part of the Landry restaurant chain, and I enjoy most all of Landry's good stuff.  We like the atmosphere and feel it's kinda like Rainforest Cafe' meets Saltgrass with movie memorabilia.  Each table has two signs on it "Run Forrest Run" and "Stop Forrest Stop".  You leave it at "Run Forrest Run" if you're doing okay, but you change it to "Stop Forrest Stop" if you need something.  Cute! 

We will be back in December with Hayley, because she's already said she wants to go.  Mom had Lt. Dan's Drunken Shrimp (without the sauce), and I had the BLT Shrimp Salad.  Mom tried the Snapdragon Cabernet, and I had the Blood Orange Margarita.  Good choices all around again.  We decided we were ABSOLUTELY having dessert here and ordered the "Hook, Line, and Sinker" dessert trio:  Warm Bread Pudding (absolutely heavenly, with crispy edges and wonderfully warm), a biscuit with strawberries (unusual and very good), and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae, which is basically a giant, warm cookie topped with ice cream.  Ice cream was on top of everything, in fact, and that's never a bad thing.  We'll be having that again in December.

Lt. Dan's Drunken Shrimp (no sauce)

BLT Shrimp Salad

Hook, Line and Sinker

Cab back to Harrah's for the last night of desperate gambling!  I played around on all the usual suspects:  The Hangover, Lobstermania 2, Gold Fish, LOTR ROTK, Ferris Buehler's Day Off and even threw in some Quick Hits.  After all that, I was just down $50 for the day when we finally called it a night at almost 2 a.m.  We had a morning flight out, so we packed up and hit the hay.

Saturday, March 29th

We had a quick breakfast at Harrah's Cafe' and got to play a little more before we left.  I finally found a seat at the Wolf Run 2 slots but couldn't make anything happen, so it was one last round of Gold Fish before the airport.

Notes for the trip:  

Mom had tons of quads and aces with kickers, so she easily made Total Rewards Platinum for the year.  No royals for her on this trip, although I think she dealt herself a straight flush at least once if I remember correctly.  Even with all those quads, she left a lot of money there.  I am not at liberty to say how much, but it was a multiple of my loss, and I left about a third of my money there.

Next trip?  Not sure, but I am hoping to get in a quick solo trip sometime at the end of summer because I do like solo trips so much.  Mom, Hayley and I will be out again in December for the Christmas displays.  After that trip I will have officially been in Vegas during every month of the year.  It only took about 16 years to make it happen!

Viva Las Vegas!