Viva Las Vegas!

Welcome to Las Vegas!

In March of 2012 my step son Matthew turned 21.  Of course we had to plan a trip to Las Vegas, NV to celebrate.  We invited his best friend Tyler to come along. We bought airfare and  made reservations on the Strip at the Tropicana Hotel and then downtown Fremont Street at the Plaza Hotel and Casino.  Even though Matt's birthday was in March, we made our vacation plans for May so the weather would be nicer. When we arrived in Las Vegas we were treated to a sand storm which made site seeing an impossibility.  All of the "free" Strip attractions were shut down and the sand made my contacts water up to the point i had to hold on to Tracy to get into a building.  It was a huge let down as our first night was one of the only nights we had to walk around.  We did have a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe - which, for the 3rd time at a Hard Rock i was disappointed in the food.  I've been to Hard Rock Hollywood, and Hard Rock Gatlinburg and now Hard Rock Las Vegas - every single time i'm disappointed in the food.  It was super expensive too. For four of us to have one drink each and burgers the bill was pushing $150.00 - which would've been OK if the food was decent.  So thumbs down for Hard Rock Las Vegas! In protest, i am not linking them in this blog.  I would say that day 1 of this trip was a bust, so we all decided to get some sleep and start fresh the next day.

Hoover Dam - Bridge View

Dad & Mom

The next day of the trip my parents were going to drive in from California to see us and we were all going to go to the Hoover Dam.  Over the years, i know people that have left Vegas to go take the Dam tour but i didn't understand why.  This is definitely worth seeing.  I got us all the higher end tour which included going inside the wall of the dam out to the very edge.  This it truly an amazing engineered site.  It really should be one of the wonders of the world.  When you see it from the top looking down it's intimidating.
There is a second bridge now to drive over plus a walkway so you can see the dam from a little distance off.  We stopped here first and trekked up the stairs to the top and walked out across the bridge.  Matt was freaking out, but he did actually make it somewhat out to see the view.  I snapped a pic.  The other pic is of Dad & Mom.  They are so cute and i think my Dad really had a nice time seeing this mammoth structure.

Pawn Stars Location

We did have to make one last stop with my Mom and Dad before they were going to head back to California.  Since my Dad and I both were watching Pawn Stars on TV we decided to hit the place up in hopes of seeing the stars of the show.  They weren't there, but we were able to get inside an look around.  It was kinda fun.  The place was a real pawn shop (obviously) and we realized why they only shoot from the one angle...it's because the rest of the shop is sort of grimy. I mean, it is a REAL Las Vegas pawn shop so our expectation wasn't that high to being with.  I'd recommend this stop off if you're a fan of the show though, it was cool. I snapped a pic of everyone out front.

I do admit we did stop off at Jack-in-the-box on the way back.  Funny story with the two for $.99 taco special.  Before we left Tracy ordered some to-go for all of us back at the hotel room.  She meant to order 6 totaling 12 tacos...3 tacos each for the 4 of us.  Instead she ordered 12 orders (by mistake) and we had 24 tacos.  We ate them like crazy back at the hotel room in between casino runs.  I'll admit, after day two we probably shouldn't have eaten them, but after our casino time and drinking we all thought they were the best thing ever! Krak tacos for real.

Italy's Soda - ICK!

Sample Tray

Tracy and i walked around the MGM Grand area so we could go to the Coca-Cola store and the M&M Store.  Both were a site to see and free.  We did spend the $8 on the Coca-Cola from around the world tray (actually ended up being two trays).  This was well worth the money for the experience.  Some sodas were really tasty while one of them (no Thank you Italy) tasted like nail polish remover.  It was so bad i had to try it twice because i couldn't believe someone would actually order it.  We did see a comedy show at our hotel later that night.  It was pretty funny, but i was exhausted so staying awake in a dark room was difficult.  I used to be able to stay up all day and all night in Vegas....not anymore apparently.

The next day Tracy and I had tickets to see Menopause the Musical at the Luxor.  So we all walked around our general strip area which was New York, NY, Luxor, Tropicana, Excalibur, and MGM Grand.  Tracy and I had a blast and a couple of great meals at New York, NY.  The play was hilarious.  It was nothing like i expected and we laughed and laughed through the whole thing.  Even the men were cracking up.  I wouldn't miss this if it came anywhere near me and i highly recommend this for any women especially.  The humor would be lost on children.

We changed our digs half way through the trip so i could show Matt, Tyler and Tracy Fremont Street.  The Fremont Street experience (overhead light show) is still pretty amazing even though the technology is a little outdated.  For it's time the show was extraordinary and nothing anyone had ever seen.  Today it still stands out as something fun to do for free while downtown.  People still pour out of the casinos during the showtimes.  I know i enjoyed it again and i think the others were impressed as well.  Tracy shot this video of part of it.  Gotta love Freddie Mercury and Queen.  Sometimes the classics are truly classic.

One of the other features of downtown Fremont street is how close and how small the casinos are.  It's the old school stuff so you can dip and and out of casinos without having to rent a car or go for a huge hike like you do on the strip these days.  There is still the element of cheesy sites too.  Showgirls, Elvis, Silver Man, Batman, Michael Jackson, etc...all dressed up outside the casinos to let you take photos with them.  There is also no shortage on booze down here.  On the strip it seemed a little harder to get a cocktail waitress to come by - especially for the complimentary drinks. We aren't big drinkers, but i was enjoying my beers while i played some craps while Tracy found some of the funnest slots.

Us with $1,000,000.00

Tracy with Big Bertha at Four Queens

Cocktail Anyone?

Our room at the Plaza was really nice and roomy.  Our daytime view was OK, but we could see the lights from a few casinos at night and that was pretty cool.  We actually had a blast gambling at the Plaza and the minimums were cheaper than the strip.  With the feel of old school, "we take care of our players" at these more aged casinos we wanted for nothing except a couple of big wins.  We also had a blast and did pretty good at the Las Vegas Club, Four Queens, and the Golden Nugget.  We stopped in the Mermaid late one night for their Nathan's hot dogs and fries...then even later that night for a deep fried Twinkie.  This is a wicked indulgence, but should be experienced at least once if you're on Fremont street.  In addition, we found out the Mermaid had the best "slushie" style drinks.  At $12 - $30 a pop you won't be disappointed.  These drinks are EVERYWHERE, and we tried them at quite a few locations, but the Mermaid had the best tasting, best selection, and the best price.  Of course we took advantage of the free photo with a $1,000,000.00 at Binion's Gambling Hall.  We actually got two photos because there was two of us.  I think Matt and Tyler got one as well.  How can you pass up this freebie.  Yes, that is really a million U.S. dollars under that glass.  It's amazing to look at and makes you hope you can leave Vegas with more than a hangover and pocket change.

 Tracy killed it at the Las Vegas Club on the Ultimate Texas Hold'em machine and cashed out for a little over $400 on a $20 buy in.  Even though it wasn't a million dollars it was a HUGE return on her investment and is even better because she actually cashed it out and came home with it.  I was happy about it too because i know she'll go back to Fremont Street in Las Vegas when Devin turns 21.



All and all it was a wonderful trip.  We saw a lot of new and fun and interesting things.  Some free, some not.  Gambled, drank (which we typically don't do), ate food that was bad for us, slept in, stayed up too late, and got to spend time with our son AND my Mom & Dad.  We only have one story that will stay in Vegas.  Shhhhhhhhhh!