The year is 2031. Father Time has not been kind to the Westies who now reside in a semi private room, shared with Max-the-Schipperke, in the Snake Eyes Zumba Parlor and Nursing Home. Their idea of entertainment these days involves being wheeled to the community room to watch reruns of Jessie Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory or Days of Our Lives: the first 65 years. What passes for fine dining is an evening meal of overdone mystery meat, reconstituted potatoes, a pureed vegetable du jour and a slice of prune pie ala mode. Their sole gambling activity involves Metamusil and the distance to the nearest bathroom.
When we were
younger, so much younger than today,
We
never needed anybody's help in any way.
But
now those days are gone, we’re not so self assured
Now we find
we've changed our minds, but someone’s locked the doors.
On a dark and gloomy evening in early March, a spaceship from Planet Dementia landed in the used car lot immediately adjacent to Snake Eyes. The leader, wearing a black Stetson hat and toting a 6-string guitar, entered the nursing home and made his way to the Westies’ room where he introduced himself as Garth Vader.
After a few minutes of pleasantries, Garth offered the Westies an opportunity to take a pill that would transport them back in time and space to Las Vegas circa 2011. The only condition was they had to agree to take a second pill two weeks later on their return to Hartford. Since neither of them could remember having visited Las Vegas in the past, they did not hesitate to accept the offer. The following trip report is based on their shared recollection.
03/09 On arriving in Las Vegas, we took the shuttle to Alamo in the consolidated rental facility only to discover they were out of Deloreans so we settled on a Hundai Accent with 4,732 miles on the odometer. Traffic was relatively light so the drive to Sam’s Town, where we were staying for the duration of this trip, took little time. Check-in went smoothly and we were assigned room 391, a nonsmoking room with a king-sized bed and expansive views of the beautiful roof top. http://www.samstownlv.com/
After unpacking, we were off to Boulder Station’s Havana Lounge where we enjoyed a pair of merlots courtesy of LVA coupons. Our next stop was the Oyster Bar at Palace Station where we stood in line for about 15 minutes until a few stools became available.
http://www.palacestation.com/dining/oyster-bar/menu.pdf We each ordered the combination pan roast that included crab, lobster, fish, shrimp and a generous portion of rice. The pan roast is prepared in front of you and it proved to be both delicious and filling. ($6, Points, 4 Spoons out of a possible 5)
We stopped at the Wal-Mart immediately across from Sam’s for sundry items before calling it a night.
03/10 I woke up at 2AM this morning ready for some FPDW (full pay deuces wild) action. Over the following 4.5 hours I managed to hit 2 quad deuces, each paying 1,000 coins.
Our first breakfast was the buffet in Sunset Station using a coupon printed from the Station Casino’s new http://www.weluvlocals.com/ website. This breakfast buffet is one of the better ones in a locals casino and the current pricing, $4.99, makes it a down right steal when combined with a 2/1 coupon. I enjoyed a breakfast of OJ, skim milk, grapefruit sections with strawberry yogurt, easy over eggs and hash browns. ($5.39, 2.5 Forks)
We then drove to the Paseo Verde Library in Henderson where we purchased 3 hard cover books and quickly checked our email.
In the early afternoon we returned to Sam’s in time to catch the Variety Talk of the Town show which is free for B Connected slot club members. Today’s show was hosted and starred Poperazzii, a 3-member group that sings Italian popopera. They sang 6-7 songs including Boccaceli’s “Time to Say Goodbye”. Other performers included Mark Giovi (Bite) who performed both solo and with Genevieve Drew, Mr. Freddie B (jazz) and Alex Christopher (a 17 year old local singing sensation). The latter performed two songs including a wonderful rendition of Tom Jones’ “Green, Green Grass of Home”. http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexChristopherLV (4.5 Claps)
Ann won $10 playing VP in the late afternoon shortly before we departed for Boulder Station where we enjoyed a pair of merlots before heading to Summerlin for dinner at Technique in Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School. www.techniquerestaurant.com
This student-run restaurant offers a 5-course tasting menu that costs a mere $15 per person. We started off with a glass of Ross Estates “Light Out Bound” shiraz and each chose the same 5-courses: 3-cheese onion gratin soup, endive, frisee, duck confit, and lobster with apple dressing, Caesar salad, miso salmon over Asian vegetables in a wonton wrapper with roasted pineapple and sesame vinaigrette and pumpkin crème brulee. Service was excellent and everything we sampled was good with the highlights being the onion soup and salmon. ($31.48, Restaurant.com (R.com), 3.5 Forks)
We were both exhausted so on our return to Sam’s we retired to our room.
03/11 In spite of a pair of natural straight flushes, including one dealt to me, and my #3rd quad deuces, dealt to me on the re-draw, I lost money.
Breakfast was a cup of coffee for Ann and a shared apple fritter at Ronald’s Donuts on Spring Mountain Road. ($2.89, 3.5 Forks)
Our next stop was the Orleans where we each used a Las Vegas Advisor (LVA) play $10, receive $10 in free play coupon. Ann cashed out at $3.75 while I made $10. The next stop was the Gold Coast where we played similar coupons with Ann winning $17.50 and me a paltry $8.75. Our grand total was $40, 2 bottles of water (Ann) and 2 bloody Marys’s (me).
It was now lunch time so we headed east on Flamingo to 9091 LA Style. This restaurant offers limited outside seating and serves Korean-style tacos so we ordered a special that included 4 tacos (1 pollo and 3 with Korean BBQ beef) plus a 20-ounce diet Pepsi. The beef tacos were superior to the one with chicken. Each included a medium sized portion of thinly cut, crispy, sweet potato fries. ($5, KSHP, 3.5 Forks)
I spent the remainder of the afternoon reading (5%) and napping (95%). In the meantime, Ann hit her first quad deuces of the trip.
In the late afternoon we watched the first half of the UCONN (men) versus Syracuse basketball game before heading off to the South Point Casino for the Friday night happy hour featuring $2 drinks. We started off with merlots ($5, 2.5 Sips) at the Silverado bar and then upgraded both physically and quality wise to Tequila Mockingbirds (tequila, triple sec, blue Curacao and pineapple juice) at the upstairs Tequila Bar. ($5, 4 Sips)
Dinner tonight was at Sabor, an upscale Mexican restaurant that we first visited last September.
http://www.thesabor.com/ We received complimentary house made tortilla chips with two delicious salsas and a black bean dip plus small bowls containing cumin seeds and coriander that have been roasted.
We started off sharing a nopales salad (not so crispy cactus with diced tomatoes, sweet corn, pearl onions and cilantro that was dressed in light vinaigrette and finished with queso fresca and pine nuts).
Ann chose the Quajillo scallops as an entrée; scallops with a spicy quajillo chili rub that were sautéed and finished with sweet corn, caramelized onions and sundried tomatoes. Not to be outdone, I ordered Mole Negro Oaxaqueno (a large portion of grilled chicken covered in Mom’s, actually his mother-in-law’s, deep brown mole and fried plantains). We concluded this bountiful feast by sharing a flan Napolitano with homemade caramel and whipped cream. ($41.78, R.com, 4 Forks)
03/12 Last night was an early to bed and I rose early this morning so I was hopeful I would be wealthy and wise today. I am not sure of the being wise part, but I did manage to hit #’s 4 and #5 quad deuces.
Our destination for breakfast was Addiction in Rumor Boutique Hotel. http://www.rumorvegas.com/ The small dining room, done in various shades of white, was serviced by only one waitress. Ann chose the silver dollar Butterfinger & mascarpone pancakes with maple syrup and a coffee. I selected an egg white scramble with spinach, roasted red peppers, and sundried tomatoes that were accompanied by breakfast potatoes (lukewarm) and sourdough toast. The food was pretty average so it is unlikely we will be returning in the future. ($16.97, R.com, 2 Forks)
We made the short drive to the Planet Hollywood parking garage in order to tour the new the Cosmopolitan. http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/ The 3-story Chandelier bar is impressive as is some of the public art, but what will probably have us retuning will be one of their reasonably priced, by Strip standards, restaurants. (3.5 Claps)
On returning to Sam’s, we each put in a short losing VP session.
In the late afternoon we again made our way to Boulder Station where Ann enjoyed a merlot while I sipped on a really bad frozen margarita before ordering a draft beer. ($3, LVA, 2 Sips)
We then made a relatively traffic-free drive to the Cannery in North Las Vegas where we held dinner reservations at Waverly’s Steakhouse. http://www.cannerycasino.com/files/Waverlys_combined_menu.pdf
The room is tastefully decorated and service throughout our meal was excellent.
We decided to pass on appetizers/salads in
favor of an order of delicious sautéed spinach.
We each chose grilled halibut for an entree that came with au gratin
potatoes. Everything was excellent
though our halibut was overdone and dry.
We did not return the fish because we were under tight time constraints
since we would be seeing a show immediately following. ($45.15, R.com, 2.5 Forks)
As we exited the restaurant, I was amazed by the long line snaking across the casino for the Legends of Motown Old School Tribute show. The large cast of impersonators covered songs by Gladys Knight & the Pips, O’Jays, Al Green, Temptations, Four Tops, Spinners, Marvelettes, James Brown plus a few others. The impersonations ranged from pretty good to mediocre. After 2 hours, my butt was in serious pain from sitting on the very hard fold-up chairs. ($9, KSHP, 2.5 Claps)
03/13 During an otherwise forgettable VP session, I drew the 2 cards needed for my first royal flush of the trip.
We decided to celebrate our new found wealth by having brunch at Bernard’s Bistro by the Lake in MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas. We arrived at 10AM only to discover they now start serving the brunch at 10:30AM so we decided to visit the spa at the recently reopened and renamed Ravella Hotel. Business this morning was slow so an employee gave us a personal tour of the beautiful facilities.
http://www.ravellavegas.com/features-activities/spa.asp
The weather was in the low 70’s so we decided to sit on the patio. I was a bit taken back by the increase in menu prices, approximately 35%, since our last visit in December. Ann again ordered the quiche Florentine with petite salad while I chose the Cordon Bleu omelet served with breakfast potatoes. Both dishes were deftly executed and delicious. ($22.30, R.com, 3.5 Forks)
As we were enjoying our meal and the balmy
temperatures, approximately 30 high-priced sports cars entered the plaza After exiting the patio, we enjoyed viewing
the many Lotus’, Ferraris and Porches on display.
On our return to the room we read the newspaper before putting in relatively long sessions at the FPDW machines where I registered a small loss.
