My dad was going to be turning 70, and he wanted to do something different than cruising for his birthday, so we booked a trip to Las Vegas. I would be flying in from Connecticut, Sue would be flying in from Florida, and my dad would be driving. For an added bonus, my cousin Michelle and her fiancé Michael would be flying in mid-trip from Texas to surprise my father. As with all great plans, this one hit a snafu about ten days before my dad was slated to leave when he threw his back out. His initial road trip plan had been to visit Sea World San Antonio and Sea World San Diego on the way to Las Vegas, so he had allotted additional travel time. With his back injury he had to revamp the plan to leave later and drive a straight shot to Vegas instead, which gave him a little extra time to heal. It didn’t really help in the end, and his mobility was unfortunately limited for the duration of the trip. In any case, here we go!
Tuesday, October 4th, 2016
My flight to Vegas didn’t leave till about noon, which meant I had to drive myself to the airport and park for the duration. After going online to Bradley Airport’s website I decided to shoot for lot 5, which was the cheapest by about a dollar a day. I arrived at Bradley and started heading to lot 5, and while I did trip across the cell lot in my travels, I gave up before arriving at lot 5 and opted to use lot 4 instead. Lot 5 just seemed unreasonably far from the main road, and I later found out it was really their overflow lot, and wasn’t open except at peak times anyway. I took the shuttle from the parking lot to the airport, checked my bag, sailed through security, and ended up with about two hours left to kill. The flight was uneventful, but I was surprised when we were landing in Vegas to see how close to the strip we actually came in. It felt like we were flying between the buildings! My plan was to take the $9 shuttle from the airport to Treasure Island. If you travel to Vegas, I recommend a different plan than the shuttle. I bought my ticket and was directed to line #4, where three ladies were already waiting. About ten minutes after I got in line, a van pulled up right in front of us, but he told us he was for line #6. Another ten minutes and the #4 van arrived, but once we boarded we sat there for an additional twenty minutes. Luckily I was staying at the first stop, but the forty minute wait was a bit ridiculous, and I decided I would take a taxi on my return to the airport.
My dad had already checked in, and was waiting for me in front of the hotel on a bench. He brought me back to the room so I could drop off my luggage, and we grabbed a slice of pizza while we waited for Sue to arrive (her flight was coming in two hours after mine). I had texted Sue from the shuttle bus recommending that she take a taxi instead, so she got to Treasure Island quicker than I did. When she got there we brought her back to the room to drop her carryon off (my dad had brought her actual luggage in his van, and it was already in the room), and then headed to happy hour at the steak house on property. We spent a quiet evening at the hotel, since we were both tired from our trip, and made plans to check out the local NASCAR track the next morning.
Wednesday, October 5th, 2016
We grabbed a light breakfast from Starbucks, gambled a little to kill some time till the NASCAR track opened, and then headed out on our road trip. We arrived at the track’s gift shop to pick up a tour, and were told that unfortunately their tour van had been in an accident a few days prior and was still in the shop. It was slated to be returned to them that afternoon, but until they got it back there would be no tours. They told us we could drive ourselves into the track area to look around, just not onto the track itself. So that’s what we did. This was my first NASCAR track, and it was kind of amazing how big these things are, and how many people they hold. They are huge! We took some pictures, chatted with a security guard, and then headed back to the strip. Since my dad wasn’t up to walking, he offered to drop me & Sue off at the Bellagio so I could see the fountain show, and we could work our way back to Treasure Island. When he dropped us off, there were two gentlemen already waiting for the show, and after a few minutes I asked them if they knew when it was scheduled to start. They didn’t, so I asked the caricature guy behind us and he said the show started and 3pm and went off every hour. Since it was only noon, this wasn’t going to work out, so I decided to try to catch it later in the week. From there we went across the street and down the alley between the Flamingo and Harrah’s to check out the High Roller, which we had tickets for on Friday. After walking to it we determined it would be too long a hike for my dad, so we would taxi there instead. Sue & I decided to stop in to Margaritaville for a cocktail, and we ended up splitting some yummy pretzel sticks as well. While the drinks and the food were good, the Margaritaville itself was disappointing. They had the giant blender that typically fills with margarita-like liquid when Margaritaville is played, but instead it just had a couple of inches of sludge-water, and never filled up no matter what song played. Anyway, from there we wanted to check out Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar bar, which was in Harrah’s. Now that was a fun bar! Friendly barkeeps, and well-poured cocktails. Their actual drink menu was fairly spendy, but for a 24 ounce Captain Morgan and diet coke it only cost me $13 plus tip, which isn’t as bad as it sounds considering the cost of things in Vegas. After that we continued our way up the strip, stopping at CVS so I could pick up some chapstick. The air in Vegas is bone-dry, and I was having some issues with dry lips and skin already. We finally made it back to Treasure Island by late afternoon and met up with my dad. None of us were overly hungry so we opted to grab a slice of pizza instead of a big meal, and then took a taxi to Fremont Street, where they have a three block long overhead canopy that displays a light show on the hour. Very cool. We had cocktails at the Golden Nugget after the light show, and chatted a bit with the bartender. He was from Albania, according to his name tag, and when I made the mistake of asking what brought him to Vegas, he told me the longest story imaginable. Seriously, it just went on and on and on. After we got back to the hotel, we spent a little time at Gilley’s (a country bar in the hotel), and then headed up to the room.
Thursday, October 6th, 2016
After a quick bite and coffee at Starbucks we drove out to see Hoover Dam. The drive there was a bit terrifying, since it’s all windy roads on the edge of a cliff, but we finally arrived and got to see the dam. We didn’t do the tour, but I did overhear a neat story about a dog who ultimately ended up being interred in the dam itself. Here is a link to the story if you are interested – http://americacomesalive.com/2012/08/19/the-dog-on-the-hoover-dam/. The dam was very interesting, and afterward we made a brief stop at the Ethel M factory. The tour was unfortunately closed for remodeling and was slated to reopen just a few days after we left town, but I did get to buy some chocolate to bring home. Yummy! My dad wanted to rest his back, so Sue & I went over to the Mirage to see Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden, a sanctuary where some of their lions and tigers live, along with a dolphin cove area. It was a lot of fun, and I took a ton of pictures trying to capture a good shot of the white lion. He kept walking right in front of me, but I couldn’t seem to catch him looking at me. After we were done with the Secret Garden, I made the unfortunate suggestion to stop at the lobby bar in the Mirage for a change of scenery. There were two bartenders on: one who was clearly in a bad mood and looked vaguely like Penn Gillette, and another who was clearly in training, and I’d bet a good sum of money that he didn’t last the week. We were greeted by the trainee, and when we asked for separate checks before he rang us up, he got totally confused and had to ask for help. The real tipping point, though, was when a gentleman from Australia came over and asked the trainee for a scotch. The trainee looked at him blankly, so he clarified by saying “You know, whiskey?” The trainee held up a bottle of Jack Daniels in response. So the poor guy says no, giving up on hopes of scotch and asking instead for Jameson. The trainee tells him they don’t have any, despite the two clearly visible bottles on the bar. The Aussie then spots a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and manages to get the trainee to pour it for him, but watching the whole thing was just painful. If you think Jack Daniels is scotch, you have no business behind a bar. After we finished we located my dad and made plans to check out the Mirage volcano at 8pm, a must-see if you are in Vegas. The volcano show was great, and while we were waiting I saw a Pikachu go up to Olaf from Frozen, take off their heads, and have a smoke. Later, I saw two Pikachus AT THE SAME TIME! Being raised as a Disney kid, this lack of continuity was mind boggling, but I guess anything goes in Vegas. We grabbed a good night cocktail back at the hotel, and then called it a night.
Friday, October 7th, 2016
Today is my dad’s 70th birthday, and we have big plans for this afternoon, so we stayed around the hotel for the morning. We all got up at different times, so we met at the lobby bar area, where you could also get coffee. While we there I eyeballed the roulette table, and decided to place one bet in honor of my dad’s birthday. So I put five dollars down on the line between and 7 and the 10. Want to guess what came up? 17, which was pretty funny under the circumstances. Anyway, at 3:30 we were going to meet my cousin Michelle and her fiancé, Michael, at the High Roller. The High Roller is basically a giant ferris wheel that has bar cars in it where you can do the Happy Half Hour, consisting of one complete circle and unlimited cocktails for the duration. We tried to manage it so my cousin arrived before us, but it didn’t quite work out that way and she got there five minutes after us. Sue & I stalled to the best of our ability, but it was obvious we were waiting for someone to meet us. Still, my dad was totally surprised to see that Michelle and Michael had flown in from Texas to spend his birthday with him! We had all pre-purchased tickets, giving us a $5 discount on the regular pricing, so after a few minutes of chit chat we just headed up the ramp to the wheel. The wheel never actually stops, it just moves really slowly, but we all made it onboard without difficulty, and were promptly greeted by our bartender. There were bench seats along the edges of the car, so you didn’t need to stand the entire time. At the very top of the wheel they did a countdown and gave each of us a shot, which was a nice touch. They also refilled any drinks we wanted at the end so we could bring the rest with us when we disembarked. It was a really cool experience, the views from the top were spectacular, and I would recommend it to anybody.
From there we took a taxi over to Caesars, where we had 6pm reservations for dinner. The taxi got stuck in crazy traffic due to the time of day, but we made it with plenty of time to spare. Our dinner was at a restaurant called Searsucker, which was excellent, and not insanely pricey by Vegas standards, although definitely not cheap either. Since I had discovered by now that Vegas portions were ridiculously large, I opted to order an appetizer for my meal, and chose the grilled cheese and creamy tomato soup. It was by far the best of those items I’ve ever had, and the size worked out perfectly for me. After dinner we walked over to the Bellagio for the fountains show, which was spectacular. I had seen videos of the show before, but they did not compare to seeing it in person. From there we headed to the Mirage to try to catch the 9pm volcanic eruption. After the volcano erupted, we headed back to our hotels (Michelle & Michael were staying at Wynn, right across the street from Treasure Island). We made tentative plans to attend the Cirque de Soleil show the next night, assuming we could still get tickets in the morning.
Saturday, October 8th, 2016
By the morning my dad’s back was not doing well, probably from the extra walking the day before, and he decided to rest in the room for the bulk of the day. We were able to get the Cirque tickets, and we made plans to meet Michael and Michelle for dinner at 5pm, giving us plenty of time before the show at 7:30. To pass the time, Sue and I did some gambling, and grabbed a light lunch at Gilley’s. Basically we ordered a side dish of macaroni and cheese and split it, and even that we couldn’t finish. It was yummy, though! After lunch we headed back to the slots. I had introduced Sue to the Batman slot machine, and we had both been doing fairly well with those, so we decided to stick with them. My dad came down and met us around 4pm, and shortly after that we ran into Michelle & Michael, who had come over early. Since the restaurant didn’t open till 5pm, we hung out in the adjacent mojito bar. Dinner was very good, and a bit less fancy that the day before, although still very tasty. After dinner we headed to the show, which was excellent as well. Our seats were toward the back, which almost worked out better than being close to the stage, since Cirque shows have a lot of things going on at all sections of the stage, and it is easier to catch more of it from farther back. After the show we parted ways, and after a final Vegas cocktail with my dad and Sue, I headed up to the room to pack. My flight was the next morning at 8am, which meant I would be getting up at 5am to catch a taxi to the airport.
Sunday, October 9th, 2016
I got up promptly at 5am, got dressed, grabbed my luggage and headed out. There was no waiting for a taxi, and I was at the airport by about 5:45am. I checked in, went through security, grabbed some breakfast, and played the slots for a bit to kill time. If you have to be stuck in an airport, Vegas is a pretty entertaining option. The flight left on time, and I returned home without incident. That’s it for this trip – see you in December, when I take a girls’ cruise to the Caribbean!