tr 8/22 - 8/29

Better a little late than never. I%26#39;ve gotten so much info off of TA that I wanted to make sure to do my part and give back!

Traveling were just myself (33) and my husband (41) on our 4th trip to Vegas.

Flight out of Chicago on Southwest: No probs getting into airport or checking luggage. Had ';A'; boarding passes and were first in the A line. Flying out on a Wednesday morning, didn%26#39;t think the flight would be crowded. WRONG! Yikes! After all of the preboards, we got on only to find that the flight was still 1/2 full from wherever it came from. Hubby and I grabbed the emergency row on the wing so not to have to sit with anyone. LOTS of kids on the plane - and of course there was Johnny-Are-We-There-Yet that we got to listen to the whole time. Thank god for portable dvd player!

Arrived at McCarran on time (approx 1pm) - no problems getting baggage or getting shuttle to Flamingo.

Hotel: Stayed at Flamingo. Check in was fine - 10 mins or so. Hubby caved and we upgraded to the GO room for xtra 25 per night (booked reg room at 60 per night and 90 on weekend - not bad)

Hotel was very easy to navigate through. I get frustrated having to trek 14 miles to get from room to front door.

Unpacked clothes and cursed the baggage handlers for managing to squish all of the shampoo, conditioner and other now hazardous material that I usually carried on... Afore mentioned materials were (I thought) securely packed in double ziplock bags. Goo everywhere. Kudos, TSA!

Called Housekeeping for more hangers hich arrived promptly, hung clothes got room in order and went out to explore hotel. Found Pool - got hours, rules, etc, Restauraunts and Misc. ways out of hotel.

Went out to wander around until dinner time. Walked through Mirage, Treasure Island and Harrahs. Hubby wanted picture with Harrah showgirl but she was on break (too bad!)

went back to Flamingo and ate dinner at buffet - food was ok but was better last time. Not alot of choices. After dinner, wandered around strip some more and just called it a night due to tired day of travel. Gettin%26#39; old!!

Some hotel issues:

VERY difficult to get towels, soap, etc. I actually asked if the hotel supplies soap and lotion. eventually got it - never saw soap tho. Got some from Walgreens.

Hubby%26#39;s deodorant went missing. Who would take deodorant????

Room was really warm. Didn%26#39;t notice it right away - stay out late come back and crash - wake up and go again. Eventually we noticed that it just wasn%26#39;t cooling off (This WAS August in Vegas..). The temp was sitting at 75 degrees. Made a few calls and a few trips to the desk and got the ';OK - someone will come up';. By the time we realized that there were no changes it was the 2nd to last day and I wasn%26#39;t going to ask for a new room for 1 night...

Pain in the butt but nothing to go ballistic about. I%26#39;m trying to get the upgrade charge refunded...

Thursday:

Breakfast at Bill%26#39;s Gamblin%26#39; and then out to sightsee more. Got Monorail pass and rode all the way to Sahara. Played some low-limit games and checked out Nascar Cafe (big fans!).

Walked back South stopping at hotels along the way and mainly people watching.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday consisted mainly of being lazy at the pool all day until 3 or 4 then going out for dinner and then misc. wandering around the strip. By the way, my best girlfriend (35) had a high-speed-come-apart at work and flew out to join us Sat-Wed to get away for a few days so now we had someone to covort with.

Drinks at the pool were WAY too expensive at $10 a pop for a 12oz plastic cup.

KIDS KIDS KIDS - I know a touchy subject.. Could not get over it - they were everywhere!

Made an interesting observation while wandering around the strip day or night. There are a series of different walks in Vegas:

There%26#39;s the ';Walk and Stop'; which happens when the person in front of you is walking and just STOPS usually to take a picture or point something out. This person often gets mad at YOU for running into them.

Then there%26#39;s the ';Walk and Drift'; where the person is walking but drifts off to the side into oncoming traffic (usually into YOU while you are walking the opposite direction) because they are looking at all of the pretty lights and buildings...

My favoirite had to be the ';Walk and Spin';. I witnessed this one only a couple of times but it brought quite a laugh. Person is walking - almost doing the drift because he or she is looking upward. They then decide that they have to take it ALL in and do a complete 360 while walking. This has EVERY time resulted in a collision.

These different walks resulted in hubby getting into at least 5 almost-fights and gal-pal and me getting into about the same.

People definately leave their brains at the airport!

Places we ate: Bally%26#39;s dinner buffet - really good! Battista%26#39;s - very good as well - it%26#39;s shame they%26#39;re closing - a server said that she thought they would be going into one of the hotels but they don%26#39;t tell the staff much. If you haven%26#39;t heard, they are building a sports arena

East of the strip and alot of businesses have been levelled.

I digress..

Had a couple casual dinners at Hooters and Harley Davidson Cafe.

I asked hubby to have ONE nice (pricey) dinner while we were there - I wanted to go to Hugo%26#39;s Cellar. never made it. Guess who forgot to pack anything other than shorts and t-shirts. Coincidence???

Also went to Rio%26#39;s Seafood Buffet - which has gotten mixed reviews but we all LOVED it! My girlfriend is a real picky seafood person and she said it was great. Definately worth the price (40 per person) and finally Cheesecake Factory. No bad dining experiences whatsoever. Prices have gone up alot. We never got away with less than $50 for 2 people. And some of this, we%26#39;re just talking casual dining - burger, sandwich, etc..

Things that make you go ';GRRRRRRR';

If I EVER see another timeshare person, it will be too soon. We started out with the nice ';no thank you';%26#39;s but by the time our trip was over, they were close to getting 4-letter explatives. They have quadrupled in the last couple of years. If people can%26#39;t afford to pay their own mortgages these days - how do these people think that people can buy a timeshare??? It%26#39;s beyond me.

The best part:

Hubby is IN to collecting the ';direct to you'; cards. It%26#39;s his #1 Vegas hobby. By the time we are done walking on any given night, his pockets weigh an extra 10 pounds. In 7 days he had enough to fill a duffle bag. Why? He and his buddy are making a wall-sized poster/mural out of them for their ';guy rooms'; in our homes. Did I mention that he was 41. Lord help me. 2nd favorite passtime is finding cards that bear the names of me and my girlfriends or HIS friends%26#39; wives...

Remaing few days were similar to hanging at pool and going out at night. Peole watching and making fun of them. Went to Stratosphere Tower and saw ';Mystere'; which was very good.

Flight home came way too soon and was unremarkable. No kids this time.

Thinking we won%26#39;t go back for 2 years or so. There%26#39;s alot of construction right now so we%26#39;ll let things settle and see what%26#39;s new. Hopefully prices go down. More catering to high-rollers and celebrities these days. Driving the normal traveller/tourist away.

Hope you enjoyed!

tr 8/22 - 8/29

Great trip report!

tr 8/22 - 8/29

';These different walks resulted in hubby getting into at least 5 almost-fights and gal-pal and me getting into about the same.';

Wow that would have been another interesting sight. As John O%26#39;Hurley would say on Seinfeld, '; a good old fashioned cat fight';.

Ilike the wall sized mural idea your hubby has. Remember we guys just can never grow up completely.

definitely enjoyed your report!

Enjoyed your TR! How funny-we are from Chicago too-My husband 41 and me 34! I thought I was misreading when I read this (even though you are 33!) in Your TR!!!!!

Good report. Thanks for being honest about almost getting in the fights. That is one problem I always have. That is why my friends and I mostly go during the week instead of the weekends. Yes, it%26#39;s always crowded but a Tuesday compared to a Friday or Saturday is so much better.

Enjoyable TR next time i would rent a car for the 14 mile walk to front door lol.

oh gosh.. you are so old.... make sure to bring a walker next time.. people will still run into you but will feel bad about running into an old person in a walker.

Only joking.... (I%26#39;m 52.. I can kid you about being old)...

Great tr. Glad you had fun! Next time, pack your hubbies nice clothes in with yours without him knowing it. No excuses then.

I%26#39;ll sneak in a %26#39;his good night out%26#39; outfit after reading this review !! Thanks for posting but did you do any gambling?

Thanks for the great, informative report, savvykat. We happened to be behind some of those ';Walk and Stops'; too...lol

We need to sell people prods...maybe an air horn type of thing to finance more trips.