Vegas Vacation at the Start of COVID 2020
Day 1 (Friday early flight) -learning to play blackjack - cheap flights 50 bucks - suits and dress up for fun - airplane ride- sick - In and Out - Cosmopolitan Comped Room - Meet Buddy - Steak Dinner -- Slot Machines
The first trip I took with my future wife was taking her to Las Vegas. We met in the Spring of 2020 and by August I had decided with the urging of a friend to go to Vegas. Vegas was still sort of closed due to the shutdown, however it was open enough that you could go super cheap and play/gamble with plastic glass around u haha. My/friend who frequents Vegas a lot had room comps that were going to expire unless they were used. The room comp was for a wrap-around balcony suite at the Cosmopolitan, which is baller. The only hotel really on the strip with a balcony and it's a big one, a double wrap around suite. For the room comp, you needed to spend a certain amount of money at the resort so anything I spent we would put under George’s name so he could make his room comp quotas. Vegas is a strange place and has a lot of things like that for people who are spending their hard earned money and usually literally losing it to the casinos. All the casinos are big, bright and glittery. They all have as much alcohol you want to drink (as long as you are gambling) so that you will spend more of your money on the slots, or at the tables especially with no clocks and cold a/c and special cigarette vents. The flights were super cheap, I found them for 50 dollars each both ways and only spent 200 on airfare on a nonstop flight from Orlando and our room was comped. I felt like I could take my babe and have a fun weekend and maybe gamble a lil for fun. I'm not legalistic so to me its like playing the stock market and it's not like I'm lusting after money or doing it often. It was just a certain amount of entertainment that I budgeted to loose. Not only that but the Cosmopolitan was opposite the Bellagio and on the Vegas strip so we should have a view of the famous fountains as well as the neon signage going down the streets.
My honeybear worked until 11 and then met me at my house at 12, we had a 2PM flight and as she didn’t want to take a lot of time off work, time was of the essence. She loaded her bags into my date night truck (as I like to call it) and we got into the vehicle. We had decided to dress the part and I had bought a new suit jacket and she was in a short dress. I had always wanted to go to Vegas and jump in a pool with a full suit on. There is a movie out there about this. I didn’t do it this time, but there is always next time. However, if I go to Vegas again it will be for all the shows.
I had a deck of cards and I was going to teach Phoebe how to play Blackjack Vegas style. I told her we could sit at the 10 dollar tables and play some games. I would give her a stack of 200 and she could play it at the table as long as she followed my rules!. Lol. Once the chips were gone, they were gone. Then we could do something else. I was driving and pretending I was the dealer and she was playing cards and telling me if she should hit or stay. I practiced with her all the way to the airport and she was starting to get the hang of it. I have to say that I am a pretty good teacher. Pride before the fall.
We were really rushing and cutting time close, as a domestic flight on a Friday we got there an hour before. Spirit flights are brutal because they nickel and dime you for everything. We had to pay extra for an extra bag and Phoebe, my girlfriend at the time, was struggling with the mask. She preferred wearing shields as she has asthma and the mask was making it hard for her to breath. She would take the mask and stick her finger under to give her some space to breathe. She is more of a rule follower than me. When we got onto the Spirit flight we were excited because we were right up at the front, literally row 1, but we were so crammed into the wall that there was NO legroom. Literally 2 feet in front of our face. Not only that but we were in the stewards' sights so the moment they saw us taking some relief from the masks they were on us and threatening us. They literally told me if I took my mask off one more time (just to drink) that they would put me on the NO FLY list for Spirit. So since I am not public enemy number one I kept my mask on. My honey read and tried to sleep, and she was still struggling with breathing. I tried to help her by giving her water, but by the time we were off the flight she had motion sickness. She was feeling terrible. And so did I because of that darn wall.
It was about 4 in the afternoon when we arrived, it was a 3 hour straight shot flight and we gained a couple of hours by traveling into a different time zone. I was super excited and gathered the bags for us. She was wretched and complaining. We went outside and it was August and summer it was about 100 degrees. Phoebe had thought the heat wouldn’t be worse than Florida since we have humidity and they don’t. She was wrong though. Vegas summer sun and heat is intense and unbearable. Some days it was almost 110! We hopped into the cab and she leaned her head against the window. I began to instruct the Uber Driver to take us to the famous In-N-Out Burger.
An aside about In-N-Out, there are none on the East Coast. So what does one do? They get all their In-N-Out when they go to the West Coast! We made, I think, 3 separate trips to the burger joint and each one, in my humble opinion, was delicious. I get the Animal Style Double Double and I ordered something for Phoebe. She was still very ill and when she ate (because she was sick) she said it didn’t live up to the hype.
Well darling, I hate to tell you that is the way hype is, when you hype something up too much it's never as good as you imagine it could be. But I bet if we asked her right now if she would like an In-N-Out burger she would say yes and she would want one animal style!!. That is the one with grilled onions! And the secret sauce, It’s an amazing flavor that I crave. Any of my friends when they travel to California or somewhere with an In-N-Out, they send bragging pictures of their meal. I was truly disappointed when my babe didn’t like it, but we can blame the mask-intense flight for that. She was nauseous and no matter how good food is, when you are nauseous nothing tastes great.
(Back of the cab photo I was so excited to brag to friends.) Well even if she didn’t I felt great and so I comforted my honey and happily directed the Uber Driver to take us to the Cosmopolitan. He was telling us some interesting facts about Vegas in the summer. One of the weird facts that he shared was that the streets in Vegas stink because of the way the sewers are made. We didn’t notice any stench but we believe what the Uber driver told us. When we drove up to the Cosmopolitan we realized what a beautiful building and hotel we were in. It was really a treat for the eyes. We went to the parking area where cabs were dropping people off and were let out. Tipping the driver, I grabbed my hun’s hand and said, “I can’t believe it's this nice!” Not only the building was impeccable and looked brand-new with glowing neon signs and decadent modern ambience, but the people seemed well dressed and sophisticated, if a few of them seemed a little sloshy it didn’t detract from the ambience by rather seemed to scream, “WELCOME TO VEGAS!”
Seriously, it was way nicer than I ever expected it to be. We were going to meet George who comped us the room and I texted him to let him know that we were there. He came downstairs and we all went to the front desk. The lobby was done as if it were a library with tall pillars of fake bookshelves and periodically the decor shifted when the lights changed. George got us the room key and we all went up to the room. The room was nothing short of amazing, a little rich for our blood, but it was great. It was like a two bedroom apartment. WHAT! Really a whole apartment, not even a room. It had a kitchen, a bathroom, a separate bedroom, a living room, a place to eat, and a double wrap-around balcony. Not only that but we were half way up the building and we could see the Bellagio fountain from our room. This fountain went off it seemed every couple of hours and was pretty impressive with all the different patterns.
We toured the Cosmopolitan and we tried a few games. Phoebe wasn’t feeling so great about playing the slots, but she pressed the button. She wanted levers she said. Where were the 5 cent slot machines? She asked me. The games or slots are very short and quick and she lost interest as she isn’t really a gambling type. We decided that we would celebrate our arrival to our destination and try some great food and planned to leave after George got his fill. After looking at a few of the electronic slot games we headed to STK for a fancy pants diner in our Vegas finery. The food was mouth wateringly delicious and George, my friend who loves croutons, had a whole bowl! Admittedly, they might have been the best croutons I ever had in my life, but still a whole bowl of them?. I took a moment to spin my lady around the restaurant and danced a few steps with her in the Cosmo as we started calling it.
We ordered saliva inducing steaks and the food was what you would expect from one of the top 10 steakhouses in the country. I don’t really know if this is true, but George kept telling us this. After eating there, I would say it probably is one of the best in the country. And after doing a search I found that there is one in Orlando and so I may go there one day again. After dinner, George wanted to play in the Cosmopolitan and Phoebe was still not feeling the greatest. She was stuffed and she said she was super tired. She told us to go play since it was getting late and so me and George went and caught up at the Cosmopolitan and my babe went to take a nap.
Day 2 (Saturday) - Egg$lvt -- French Crepes for Lunch -- Canal Boat trip with singer -- Day tour of all the Casinos, Bellagio -- Shopping macaroons -- Gambling and much at old casino getting kicked out -- Secret Pizza
We woke up and admired the view, having a coffee out the balcony. My honey was excited about the high tech system they had installed in the refrigerator. If you picked a drink up from the spot your room would charge you, because the refrigerator and certain spots on the counter were weighted. This is real Indiana Jones Fort Knox type room charging they have. After staring at the giant poster of Britthey and the Vegas strip we decided we would try the hilariously named Egg$lvt for breakfast. George was nowhere to be found and we made plans to meet up with him later that night through text. We had some sort of runny egg sandwich and my babe felt better.
After Egg$lvt , I decided I would take my love to do a tour of the strip. We started across the street at the Bellagio. They had a huge Asian exhibit and Hello Kitty was everywhere. My honey’s besties love Hello Kitty so she was taking selfies with the giant floral beast and I photobombed her. We took some pictures to send to friends and family. Each hotel has a gimmick to draw in visitors. Bellagio has gardens and the fountain, Cosmopolitan has a ton of restaurants, MGM is movie themed, New York New York looks like a mini city on the outside and has a mini statue of liberty and rollercoaster, Paris has a mini eiffel tower and a shopping mall and the venetian had indoor canals. Phoebe let me know that one of her friend’s got proposed to at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Vegas and then asked if we could go up. Just walking down the street or New Vegas Strip there is a myriad of cool architecture, places to visit, unique themes, great food. I wasn’t going to take my honey to the top of the tower just yet, I didn’t want to disappoint her as I didn’t have a ring. After the Bellagio, we got a couple 25 dollar chips from there for a keepsake. I was planning on giving them to the boys. I grabbed Phoebe and took her into the Paris
Paris in Vegas is the one that has the giant hot air balloon in neon and the mini eiffel tower. At the Venetian, you can go inside and ride the canals. They have singers singing Opera and serenading you as you get boated around. The singer stands at the side of the canal and sings “Oh solo mia” in their best operatic voices. Every song or two they switch and people cheer as they float by. After the boat ride, I always remember to do something cheesy and silly for her, so I said let’s shop on Le Boulevard. We bought some french Macaroons and some other little treats and delicacies. I could tell she felt good with her little gift bags and paper shopbags as we walked and shopped. Normally, I try to be healthy, but I took my honey to a little cafe inside and we ordered chocolate and nutella crepes and a coffee. She was grinning most of the time ear to ear. Afterwards we walked down to the MGM Grand to see the big lion, we walked by New York New York, in the sweltering heat. This hotel has a rollercoaster. Snapped a picture of us by the mini statue of liberty and then we went inside the Excalibur. So we toured at least 6 of the casinos and then I was ready for some animal style!
We made another stop at In-N-Out and this time my girlfriend enjoyed it a lot more. We ordered the double-double again animal style. For a bargain and fast food it really is quick and yummy. Tonight was the night we were going to play some tables. We were going to hit up the Palms Casino. Vegas is getting too techy and too electronic and also too in favor of the house. The dealers now in places like Bellagio and Cosmo have at least 8 decks of electronic shufflers that are under the table. There are 8 decks so you can’t count, (which you shouldn’t do) plus they purposefully program the shoot based on the people sitting at the table, so the dealers get 20 or better a lot. I have suspicions that the decks are controlled by Big Brother and so I prefer to find hand-shuffled tables. There are only a few places that do this and one of them is the Palms in order to lure players there since it's off the strip.
It was a night to hit tables like I said. Me and George and my honey would sit at a table and play Blackjack together. I wanted to sit at a table and play for a while. I didn’t want to win or lose, I just wanted to find a table to sit in and really have some fun playing with her. I wanted the chip stacks to go up and to go down. I am not a major gambler, not a poker player (although I have played) I am not the type to sit at a high stakes table, but I did want to play a bit with her. She was so nervous playing with the money it was a thrill.
When you got to the Palms, it’s an older casino with a couple hand-shuffled tables, you had to wear masks and they had temperature camera set ups at all the entrances. Vegas is pretty high tech so it took your temperature and video as you walked in. Security could look at monitors and the number of your temperature above your head. Phoebe peeked at the camera as people were walking in. People with good temperatures were green numbered. No one that came in had a fever. Also because of COVID restrictions there was no buffets, which Vegas used to be famous for, and the tables had only 3 people per table with big plastic sheets between everyone.
We played at the Palms for a while and then went to another Casino across the street. This one George managed to get us kicked out, not for drinking, not for obnoxiousness, but because apparently George was bending the corner slightly of the cards that he held in his hand. They asked him twice to not bend the cards. He said he didn't, they said he did, so then we got kicked out. Even if he was bending the cards, it wasn’t like he was winning. Oh well. On the side of the road we waited for an Uber to come and get us and my honey said, “That was the first place I have ever been kicked out of in my life.”
After another Casino, and my honey getting mad at me because she wanted to look around and play a lot of different games and I just wanted to tenaciously stick it out at one table win or lose, we headed back. We were in Vegas, we weren’t up or down a lot of money, but we were feeling giddy. The Uber driver told us that there was a secret place that had great pizza that was in the Cosmopolitan. We were like, “what, great secret pizza?” And he said, yes its some of the best pizza he ever had and its secret, like only the locals only really know about it. And we were like really, only the locals… And the Uber driver responded, yes, its on the second floor of the cosmopolitan and its down a long hallway, around a corner, and tucked away. It’s only a window but if you can find it, you won’t regret it.
So we excited went into the Cosmo, giggling and running like crazy trying to find the secret pizza that only locals knew about. We ran up to a security guard giggling and asked wheres the secret pizza, and he said upstairs, and then we asked him the name of it and he laughed and said its called secret pizza!!!!!. Haha. We went upstairs and then ran down this hallway, we turned a corner and found a long line to a hallway that looked like a bathroom hallway entrance. There was a huge line at like 1am. It was the “Secret Pizza.” line. The pizza literally wasn’t a secret at all! But it was really awesome and we took a whole giant pie up to our room to gnosh on.
-Notice the Masked Statue of Liberty. Haha lol-
Day 3 (Sunday) - Cosmopolitan Room Service -- Pool on the roof -- In-N-Out Burger -- Old Vegas Trip Freemont Street and Golden Nugget --
Something that is fun to do, and everyone should try when they have a balcony comped room is to try room service. My honeybear loves fruit and I wanted to show her a good time so I ordered a breakfast smorgasbord that would please a king, and therefore MIGHT please a girlfriend. She was wide eyed and so was I. A big beautiful plate and a big fruitbowl, eggs, toast, bacon and ham and an assortment of jellies and coffee was laid on a stainless steel trolley with a white table cloth. What a brilliant way to start the day. It was as if it came right from the silver screen complete with a flower carnation. We took the trolley to the balcony and we sat outside on the wraparound and talked about some plans that we might do that day. It was a good day to enjoy some of the amenities there was a rooftop pool and a gym. We should go enjoy the amenities, something I always like to do. My honey was still saying that she wanted to pull a level on a 5 cent slot machine like they had in the movies. I wasn’t sure where we could find these 5 cent slot machines, but I suggested we go to Old Town or Old Vegas and find an old school casino like the Golden Nugget. She loved that idea and we had heard while walking around there was nothing quite like Freemont Street for weird things to see. We lounged and enjoyed the room for a while before going to meet George for lunch at the pool.
The Cosmopolitan has a couple of rooftop pools, it’s quite large and as it is a rooftop pool it has an excellent view. Well it's not completely rooftop, it’s about 10 stories up. We snapped pictures and looked over the edge. We ate and enjoyed the pool. There were a lot of people in the sweltering heat of the Vegas summer sun in the pool. A lot of interaction too. George, who originally hails from Canada, would occasionally scream “CANADA” at the top of his lungs, where other partiers, vacationers, gamblers and pool goers would scream back Wooooohooo. My lady just grinned, and followed me around in the pool. We soaked in the pool, then dried in the sun, then back and forth, until we worked up an appetite for dinner.
We were going to Fremont for our last night and so we dressed to the nines. I did buy a suit jacket after all. My lady wore a red dress and I wore my blue suit jacket and we took an Uber to Fremont. They dropped us off at the end of the street. It’s hard to describe what Fremont is like, but it really isn’t like anywhere else I have ever been on Earth before. I thought there were a lot of neon lights on the New Las Vegas strip. I was wrong. Fremont takes it to a new level of neon. They have a GIANT LED screen that goes over the entire street. When you start at the end. Instantly your senses are dazzled with all the colors and the electronic music blasting.
There were also scam contests. For 20 bucks I participated in a pull up contest hanging on a bar on the side of the street. I won. They told me to come back at the end of the night to collect my prize money, but guess what when we came back they said they pay at the end of the night. haha.
We went into the Golden Nugget but I wasn’t really in the mood to do any cards or anything so it was just a quick look and then back to Fremont to check out different booths. We Ubered home pretty late and watched the Bellagio fountains one last time.
Old Vegas - Fremont Street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfjUNCeUu9U&list=PLyQInkjHDi3eEJPm2xvXW1dvULYylYar9
Day 4 (Monday Red Eye Flight)
This was just a short weekend trip, leave Friday and come back Monday. It was one of those get up before the crack of dawn while it is still pitch black and you want to be in the bed. The kind of morning where it isn’t really morning, it is still night and you have to will your body to painfully get up. Most people I think are probably like me, and they pack the morning of. So before you have some coffee sludge to get your blood going you have to make sure you have stuffed your bag with everything and make sure all lids to toothpaste, shampoo, mini Heinz ketchups that you are taking back or tabasco sauces (I have done both) and get it all stuffed in without leaving anything behind. Also making sure chargers, reading materials, jackets and everything else is where it needs to be. We had everything stuffed! I look around and my girlfriend is like a robot getting reading and then like a panicked grade schooler as it gets closer to the time to leave. “We have everything? Did you check under the tables and bed?” Then she invariably finds a stray earring or make-up bottle somewhere and then asks it all over again.
“We have everything!” I assure her and then start to push her out the door so we can catch the Uber to the airport. An early morning flight, plus the extra time added going East will make it so that we can’t really make it to work that day. One day and a half off my sweetie took off from work for a weekend trip, that is not that bad right.
