You hear about those "Free Trips" from the time share presentation that try to get you to buy one and take up half of your day. Well, below is our "Free Trip" from our half of day presentation. We paid the 50.00 a piece for taxes and 485.00 for an upgrade, so I guess it wasn't really a "Free Trip", but it could have been. We just wanted a different hotel and airfare. We looked at this trip that we paid 585.00 for the two of us. Hotel (that we wanted) airfare (that allowed us to be there longer), free shuttle and tons of coupons was pretty close to being a "Free Trip".
The plane lands and the adventure begins. I opted to try and do every ounce of
research I could before the trip I
anticipate this is going to be easy and breezy. I have read reviews from the
worst possible things imaginable happening to some of the best. As we approach our “free shuttle” ride I am a
little weary. However, it seems pretty good. Air conditioning, open space and
clean. I ease drop on the other passengers and it seems this is a “free trip”
for our other passengers as well. I start to dread that we will be going to the
same hotel, but to my relief I hear we are all getting off at different stops,
very nice. No one stop that better than the others, so I give myself a pat on
the back, not bad at all.
We are the last to be dropped off and finally here. A
typical Vegas style there is a lot of stuff going on and our hotel is actually
a conference center as well and there seems to be a pool tournament. There is a
never ending line for check in. We start to frown, but realize it is moving
rather fast and we have our room tickets before we even have time to be upset.
We sneak a peek at the not so glamorous pool, but we are not planning to lie
out there anyhow. After a little misleading on my part we find the elevator,
push and bam we have successfully made it to our steaming not so air-conditioned,
no view, and kind of smelly upgraded beautiful room. I think we are glad we passed on the “free stay”
and upgraded. I cannot even begin to
imagine what or where would be if we did not “upgrade”, next time perhaps. We
did not come to stay in this room anyhow, we got money to spend and places to
see, and VEGAS here we are.
Everyone needs a little fuel, so we manage to find a
stereotypical food court in our hotel to munch up on some Quiznos and head
out. Our luxurious stay is going to be
at the infamous classic old school stay Rivera! We will now leave our hotel, around
2 p.m. and we will not get back until around 4 a.m. We started our way down the
strip, making it to the very end of the very last hotel. Mandalay I believe it
was and then we turned around and headed our way back, just as planned. During this 14 hour trip we experienced more
things than I am sure to remember, but let me try to at least hit the basics.
*learning the pro/cons and getting signed up for players
cards
*everything is picture worthy
*spending way too much money for a very terrible side street
drink in an obnoxious sort of cup
*keeping a look out for any of our favorite Vegas reality
T.V. shows that may be happening
*experiencing the drunk/prostitute/radical/local dressed up
class act and many more
*noticing daylight move to dark, but having too much fun to
stop and eat
*spending hours at Flamingo’s (my favorite)
*started playing the games via computer than braving on up
to the table
*each hotel is like a new world
*craps is where it is at
*free shows offered along the way "The Pirate Show at Treasure Island"
It finally dawns on us that we are not 100% of the reality
of how our feet will handle the rest of the pavement. Worse case we can get a cab, but we both
secretly want to finish the adventure how we started. That is why we make such
a good team. Thankfully with the darkness it is not nearly as hot as the day
time was. We spend the walk comparing the parts of the strip and agree that we
are happy our hotel is at the end. It is definitely a much different pace. I
think the further away we get from the lights and action the more we realize
that our feet are begging us to stop. Unfortunately for Jason our room was not any cooler when we got in. I was pajamas on, teeth brushed, face cleaned and
out. Successful Vegas night# 1.
Day two we realized our feet were not so keen on all the
walking. We opted to get creative and look for a different route and to check
out the tram. We had to make a quick stop at the station for some rock stars
and then we were ready. It was a bit of walk through the stoplights, sweltering
sun, racing to beat the traffic cross, in between the woods and around the
fence, but to our surprise we came across another resort hotel. Making a future
note that it may be a good idea to stay there, to be off the strip, but having
the tram right up to your hotel was a bonus. It was over all pretty quit, we
walked in to this awesome looking club made ourselves at home, taking some
pictures and left with a definite come back here thought.
The tram was so worth it and actually kind of fun. You got a
different view of the hotels and strips. On some of the stops you would come up
from the back side of the hotels. You would see the workers and delivery
guys. I kind of like to be able to see
the reality of an everyday world in my time of vacation.
We made our stop at the closes one to get to
Aria. We had planned to make this our pool day experience. We are such “rule followers” we were worried
about getting in to the pool. Lidia had even given me her honeymoon hotel card
from when she and her beau had stayed there not too long ago. However, to our
surprise there was not any issue getting in to the pool, but we were also given
passes for a free drink and admission to liquid. This is the equivalent to a
bar, but in a pool. It was really cool, but in order to have a seat it was a
minimum 150 and not to mention for safety hazard we could not even have our
bags with us. I think I will pass. We scurry along on to a perfect spot, by one
of the multiple pools and we were set. Our bartender and waitress were
extremely friendly and other than a little more entertainment on the people
watching side we could not have asked for a better day.
After the pool, we decided to make our way to all the local
tourist hot spots. We stopped and had a late lunch, at this awesome sushi place in The
Bellagio. We had to head back to the hotel, so we could have time to hit up old
Vegas. It was a little hectic trying to figure out what bus went which way, but
we got it. The crowd was a little sketch and no matter how bad we really wanted
to stop of at Pawn Stars we knew it was not in our best interest.
Old Vegas aka the Original Vegas was pretty awesome. They
have zip lining going down through the streets. I would so do this another
time. There were stages and a ton of entertainers. We happen to witness someone
getting handcuffed and taken away from our black jack table. We made sure to hit the golden nugget and
leave behind some money. We actually lost the most money here. I really thought
we would do better. Oh well, maybe next time. I would really like to spend more time on Fremont Street!
Holy Cow, while I am writing all of this down I really cannot
believe we did as much as we did. We made our way to see the animal exhibit
Dolphins/Tigers at The Mirage. Stop for
a few more tourist hot spots. A room where everything was made of flowers, the
chocolate place and the neto Beatles show that is going on there right now.
We had to literally bust a move to get on the bus to get to
New York New York for one last fabulous meal, a few more slot machine pulls and
then a wardrobe change out to see our sexy Zumantiy Cirq show. It was awesome.
It was kind of funny to see some woman get up and leave. I did not even think
the show was that risqué, but perhaps it was. We thoroughly enjoyed it. After
the show I think we got to take our slot machine addiction for a few more times
and then really had to let go. We waited in the quick line for our cab,
watching all the people coming in for the weekend and probably feeling a little
bit of envy.
We already have a little list started for next time!
*Famous eatery is a must, instead of an option
*Pawn stars
*A concert
*Try something from the chocolate place
*Massages
*Limo Ride
*Zip line down Fremont St.
Back to Dallas we go!
