Posted as a reply, of course, who wants to see that same report on the top of every page.
Two Guys TR - June 11-14th @ Flamingo
Rather than do the standard day-by-day review, I thought i%26#39;d just give you some of the highlights, observatons and random rambling thoughts on our 80 hours in Vegas.
Two fourty-something year old guys with absolutely no plans other than to play poker, drink and generally act half our age. This was our 3rd trip in 4 years. Stayed at the Hilton and Riv last year. I travel quite a bit with work, stay at nice hotels, eat lots of fancy meals, so I was really looking forward to a vacation away from all of that fluff.
Left DFW at 7:10 am, returned at 7:20 when the right engine blew.
Left DFW again at about 9am and was only about 2 hours late. Good job of American to find a new plane. After all, with all of the cancelled filghts, they should have quite a supply of planes just sitting around.
We flew US Airways last year and noticed that it was much more of a party plane. The American flight seemed more like it was on it%26#39;s way to an accountants convention.
Grabbed a cab from the airport to the Flamingo. $22 which included a tip, $2.50 credit card fee and no tunnel. Hmmm, a little expensive. I did feel bad for the taxi driver, his daughter was graduating from high schoold at UNLV that day and they made him work so he had to miss the graduation ceremony (at least that was his story as we drove by the UNLV auditorium as cars were poring in)
Took all of 3 minutes to check into the hotel. Asked for an remodeled room and got the old standard message that all rooms were updated in 2004, didn%26#39;t even try the $20 trick. Considering that we were going to be in the room all of 6 hours a day, who cared what it looked like as long as it was quite while we slept it off. Did get a nice view of the pool area.
The pool was very nice, but every single stinking chair was taken by 10am. That meant that I had to crawl out of bed to grab two chairs on waterfront property while Dave snored away (that was a trend of the trip.) Luckiy the area I picked was in the shade until about 11 am so I could relax before it heated up in direct sunlight.
Beers were $6 for a draft at the pool and those fancy sugar filled girlie drinks were $10. Dave and I, being of superior intellect and frugality, managed to find the liquor store out the back area of the Flamingon (by Battista%26#39;s) and stocked up on the Captain Morgan (the official drink of our Vegas vacations), water for .79 ($6 by the pool), cokes and suntan lotion.
I heard that there were some pink birds with long legs on the property, that%26#39;s fine just as long as I don%26#39;t have to hear (do they make any noises?) or look at them. We%26#39;ll save the culteral activities for the family vacations.
Five hours a day for 3 days at the pool in absolutely blue skies, we were a little red from the sun but not really burned. Only a few kids at the pool and quite the cross-sectoin of society represented.
Wouldn%26#39;t you think that a money pit like the Flamingo could afford some cool-deck topping for the pool area??? The decking was blazing hot!!
The burger/chicken sandwiches are the pool area grill was one of the better deals at $8.
We actually got organized enough to catch the Vinnie Favorito show at the Flamingo. Walking into the pre-showing waiting area was like going into a time share presentation, very wierd setting. He turned out to be pretty good, but be warned, he went through every person in the crowd and picked on them.
Isn%26#39;t the stip the greatest place on earth? Hundreds of places to buy alcohal 24/7 and you can take it with you anywhere! If there was ever a sodom and gamorrah, this is it!
I still find it amazing that you can sit at a low limit poker table and order any drink for free, or $1 with tip. Is this a great place or what?
In the allocation of financial resources, it seemed like a crime to invest in some over-priced, fancy smancy hotel and restaurants when we could redirect those funds to donate a the poker table. Well, the perfect answer was right next door, O%26#39;Sheas! .Kind of like a spring break bar meets vegas. A couple of $5 Subway subs for meals, pizza, mexican, we%26#39;re all set. The most we spent on a meal was $10 at the depressing underground Gameworks. We eneded up spending most of our time at O%26#39;Sheas.
O%26#39;Sheas really promotes the beer-pong tables, but it seemed pretty lame. Mostly a bunch of college-aged kids and a few moms throwing ping pong balls in a cup. They really seemed to be trying too hard to have fun. It served to slightly amuse us as we ate our Subway waiting for the next poker tournament.
Harrah%26#39;s Carnival Court seemed like it was much more a party environment last year. I stopped by several times and there wasn%26#39;t much going on, but I did enjoy the band.
I walked down the strip and could see Hooter%26#39;s, but it must have been at least a quarter mile down. Who would ever venture down there without a good reason? Good luck to the next owner.
Managed to find my way into Bellagio, Caesars (played a little high dollar no-limit) and a few others high dollar places that I really didn%26#39;t care about. Luckily the escape door wasn%26#39;t far away and my brief excursion only confirmed my decision to make this a low budge trip. I guess they would be nice if you felt like you had to be pampered in the cradle of these marble castles, but that%26#39;s not what this trip was about. Haven%26#39;t the owners of these obsenely excessive palaces heard that we%26#39;re in a recession?
I make decent $%26#39;s, but it never fails to amaze me the number of people wipping out the multiple c-notes at the tables, something I would never do. I go to have some fun and escape reality, not to make my reality all that much harder by losing my savings.
I%26#39;ve never won a penny on the slots and that trend continues. But then I%26#39;ve never put more than a 10 into one.
We did decide that we liked the vibe of the PH and we%26#39;ll look for some good rates there next year, as long we find that they have a good pool
After about 2am, the strip is filled mostly with kids harassing each other. Not real comforting, but I really didn%26#39;t care after drinking all day.
Big Elvis at Bill%26#39;s is work a trip.
Trader Vic%26#39;s at PH is a real nice place to have a $7 beer and watch the fountains across the street at the Bellagio and the world walk by.
The really should have built a people mover system down the middle of the strip to make getting around easier.
I absolutely love the blue skies, incredible heat and dry air. I only wish that I could spend some time there hiking through the surrounding hills.
The city center I-beam construction monstrocity it just that. Kept waiting for it to raise up like something from the Transformers movie.
The porn slappers are out of control, actually saw two slapping (what else) some tourist as he%26#39;s laying on the ground. Most of those guys are 5ft or less. I did feel bad for some of the women slappers, they looked very worn down.
My last poker hand was a 10-4. I sadly laid it down, announced I had to head back to reality and left for the taxi stand.
We managed to share a cab ride with another couple, good way to save a few bucks.
Final tally - Lost about a days wage at the tables and I would guestimate about 30 drinks. Only paid for about 5 of those.
Two Guys TR - June 11-14th @ Flamingo
Sounds like a great trip and glad you found the Flamingo and O';Sheas a clast. We always stay there and cannot understand why some people want to bash it. Also Stage Door Liquors (where you bought your drinks) is a blast if you drink in the bar for a while. A lot of locals there and always a good time.
Enjoyed reading your TR. It amazes me too how easily people do pull out those C-notes. It%26#39;s Vegas, so as long as they can afford to lose them, to each his own.
Nice to read a report with a male spin on things. I found it interesting.
Enjoyed your TR!!!!
The after 2am young people harassing ecah other thing is a newer side of Vegas (within the last 10 years) and is sadly growing. The trashy crowd of young men/women who buy a suite and then act like they are in prison, or going there soon is definately one of the ugly sides of Vegas today.
I liked your TR becuase it had alot more observations than most TR%26#39;s.
I did feel bad for some of the women slappers, they looked very worn down.
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LOL - sounds like the women at the nickle slots downtown....
kellerite4, Thanks for sharing. We were there in May and had a great view of the pool too. If you wouldn%26#39;t have said you were at the Flamingo in June, I would have swore you were the people in the room next to us, being rowdy!
The pool was just as crowded in May. I think it%26#39;s worse to have a pool view as you can see how quickly the loungers start to fill up. O%26#39;Sheas was quite rowdy at the end of May. You missed the group there dressed up for the Pirate party.
You were probably smart to take your own beverages to the pool as we never heard a drink server go by.
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