December 24, 2007 Monday Las Vegas Nevada Day 6
Our 41st wedding anniversary! We watched the water show at the Bellagio twice, different shows each time. We ate at the MGM Wolfgang Bar & Grill. Shirleen loved her hamburger and fresh French fries. I found a gnocchi made of ricotta cheese and a light Bolognaise sauce, tasty. We walked through every hotel close at hand, looking at their Christmas decorations. I made a note WALK WALK SAT SAT, really fun.
We did go to the M & M Store to look over the four levels of merchandise. We picked up a couple pens for the grand-daughters; they would glow in different shades blinking on and off. I saw a neat 32 Ford hot rod with a blown engine and M & M decorated.
Stopped back at Mandalay Bay to see if the baccarat tourney was still on. Well we arrived and it was just wrapping up. Again many most on the winning table were Orientals, but the winner did not look Oriental, and won 300,000$. The pot was not real money; it was chips to be played. That way a player could lose and report it to the IRS? Fun to watch but wish I understood the game.
Now was time for our Anniversary dinner. At the Luxor Steakhouse which is highly rated. We were treated to a corner spot to be by ourselves. The wait staff was extremely helpful. Brett was the host, he gave a nice show. He told us about himself and that he came from South Carolina and had worked in Vegas for 20 years. Raul, came from Mexico twenty years ago and did the order taking. He gave us the life story as we showed genuine interest. What a large selection of beef, the normal and dry aged. Shirleen’s filet mignon was really tasty and done to her liking; it was garnished by a cooked and caramelized onion accompanied with asparagus. When she ordered it, Raul warned that they make it on the rare side. It was slowly roasted on a fired grill. When I mentioned how good her onion was, Brett went and gave us a plate of three more. We finished the meal with a delicious cheese cake. I did have something different, can’t seem to resist that. I had a buffalo rib eye, one must remember that it is not beef and will not taste like beef, and it didn’t. Nice taste.
Well we watched a story unfold that we wished we knew the ending too. At the next table three couples sat down and quickly we knew it was a wedding party. We overheard that the bride was there but the groom was in the room. One of the guys had come from England but could not determine any other place. Well one man took over the ordering of the drinks and appetizers. There was mention; I wonder when he is coming down. Well after 15 minutes or so, the bride went upstairs. We had already stayed at the table to long and took up residence at the 2 cent slots outside the restaurant. After a couple minutes the bride came bustling back to the restaurant, looked like a mad wet hen. Would like to know what happened. Well the slots treated us well, another 5$ ahead. We saw the night before at the one and two cent machines that when betting all 5 ways you hit more.
Our 41st wedding anniversary! We watched the water show at the Bellagio twice, different shows each time. We ate at the MGM Wolfgang Bar & Grill. Shirleen loved her hamburger and fresh French fries. I found a gnocchi made of ricotta cheese and a light Bolognaise sauce, tasty. We walked through every hotel close at hand, looking at their Christmas decorations. I made a note WALK WALK SAT SAT, really fun.
We did go to the M & M Store to look over the four levels of merchandise. We picked up a couple pens for the grand-daughters; they would glow in different shades blinking on and off. I saw a neat 32 Ford hot rod with a blown engine and M & M decorated.
Stopped back at Mandalay Bay to see if the baccarat tourney was still on. Well we arrived and it was just wrapping up. Again many most on the winning table were Orientals, but the winner did not look Oriental, and won 300,000$. The pot was not real money; it was chips to be played. That way a player could lose and report it to the IRS? Fun to watch but wish I understood the game.
Now was time for our Anniversary dinner. At the Luxor Steakhouse which is highly rated. We were treated to a corner spot to be by ourselves. The wait staff was extremely helpful. Brett was the host, he gave a nice show. He told us about himself and that he came from South Carolina and had worked in Vegas for 20 years. Raul, came from Mexico twenty years ago and did the order taking. He gave us the life story as we showed genuine interest. What a large selection of beef, the normal and dry aged. Shirleen’s filet mignon was really tasty and done to her liking; it was garnished by a cooked and caramelized onion accompanied with asparagus. When she ordered it, Raul warned that they make it on the rare side. It was slowly roasted on a fired grill. When I mentioned how good her onion was, Brett went and gave us a plate of three more. We finished the meal with a delicious cheese cake. I did have something different, can’t seem to resist that. I had a buffalo rib eye, one must remember that it is not beef and will not taste like beef, and it didn’t. Nice taste.
Well we watched a story unfold that we wished we knew the ending too. At the next table three couples sat down and quickly we knew it was a wedding party. We overheard that the bride was there but the groom was in the room. One of the guys had come from England but could not determine any other place. Well one man took over the ordering of the drinks and appetizers. There was mention; I wonder when he is coming down. Well after 15 minutes or so, the bride went upstairs. We had already stayed at the table to long and took up residence at the 2 cent slots outside the restaurant. After a couple minutes the bride came bustling back to the restaurant, looked like a mad wet hen. Would like to know what happened. Well the slots treated us well, another 5$ ahead. We saw the night before at the one and two cent machines that when betting all 5 ways you hit more.
December 25, 2007 Tuesday Las Vegas Nevada Day 7
Of course one must eat, as you probably think that’s all we do, well close. We had been told by our wait-staff last night that we should make the Bellagio Buffet. So today is that day. We walked over to the hotel and stood in line for and hour and 15 minutes. We were seated close to the service bar. We opted not to have champagne, good choice, it was a free refill and that would have cut down on the trips to the food. The food was quality type, had lamb and prime rib next to each other, took some of each. The king crab legs were plentiful and in two different stations. The legs were cut in half and made it easy eating. I found a new friend in the crab legs. I tried some quail but tough and not like the pigeon I am used to and thought this would be the taste. A jerk chicken, good flavor will have to try that again. Shirleen hit the desert bar pretty heavily. It was almost mid afternoon by the time we left.
That evening we went to see the play, Mamma Mia at Mandalay Bay. What a great night that was! The music, costumes, color and changing scenery along with the fast moving plot was fun to watch. I would have never figured the play would end as it did, but it was fabulous. It lasted about an hour and a half.
We walked around the gambling spots and watched some strange games, never did figure out what was going on. One was a poker game with two other cards and a bonus dragon. Orientals like this game. We would just look at people losing their monies and once in a while some made some. We also lost the 5$ we won the night before and I seem to remember another 5 from my pocket?
December 26, 2007 Wednesday Las Vegas Nevada Day 8
Off to Circus Circus, it is an old casino but has the circus flavor. It also had a McDonalds in it and off we went for coffee. We had time to get good seats to watch a contortionist do her thing. She could bend her body in places where I didn’t know I had a body part to twist. With the nice seats we had we stayed for the next act – acrobats - we watched the group doing flips, triple flips and backward catches. Fun to watch.
As we were watching the acts we noticed a game being played across the way. It was catapulting monkeys into buckets. You could win by getting one in the bucket or get a neat fish stuffed toy for eight buckets. Fun to watch as people of all ages, except us AARP people stayed away.
From there we then went to the top of the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino for lunch. Shirleen ordered her favorite, filet mignon, I a eggs Benedict with King Crab legs instead of bacon. It was all accompanied by unlimited champagne, or bubbly, as it was not made in France. Here we are 800 feet above the city revolving around the panorama for and hour and ten minutes, we made the whole trip. Don’t miss this, the world’s most insane thrill rides. Or for the faint of heart go up two more flights and ride the three thrill rides. They are all for youngens, all of them belt you into the seats; one goes up 30 feet on a rod and drops you again and again; the next puts you into two seaters and pushes you out over the edge and jerks you back up again; then there is the octopus or close, you strap in and it moves out over the edge of the building. Then you start to go around and around over the edge. 10$ each ride.
From here we again parked the car and walked the town, now I know why I didn’t gain weight. A great sight was the Mirage fish tanks behind the check in. what nice salt water fish. We visited the Tropicana, it is an old casino. We walked in the back doors through the hallways, at this time we noticed the doors were steel as were the frames, the carpeting was not wrung out that day as the oil was still in it. The casino was cool with old glass arched windows over the gambling area.
What we missed was a Cirque du Sole show, of the 6 shows in town; they were only available after January 6, 2008. Next time Michelle and Mark! From the looks of it the next time we will order tickets early! jerr
