trip report--March 18-22--Paris, Love, VOF, March Madness

I will post the report as a reply, sorry it took so long, been sick since coming back.

Background--4 adults (sort of) Age range mid 30s to late 40s. (Me, Hubby, Bf, Bf hubby)

Great time had by all, not particularly impressed with Paris, but loved all the rest of the trip.

trip report--March 18-22--Paris, Love, VOF, March Madness

Ok, so we get up before the crack of dawn (yeah, I am so NOT a morning person). Finish packing the car and drive to bf house to pick up her and hubby. Hubby drives because, again, not a morning person. Get to airport at 5 am for 6 am flight. Flying Delta, husbands job perk paid for tickets, friends flew Airtran. 35 minute layover in JFK. Luckily we were on time, got to the gate just as they were boarding. Flight was full, and hubby not small (6%26#39;4, 280), so expecting a 5 hour flight to be extremely uncomfortable. Wait, they have an empty seat in emergency exit? Told hubby to grab it. Score--now I have more room--woo hoo!

But, darn it, cough starts. I always seem to end up sick in Vegas, I think it is a curse.

Plane arrives 20 minutes early, friends flight is supposed to land in an hour. We had a free rental, a perk of hubby Aaron%26#39;s job. I tell him to go get car, I will grab baggage, by the time I get bags and he gets car, friends flight should be landing. First mistake. Their flight is delayed by half an hour. REALLY don%26#39;t want to spend that long in the airport.

Baggage--It took almost an hour for our bags to show up. OK, not happy, but am in Vegas, not going to let it bug me. I am just glad it isn%26#39;t lost.

Car Rental-Don%26#39;t remember who we got the rental from, that is Aaron%26#39;s deal and I am pay no attention. We always get a car, because we like to explore outside of the strip area, and we eat off the strip quite a bit. All I know is it was almost 12:30 pm before Aaron got back with the car. It was not the car we reserved, but it was nice. Just smaller than I was expecting. Aaron said they didn%26#39;t have any of the bigger cars, and I immediately thought of the Seinfeld episode about car rentals (you know how to take a reservation, you just don%26#39;t know how to hold a reservation). Aaron thinks I am crazy--but that is normal.

Anyway, the plan now is for me to check in at Paris while Aaron goes to pick up friends back at airport. Of course as soon as we pull out and head for the strip, my phone goes off, Deb and Marty%26#39;s plane has arrived.

A drops me off at Paris, then heads back to pick them up. I get checked in (room paid for by a visa card prize I won at a convention for my work), freshen up, and head back down to meet them.

Our friends have been to Vegas before, however, it is always for ConExpo, and they don%26#39;t do much but convention stuff, whereas A and I have been once a year for 11 years now. They wanted us to show them things they haven%26#39;t seen so far. OK, first stop, In and Out Burger. A has to have one everytime we get to Vegas, it is our tradition to have our first meal at In-n-Out. They don%26#39;t have any on the east coast, so this is the only time he gets his fix. D %26amp; M love it--2 more converts!

We head back to the hotel, relax for about an hour so A can rest--poor baby need his rest--then hang out in the casino for a while. I and D are slot players. I like the penny slots because I can play a long time on little money. Aaron is a huge sports gambler--March Madness and all that. When not in the sportsbook, I usually find him at table games. Sat at a Hot Shot machine (not my favorite, but D wanted to play them, and we were socializing, so I decided to put a 20 in. Cocktail waitress shows up--Grey Goose %26amp; cran please, and bring one each time you swing by here please. A five before she leaves ensures my request. She is back within 5 minutes (WOW), I tip her another couple for me and D, and am not quite finished before 2nd one arrives. D still has 3/4 of her first one...lightweight. I end up drinking 4 in an hour (settle down seabiscuit), and ask the waitress to stop for a while, I want to remember the evening. D still has 2 full ones--um, whats the problem here? We get up to leave those slots, I am up $150, she is down 60. We head to the little round bar near the check in, A and M are sitting there going over the schedule of games and point spreads. We walk up to them and make them buy us a round. They buy, then head back over to sportsbook to put in bets. We finish our drinks, bartender asks if we want another. I tell him yeah, but hes not here to pay. Bartender tells me to put it on the room. I said I would, but it%26#39;s my credit card attached to the room! We laugh as A and M join us, and we head out to dinner.

We decide to eat at Lindo Moheacon (I know, not spelled right). This is one of Aaron and my favorite mexican restaurants. Aaron%26#39;s grandmother is Mexican, and he loves it because of the hand made tortillas, they remind him of Grandma Sally. The food is excellent, but Deb doesn%26#39;t eat much Mexican, and she is fussy too, so she didn%26#39;t care for it. Marty loved it, though. After dinner, we were all tired, as it was midnight our time, and we had been up for about 21 hours by now. Tell our friends see them tomorrow, and head to bed.

Day 2 to come--March Madness, a little shopping, Silverton Casino, and I am dizzy--literally.

trip report--March 18-22--Paris, Love, VOF, March Madness

It isn%26#39;t fun being sick on vacation (especially in Vegas) so hope it didn%26#39;t get to be really bad while you were there.

Keep the fun coming and hope your report includes winnings at Silverton :)

Day 2

Ok, so back up a little. The cough that started on plane is much worse before the end of day one. We stop at CVS for some niquil so I can sleep without coughing. Also picked up cough drops.

Wake up about 6:30, Aaron turned on light. Said he had been up for almost an hour, and I needed to get up because he was hungry. We got up , text D that we were going to breakfast at the Crepe place, call us when they were ready to hang out. We saw the size of the crepes, and decided to split one of the berry ones. Yummy! cough...cough... darn it! Pop my first cough drop of the day.

Plan today was the boys would be spending the day in the sportsbook watching the games, Deb and I were taking the car and exploring (code for shopping). We meet up around 9, and go get valet ticket from Aaron in the sportsbook. Was expecting a huge crown, surprisingly not very busy. I guess most were in the showroom, so sportsbook was empty. Deb decides she want t play the big wheel of fortune. I sit down with her, order a bloody mary, and we have fun cheering her on. She can%26#39;t seem to hit the bonus. I tell her to smack Pat, it usually works. So she hits the face of Pat on the screen, and boom, hits a bonus. She stares at me, and I say don%26#39;t ask me for tips on other machines, this is the only one it seems to work on (hit the bonus a few times that way in ATC). We are laughing, and she decides to hit Vanna next. Yeah, that doesn%26#39;t work, she apparently doesn%26#39;t want the beat down. No more bonus for Deb. We get the car out of Valet, and we head over to Fashion Mall. Not impressed. Cannot find anything I like. We head out. Deb is driving as I hate to drive in cities--cannot stand traffic. We head over to Silverton Casino-I want to see the aquarium. Very nice, and enjoyed the jellyfish display also. Deb has never played blackjack at a casino, so she decides we need to play here. Table is $5 min, so good play to get a feel of the live play. We both pull out $100, she promptly loses hers, I am up about 25. We leave there and head to Melting Pot. Deb has never been there, I have been in various cities, and love it. Well, GPS got us lost (dumb machines, dumb girls for listening to dumb machine). I take out my phone, get the number and call the restaurant to find out location. Um, problem--not open for lunch. Perhaps something we wanted to know before our little lunch trip. Oh well, end up a microbrewery (can%26#39;t remember name..explanation to follow). Deb had fettucine, I had a salad. Both accompanied by a house brew. Good stuff.

Coughing now to the point where it sounds like I am bringing up a lung. No other ailments, just the hacking cough. We stop again at drug store, we pick up delsym, pharmacist assures me it will quell cough..wrong. Directions say take 2 teaspoons. Darn, I knew I should have packed that! Decide to chug from the bottle. Mistake. Deb laughing at me. I then say, I don%26#39;t think that was a teaspoon, I should take more. Proceed to chug more. How old am I? We get back to Paris, meet up with the boys at Burger Brazziere. We have all our shopping bags with us. Aaron asks if I want a drink. Deb and I were planning on hanging out at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. I tell Aaron I want a drink, then I apparently glazed over. I tell them I need to go lay down, and head to the room. Aaron calls a couple minutes later to make sure I made it to the room. Apparently I was loopy. don%26#39;t remember walking to the room. Afternoon is a blur. Can you say overmedicated?

I wake up about three hours later to Aaron shaking me, telling me we need to start getting ready for our dinner reservation at Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Still coughing, but seems a little better. I take a shower, get dressed and meet everyone downstairs. I then send Aaron back to the room telling him to put on pants and collared shirt, as he was wearing his old shorts and harley t-shirt. I swear if I don%26#39;t lay his clothes out he would go out in public naked, and nobody needs to see all that.

We get to the restaurant, an Elvis impersonator is there with a group. Kind of odd. We order wine, and start looking at the menu. I have the carpaccio for an appetizer, followed by a salad and beef tenderloin with bernaise sauce. We pre order our souffles, Aaron and I get the chocolate, Deb and Marty get the banana one. Aaron has swordfish, which he raves about. Everything excellent. We decide to pay tonight, and Deb and Marty will pay for Smith and Wollensky on Saturday. Bill is just over $600 with tip. Pricy, but worth it. We head back down to the casino, gamble a little before calling it a night....tomorrow we rent harleys and drive to Valley of Fire and around the area.

more to come...

We get to

Topeka, no wins other than the Blackjack win, but we had fun. I liked the Silverton, it was a nice place, and was well laid out. I will visit there again.

Glad you had a good time...that cough lingers FOREVER :(

March 20-day 3

We get up and get ready for the day. I take another dose of Delsym as I have a dosage cup from the Nyquil. Two teaspoons is not very much! I then notice the bottle is half empty. Keep in mind I only took the one dosage, er guzzle, the day before. No wonder I was loopy! We eat breakfast at Crepes place again. Same one, was so good yesterday. Meet up with D and M and head over to Harley Store on Eastern. Both A and M have harleys, and both wanted to rent one and head out of the city. Syracuse University playing this morning, so only downfall is guys can%26#39;t watch game. Marty graduated from SU, plus we are all fans. Go Johnny!

We pick up the bikes at 9:00 am, and grab some water for the ride. We rented an ultraglide, Aaron has a road king, but wanted to try the ultraglide to check out comfort. We are both impressed. I usually hate rides more than an hour long as it gets uncomfortable. This ride was pure joy. Yeah, this will be his next bike. Great, we just finished paying for the road king. Another payment. Win big, honey, win big!

Coughing is still there, but seems to be a little better in the fresh air. We ride out to Valley of Fire, and enjoy the scenery. Aaron and I have been here before, but Marty and Deb have not. It is amazing, and we stop quite a bit. Deb, the picture freak, is taking pictures from the back of the bike. She makes me laugh.

We end up in Overton by early afternoon and stop at the Red Rooster. Talk about local flavor. The place is like a local dive, biker bar, and old west casino all in one. Deb and I down a couple beers while the boys catch up on the games. We fill up with gas, and head back to Vegas along Lake Mead. I told the guys what the good people of TA told me about the dirt road and lots of construction, but apparently I must have been mistaken...right? Next time guys, listen to TA, construction was bad. But we got through it and still had a great ride. We stop at a casino in Henderson for a bit of gambling, you know, gotta spread the wealth. Did the $5 cocktail waitress tip Ketel 1 and cran, same for Deb, we are at a Monopoly machine. Waitress comes back, I hand her a couple more dollars, and she tries to hand it back! What?! She says we already tipped her. I tell her we know, we just appreciate great service. First time ever a waitress tried to return a tip. I am up about $50, Deb is down. She leaves the machine she is on, Marty sits down, puts in a 20, and hits for 200 on first spin. Deb is spitting about it, Marty is laughing. We leave and head back to Downtown Las Vegas, we want to stop at Hogs and Heifers.

I have no sense of direction. I can get lost in a parking lot. However, once I start drinking, I seem to think I gain the superpower of navigation. So as we are heading into town, I see Dean Martin Rd. Now I know that this road intersects with the Strip. Um, not anymore. Hey where did that tunnel come from? Darn, why didn%26#39;t anyone tell me about the tunnel there? Aaron then tells me I did the same thing last time we were in town, and was upset then that Las Vegas didn%26#39;t update me on the tunnel. He is once again laughing at me. Marty and Deb catch up to us at the light, and I yell...That tunnel is new! Aaron then says no, it%26#39;s not, you just don%26#39;t remember it. Now all three are laughing at me. Whatever!

We finally get to downtown and I am trying to find Hogs. Wait, we just past it. Go around the block. Darn, past it again. We then notice that Marty and Deb are no longer behind us. After circling the block one more time, we finally park. Marty and Deb are there, said they were tired of Cate%26#39;s wild ride and decided to get off. No fair. Ride wasn%26#39;t over.

We walk into Hogs, D and I get carded (um, my kids are old enough to be in here, I must look smashing!) Nah, guy was probably being kind. I am covered in road dust and helmet hair. Yeah, I look good! ha ha. Order a couple beers, it%26#39;s around maybe 4:30 at this point. Sidebar: You need to have a good buzz going on to enjoy this bar. It was almost empty, so that probably didn%26#39;t help, but seemed to be a bit much with no buzz going on. We walk over to Freemont Street, yet another thing D and M have never done. End up at Golden Nugget, and find the Ebay machine. Loved it!

We left downtown around 7, and headed back to the Strip. We get back to Paris, starving, and decide to hit the Burger Brazziere for dinner. Great burgers, great drinks, and basketball. We are all happy.

After dinner, Aaron and I decide to hit a let it ride table. 10 min table. First hand, I hit a flush! Woo hoo, come to Mama. Now Aaron and I have a deal, when we win anything over 250, we split it. This win was 325, and I cash out about four hands later with no more winners. I hand him 125, I keep the rest. Great plan, because before the end of the trip I need the money back as I end up on a losing streak. Yikes.

I hit a couple slots, lose a little, then head up to the room. Aaron and I always say if we end up wandering away from each other at night, try to meet at the room by 11. If on a winning streak, keep playing, and get back to room as soon as you start to lose. I get up there at 10:45, Aaron already there. Both of us are wiped from the days activities. We go to bed, and I sleep sporadically because cough is back.

Day four brings casino hopping, Smith and Wollensky, and Love.

great report so far, sorry about the cough.

Great report, its actually keeping my attention :)

ok, sorry about the delay, had animals to take care of, supper to make, you know the drill. Anyway, on with the report...

Day 4, Saturday

Ok, so cough is worse indoors, don%26#39;t know if it is the smoke in the casino, allergies, or what, but it is irritating the heck out of me.

Aaron and Marty leave early to return the bikes. I sleep in a little, but get a text from Deb saying the boys want to take us to breakfast at Mon Ami. Gee, twist my arm. We get to the restaurant, I order eggs benedict-some of the best I%26#39;ve ever had by the way, A and D order waffles, say they are lighter than air. D and I realize, um mimosas, hello! D has me convinced they are calling our name. Champagne wants me? I am yours! A and M shake their heads as if to say we are in trouble today. You would think they might have experienced this from us. No, never happened before! Ok, so breakfast done, D wants to go one on one with Pat Sajak again. Apparently, he didn%26#39;t take kindly by being slapped this time because he wouldn%26#39;t give up the bonus. Big Weenie! We decide that we need to explore the strip by foot as we were already drinking--and weren%26#39;t going to stop.

A and M back in the sportsbook plotting their next step. They are up about $1000, and are using that for other bets.(um, hello, Cate%26#39;s cut? Bueller? Bueller?...darn, absent again) D and I head over to Ballys. Stop at big slot between Paris and Bally%26#39;s. Put in $5 each (it is soo hard to resist, I mean, it is bigger than me for God%26#39;s sake!) We actually hit for $40. Cash out...hello already up for the day! We stop at some random slot...so unimpressive can%26#39;t remember what we played, did our $5 trick, more great drinks, waitress kept them flowing so much that we actually moved to another machine quite a ways away and she tracked us down to see if we needed more. A plus for service at Bally%26#39;s. We leave there after a little bit and head over to Bellagio. I always want to go to conservatory there and they never dissappoint. Deb, who has stayed at the Bellagio on a prior date had never been. I was astounded. How could you not see this? I is spectacular! Spring flowers, tulips, hyacinths, absolutely breathtaking. Picture freak is clicking away! The highlight was the Butterflies in the garden shed. Such a wonderful touch!

We left there and went to the casino. Found the star trek slots, fun to play but lost about 40. Had fun though, that%26#39;s the most important part! However, couldn%26#39;t get a cocktail waitress to save our lives. I am waving my arms everytime they come near, D is yelling excuse me (and her voice carries, let met me tell you) still no service. Apparently they didn%26#39;t get the memo we tip with our husbands money! We then head over to Ceaser%26#39;s Palace. Retail therapy. Aaahhhhh. But first, more slots. We found the Happy Days slots. Fonzie was not our friend. Big thumbed Jack azz! Before we walked into Ceasars, we stopped at the outside bar and got a couple of their huge drinks in the insulated container. I got pina colada, D got some raspberry thing. They weren%26#39;t the best I have had, but they did the trick. Now I tell you this because, again, we had no cocktail service. We never even saw a waitress. We did see Antony and Cleopatra, and of course had our cheesy pic taken with them. The are so in tune with tips, that after the pic I was reaching in my purse, didn%26#39;t actually have the money in hand (although that is what I was reaching for) that one of the ';guards'; of the pair, when seeing me unzip my purse, started thanking us. Um, wait for the tip, I could have been reaching for a tissue-cough cough. Not that I wouldn%26#39;t tip, being a former cocktail/bartender myself. But don%26#39;t persume. Kind of offputting. Oh well, when in Rome, or Vegas as it were.

We looked at the clock and realized we were cutting into shopping time! We rush to the forum shops, again another first for Deb, shopped some and had to rush back to Paris to get ready for our 5:30 res at Smith and Wollensky before the 9:30 Love performance. We get back to the hotel, gather the boys, and decide to meet at 5 in case the traffic is horrendous. It is.

We get to Smith and Wollensky, order wine (seriously, can you eat at a restaurant like this without killing a couple of bottles of great wine?), and a seafood tower thingy for an app. They have a pre fixe menu for $49 pp. Called the Bailout or something along those lines. I had the tomato onion salad, crab cakes, and creme brulee. Aaron had the prime rib, wollensky salad, and chocolate cake, Deb had the filet mingnon, and Marty also had the Prime rib. Everything was excellent. The crab cake was one of the best I have ever had, hardly any breading, tons of crab. Good stuff! Aaron ate most of my creme brulee, big jerk! I was given 3 kinds, raspberry, pistachio, and coconut. Now, creme brulee is not hard to make, but as someone who has made it before and received raves on the taste (insert pat on back here) this was very good, better than mine, darn it!

After a nice 2 1/2 hour dinner, we head over to the Mirage. I have 4 tickets at will call for Love, again comped. I am in the travel business, met a senior guy at the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and they were kind enough to comp some tickets for me. He told me it would seem like the cheap seats when we first sat down, but when the show started they were actually better seats than those sitting stage level, because you saw more. He was so right. We were in the front row balcony, and the view was awesome. I have two negatives, one is there is so much going on, you cannot possibly see it all, you need to see the show more than once (is that really a negative?) and two was my own issue. Half way through the show, I had a coughing attack. I could not stop. In deference to the others in the area, I stepped away from my seat, and tried to calm the cough as best I could without disturbing others. I finally went back to my seat thinking I had the cough under control, when I felt the cough starting again. At that moment, the usher from the area showed up with a tall glass of water for me. As I was already sucking the death out of the cough drop in my mouth, the water was very welcome and did help with the cough, and I and others were able to enjoy the rest of the show relatively cough free. At the conclusion of the show, I thanked the usher for coming to my aid and slipped her a 20. It was the least I could do, considering she went above and beyond in my opinion, and the tickets were free, so I was more than happy to give her the tip.

After the show, we went back to Paris. All were exhausted again, and Aaron and I had to be at the airport at 9:30 am.

We try to get a good night%26#39;s sleep, coughing again, not so pleasant.

We get up in the morning, decide we want Mon Ami Gabi for breakfast again. Great food again. We finish packing, check out and Marty drives us to airport (they are staying one more day, and have the car until they leave).

We get to the airport, and find out our flight is very full and also delayed by about an hour. Oh well, lets shop at overpriced airport shops. Get on the flight, and it is uneventful. Get to layover in Detroit, grab dinner there, and catch the flight home. Northwest on the way home, no problems, Was a little concerned on the flight between Vegas and Detroit because there were twin toddlers across the aisle, but they were very good considering the cramped conditions. They of course cried a little, but hey they are babies, and it wasn%26#39;t disruptive. Very cute, made me want another (what am I thinking? My baby is 21, and Aarons baby is 14....crazy thoughts must be the cough medicine). Yeah, that thought didn%26#39;t last long. I do love babies, though. Just not all the time. That%26#39;s what I have grandchildren for (yep, 3 plus one on the way). Baggage was quick at Rochester airport, landed by 10:30, home by 12:30.

Some observations- Paris was ok, but was not impressed. In the past we have stayed at Rio, Bally%26#39;s, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo, and New York. Aaron%26#39;s favorite is Mandalay Bay, and mine is Monte Carlo. We both think next time we will go back to Mandalay Bay, first choice or Monte, second choice. Nothing we can put our fingers on, just prefer the other hotels.

Eiffel Tower Restauant-great dining experience, would definitely do again, same for Smith and Wollensky. Will always go to In-N-Out, gotta get the animal style fix. Lindo%26#39;s was fabulous as always. Still trying to convince Aaron the lady that makes the tortillas will not come home with us (I do have his grandmother%26#39;s recipe for tortillas but only make them once or twice a year). Mon Ami breakfast was well worth the money, and really not that out of line price wise. Definitely would dine there again.

Motorcycle ride to Valley of Fire--highlight of our trip! Aaron and Marty are already plotting next year%26#39;s trip which includes a three day side trip to San Diego (Aaron%26#39;s uncle lives there) and up the PCH all on motorcycles. Gotta get the Azz muscles in shape before then. Very long ride.

Love--great show. Aaron still likes O better, and I think I agree, however, it doesn%26#39;t take away from the fact that the show was definitely worth seeing again.

Gambling--I ended up at a loss, curse those slot machines. Yes I know they are supposed to take my money, however, they are like a bad boy-you want to quit them, but you can%26#39;t. Aaron broke even, some games not going his way. Oh well, that is why you don%26#39;t bet more than you can afford to lose.

Overall, a great trip. I always am wary when another couple joins us on vacation. We have not had the best of luck there, and even though Deb is my BF, there is always the chance someone will get on your nerves (or you on theirs). It didn%26#39;t happen in this case, and if anything was the most enjoyable vacation Aaron and I have taken with other people.

BTW, Paris charged my card an extra $283, and I am still trying to get it off my credit card. I hate red tape.

We got back Sunday night, March 22, and I woke up Monday with no voice whatsoever. I finally went to Dr on Wed, third day with no voice, and was told it was viral, let it run it%26#39;s course. Nobody else in group has it, thank God. It is now March 31, and still have sqeaky voice (cough is gone though). Just feel worn out, and of course job involves alot of talking. Back to work last Thursday, however by afternoon down to no voice again. I will be going back to the Dr this week. Enough is enough!

Thank you, thoroughly enjoyed your trip report. Great details for all the food.

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