Walt's TR - Part 2 of 8
- From: Walt <none@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 05:59:29 -0500
Walt's Trip Report Part 2 of 8 - 10/20 to 10/23/05
----------
ACG = American Casino Guide; POV = LasVegasAdvisor.com's Pocketbook of
Values
10/20 (Thursday) - This morning we had breakfast at the Blueberry
Hill diner on East Flamingo, one of my favorite meal stops in Vegas. I
ordered the same thing I always get: the blueberry pancakes. They
have blueberries mixed into the batter and are served with more hot
blueberries poured over them, plus some canned whipped cream sprayed on
for good measure. Delicious.
After breakfast I drove to the Orleans to buy myself a ticket for the
boxing matches on the evening of 10/28, the day M&D would be returning
home. Walking into the casino, I passed a balding old guy escorting a
30-ish blonde in a low-cut, tight-fitting dress. His niece, no doubt.
>From the Orleans I went to Tix4Tonight on the Strip between MGM and
Aladdin to buy 3 half-price vouchers for the "Society of Seven" show
this afternoon at Bally's. And from there I took the vouchers
directly to Bally's box office and exchanged them for the actual
reserved-seat tickets. I was surprised at the excellent seats we
received, at a table front-and-center, about 15 feet from the stage.
Cost at Tix4Tonight was $26 per person including tax & service, using
this coupon:
http://www.lasvegas-nv.com/tix-4-tonight-coupon.htm
We arrived at Bally's Jubilee Theater about 20 minutes before showtime.
There was a lengthy line of folks waiting to get in, but when the doors
opened it didn't take long to get to our seats. The Society of Seven
is a group of guys from Hawaii who have been performing since the
1960's, although only one or two of the original members are still with
the act. They sing, play instruments and do comic impressions of
entertainers like the Rat Pack, Kenny G and Cher (yes, they are not
averse to dressing in drag to get laughs). The comedy is broad, with
lots of goofy costumes and horsing around. Their big finish is a spoof
of "The Lion King," followed by a patriotic finale (something which,
whether sincere or not, always strikes me as a cheap manipulation of
the audience).
I would probably give Society of Seven only a so-so recommendation,
were it not for the presence of their girl singer Lani Misalucha, a
Filipino entertainer who shines in this show like a ballplayer who's
come down from a higher league. She sings pop songs, show tunes and
operatic arias with equal ease, and could easily fill in at Caesars for
Celine Dion, whom she deftly skewers with a comedic impression. Her
take as Beyonce doing "Crazy in Love" is electric. Whether singing
solo or joining in the guys' cornball skits, she commands the
audience's attention whenever she's on stage. And she clearly loves to
entertain, even when the house is less than half-full as it was this
afternoon. So, with Lani Misalucha in the cast, I give Society of
Seven two thumbs-up and hope that Lani will someday get her own Vegas
show.
Speaking of Bally's, here's a photo of the Strip entrance...
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/ballys.jpg
Later on we had the Seafood Night dinner at the Gold Coast buffet,
using ACG 2-for-1 coupons. I didn't make any notes about it and I
don't recall anything exceptional. After the meal, I put $5 in a
5-cent JoB machine and started playing single-credit hands. I was
gaining a little, so, feeling lucky, I bumped it up to max credits (25
cents) and soon ran the five bucks up to $34. Instead of doing the
rational thing and cashing out with a nearly six-fold profit, I heard a
little voice in my head say, "Hey, why not keep going? You're playing
with house money, after all. Go for the big score, the royal flush!"
So I kept playing, and a while later I cashed out with $10 and no
royal, and I felt like I lost $24 instead of gaining five.
10/21 (Friday) - Late breakfast/lunch at the Paris buffet. For once
we pay full-price, about $14 per person plus tip -- woo-woo! This
buffet runs continuously during the day, so if you arrive at the right
time you can get in, say, for the breakfast price and sample both
breakfast and lunch. I have no notes about this meal, but I recall
some good crepes, a nice made-to-order omelet, and some large
pre-peeled shrimp. Also saw some meat entrees in various Frenchified
sauces, and if I recall correctly, I had some good New England clam
chowder (sacre bleu!) Couldn't find any French fries or French's
mustard.
We didn't do much the rest of this day. Went downtown again later in
the afternoon. M&D played more slots in Vegas Club, a sports-themed
casino where, ironically, the sportsbook remains closed for
renovations. Around dinner time, M&D weren't hungry yet, so I went
alone to the California for another prime rib special. After that I
walked up Main St. to the Plaza's front driveway, where they were
celebrating Oktoberfest with an oompah band called the Dummkopfs and a
stand selling beer and brats...
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/oktober.jpg
When I hooked up with M&D later in the evening, they said they ate
dinner at the McDonald's in the Plaza.
10/22 (Saturday) - We tried the brunch buffet at Main Street Station
using the 2-for-1 POV coupon. Although I generally avoid breakfast
food, it was pretty good. The happy omelet guy was there doing his
thing, so I had one of his creations, plus a few lunch-type items that
apparently were not all that memorable. I do recall that some big,
warm cinnamon rolls caught my fancy; I had a couple of those and would
go back just for them.
After brunch M&D played some slots and I went out on Fremont to look at
some "vintage" Mustang cars on display. With Fremont Street turned
into a pedestrian mall, shows like this are the only way you'll get to
see cars parked in front of the casinos under the canopy. It sort of
harkens back to the old days...
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/mustang1.jpg
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/mustang2.jpg
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/mustang3.jpg
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/mustang4.jpg
After looking at the Mustangs I went back to Vegas Club where M&D were
playing. To kill time I found a 10/7 JoB machine and won a quick $10
by hitting 4 kings.
For this evening I had ordered up something different -- tickets to the
sprint car races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. First I took M&D to 4pm
Mass at Guardian Angel Cathedral across from the Stardust. While they
were in church I walked over to the Stardust, got a replacement slot
card and found I still had 64 points from a visit 5 or 6 years ago. I
played a little VP to pass the time and broke even. Then I walked to
the north end of the Stardust property and crossed the Strip to see
where the Tix4Tonight outlet was. By that time Mass was about over, so
I returned to the church to get M&D.
For dinner we drove to Arizona Charlie's on Decatur, but M&D said they
weren't hungry yet and would eat at the races. While they played some
slots, I went to the coffee shop and had the $2.99 steak & eggs with
hash browns and toast. Nothing to complain about, quality-wise, and
the price can't be beat.
We drove north out I-15 to the speedway exit, parked the car and found
our seats in the grandstand of the sprint car track. We could hear off
in the distance the drag races which were being held at the same time.
This was our first time at any live car race. I remember going to a
demolition derby once when I was a kid, and the crowd here looked
similar. You won't see too many of these folks in the audience at "La
Reve." Lots of baseball caps with automotive logos. Lots of tattoos,
sideburns, facial hair. And that's just the women. Hey, thank you!
The action started at 7pm with practice laps and qualifying heats.
This was the end-of-season championship for the "World of Outlaws," as
the sprint car people like to call themselves, although I witnessed no
crimes being committed other than auditory assault-and-battery on my
eardrums. Sprint cars are small but LOUD, like a dozen power mowers
circling your living room while you're trying to watch the
politically-correct news on PBS. I noticed a few spectators discreetly
wearing ear plugs, and I quickly wadded up some tissue to stuff in my
ears and reduce the higher-frequency noise to a tolerable level. I
offered some to Dad, but he declined. Mom merely removed her hearing
aids.
I was surprised at how fast these sprint cars are. They were turning
laps at over 120 miles per hour on a half-mile dirt track. As a result
you get a lot of dust and bits of dirt flying up into the seats and on
your clothing and in your hair. That part was fun. Here's the only
photo I was able to get in the available light where the cars weren't
too blurry. They were under a yellow caution flag at the time:
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/sprint.jpg
The night ended around 11pm with the final 30-lap race for the
championship. I don't recall who won. The important thing is that
there were no fires or crashes, with cars flipping end-over-end like
you see on TV sometimes, and for that I left the track feeling like the
entire evening had been a waste of money.
M&D never did bother to eat at the races, so when we drove back to town
we stopped at the Gold Coast coffee shop for the $2 late-night
breakfast.
10/23 (Sunday) - Last year we used a POV coupon to get two free
brunches at the Gold Strike's steakhouse in Jean. This year we tried
the same deal at Nevada Landing. The coupon in effect gave us 3-for-1
brunch in the Jade Room there. It's not a big room, nor a big buffet,
just some pastries, rolls, bagels, fresh fruit, a couple of cold
salads, etc. You also get to choose a hot entree from among several
choices. We all went with the crab cakes. They were more like
flattened crab patties with too much filler, and while they didn't
taste too bad, I think I would order something else next time. The
bagels were good, though; I ate two of them. Our server was a young
guy who didn't see much of a future for himself in rural Iowa, so he
moved to Nevada several years ago and bypassed Vegas to go directly to
Primm and then Jean for work. He lives in Sandy Valley, a small,
isolated community west of Jean near the California border. He also
bought some property there and hopes it will continue to appreciate in
value as the area develops. After our meal Mom played some slots, Dad
tried some video poker, and I lost $5 on VP and watched some football
on TV.
Don't recall where we had dinner this day, but for the evening, we had
half-price seats for comedian David Brenner at the Hilton. Seating is
unreserved and by hostesses. No need to tip big to sit close; it's not
a large room and you can hear the jokes fine from anywhere. Brenner
has been around a long time and often filled in for Johnny Carson on
the Tonight Show. He comments on current events and jumps back and
forth between the news and personal stories in a sort of
stream-of-consciousness way. Unlike some other comics, he mostly
avoids working "blue", but in this show he threw in a few unnecessary
f-bombs. Despite that, I thought he was pretty entertaining, although
I'm the type who doesn't laugh out loud so much as just sit there and
think, "that's funny," and occasionally emit a quiet chuckle. An
audience full of Walts would make a grown comedian cry. Fortunately
the rest of the crowd was more vocal and laughed and applauded at
appropriate times. Brenner performed for about 75 minutes and then
closed the show rather abruptly. He didn't have a big finish or an
extra-funny bit that would suggest a climax; he just came to the end of
a story and then unexpectedly said goodnight, thanks for coming. A
little more warning would have been nice.
Following the Brenner show, we drove over to the Sahara to catch the
Checkmates' 11pm set in the Casbar lounge. It was pretty much the same
show I saw last May -- same songs, same jokes, and still entertaining,
especially for a free show. If you're in Vegas, don't pass up a chance
to see the Checkmates. They generally alternate between the Sahara and
Arizona Charlie's on Decatur.
Bonus pics: the Mirage at night...
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/mirage.jpg
.... and one of the double-decker "Deuce" buses that run up and down the
Strip and to downtown. Five dollars gets you a 24-hour pass...
http://walt-avlv.tripod.com/vegas2/deuce.jpg
That's all for now. See you in part three.
--- Walt
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