TR July 15-19th 20th Anniversary

I will post a a reply.

TR July 15-19th 20th Anniversary

I really need to check my writing before I hit ';submit';!

Day 1: Getting there is half the fun!

First, Thanks to everyone at this forum for all the helpful advice. It really did make our trip much more enjoyable.

Second, I must say that for anyone living in the SF Bay Area, leaving from SFO is such an easy way to go. We were able to take BART from the east bay all the way to SFO (about 1 hour). We stepped off the train, walked to the end of the corridor, and were at the terminal! No long, traffic jammed drive, no hassle with parking. We just had a relative drop us off at the BART station. No stress, I love it.

Our plane was set to leave at 11:45am on Virgin America. Unfortunately, there was a fog delay (no one%26#39;s fault), so we had to wait two hours. The fun thing was that every few minutes, the ticket people would have a little trivia contest, chirades, karaoke, and give the winner coupons for free drinks and such. Two people were even bumped up to ';Premium'; seats!

We arrived in Las Vegas around 3:30pm, and got our cab to the Bellagio. We did not mention NOt to take the tunnel, and guess what? He did! I was a little steamed about this, but remembered what another poster said about not getting all upset over small things. But he dude did not get a good tip!

We had booked the cheapest room rate ($159 for each night!), but did get a nice room with a partial view of the fountains (no $20 trick). This was a nice surpirse. After stalling for 30 minutes, our Stawberries and Champagne arrived to start the celebrating. What a beautiful presentation and Yummy!

As it was getting to be the dinner hour, we decided not to dress up, but to just find something quick to eat. We walked across the street to Paris and tried the Buffet. We enjoyed the wonderful selection. It was rather busy, but they got us in as quickly as they could.

I%26#39;m glad we didn%26#39;t try to schedule anything for the first night. It was fine to just walk around and take it all in, seeing what%26#39;s new and getting excited about being in Vegas! We walked back after dinner and found a nice piano bar at the Bellagio (Baccarat Bar?). We tried some new drink we hadn%26#39;t had before, a Caiperhena, and a sidecar. The service was good. We forgot to tip the waitress when she served our first round, so she got a large tip when we ordered our next drinks. She seemed really grateful and surprised. That made us feel good (although I think the drinks were also helping)

I will try to post day 2 tomorrow (Cabana Day, Alize and the buffoon at the next table).

Thanks

TR July 15-19th 20th Anniversary

Whenever you%26#39;re ready!

MPO

What a nice thing for th airline to do. More should try that technique for people waiting for delayed flights especially if it%26#39;s the airline that made the error. Sure would help moral.

You%26#39;re right on track there not scheduling anything special for your first night. People don%26#39;t realize how exhauted they will be once they get settled in the rooms.

Looking forward to more.

Great trip report. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for sharing.

Judi

Day 2: This was our actual 20th wedding anniversary, so I wanted to do something really special. We got the call at 8:30 that we did indeed get the cabana (we were staying at the Bellagio), so we were really excited! I had called about 2 months ago to put our name on the list, but was very worried that we wouldn%26#39;t get it.

We arrived at the pool around 10:30am and was shown where the Cabana was located. It was really hot at that time, so we felt lucky to have some shade. Since it was just the two of us, it was pretty mellow, and there was only one cabana that seemed to have a big party going on. Many of the units were empty or just had couples in them.

We ordered snacks (a shrimp quesadilla, a veggie tray) and had lots of fun just chilling. As the day progressed, we noticed some rather gloomy clouds coming our way. Sure enough, about 2:30, a thunder and lightning storm passed through. I was really nervous about the lightning. As we followed the bolts crashing down around us, I was reminded that we were in a metal framed tent! But the storm quickly sped through. All of the people at the pool were gone, and we had the area almost to ourselves for a while. After more swimming and a dip in the Jacuzzi, we went to change for dinner.

Originally, we wanted to go to Andre%26#39;s downtown, but found out that they take the whole month of July off! So, we went for Alize and their great view. Too bad the company next to us was so awful!

The restaurant itself was beautiful. As we were seated they gave us a menu that had ';Happy Anniversary'; written on it! A very nice touch. We ordered the 7 course tasting menu and waited for the goodness to start. Next to us was a group of four people (two men and two women-business collegues I can guess).

What a contrast! Here we are celebrating a relationship milestone and this guy goes on and on and on about how he will never get married! That might not seem so bad, but we (and his companions) had to listen to his non-stop commentary on women, relationships, abandoning his child (he actually seem proud of this!), and a witchy ex. This went on for TWO AND A HALF HOURS!!!! HIs dinner guests couldn%26#39;t even get a word in edgewise. I%26#39;m thinking he (or his company) must have been paying for dinner or I don%26#39;t know how those people put up with it.

This is a very small restaurant so we couldn%26#39;t really move. It wouldn%26#39;t have mattered anyway as I think the whole dining room had to put up with this guy%26#39;s ranting. AT first we were really angry, but it got so rediculous that we had to fight off bursting into laughter. What a clown!

AS for the meal itself, it was good, but not as well done as at Andre%26#39;s. The highlight was the duck on brioche with a quail egg on top. A beautiful presentation that went well with the Pinot Nior that was served. All the dishes were good, but some of the wine selections were odd (we had ordered the wine parings). There were 2 dessert wines and a port for the cheese course. I%26#39;m usually rather adventurous, but I found the syrupy consistency of these wines a distraction from the food, rather than a compliment.

Coming up for Day 3: Craps lessons,Buchon, and phantom!

Thanks for reading

Great TR so far.

It is really a shame when someone acts like an a@# in a nice restaurant where most people are there to enjoy each other, the ambience and often celebrate something special. I guess if nothing else, it was an evening you won%26#39;t soon forget.

Looking forward to reading more - especially since we will be there in 5 days!

Day 3: Craps lessons, Bouchon and Phantom:

We found a free Craps lesson at Bill Casino at 10:30am. There were about 10 people. Everyone was friendly, and of course, we played for about an hour after, doubling our money! I love this game!

We went back to the Bellagio and played some slots, Hubby won $150! Our luck was gaining momentum!

After a nap (too much walking around), we got dressed and headed for the Venitian for dinner and Phantom.

This was our second time at Bouchon and I must say they are consistently superior. We got a chatty waiter, which was fun, and ordered. I had the steak and pomme frites and Hubby had the short ribs (huge). We also got the recommended special house blend red wine, which went wonderfully with the food. If you have a chance to get to this restaurant, do it. You won%26#39;t be dissapointed.

Between dinner and Phantom, we played more craps (getting to really like this game...), but had to stop after one round due to Phantom starting soon.

We splurged and got very good seats for Phantom. I think this was our fourth time seeing it. We saw all the other productions in L.A. (one with Michael Crawford) and this show compares very well. I loved the costumes and sets. I think this was the best Carlotta I have ever seen!

We made the classic vegas mistake of thinking the Bellagio was not too far from the Venitian and decided to walk back. One hour and some very sore feet later, we returned to our hotel. It was fun to go through all the casinos on the way back, but we were really tired.

We went to the wonderful chocolate shop in the Bellagio and bought desserts to eat in our room... Possibly a big mistake (more on that tomorrow).

Coming up Day 4: getting better at craps, and vegas%26#39;s revenge...

Cant wait to read more... love the craps. It was the first thing my dad taught me when i turned 18

Day 4:

We started out the day going for breakfast at Cafe Bellagio. Usually, we just skip breakfast, but I was hungry. We got in right away (no line). I had a frittata and hubby had the french toast. While I enjoyed my breakfast, hubby was unimpressed and said he liked my homemade French Toast better (he%26#39;s a sweety!). I don%26#39;t think it was bad, just not as good as he was used to. I think he was a little blown away by the price of the meal (over $40.00 with tip), which may have been why he was expecting more.

This was our day to go shopping for stuff for the kids and relatives who were looking after them. So we headed across the street to the ';Miracle Mile';. We get there around 10am, so everything was just opening. We were hoping for less cookie cutter shops and more unique things. Finally we found a shop that featured antique vegas slots. They also had some different items that we thought the kids might enjoy. I asked the shopkeeper about how his shop was doing in this economy. He told me that people are still shopping heavily, there just not gambling, which was fine with him! Interesting.

We did notice on this trip that there were less crowds in the casino than during our last trip (Dec. 2006). Also Bellagio had many $10 blackjack tables and craps tables. We only saw one $10 BJ table on our last trip. I think this says something about the place that they need to attract people with lower limits.

Anyway, In the afternoon, we did something we NEVER get to do at home: go to the movies! We went to see Hellboy 2 at the UA theaters near the coke bottle and MGM. The movie was fun, but I hated the rat maze we had to navigate from the M%26amp;M store to the actual theater. If you%26#39;re going, give yourself plenty of time to wind around that store, elevators, parking garages, you name it, before you ever reach the box office.

AS we headed back to the Bellaggio I started to feel a little ';full';. Hmmm...

The moment we got back, we waited in line for our tickets to ';O'; for nearly 30 minutes. You%26#39;d think they would want you to get through there faster, so guests could get back to gambling...

Finally feeling confident in my abilities, the craps tables beckoned. Hubby and I each got $100 in chips and started playing. We were doing rather well when I got a suddenly horrible feeling. I excused myself to the restroom and... Well let%26#39;s just say the rest of the night consisted of naps, running to the bathroom, and lots of moaning.

Hubby cashed out and met me in the room (we had doubled our money...again!). Shaking, I took a nap and then stubbornly insisted that I would be just fine! I was so looking forward to this evening, that I was not going to let illness get the best of me. We got to Olives just in time for our reservations on the patio ( I had planned out everything) and were seated. I passed on wine and ordered sparkling water to settle my stomach. We ordered, the food came, and I just couldn%26#39;t eat a thing! I felt so bad for chef and explained that, although the food looked great, I wasn%26#39;t feeling well. This amazing waiter went back to the kitchen, told them I didn%26#39;t care for the dish, and then took it off the bill! Needless to say, he got an enormous tip.

Well, by then, it was apparent I was not going to be able to sit through a show. I crawled back to the room and Hubby was able to get a refund on the tickets!

coming up Day 5: Wynn buffett trick, finally playing craps, and going home

I%26#39;m really enjoying your trip report, please continue! That%26#39;s a bummer about getting sick though. Can you trace it back to any place in particular where you ate? Wherever it was I want to avoid it, LOL.