LAS VEGAS – 26 March – 10 April 2006
26 March
Taxi picked us up at 6.45am and by 7.10am we were checked in
and waiting to board at 8.20am. We were late taking off and the captain had
forgotten to put his watch forward so he kept telling us the wrong landing
time. We eventually landed at 10.50am at Heathrow and made our way to terminal 3. Had a
quick bite to eat before boarding our next flight to Chicago. We took off at 2.00pm and
watched the film Prime whilst having a savoury snack with orange juice. After a
while dinner arrived – chicken with rice, salad, rolls with butter, crackers,
cheese and grapes. We had ice-cream for dessert whilst starting to watch the
next film. We gave up half way through as we fell asleep. When we woke up the
film was just starting again so we picked up where we left off. We then had a
snack of a filled roll, crisps, Twix and cup of tea. Then it was time to land.
Our journey was shorter than we thought at 7hours 45 mins. We cleared customs
and transferred to terminal 1 ready to board our next flight to Las Vegas.
Enjoyed our next flight and landed at 8.00pm Las Vegas time. Caught the shuttle
bus which dropped us off at the Las Vegas Hilton. Checked in and made our way up to our
room – king size bed, mirrors everywhere including the ceiling above the bed
and a beautiful view of the Strip and also the planes coming into land.
We had
showers and then went downstairs and had a turkey panini and tea before having
a wee shot on the slots. Got to bed at 1.45am (10.45am GMT) so we were on the
go for 27 hours.
27 March
Woke up early at 6.30am with noise from the connecting room.
Tried to get back to sleep but couldn’t so eventually got up and went for
breakfast at McDonald’s beside the Sahara Hotel. We then visited a couple of
shops (one had internet access for $5 an hour) before making our way to the
Stratosphere. Walked down to the Sahara and had our $5 each on the slots. Then
we went to Walgreens to top up the phone card and walked back to the Riviera to
phone Scott and Ross. We then had our go on the slots then crossed over to
Circus Circus to play their’s. We collected our coupon books and went next door
to Slots O Fun to have a late lunch at Subway. After we’d played their slots we
did the same at the Stardust and Greek Isles before coming back to the Hilton.
Had a quick look at the pool and had a ride in the glass elevator and then had
a nap in our room as we’d been up so early. Had dinner at Pizza Hut in the
North Tower and a caramel nut sundae between us to finish off from KCBY. Then
it was time to hit the casino!! Got to bed about 3.00am!!
28 March
Up early again and walked to the McDonald’s opposite the
Riviera for breakfast. We then made a brief stop at the Frontier, before
calling in at the new Wynn Hotel and casino. Very luxurious! The shuttle bus
driver (from the airport) told us that Steve Wynn has to make $3,000,000 per
day to break even. He needs $3,000,003.60 today as we won $3.60! Walked round
the hotel and admired all the fresh flowers everywhere and then sat in the race
and sports book to have a rest.
We then took the walkway over to Treasure
Island and then the tram to The Mirage. We crossed over to Harrah’s to catch
the monorail back to our hotel and picked up a pizza to take to our room to
eat. We had a rest and showered and got the monorail down to the MGM and then
the Tropicana where we got free tickets to the Las Vegas History Museum, which
was really interesting.
Next it was Hooters before making our way back to catch
the tram to the Madalay Bay. We then caught the tram back to the Luxor where we
stopped at the food court to have dinner from Nathan’s. After a quick visit to
Excalibur and New York New York it was time to catch the monorail back to our
hotel. Played the slots for a little while before going to bed at 2.10am.
29 March
Weather is a bit better today – it’s not raining! Still a
bit on the cold side though. Had breakfast at our usual spot then logged onto
the internet to catch up with news from home. We then went to the Sahara to
swipe our club cards and I won $10 Eazy Money – which generated $4 cash. Then
we took water and a newspaper back to our room and set off on the monorail to
the south end of the strip. We visited the Tropicana
and then went to the Monte
Carlo where we had something to eat in the food court. We then wandered up the
Strip past the Hawaiian Marketplace and walked through the Desert Passage in
Aladdin and had our go on the slots. After that it was Paris and then over to
the Bellagio to watch the fountains.
Saw them on the way in and again on the
way out – wonderful. After a quick visit to Caesar’s Palace we crossed over to O’Sheas
where we met a couple from Glasgow. We chatted for ages with them before
visiting the Flamingo, Barbary Coast and Bally’s. Then it was time to catch the
monorail back to our hotel for our nightly visit to the casino!
30 March
Had breakfast in Vegas Subs in our hotel and then relaxed at
poolside all afternoon. We then went to the Sahara for their 2 for 1 buffet
(Thursday’s only for Club Card members) – what a feast and all for $11.84 for
the two of us. We then caught the Deuce bus downtown to Fremont Street and
visited all the casinos there and saw 4 lightshows.
Caught the Deuce bus back
to the Riviera and walked back to our hotel.
31 March
Got up late and had brunch in McDonald’s before setting off
down the strip. First stop was the Venetian to watch the gondolas,
then into
Casino Royale closely followed by Harrah’s and Imperial Palace. By that time it
was time for dinner so after a quick visit to the Westin we ordered dinner at
Ellis Island. Clam Chowder soup and stir-fry chicken and then we both finished
it off with “The Really Big Ice-Cream Chocolate Brownie Thingy” which was
huge!! We paid a quick visit to the Tuscany and Terribles before ending up at
the Hard Rock Hotel and casino.
Far too noisy and full of young people drinking
and partying. Couldn’t find the shuttle bus back to our hotel so jumped in a
taxi instead. Spent the night having a few drinks and playing the slots.
1 April
Had showers and just managed to make it for breakfast at
McDonald’s. We then had an hour on the internet before setting off to catch the
shuttle bus to Sam’s Town. Missed the first one at the Stardust but caught one
at 2.00pm at Harrah’s. Had a wander round and then had dinner in the Fresh
Harvest Café – vegetable soup, beef pot roast with mashed potatoes and vegetables
and then Jim had ice-cream sundae and I had strawberry cheesecake. We then had
a go on the slots and caught the shuttle bus back to the Stardust. Had a wander
round the casino and then came back to our hotel to pack.
2 April
Got up and went to McDonald’s for breakfast before checking
out of the Las Vegas Hilton. Walked over to the Riviera and stood in a huge
queue to check in. Couldn’t get the Monte Carlo Tower but did get a King Size
room in the Monaco Tower with a beautiful view overlooking the Strip and the
pool. It wasn’t made up yet so we had to leave our cases in the closet. Had a
wander and sunbathed beside the pool for a while. We then went to book tickets
for a Japanese show called Matsuri (a muscle musical) for the 4.00pm
performance in our hotel. It was a very energetic show and all 32 performers
certainly earned their money. What brilliant acrobats and athletes they all
were. We then unpacked as our room had been made up.
We had a relaxing night
watching TV and then had a couple of hours in the casino.
3 April
Had our favourite breakfast in McDonald’s again and then
went up to the Sahara and the gift shop before buying tickets for the show at
the Luxor tonight (Hairspray). Went back to the room for showers and to change
then caught the Deuce bus down to the Luxor to exchange our 2 for 1 tickets for
allocated seats. Then we made our way to the Tropicana to see the Extreme Magic
of Dirk Arthur. He performed some unbelievable tricks with tigers, panthers,
doves, ducks and dancing girls. He also did something amazing with white
handkerchiefs making them dance in and out of a bottle even when he put a cork
on the top of the bottle. He made a helicopter and a train appear too. After
the show he posed for photos outside the theatre.
Then we went for a Panda
Express Chinese meal and had a chocolate chip ice-cream sandwich on our way to
the Luxor for our next show – Hairspray. Show was OK but probably wouldn’t
recommend it to anyone. Caught the Deuce bus back to our hotel and chatted to a
couple who were at the same bus stop as us who’d been to see the same show in
the Luxor. They were an older couple and as we got chatting we discovered that
the husband was celebrating his birthday tomorrow too! Only he’ll be 69 and
I’ll be 53. We had an hour in the casino before retiring.
4 April
Had breakfast in the food court in our hotel before catching
the Deuce bus to use the internet again. We then went to the Stratosphere to
book tickets for the Viva Las Vegas afternoon show. We then caught the Deuce
bus down to the Fashion Show Mall and visited the Wynn Hotel again. We decided
to book for the water show Le Reve for 10.30pm tonight. We then went back to
our hotel before walking up to the Stratosphere again. The show was good for
the money – we paid roughly $7 each, which included a free drink. We walked
back to Slots O Fun for our Subway meal before returning to our hotel for
showers. We then made our way down to the Wynn Hotel to see the show and WOW
what a show it was. It was breathtaking, out of this world, fantastic,
unbelievable and well worth the $99 dollars each that we paid for it. It
certainly was a water show with a difference. Set in a circular theatre, the
performers came from all sides, down from a hole in the ceiling and from under
the water and the precision and timing was spot on. We walked back to our hotel
in a daze!
Had a couple of hours in the casino before retiring. This was
definitely one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had.
5 April
Had breakfast in our room from McDonald’s. It’s a good bit
cooler today – only about 60 degrees but it feels much colder as there is a
high wind. Walked down to the Imperial Palace to wave to the webcam with our
Loquax banner and duck! We then caught the shuttle bus over to the Rio and had
our $5 on the slots. Then we went to see the Ronn Lucas show. We got good seats
and after Jim got our free drinks he noticed that Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee
were sitting in the audience. Jim took a film of them and then we went over to
speak to them. They were very pleasant and told us they were friends with Ronn
Lucas and had just had lunch with him. The show was very good and at the end he
got Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee to stand up and take a bow and thanked them
for having him on their show in the UK.
We then watched the Masquerade in the
Sky through in the casino
before going over to the Palms to play their slots
and have their dinner buffet. Very nice. We then popped over to the Gold Coast
and caught the shuttle bus back to the Barbary Coast. We then caught the Deuce
bus back to our hotel.
6 April
Had breakfast from McDonald’s in our room again, then sat
and sunbathed for half an hour beside the pool. We set off down the strip and
we were in good time to see the Mac King show in Harrah’s at 1.00pm. He did
magic and comedy all for $7 each including a free drink – really good value.
When we came out we crossed over and went to the Forum Shops for a look round
and then walked to the Bellagio to watch the fountains. We saw 3 performances at 3.00pm and 1 at 3.30pm and then sat and sunbathed for a little while before making our way to Ellis Island to have the steak dinner special. We started off with chilli bean soup and then had the steak, which was delicious. We finished it off with the same dessert as the last time but this time we only had one between us. The bill came to $15.84 – unbelievable value! We then wandered back up the strip and watched the Mirage volcano and the Treasure Island pirate ship battle – not as good as it used to be.
After a short rest in our room we went down to the casino and bumped into the couple from Glasgow that we met in the lift the other day. We blethered to them for ages before getting to bed at 2.10pm.
7 April
Got up and had breakfast in McDonald’s. Wandered about and
went to use the internet for an hour before checking our Sahara Club Card. Jim
won $5 in Eazy Money and managed to turn it into $4 dollars cash. Walked back
to our hotel and sat by the pool to relax. Had showers and went to the Sahara
to use our comp points to eat in the buffet. We then walked down to the Wynn
Hotel and played the slots for a while before returning to our own hotel.
8 April
Got up late as there was a lot of noise during the night.
Went over to Subway for breakfast/lunch and then had a walk up to the Sahara
and then over to the LV Hilton. We then came back to our hotel to sunbathe for
a while.
We went for a walk to buy souvenirs and then changed for dinner and
went to the Stardust buffet. We then played the slots in the Stardust and
Circus Circus before returning to our hotel to pack. We then went down for our
final play on the slots and actually came out ahead for a change!
9 April
Got up and had showers then breakfast in our room from
McDonald’s. Finished packing and checked out of the hotel and we were picked up
by Showtime shuttle at 12 noon. Had a good flight from Las Vegas to Chicago
watching the film Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Then we paid a quick visit to the
duty free in Chicago before catching our next flight to Heathrow. We watched
Kicking and Screaming and had a meal of lasagne before trying to get some
sleep. When we landed at Heathrow is took 50 minutes to get off the plane as
they had to bring a bus to disembark us. On entering the airport we had to get
another bus to take us to the next terminal and then we were directed a
peculiar route and got lost and had to ask a few times where to go. We
eventually got to the correct gate number just in time for our flight to
Edinburgh – we hate Heathrow!!
More photos:-
