Vegas - 2008:
06.30.08
We headed off for Vegas Sunday morning (06.30.08) very early.
We arrived in Vegas before noon, dropped our bags off and headed out
to gamble. We were staying at the New York Hotel on the strip
so that is where we started our gambling foray...
Unfortunately....we didn't exactly win big....or win small...so we
left and headed over to the MGM grand across the street.
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing poker and slots.
Got our money back from MGM....and called it a gambling day as we
had some clubs to attend.
Our first stop of the night was
Tabu Ultra Lounge in the MGM Grand. We had a few drinks
and decided to head down to the Palms Casino where we would spend
the rest of the evening.
The first stop at the Palms was
Ghost
Bar. Ghost Bar is 55 stories above Vegas and is a great
bar with a great view of the Vegas Strip. One of the key
features is that it has a glass bottom on the terrace so you can see
down below as you are having your adult beverage....this could be a
bad thing at times...
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Keith & Steph at Ghost Bar - Pic 1
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Keith & Steph at Ghost Bar - Pic 2
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View of the other Palms tower from Ghost Bar.
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From Ghost Bar, we headed over the Playboy Club. We spent a
bit of time there. It was a pretty cool club, but we decided
to head upstairs after a brief stay to Moon which is a dance club.
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Steph at Moon.
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View of dance floor
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View of dance floor
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Keith and Steph at Moon.
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We were at moon bar until very early morning and had a very good
time.
07.01.08
Monday was a day to see a little Vegas and of course gamble.
We headed out in style down the strip....well we took the bus.
We wanted to stop at the Wynn hotel and head to the Stratosphere to
head to the top.
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One of the true orignal Vegas hotels....this sign is the last of it as the Frontier is no more...
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View from within the Wynn....Very very nice.
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On the way to the Stratosphere...
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View of the Stratosphere
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At the Stratosphere we headed for the top. It is 100 stories
up and a long way down....Quite a view of Vegas.
After leaving the Stratosphere we decided to head back down the
strip to the hotel to get ready for the evening. It was to be
a little more low key. Dinner, gambling and out on the Vegas
strip at night...
We had dinner at the RainForrest Cafe and headed out to the Strip.
We checked out the strip and the fountain show at the Bellagio which
is really cool. I have a little video if you have the patience
to download it. It features none other than the King doing
Viva Las Vegas. Click
here and be patient.
07.02.08
Our last full day in Vegas had a lot on the agenda. We wanted
to check out the Rio, see the Palms again and had our show lined up
for the evening as well as fit in some more gambling.
We headed down the strip again in high style on the bus toward the
Rio. The Rio is now the home of the WSOP for all of you poker
fans. We were there during the WSOP 2008 and the Rio even
during the day had a ton of poker players on site.
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View of the main Rio poker room.
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View of the 2nd main table at the WSOP...TV table.
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2nd shot of TV table
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Booth and final table area.
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Booth and final table area - #2
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Close as you can get to seeing the final table area at this time.
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From the Rio we headed to the Palms to do some gambling and have
some lunch and then caught a cab back to the hotel.
On the way back, we decided that in all the times in Vegas we have
never seen the famous welcome to Las Vegas sign...so we had the cab
take us down there prior to dropping us off at the NY NY.
Our big event for the evening was to see the Cirque du Soleil show
of KA at the MGM.
There are no cameras allowed at the show....however, it was
incredible. If you are ever in Vegas you MUST see a show.
Fantastic.
Here is the closest thing to being there that we can provide...it is
the KA preview which doesn't do it justice.
http://www.mgmgrand.com/entertainment/ka-cirque-du-soleil-show.aspx
07.02.08
Our last part of Vegas we decided to get up and check out Vegas one
more time, take a few pictures and decide where to do our final
gambling.
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Excalibur Hotel
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View of Vegas from our Room.
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Another shot from our room.
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Shot 3..
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Steph and Keith in the room...
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Outside the NY NY
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Las Vegas Blvd.
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The original Tropicana hotel where the Rat Pack did a lot of damage back in the day. One of the last original Vegas hotel/casinos left.
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Down the strip...
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Mandelay Bay with a bit of the Luxor.
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NY NY
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kB at the MGM sign for KA (which you can't really see)
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The bar area at the MGM grand.
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Outside the NY NY
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Last shot at Vegas....
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We then headed back to Houston which is where we spent our time with
the glittering jewel of air travel incompetence...Delta.
The flight from Las Vegas to Salt Lake city wasn't too bad. A
little late...but not too bad. As we are sitting at the gate
waiting for the plane to board we see the pilots inspecting the
plane. We finally board.
As we are all finally settling in, the pilot comes on and says the
baggage crew noticed a problem with the engine and the FAA won't let
us fly. 2 things. One. Why the did we have to
board the plane to find this out. 2. How exactly did 2
pilots miss this engine problem?????
As we are getting off the plane, the pilot tells us that the next
plane is here we are going to get off the plane and get on the next
one.
Once we get in the airport, we find out the next plane is due in 2
hours....Nice.
So...we decide to head to bar area to have a drink to pass the now
extra 2 hours in Salt Lake airport.
When it is getting close to time to leave we decide to head back to
the gate and we hear final boarding calls...meaning they are closing
the gates so we run through the terminal and get on the plane.
Once we are on the plane, the pilot tells us that they have no gas
and are waiting on the fuel truck to show up. So we are
delayed another 30 minutes. Nice again.
So...after we finally take off 3 1/2 hours late we are on the way to
Houston.
When we get to Houston, another classic moment. The pilot
comes on and states. "We have another problem in order to test your
patience just a little more". He says since we were so
late...there is no ground crew to handle the bags and that we have
to sit on the run way and wait. So 30-40 minutes later...we
finally get to pull in the gate.
We arrived home almost 5 hours late. Thank you Delta for your
continued quality service.
One thing that we have been asked is to share our winnings.
That is very important to me to share the wealth.
I haven't found the best way to invest the money and give it out,
but I wanted to show you what you may have coming to you...
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