This trip was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We left for Dallas on the 30th to spend the night before a 7:23 am flight out. Flew American and the flight out was uneventful. The flight back was delayed one-hour dew to weather in the Dallas area.

Arrived on time and after getting luggage, caught a taxi. Line went fast and within a few minutes we had arrived at the Aladdin. Taxi cost $15 with tip I think. Very good driver, no tunnel and talked and told us what was going on in Vegas. Nice trip.

Went to check in around 8:30am and thought it might be too early. The room was in my wife’s name because she made the reservations, so I told her to do the $20 trick and let them know it was our anniversary and see if we could get an upgrade. She said she could get an upgrade without giving up an extra $20. I said ok and sent her on her way. They checked us in to our Deluxe King non smoking room on the 18th floor overlooking the pools, and if you turn your head to the right you could see the Bellagio fountains. The room was nice, clean, good maid service, but the beds were hard. I guess it was because we have pillow top matrices at home. Oh well we slept good every night.

We played all day Sunday, winning and loosing a little on the way. We had the most fun at IP on this trip because of the dealitainers. They were fun to watch and listen too. We were playing Caribbean Stud the first night at the Aladdin and met another Texan from Houston who was a fireman/paramedic. Another man sat down to play but was not putting the $1 in the bonus slot, so Houston told him that he would put the dollar in if the man would split anything that they hit. The man agreed and on the very first hand, the man hit a FULL HOUSE for $150 payout. The man did split the money and then he got up and left. We just wondered what would have happened if they had hit a Royal for $39,000.00 payout. Could have gotten real ugly.

Went to bed around midnight and got up the next morning and went to the buffet. Thank god we had a 2 for 1 coupon for this. I am one who likes Hash on a buffet and they did not have any. The rest of the food was ok but nothing special. Eggs were very runny for scrambled. The fruit was good and fresh, but I would not go back and pay full price for this.
Went over to NYNY to ESPN Zone to cash in my $20 voucher and get my cooler. They were out of coolers and will ship mine to my home here in Texas. Got the voucher and went to play some slots and 3card. Had a real good dealer and pit boss who kept us laughing all the time we played. I think we broke about even, and moved on. Monday mornings are nice because most of the people are checking out and going back home.

Monday we went up and down the strip. Rode the Monorail to MGM and back up to IP. Walked to Wynn’s and we got a players card with our names on them. We did not have to get 500 points to get our name on them, but you have to get 500 points to get the free buffet. My thoughts on the Wynn is that it is overrated and the table min. are way to high for me, $15 for 3card on a Monday, Oh well, got our red cards so no need to go back.

To shorten this up some, We did the Helicopter ride one night, it was fun but I recorded from takeoff to landing and is was less then 5 min. This is Las Vegas Helicopter across from the Aladdin and when he took off, he went as far as NYNY made a right, went down to the Strat., made another right, all the time staying on the same side of the strip, and flew back and landed. You could see the fronts of Wynn, Harrah’s, IP, Paris, but only saw the backs of Ceasers, Bellagio and all those on that side of the rode. $158 for 2 people. If you want to go, try another company.

Went downtown one night and saw the light show and did some gambling there. Binion’s is just not Binion’s anymore is it. We rented a car one day and went to Silverton. GVR and to Texas Station. Liked all of them and ate at Silverton, lunch, and Texas Station for dinner. Both were priced right and if anyone likes spaghetti, then go to Texas Station and order it. You better be hungry. My wife ordered it and there was well over 1lb of spaghetti in that hugh bowl they serve it in. I think is was around $7.
One night we did eat at the Aladdin Buffet and would not pay the $54 for 2 to eat there again. I guess if you like Lamb, raw fish, clams and stuff like that it is ok, but we like Prime rib, crab legs and fried chicken and BBQ. We like and thought that Harrah’s has a better buffet.

I play a lot of BJ this trip and did really well. If I would have stayed off of 3 card and the slots I would have come home a winner, but we had the time of our lives once again. My wife did hit 3 jackpots of around $1000 each, but by the end of the week, they got it all back. They were all on Flaming 7 machines at Harrah’s.

Friday we got up at 8:00 and went to check out, and told them to take off anything that the could from our players card. Thanks to the people on these boards, we charged all our meals to the room. Well he told us to go through a door because he did not do it at checkout, so we did, and after is was said and done, The knocked everything off our bill and we had to pay nothing for five nights and meals.

We did see George Wallace at the Flamingo and he was real funny and the show lasted from 10:00 till 12:00! He said he was having so much fun and was sorry he went on so long. It is well worth the price of tickets. We also ate at Ellis Island, and I had the stake and my wife had the BLT. About an hour after we were done and standing in line for George Wallace, she got deathly sick and had to run to the bathroom twice before the show even started. The only thing she had different was she had root beer and mayonnaise on her BLT. She was ok after the show and the rest of the trip.

We both came home with less than what we took, but that is why we take these trips, not expecting to come home rich but to have a good time. We did bring home enough to each put some back into our gambling money, so we did ok. Any questions ask and I will be glad to answer. A lot happened in 6 days and this is long enough already.