Sep 4-9, 2011 Last updated: 9/11/11 2:00pm PT
If you know us, you know we are not party animals or gamblers. So you may be wondering why we went to Vegas? The answer is simple. On the front page of this web site, there is a map of all the states we’ve visited. We have covered most of the western side of this country, but there was a glaring hole, Nevada. So we filled the hole.
When we left Seattle it was 55°. According to the local TV news, the high in Las Vegas on Sunday was 105°. It was in the 90’s two of the days and was a little over 100° the last two days. It was hot, but not humid, but still 100° is hot. We went out in the mornings and early evenings, when it was only in the 80’s and 90’s , hiding in the hotel room or a casino in the afternoon.
We set ourselves a very low daily budget for gambling. Playing the same games for free on a computer at home, with fake money, is more fun than losing real money playing the real games. We went to Vegas assuming we’d lose money. We gambled every day, purely for entertainment purposes. We played the video poker machines almost exclusively. We played a couple of slot machines once or twice, but at least with the video poker machines you can have a little control over the outcome. Otherwise, you’re just a monkey pushing a button. I thought about playing blackjack or roulette, but the lowest minimum table I saw was $10, with most tables having a $15 or $25 minimum. I’m too cheap to blow 10 bucks on one hand. Sure, I might have won, but probably not. I’d rather use that $10 to buy overpriced ice cream at the hotel shops. We lost $58 in 5 days.
Denise’s parents gave us a coupon book which contained some great coupons. We got discounts on buffets and also some coupons for free slot play when you signed up for the casino’s frequent gambler card. Like the cards you use at the grocery store, the casinos want to track your every dollar. To entice you to sign up, they sometimes give you $5 or $10 of free slot play. Our hotel, the Venetian, gave us $25. The Hooters casino gave us $200 each (I want it on record that Denise was the one that wanted to go to Hooters). The free slot play was probably rigged at Hooters. There was a bank of 8-10 slot machines that were set aside just for this promotion, so you know they aren’t losing any money here. Oh, by the way, the Hooters girls were wearing more clothes than some of the waitresses in other casinos. And some of the cocktail waitresses in general looked like they’ve been in Vegas too long, with the smoke indoors and sun outdoors taking its toll. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a 60 year old grandmother serving drinks at the Venetian. I’m sure the tips are good.
And when did I get old? We arrived on a holiday weekend, so the casinos were full of young people that didn’t look old enough to drive, let alone gamble and drink. They were decked out in trendy clothes, talking loudly and trying to be cool. Walking through a casino at 8 in the morning, we saw people at the bar enjoying drinks. Could they have started drinking at 7am? Or were they leftovers from the night before? (I’m not sure which is scarier). Once school started again on Tuesday, the Entourage wannabes left and Vegas was turned back over to the retirees. There were plenty of international travelers in Vegas too. Hopefully they don’t get the impression that the entire U.S. is like Vegas. I couldn’t decide if Vegas is more like a theme park for adults or a year-round spring break for adults. Either way, it’s a bit over the top.
When we travel, we like to eat local food. But what is Las Vegas food? Small Mom & Pop restaurants can’t afford the rent on the Strip, and this was a non-car rental trip. There would be no exploring to find the ‘real’ Las Vegas, and I didn’t really want to eat at a Hard Rock Cafe or a McDonald’s. So the answer is – all you can eat buffets. We enjoyed Rio’s Carnival World Buffet, Planet Hollywood’s Spice Market Buffet and Harrah’s Flavors Buffet. All were good. There was no one stopping us from getting more food, so we kept getting more food. The first day, we ate like it was our last meal on Earth. We couldn’t move after eating. I was so full, I couldn’t finish eating some creamy chocolate dessert thing, and I always have room for creamy chocolate dessert things. We had to slowly walk back to the hotel and lay down for a few hours. The whole idea of eating big at lunch was to have one meal a day, and that would be an inexpensive way to eat. That worked well, as we were not hungry later in the day (even though we would get ice cream around 9pm most nights). We spent around $35 for both of us to eat for the entire day (without a coupon). One trick is to go to the buffet at 10:50am. At 11am, they switch over from the breakfast buffet to the lunch buffet. They don’t kick you out, so you save 2 or 3 dollars on lunch by paying the breakfast price. Eating a big lunch, instead of a big dinner, also gives your body more time to work off the calories.