Spent five nights in Las Vegas with a night at the Grand Canyon in between. Roy and I took his dad for his
recent retirement (the trip was a gift from the kids) and we met up with his sister, Christina, and brother-in-law, George, who both drove in from California. The first part of the trip was spent at the beautiful (and freshly scented) Aria Hotel & Casino.
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| Aria Hotel & Casino |
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| Aria Lobby |
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| View from our room which was facing away from the Strip, natch. The Cosmopolitan on the left, Aria on the right |
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| Another view from the room. The building straight ahead is Vdara. The cool art installation on the ground is a bunch of canoes thrown together - purposefully, of course. |
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| These beds are so comfy. I looked to see what kind they were (Sealy Posturepedic Custom Made) and Aria actually sells them direct on their web site. I am working on convincing Roy that we need a new mattress pronto. |
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| First activity was a trip to the Gamblers General Store. |
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| Picked up a few di for my brother to add to his collection. |
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| The carpet inside the store. Casino carpeting is mesmerizing. |
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| Grabbed dinner that evening at the buffet in The Cosmopolitan called Wicked Spoon. We all got coupons on the plane for a 2 for 1 deal and also $25 in slot play. Roy's sister won $200 on her 2nd spin. |
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| Crystals at City Center Shops connected to Aria. I would have gone shopping but the only store I can afford is Starbucks. |
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| Day 2: Visited World Famous Gold & Silver - Home of Pawn Stars. |
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| No Chum Lee sighting but the word was he was there. |
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| Super Bowl Rings |
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| Stopped in at Bellagio |
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| These pencil trees are so tall |
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| Lobby Decor |
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| The Conservatory |
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| Day 3: Freemont Street Experience. There was a special kickboxing event going on so they weren't going to have any light shows that night. |
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| The whole roof lights up and there's a special show every hour in the evenings. |
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| Amazing spray paint artist |
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| This took him less than 5 minutes |
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| Aria at night |
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| Waterfall |
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| Our room was on the 14th floor (aka the 13th floor) |
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| Poker Room in the back. |
On the gambling front the guys played poker and I mostly played Pai Gow. We also participated in the Aria poker tournament with a $100 + $25 buy-in and I was just glad not to be the first one out. It was my first real, non-charity tournament ever and I'm not really experienced on how to bet correctly and how to play the positions so I just played for fun. My demise came when I went all in on pocket 4's and everyone folded except one person - and he had pocket aces! He ended up with trips so I was done. Roy paid for my entry fee so when I got eliminated I went and played Pai Gow and roulette and won it back, luckily. I hit 8 numbers in a row in roulette! Roy, George, and Roy's dad played in the tournament for a while longer but no one made it to the final table unfortunately.
We made stops at Bellagio, Caesars, The Quad, Excalibur, and Luxor. We also met up with George's local buddies at an off-Strip casino & microbrewery called
Ellis Island. They had a chicken and ribs joint that was really good. We played craps there and the minimums were only $5. There was this crazy lady who kept arguing with the dealers about what bet she made and wouldn't let it go. It was kind of a buzz kill. So we left craps but the lady followed Roy to the roulette table. The look on his face said it all. When he casually left for the blackjack table she followed him again. It was pretty funny. A different (drunk) lady looked at Roy and was like, "I know you!" and went to give him a hug and a grab on the ass. LOL. The guy she was with was like, "Uhh, I don't think he knows you." I love Vegas. You see a lot of beautiful things and not-so-beautiful things.
To be continued with Part II: Grand Canyon.
