Asher's winnings from Excalibur. The kid is under a day old and he won on his first try!
We kicked off Day Two with a cost-saving measure, taking the special shuttle bus to the grocery store. Brunch in our room has proven to be the most expensive meal this entire trip thanks to the MGM-Chase Vouchers. Starbucks every morning really adds up. Too bad this mediocre Kroger affiliate didn’t stock up on those little bottled coffees I like. I’m successfully getting by on a concoction I’ve improvised with chocolate Silk and Tazo chai tea mix.
Unlike Orlando, Somara and I got the owner meeting out of the way early. Last time it was in the middle eating up too much time in my opinion. Sadly it was once again another sales pitch, etc. Never quite the South Park experience but saddening to find out we can’t upgrade our time share from every other year to every year thanks to a corporate policy change. The announcement was expectedly followed with a “once in a lifetime” offer needing an immediate, then-and-there decision to buy out another deed to get a week (or two) every year. Course it was a mere $8000. Tempting when you’re shown the math yet we have other priorities financially. I think knowing our limits prevents the time share from becoming one of those frequent horror stories you hear from friends, family or co-workers. Our guy CJ was a good sport, he said not to feel bad, if he got a yes from every person, he could retire by now.
With the obligatory element of our vacation completed, we ate leftovers for lunch, caught a nap and then I wrote/sent post cards to five sets of kids while I lounged by the pool area. If I skipped your children, sorry, remind me to send something next time or before I split for home.
On the overpass above the Strip between NYNY and MGM.
Another Strip expedition in more “upscale” attire was undertaken to usher in round two of the Maggi Video Poker Challenge. Luxor was the venue. I lost despite it being close. We probably won’t use the Pyramid Place again, it took forever to get some drinks. The worse still remains the overhyped Palms though. Luxor’s previous nightclub Ra was closed since the last time we were there much to Jose’s relief (funny stories, ask him). Now its successor is The Cathouse. Hmm. Is it an expensive steak restaurant or a pseudo-bordello? Wait! It’s both! My guess is that Luxor chose to fill the void New Orleans left behind when it was leveled in 2005. Now I’m occasionally hearing “We Put the Spring in Springfield” in my head.
The pinnacle of the evening was placing a roulette bet for the barely day old Asher at Excalibur. Why there? Since his old man plays D&D, WoW, digs LoTR, etc., a castle-themed casino seemed logical. It was also the first place with a five-dollar table all night. As the opening photo shows, his birthday was a winner on the first try. I’m happy too because my winning-to-losing ratio on betting on single numbers continues to be excellent; five victories in four vacations if you’re keeping score. And to keep my rude schmuck streak going when I win, I did call Adam to leave a message. I figured he’d be awake and off from work since Leah just gave birth earlier in the day.
This is how I imagine our male cat Nemo sees himself when he sleeps.
Being cat people, we made our pilgrimage to the lion habitat in the MGM Grand. It was late so they were probably sedated or they’ve learned to ignore the annoying, dumb tourists banging on the glass or using flash photography. I know they’re dangerous but I still want to pet and hug them.
Insert your own comical and/or dirty caption here.
During our late-evening dinner, I remembered one of my main peeves over casino restaurants…they rarely have bathrooms. You end up back into the gambling areas which are loud, semi-confusing labyrinths not even Theseus could figure out. Yet on my way I discovered one of MGM’s overpriced lounges using this weird brass fixture (see above). I think it’s probably used to hold a velvet rope. After eating, I made Somara take the photo, it was too good to pass up.
Ssshh! Don't let my dentist discover me hanging out with the Blue M&M!
The attempts at humorous pictures didn’t stop at MGM. We pressed north to see what was being built in place of the old, dumpy Boardwalk; the Cosmopolitan. Great a casino theme based upon the girlie cocktail from Sex & the City. I KEED, I’m guilty of imbibing them too. Got to witness three morons being arrested by LV’s finest before seeing the M&M Store. A friend wanted some special M&Ms you can’t buy in plain stores. I have to admit the place is an oddity. Seems that foreigners really dig shopping in a four-story building dedicated to one of America’s innocuous candies.
By then, Somara wasn’t feeling well and I had pushed both our endurances to the limit as it was very late. Her new shoes didn’t help (don’t get me started on women’s shoes, it’s an axe I’ve been grinding since college). The exhaustion resulted into this trip’s first lesson; LV’s double-decker bus known as the Deuce is more flexible than TV’s shuttle bus, despite the latter being free. This funky-named bus runs 24 hours and it will take us all the way to Fremont, a goal we agreed on this vacation. The Deuce has me thinking of a movie idea and I have a pass good for a day.
I needed more time to unwind so I closed Day Two with a neat, night-time photo of the view from our timeshare’s lounge to give everyone some perspective of its location relative to the Strip.
GAMBLING REPORT:
Somara: -$40
Steve: -$44.99
Asher: +$175
It was at the Excalibur? That’s cool! That’s the hotel Leah and I stayed at when we went to Vegas years ago.
What are the odds? 😉 (I had to.)
When you called, my phone was on silent since we were in the hospital at the time, but I did get a kick out of it when I finally went “Oh, crap, I have a phone I haven’t looked at in 24 hours…”
And the M&M is strangely hilarious. I really don’t know why.