Vegas trip pictures and observations
David and I went on a quick trip to Las Vegas over Labor Day!
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<- We stayed at the Mirage, which had a nice glass dome with trees and such.
<- The shops near the Bellagio had neat umbrella-like things hanging from the roof.
<- The Motown tribute section of the Boyz II Men show.
<- We went to the Mob Museum, where they had these old comic book covers about G-men!
<- The Mob Museum even had a small exhibit about FIFA corruption, which is just so fitting! (forgive the weird bands, my camera is getting old...)
<- David at KISS mini-golf, which had a lot of cool obstacles.
<- David and I in front of the final hole (you had to hit it up the tongue!)
Some observations:
- We ended up around $100 for the trip, but there were some wild swings in there. I won $10 betting on the Astros, and David hit a slots jackpot and turned $20 into $150!
- Most of the shows we went to started at 7:00. We thought this would be great since we wouldn't be up late, but it turns out squeezing in dinner before a 7:00 show can be tricky, especially when you have to travel to a different casino.
- O (by Cirque du Soleil) was at the Bellagio, so we ate at the Bellagio buffet beforehand, which was almost $50 a person! (more expensive because it was a holiday weekend, I think) I was pretty hungry, so it tasted delicious, but I'm not sure any buffet is worth $50. (Fogo de Chao notwithstanding)
- Speaking of which, O was a really great show. The stage is partially submerged and moves up and down during the show, which leads to some really cool effects. Highly recommended!
- At the Boyz II Men concert, there was a woman in front of us who was texting/taking pictures during the first hour of the show. She seemed to be breaking up with someone by text message during the concert, then setting up a hookup (she was asking a guy to send name and pic, which he did). Please: don't text during a concert at eye level!
- A lot of our success came at craps. One of the interesting bets we saw were repeater bets, which pay off if you roll two 2's before a 7, or three 3's, etc. We were at the Gold Coast casino, and as we were trying to figure out how these worked, a guy won $120 on them, so we decided to give it a shot. It was my turn to roll, and I proceeded to go on a crazy run, avoiding 7's like the plague until we also won $120 on our repeater bets! The guy who had bet on them last time bet on them again, so I had won him $120 too, so he tossed me a $25 chip as a "tip". It was great, but I stopped after that because it got pretty stressful near the end!
- At the New York New York casino we did CSI: The Experience, which ended up being neat even though neither of us watch the show. You get to solve a crime using lots of forensic evidence!
- We saw Penn and Teller at the Rio, which has the distinction of selling the most expensive drinks we saw. David's Sierra Mist (no ice) was $9 and my Tequila Sunrise was $17! (although at least the cups were big, but still...)
- Penn and Teller put on a great show. They're great showmen and even when they kinda explain how they do a trick it's still impressive. Teller did a trick with a ball and a thread that really just showed off his incredible dexterity.
We had a good time. If we go again I'd consider staying at Mandalay Bay because of the wave pool and lazy river!
<- click for full album
Note that you can "View Slideshow" to get a Facebook-like browsing experience!
<- We stayed at the Mirage, which had a nice glass dome with trees and such.
<- The shops near the Bellagio had neat umbrella-like things hanging from the roof.
<- The Motown tribute section of the Boyz II Men show.
<- We went to the Mob Museum, where they had these old comic book covers about G-men!
<- The Mob Museum even had a small exhibit about FIFA corruption, which is just so fitting! (forgive the weird bands, my camera is getting old...)
<- David at KISS mini-golf, which had a lot of cool obstacles.
<- David and I in front of the final hole (you had to hit it up the tongue!)
Some observations:
- We ended up around $100 for the trip, but there were some wild swings in there. I won $10 betting on the Astros, and David hit a slots jackpot and turned $20 into $150!
- Most of the shows we went to started at 7:00. We thought this would be great since we wouldn't be up late, but it turns out squeezing in dinner before a 7:00 show can be tricky, especially when you have to travel to a different casino.
- O (by Cirque du Soleil) was at the Bellagio, so we ate at the Bellagio buffet beforehand, which was almost $50 a person! (more expensive because it was a holiday weekend, I think) I was pretty hungry, so it tasted delicious, but I'm not sure any buffet is worth $50. (Fogo de Chao notwithstanding)
- Speaking of which, O was a really great show. The stage is partially submerged and moves up and down during the show, which leads to some really cool effects. Highly recommended!
- At the Boyz II Men concert, there was a woman in front of us who was texting/taking pictures during the first hour of the show. She seemed to be breaking up with someone by text message during the concert, then setting up a hookup (she was asking a guy to send name and pic, which he did). Please: don't text during a concert at eye level!
- A lot of our success came at craps. One of the interesting bets we saw were repeater bets, which pay off if you roll two 2's before a 7, or three 3's, etc. We were at the Gold Coast casino, and as we were trying to figure out how these worked, a guy won $120 on them, so we decided to give it a shot. It was my turn to roll, and I proceeded to go on a crazy run, avoiding 7's like the plague until we also won $120 on our repeater bets! The guy who had bet on them last time bet on them again, so I had won him $120 too, so he tossed me a $25 chip as a "tip". It was great, but I stopped after that because it got pretty stressful near the end!
- At the New York New York casino we did CSI: The Experience, which ended up being neat even though neither of us watch the show. You get to solve a crime using lots of forensic evidence!
- We saw Penn and Teller at the Rio, which has the distinction of selling the most expensive drinks we saw. David's Sierra Mist (no ice) was $9 and my Tequila Sunrise was $17! (although at least the cups were big, but still...)
- Penn and Teller put on a great show. They're great showmen and even when they kinda explain how they do a trick it's still impressive. Teller did a trick with a ball and a thread that really just showed off his incredible dexterity.
We had a good time. If we go again I'd consider staying at Mandalay Bay because of the wave pool and lazy river!