Toward the end of last year, when researching hotel and airline ticket prices for our honeymoon in February, we discovered that Vegas rooms (and sometimes flights) are dirt-cheap the week prior to Christmas. We decided to make it an annual ritual to make a trip to our favorite town during this time as a Christmas present to each other, and encouraged family members to join us instead of getting us anything; their presents could be their presence (although in some instances, this is quite a stretch).

This year, we are being joined by April’s brother, Rich, and her father and his girlfriend. As their collective exposure to Vegas has been very limited, we’re trying to hit some of the hotspots; April and I have set a modest itinerary, and encouraged the rest of the posse to go their own ways and see what they’d like to see. Here are our plans (subject to change as the mood strikes), along with parenthetical notes.

Day One: Monday, December 15

• Taxi from airport à Hilton
• Check in, drop off our luggage
• Meet with the family, have a few drinks
• Gambling: slot machines or table blackjack (don’t want to play our favorite, video poker, yet as we won’t have much time, and it would screw up our  daily average on our slot card)

 

Day Two: Tuesday, December 16^th

• Taxi à Wynn                                                               
  • Breakfast: Wynn buffet (we have heard excellent things about this place, esp. the bacon)               
• Taxi à Hilton
  • Meet with casino host Les Thacker (who was kind enough to comp our rooms for our December trip)                                               
  • Gamble (9/6 Jacks-or-Better video poker, 7-hand video blackjack)
• Taxi à Peppermill (have heard the lounge has excellent ambiance, and have two drinks to try there, to wit:) 
  • Oatmeal cookie martinis
  • The Scorpion
• Taxi à Downtown                                             
  • Gambling, souvenir shopping                              
  • Main Street Station:
    • Craps (April won some bucks at the craps table here during our February trip)
    • Supper: 777 Brewpub (I love this place – microbrews, good wings, and a sushi bar all under one roof, and the prices are easy on the wallet)                       
  • Fremont Street Experience (we’re hoping to catch either of the new shows, Queen or American Pie)
  • Rat Pack is Back show @ Plaza (have read good reviews of this show, plus have a 2-for-1 coupon) 
• Taxi back to hotel                                               

 

Day Three: Wednesday, December 17^th

• Breakfast: Hilton Café (need to balance out the buffets with something light)                                              
• Gamble (9/6 Jacks-or-Better video poker, 7-hand video blackjack, maybe some table blackjack if we can find $5 minimum)
• Monorail à Flamingo, drinks @ O’Shea’s (in honor of Tim & Michele of Five Hundy by Midnight)     
• Monorail à MGM Grand, walk to New York, New York
  • Use Nathan’s hot dog coupon (got a 2-for-1 coupon, gonna make sure to get our money’s worth out of our 2008 Las Vegas Advisor subscription)                             
  • Use pretzel coupon (another 2-for-1)
  • Cocktails (why not?  We have no coupon, but cocktails are their own reward)                                 
• Monorail à Paris station, walk to Bellagio                                                           
  • Bellagio fountain show @ 3:00, 3:30 (This will be April’s 3^rd trip, and she hasn’t seen it yet)
• Taxi à Ellis Island                                                                    
  • Use free drink coupons (all-you-can-drink for an hour, no boozes excluded – it’s paradise!)
• Taxi à Texas Station, supper @ Austin’s Steakhouse                 
  • Eat, using gift card (April’s brother got us a gift card for Christmas last year for the Station casinos, have heard that Austin’s serves a wikkid good steak)
• Taxi à Hilton                                                                
  • Gamble (video poker if we still have our faculties about us, slot machines if we don’t)
  • Margarita nightcaps @ The Cantina (happy hour special 9:00 – 11:00 PM, wherein you can get a monster margarita for something like two bucks; we couldn’t even finish ours last time)                                                                                                                               

 

Day Four: Thursday, December 18^th

• Monorail à Harrah’s, walk to Mirage
  • Breakfast buffet @ Mirage Cravings buffet (have heard good things about this place too)                  
• Monorail à MGM Grand
  • Dreamworks (haven’t been to an arcade in forever, looking forward to seeing the next generation)     
  • Drinks/snacks @ Rainforest Café (cheesy, we know, but we don’t have one locally, and like their appetizers and theme drinks, plus we’re suckers for animatronic jungle creatures)
• Monorail à Sahara
  • Go on Cyber Speedway (motion-simulated race through the Strip)
  • Drinks (Sahara has a cool little bar with an excellent beer selection)
  • Video-screen blackjack (with creepy full-sized video dealer!)                                             
  • Bonanza Gift Shop (wide selection of cheap Vegas souvenirs)
• Monorail à Hilton
  • Drop off souvenirs at room (can’t be burdened)
  • Gamble (video poker, video blackjack)
• Monorail à Paris/Bally’s station, walk to Planet Hollywood
  • Spice Market Buffet (love the food, love the variety!)                                              
  • Trader Vic’s (overpriced tiki drinks)                                             
• Play around on the Strip
• Monorail à Hilton                                                                       

 

Day Five: Friday, December 19^th

• Breakfast: Hilton Buffet (comped) (we hope)                                            
• Gambling @ Hilton (last round of video poker)                              
• Taxi à airport, begin plotting our revenge on Vegas in May, 2009