Atlantic City Bally's Map

Map of Bally's Atlantic City

What drove me nuts before hand was that there is no map of Bally's Atlantic City online.

Now there's one.

Atlantic City to Las Vegas

Some thoughts....

 

Is Atlantic City better than Las Vegas?

 

No. No it's not. Are some aspects better than Las Vegas? Very little.


Some will quickly point out that Atlantic City has a beach. Alright, if you simply love the 'Northern' Atlantic Ocean beaches then yes, then the beach is a huge plus. If you're like me and prefer the white sands, blue waters of the Gulf Coast beaches to Florida beaches, where the water temp is at least 80 degrees......that's a beach. The cloudy colored frigid waters that crash upon the shoreline of Atlantic City to me is simply the Ocean, not the beach.


Some with also point out that Atlantic City has a Boardwalk. Which erm, so does Wildwood and Seaside Heights along with other places along the Atlantic Ocean. Where seagulls will swoop down and steal food right out of your hand if you're not careful. Where homeless people ask you for money. Where it's not safe late at night.


I can continue on and on about the negative aspects of Atlantic City, but I am not here to bash it by any means. I fell in love with Atlantic City years ago, I have a lot of fond memories here. I'm simply not a beach guy, even though I live in the Ocean State/City of Newport R.I., I rather walk the trails along the beach than be in the sand. And for the record, let's all admit, sand gets EVERYWHERE. My wife enjoys the Boardwalk, a lot more than I do, it is a nice walk between Bally's to Resorts or visa-versa from Bally's to the Trop. Great place to people watch as well. One could almost compare it to Fremont.


So, is some aspects of Atlantic City better than Las Vegas?


Yes, but very few in my opinion. The traffic/drivers are better in AC then in Vegas. Except during big events like the Atlantic City Airshow. The drivers are more predictable in Atlantic City that's for sure.


Atlantic City is very seasonal, I enjoy walking through an empty casino during the middle of winter. This past trip to Atlantic City, I literally could of played any machine I wanted...(Except for Super Bowl Night, Harrahs was packed) Lines to restaurants where non existent. Some people hate it when it's slow, I personally love it. The less people, the better. Perhaps it's because my line of work brings me into customer service and generally people suck.


I also find that customer service in the Casinos is also better. I'm also talking about the people who work inside the restaurants inside of the casinos as well. I generally find that they genuinely want me to be there, and to be a return customer. I feel that some of workers inside the Casinos of Las Vegas are there for a paycheck.

Will I return back to Atlantic City?

Probably, but I am not rushing back here by any means.  For starters, It's 306 miles from my doorstep to the Boardwalk. If am pushing 20 over the speed limit I can generally make it in 4 1/2 hours. If I simply average 60mph it takes 5 hours. For anyone that knows the route between here and there, CT is a nightmare, along with the Cross Bronx. I feel that by the time I get across the GW, I shave off about a year of my life due to stress. Going back, I've always hit traffic in CT but twice. So going back I am almost guaranteed to hit traffic.


We've tried flying, from PVD to PHL however, Southwest does not do it anymore. Plus rentals are expensive from Philly as well. Between rental/flight, it's comparable to simply flying out to Vegas, since it's dirt cheap to get a rental in Vegas.


Once you get to know Las Vegas, it's certainly cheaper to eat there, besides having a ton more options. Since I had successful trip in AC, I don't have to worry about any resort fees or even parking fees at any Mlife or CET properties on the strip, which was a huge turn off in the past.


So I'll probably be staying in Las Vegas for my next trip, which will be after the baby is born. Less stress from traveling, cheaper and better food options, better weather, and c'mon it's Las Vegas Baby!!!




Again, this blog expresses my opinion only. Thanks for reading about my ramblings :)

Atlantic City 2/4/18 - 2/7/18

Hello Friends!!!

 

As for some of you that already know, I was suppose to visit Las Vegas on my first solo trip this past week but I decided to put the trip on hold, as my wife is now 7 months pregnant and I did not want to be so far away so......

 

'We' went to Atlantic City instead. Booked at Bally's and Harrah's. This posting is going to be a lot shorter than my original Vegas post of course, a lot less pictures. No Food Porn, mostly Slot Porn this time :)

 

Again, any opinions I post is that of my own, you may have experienced things differently than I have and again I strongly suggest that if you have not visited certain places, please go visit them to draw up your own conclusions. 

 

Day One - 2/4 Super Bowl Sunday

 

Originally I was going to leave early Monday morning at 3am, then I decided screw it, I'll leave the minute I get out of work Sunday night and....the roads should be dead since everyone should be watching the Superbowl.

 

It poured. Buckets. From the minute we left our home (Newport RI) to about 1 hour out of AC. We were just about 20 minutes past the GW when the Eagles won the Superbowl. (Congratulations Philly, I was pulling for you since I am a Giants fan living in Pats Country)

 

Finally we arrived at Harrah's. Hit Zero traffic which is always nice. Took about 5 hours, stopped twice at rest stops, which is awesome time considering it poured for a good chunk of the trip which kept my speed down.

 

Checked in, Paid originally for a King non smoking room in Marina Tower. Got a double queen instead. Asked politely for any upgrades if possible and she didn't get the 'gist' of what I was driving at. It was midnight and I simply didn't care since we were going to be here for just one night. 

 

For the amount of bitching/moaning I hear about these rooms, I found absolutely nothing to complain about. Room was spotless. Only downside was that there was no safe, which I assumed since the room was the most basic one you can get. I found it to be cleaner than the atrium room suites that I have been in.

 

Back downstairs, quickly ate at Cafe Tazza, Had a Chicken Caesar wrap, wife had erm ummm some yogurt thing with granola, just know she enjoyed it. My wrap was simply ok, was not expecting much. She retired to bed and now it was time for me to play......

 

I am a Quick Hits Junkie. If it has some sort of Quick Hits symbol, I'll be playing it. The older the machine is, the better.  Played some 5 line quarter quick hits, made a little money, then I found some Dollar quick hits in which quickly gave me my first non-taxable handpay.

 

 

Decided to hit up the Diamond Cove and was playing a newer quick hit machine for 9 dollars a spin and quickly was up 300 dollars so I decided to push it and go to max bet of 45 dollars a spin... and it paid off several spins later.....

After that I played around on the older 5 dollar quick hit machines but didn't have much luck. Decided to retire while I was still up.

 

Day 2 - 2/5 Monday

 

Quickly got up, now that it's daylight we sort of have a view from our window....or maybe from the window by the elevators, I don't remember......

 

 

Was going to eat breakfast at Harrah's, even had some 20 dollar credit from booking but I heard so much about this Gilchrist restaurant that had some good breakfast so we decided to go there instead. (Gardner's Basin Location)

 

Alright, all things considered, yes the menu is cheap. The food was quite basic, you can't really mess up breakfast items so in theory, yes the food was good or it tasted exactly the way it's supposed to taste. (I know to some people that statement will make perfect sense).  I could of easily replicated everything I was served in my own kitchen right this second. Alright, now on to my complaints/concerns. This place sits right next to the water, near the Atlantic City Aquarium so there was a constant breeze. For starters, it was quite chilly this morning so of course our seats were right next to the door and yes this place is busy. My poor wife froze her ass off every time the door opened. Unfortunately only table open so we could not switch at the time. This place is very small, and they cram everyone in it. The kicker was, we got the waitress in which it was her very first day. Which isn't usually a bad thing until she has friends who stops in to say hello to her for support for her first day which added to the door being open/closed.  Rest of the staff was extremely friendly including the trainer of the trainee.

 

Would I give this place a second chance? Sure during a nice summer morning to grab a table outside. But I would not expect anything special if you do check out this place.  Simple cheap breakfast eats. Perfect place for a low-budget trip to AC. Again this was the Gardner's Basin Location. Clicky for more information

 

Onwards to Bally's. This is our first time staying here. We were booked here in the past several years ago that when we arrived here we saw how disgusting the casino floor was and we cancelled. I decided to give this place a fair shake, as there has been updates to the property in the last several years along with updated rooms. Rooms were comped anyway. 

 

Since we arrived early,  we had to pay the annoying fee of checking in early of 10 dollars, (From hindsight I would of paid 20 dollars) however, my comped room selection was available, which was a waterview king non smoking jubilee room. Sweet. Here some pics of the room and the view from the room.

 

Needless to say we were quite impressed with the room selection, and I was quite impressed with the relaxing view from the 'ahem' throne.

Time to go exploring....Casino floor was quite clean compared to what I've seen in the past and there was a ton of security walking around. It was extremely slow as well compared to Harrah's. We ended up walking over to Caesars as well, cutting through the Wild Wild West Area. We checked out the nearly empty Pier Shops as well, almost looks like there's 10 stores left in the entire 3 level shops, quite depressing. I did gamble here and there, nothing to really write home about. We did stop at Johnny Rockets, my wife enjoyed her burger and shake, I went with a grilled chicken over salad which was surprisingly quite tasty. Service was pretty good as well.  Headed back into Bally's to gamble, wife went upstairs to take a quick bath and gaze onto the Atlantic. Found some more old school quick hit machines and had a few decent hits.

 

Met back up with the wife, time for dinner.  According to some on the trip advisor forum some people preferred Palace Court Buffet over Harrah's so I was looking forward to going there. It was slow so we got in right away. The brisket was pretty good. And that was it. Whoever said the palace court buffet was better than Harrah's should be hung by their toes. I felt completely ripped off, completely overrated buffet. Even if I received free buffet passes I might consider going again here because it would be free, but I would never spend another penny here. 

 

Back to Bally's to Gamble. I mostly hung out in the high limit area, it was extremely quiet, except for the occasional waitress bringing me another drink or the security walking around. My wife finally caved in and went to bed. I was now focused on one job and that was DIAD. (Diamond-in-a-Day) Essentially earn 5000 TC's in one day and earn 10k in bonus TC's to get over the 15k threshold to Diamond. I had a few decent hits.

Mission accomplished btw, I was already Platinum for the day and I hit over 5k for the day to bump me up. Time for me to crash.

 

Day 3 - 2/6 Tuesday

 

Bed was extremely comfortable.  My phone woke me up from an alert and I read this.....

Are you ^*(%^*&(%^$%* me?!?!? As I gaze out to the Atlantic Ocean from my bed I click the warning and......

Ok you got me, jokes on me and the rest of the East Coast. Time to pick a spot for breakfast and it was Cafe Roma in Caesars. My wife got the french toast which she said it was simply ok, and I rolled with the buffet. The fruit selection for the Buffet was horrendous. It was either whole apples/bananas/oranges or chopped up melon or watermelon. I guess to some this would not be too bad but I was looking for the Berry variety, blue/black/rasp/straw or even grapes.  Props to the chef operating the omelette station, he was a pretty good juggling everyone's demands.  Overall service was ok. 

 

Time to change it back up and decided to go back to Harrah's. Grabbed my new platinum card on the way out so I don't have to pay for parking. Very uneventful this time around. Wife went window shopping and I hopped back on quarter quick hits with zero luck. I did witness someone hitting a Buffalo Grand machine near Cafe Tazza, looked like they hit for 2900. Always good to see at least one person winning. Time to go back to Bally's.

 

Decided to stop at the Irish Pub to grab a quick lunch. If you were wondering which Irish Pub, it's the only one. Last time I actually stopped in here, it was years ago when slot machines were still taking tokens and TITO wasn't even talked about. Got completely smashed here as well. Well anyways back to today, place still looks the same. Again, cheap good eats. I got a Bacon Cheese 'Steer' Burger and Wife got Jersey Crab Cakes. I've missed this place. Link to website Sorry for a crappy picture.

Back to Bally's. I was starting to get a little low on my bankroll, with 'chasing' DiaD the night before and having zero luck at Harrah's....I've decided to go with what I enjoy the most, dollar quick hits.  Solid Choice. I actually hit on this machine the night before and got it again.

 

Some more quick hits....

I was not too crazy when I decided to sit down at this particular machine, tried them in Vegas, only had one really good hit for a couple of hundred. I've seen people get extremely lucky on them so I said sure. Max bet was 25 dollars a spin (was on 10cent denom, I could of set it lower), and well hell, I'm here to gamble. I'd say about 9 spins in I got the bonus....

Thank-You Lightning Links :) All of a sudden my bankroll looks pretty good again. 

 

I checked my TR App to see how many RC's I had and lo-and-behold I got my Bonus TC's and was now a Diamond. Woot. Now for Dinner.

 

Since we were so disappointed with the Palace Buffet, we had to now go to Harrah's for their buffet to make up for it. Off we go.

 

The Gold/Platinum line going in was all the way out into the hallway. If I had not made Diamond we would of probably skipped and gone elsewhere. We went in, quickly paid and got a table (which took the longest of waiting for a table to be cleared) within 20 minutes. The food was simply awesome. Even the brisket here was better than Caesars along with everything else. Again, Harrah's buffet in my opinion is in my top 5 casino buffets in the country, with being number 1 in Atlantic City. Off to the Diamond Cove.

 

I tried to replicate my win again on the same machine I hit on but did not have any luck, I did get the bonus again but nothing to write home about. Here's a short video on a quarter quick hit machine, $11.25 a spin.

 

 

Even though I re-triggered the bonus, and even after I shut off the video I got the 3 bonus symbols of which it did not reward anymore free games, I only cashed out with 700 dollars. I know for some this would be a huge win and yes I should not be greedy, however, given the circumstances, it should of paid out a helluva lot more. Oh well I guess I have to settle on this next pic.

 

 

Alright back to Bally's. Last night in AC, I figured I would spend some time in the high limit area again to battle some quick hit machines and the wife can mosey on upstairs to bed. Had a few more hits, was very lucky on this machine, hit at least a grand on 3 separate occasions, with the next 2 pics coming very close to each other.

 

 

Off to bed before I pass out on a slot machine.

Day 4 - 2/7 Wednesday

Ugh, more rain. Snow/Freezing Rain/Sleet up north. Leave AC now and deal with Elements or go to Borgata and wait until everything changes to rain? Silly question. Check out was sort of a breeze, resort fees were now waved but I still had to pay for my breakfast at Caesars since it happened at Caesars and the host on duty could not take care of it. Whatever, I am now ahead so I did not care.

 

Borgata. This place annoys me. Annoys me to the fact that this place should be on the boardwalk and not out in the Marina area. Annoys me that since they look like the closest resemblance to any Las Vegas Strip Casino, they are entitled to charge more for everything here. With that being said, we went to guest services for a new card since I didn't bring my mlife card with me and they quickly upgraded me to Gold status since I was diamond. (Bonus). They also gave me 100 slot dollars and 25 dollars towards food. Woot. Breakfast here we come.

 

Decided on the Metropolitan.  Got served the best breakfast by far on this trip. Again Omelette for me and Cinnamon French Toast for the wife. We both loved our breakfast and the service there. Off to Gamble.

 

Did a lot of slot hopping. No Dollar quick hits 3 reels, just the 5 dollar denom's of the 3 reel ones. Wasn't having too much luck, did get the bonus on one of the newer Bier Haus machines but it barely brought me back to even. Saw an older Cashman machine and decided to give it a whirl...Second spin in...

Never thought that would happen. So it was a pleasant surprise, lol. Slotted around a little bit more, then decided to head home.

 

Again, rain for the entirety of the road trip, hit zero traffic as well, that was a huge surprise, that rarely happens.

 

Summary - Final Thoughts

 

This is going to sound crazy but I really enjoyed Bally's. I found it safer and also cleaner than Harrah's. I saw a ton more security at Bally's as well. I don't know if I am simply getting older but I find the clientele to be louder and obnoxious at Harrah's than at Bally's. The clientele at Bally's though is a bit more depressing as it brings in more from the boardwalk. Ironically I did find the people at Bally's friendlier. Nobody asked me for money either which I read somewhere on TA that this is becoming more of a problem. Then again I was in the high limit areas 95% of the time I gambled and did not step one foot onto the boardwalk. (We took the second floor bridge to the pier shops)

 

Diamond in a day. I strongly suggest don't try this unless you have the bankroll to do so. And if you do, be smart on how you gamble. A slot machine can either be your worst enemy or your best friend, and usually it does not stay your best friend for long. Main reason I chased this was because now of the tremendous perks it now carries in Las Vegas. No resort fees and also no parking fees. That alone will save me some dough on staying on the strip. Again, just paying the fees could of been a lot cheaper than chasing after Diamond. Play to have fun, don't chase comps.

 

This is definitely one of the rare trips in which everything was paid for with gambling wins and I came home with more money than I started. It does not happen often. I am glad my wife was with me as originally I was going to Vegas solo. I am ecstatic that she was with me for my hand-pays because if that sort of luck happened in Vegas I would of been a little depressed that I could not share my happiness with her. 

 

On our way home we stopped at the Cheesequake Rest Stop northbound on the Garden State and I decided to have some chili cheese dogs from Nathan's. In about 4 hours I got violently ill with horrendous vomiting and other stomach issues for about 24 hours and I almost back to normal 3 days later as I typing this up. Never ever again will I eat food from a rest stop. Just Coffee.

 

Not sure where my next trip will be or where to. Hope you have enjoyed the trip report, sorry for lack of trip pictures, was here to gamble this time and not sightseeing :) 

 

Ciao

Las Vegas Sept. 2017

DJSlot's Vegas Trip Report 9/26 - 9/30 The California

 

Few notes before continuing.....

 

There is a ton of pictures. You may have probably have seen all of these locations or not, hopefully there's a few you have not seen and you wish to see these places on your next trip. Pictures are from a mixture of a Galaxy S7, S8 and a Canon Rebel.

 

This blog is of course my own experiences. You may have had an awesome experience in some places that I might criticize or visa versa. My suggestion is, if you have not visited a place before, please check out the place yourself to draw up on your own conclusions.

 

I'll try to be brief and straight to the point. This might be a long read because of the pictures, so feel free to grab a drink, grab a smoke or use the bathroom before continuing. 

This is my third trip to Las Vegas. This trip we (Wife & I) decided to bring my mother in law (Which will be known as MiL for the rest of this blog), in which she has never even flown before never mind being to Las Vegas. I'm just glad I could do this for her and make this a trip of a lifetime for her. Being it was her first time, this trip was packed with a ton of visiting here and there hence the pictures.

 

Tuesday 9/26

Wake up at 3am after rolling around in bed for several hours. Check email. Flight cancelled. WHAT?!?!!? I have not even sipped on my coffee yet to wake up as I am reading this email over and over. Alright, don't panic. Call Southwest.... oh yes you were re-routed to a different city and instead of landing in Las Vegas at 10:30, it'll be 10:55. Oh you didn't receive an email? Sorry. Click. Well if the coffee did not wake me up at this point, that email did. So away we go on the road by 3:45AM. Get to T.F. Greene by 4:20ish, parked at long term lot, shuttle bus whisks us to our terminal. Check in, get our tickets and we're all TSA PRE (SWEET) and we're sitting at our gate by 5ish. Plane takes off at 5:40 going to BWI (Baltimore).

 

Minor Bitch~ Why is it always a different terminal in which you have to run your ass to when there's a plane change? One would think that you would be in the same terminal with your carrier but no, it's get off your ass after flying for at least 1 1/2 hour, stretch your legs for perhaps 30 seconds and then speed walk to your next plane because the layover is only 45 minutes. Leave for STL.

 

Oh yes did I mention my 60 something MiL has never flown before? Love her with all my heart but I do giggle inside when we land and watch her reactions of freaking out. I can't help myself and I know she is only going to torture me for the next several days.

 

Land in STL and leave for LAS, luckily no plane change and we got to move up to the second row of the plane so we can leap off and do a little dance off the plane. I do try to contain myself while getting off because you know the people you are about to see are pretty bummed about leaving. We're not even off the hallway yet and my MiL was already taking pictures inside the terminal. I instantly knew what I was going to be in for.

 

Got a rental. Was not going to try out uber/lyft with MiL in tow. I'm also a Fastbreak member with Budget so I basically get to the Car Rental building, go downstairs, look at board and go to my spot and grab my car. Except... it didn't happen that way. Look at board and had to go to Window. Oh, I have a choice? Sonata or Altima. Well I already had a leased Sonata in the past so let me try something different for a change. Altima it is. Go to spot and check for damages/dings. Ummm missing plates. Go to an attendant and they say it's fine. The 6x8 DMV paperwork I have on the inside of the windshield is fine/legal. Sure. Off we go to the California.

 

Parking was a breeze at The Cal. I booked through Ipo Boast who is a host at the Main Street Casino which connects to the Cal. One slight problem was our rooms were literally at the end of this hall. MiL was across from us we can keep tabs/close to each other.

The infamous Buddha statue

The view from our room was not too shabby, we had a view of Fremont Side. 

 

Next up was burning off some coupons from my American Casino Guide and the deal was to generate 250 Boyd Points and get a BOGO coupon for Main Street Buffet.  15 minutes later on a Buffalo Machine max bet, I have my points. 

 

Off to the Buffet. As being one of the cheapest ones of Vegas, it wasn't too shabby. It was certainly better than Sam's Town. Service was ok. I would give it 2.5 out of 5 for buffets. Coffee was horrendous though I would skip that. With bellies full, off to the Strip.

 

First stop was Flamingo, cheapest to park here as well out of the several choices in that area. My first time here and wanted to check out the Wildlife Habitat.

 Next up was Caesar's and the Shops. Grabbed a pair of Ray-Ban's from Sunglass Hut, couldn't help myself.

 

Ironically the Reflection Pool here at the Caesars shops is about twice the size of the pool at The Cal.

Next up the Bellagio.  The Conversatory & Botanical Gardens.

 The Chocolate Fountain which is my first time seeing.

 And of course the Fountain in front of the Bellagio.

A couple of shots around the Strip in this area which includes Paris and Cosmopolitan. 

 

Alright back to the The California as we've been up since 3am EST and it's now 5ish here so 8ish now. As my wife and MiL go exploring, I go gambling. Nothing to write home about and they ran out of things to do quickly so off we eat at The Market to try this $9.99 Prime Rib Special.

  
Alright. I am impressed with this mammoth cut of prime rib I was served. The Good - Prime Rib was tasty, was definitely fatty as you can see. The rub it has was simply ok. The Bad - Even though they looked like potatoes, I was not sure if they tasted like potatoes. The Green Beans, yes, they definitely tasted like the frozen variety. The Au Jus was ok, can't really go wrong with it and they gave a side of horseradish as well. Salad bar also comes with it before hand and a Cherries over vanilla ice cream dessert comes afterwards. Verdict, Yes I would definitely get this again. More than likely stop here the next time I swing through downtown.

After dinner did some more gambling and finally retired after a long day. Some views from our rooms at nighttime. From our side.

 From Mother in Law's side.

 Wednesday 9/27 (Anniversary Day!)

Oh yeah it's 6 in the morning in Vegas as we're still stuck on EST Time. Grabbed some coffee from Lappert's and a glazed doughnut (It was included with the Large Coffee) Both were pretty good. Wife and MiL were up getting ready, I decided since it was nice and early we would go to the infamous Welcome to Las Vegas sign.

And sure enough, there was only one couple there and they were waiting for someone to take their picture, so that worked out perfectly.

 

Next Stop...Red Rock Canyon. 

Baby Tarantula, which would freak me the ^&*% out if I ever saw one walking around here on the East Coast.

 Tortoise and a Hare getting ready for the Big Race.

A couple of shots of the Canyon, could post a slew of pics but if you have not been here before, you should make this place a go to place on your next trip, place is simply breathtaking. 

Panorama of the Canyon which will look off in the Blog but oh well. 

 

Alright next stop, Silverton Casino. Wife and I did this place last year and since I have a BOGO coupon from ACG for the Buffet I figured I would use it. Buffet again was pretty good for early afternoon, service was good as well. 3.5 out of 5 imo. If you never visited Silverton, it is a nice property, they have a mini aquarium and a huge Bass Pro Shops. No luck on gambling here this time around. Some pictures of the aquarium.

 

 

Alright, next stop the Venetian for the Wax Museum, with a BOGO from ACG. Here's a few pictures.

Lorde looked the most realistic there IMO.

Me trying to dodge away from Miley.

Shot of the Gondolas from the Shoppes.

Up next, Casa Di Amore for our Anniversary dinner. Here's a link if you're interested. Click Here When I first chose this place everyone loved this place. Well..... The ambiance was nice. The live music was nice as well. And that's pretty much it. Our waitress completely sucked. As we were sitting there we wished we had a different server who was engaging his tables and having conversations with them. We had to remind our waitress to even bring bread to the table and of which we didn't even get olive oil with it along with everyone else so we had to ask for that as well.

  So, 120 dollars later, I got a Veal Parm in which my Veal was completely flat and chewy, the Cheese on it was completely burnt. It also came with a side of spaghetti in which my noodles were still slightly submerged in water and not properly drained. My Wife got the ravioli with meat sauce and the sauce itself was well overcooked. The ravioli tasted a couple of days old, not fresh. My MiL got the lasagna in which too cheesy, not enough sauce, definitely dried out and was burnt again on top while warming it up to serve. Normally I don't bitch because I am in the food industry but when you're paying 30 to 40 dollars a plate for dinner it better be damn good. Nothing at the table was prepared fresh, all pre cooked bullshit. Even our app which was Prosciutto Mozzarella Crostini, was simply some bread, a slab of mozz, a third thin-sliced prosciutto with a couple strands of basil for garnish on top. 4 pieces of bread. Well anyways, would never go here again, biggest disappoint of the trip. Sorry for lack of pictures for proof, was too disgusted and it was dark in there as well.

Well back to the hotel....and to Fremont! We had to head over to 4 Queens and catch a show. Some pictures of Fremont and The Cal lit up.

My MiL is a huge Elvis fan so of course we had to bring her to an Elvis show so we chose Steve Connolly, Spirit of the King. Click here to check out his website

Have to admit he was pretty good considering the price we paid for the show.. (With a BOGO coupon from ACG) He sang good, he engaged the crowd, he was pretty much on point with his performance. At the end of the show he also did a meet and great with everyone who attended so you can grab pictures with him and get autographs. Here's some pictures....

So if you're on Vegas and you were on the fence on checking this guy out, please do, worth it. Back to the hotel and to bed. 

Thursday 9/28 

 

Alright, time to get up and get ready for another place I was looking forward to on this trip, the Omelet House!!!! Been dying to get back here ever since I stopped in last year.

If you're an omelet lover, this place is a must to stop at while in Vegas. There's 3 locations, this one is the one in Boulder. Omelet House

Some Food Porn

 

Alright, now that our bellies are full, off to our first stop, Ethel M Chocolate Factory & Cactus Garden.

Overall a quick time killer, see one time deal. Everything is overpriced and overrated imo. However, got a Chocolate Cappuccino to go and that, was probably the best Cappuccino I ever had. My wife got me a peanut butter chocolate bar and I was not impressed by any means. Besides stopping here for Ethel M, there's a Cactus Garden attached to the property. They were in transition of hanging up Christmas lights. Here's some pictures. 

Again, a good time killer, probably would not mind swinging by here during the holidays to see it lit up at nighttime.


Next stop, the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. Mostly because the MiL has never been here, we personally stopped here on our first trip to Las Vegas several years ago. My only regret was lack of pictures. Another one of those once you see it you're good places.

For my Patriots friends out there since I live in Patriot Country.

 

Several changes since we've been there, I guess they help you park now and card slap you with a contest to enter for a free show. There's a mini mall which is owned by Rick and Co. which is on the other side of the parking lot, seemed to have eateries and what have you. Essentially it's more commercialized to make money off of their fame. Alright off to our next stop which is the Gamblers General Store.

Nothing fancy here, Just like to stop in and check it out. Ton of books, casino chips, old glass faces of slot machines, casino knick knacks, they do have past used casino cards from Casinos in the area, they do have specialty Bicycle Cards in which I picked up a few different packs. A good time killer and I would suggest checking it out. There's another store across the way from it which will go on my bucket list on my next trip. Off to our next stop.....

Here's a few pics of Las Vegas Club getting demolished.

Fremont Street, Got to love it.

Off to the Container Park.

 Fire Shooting Mantis except he was not shooting anything at the time.

 

El Cortez Casino in the background.

 

Personally I thought it would be a bit bigger. I understand that at nighttime it closes to kids and adults have free reign over the playground. Probably would of been more exciting then and we would have seen the Mantis shooting fire from its antennas. We did stop at Kappa Toys and the nerd in me grabbed a Pixel Heart Coffee Cup. If I ever get bored at nighttime in the future while in Vegas I might think about swinging through here. Link for Toy Store

We did swing through El Cortez on the way back to Fremont, nothing to write home about, did not see a huge selection of slot machines that I would play so I would probably not stop by here in the future.

Off to White Castle!!!! I know silly, people should not swing through a place that they have at home except, there isn't any in Rhode Island. Besides this place literal opened here 6 days ago so it was a must stop in to take some pictures.

Yes, the burgers still tasted the same as they did when I lived in NY. Only difference is that this was an open kitchen where I am used to paying through a bullet proof window. The crew working were doing a good job IMO since they only went live 6 days ago. The line moved pretty quickly and we got our food right away. It was not busy with people either so your trip may vary. If I ever stayed downtown again I would definitely stop in for a quick meal. 

We decided to split up so I can do some gambling, I went over to The D and my Wife and MiL went over to the Neonopolis. Had a few hits on this one particular slot.

I finally got the bonus on a Buffalo Grand Machine for about 150 but I've must of played at least 10 different Buffalo Machines to this point and I was just excited to even get the bonus.

Sadly, The Neonopolis was a huge bust, I should of researched it more before sending my Wife over, I guess half the place is closed down inside and looked 'creepy' as my wife would put it. People essentially just use the parking lot which they only charge 6 dollars for the day. So keep that in mind if you ever visit Fremont and need a place to park. 

Back to The Cal. We cut through Binions and caught a picture of the Million Dollars in there.

As much as I hated it, I personally was not having any luck here at The Cal, so I decided to go to Harrah's for 2 reasons, one to gamble and two, to park. We were ultimately going to The Mirage and found it easier to just park at Harrah's. Btw, I am not a huge Total Rewards fan here in Vegas because of my trip to Caesars awhile back. Glad I decided to gamble here though, got my biggest hit of the entire trip.

Hit that cashed out. Absolutely love these machines. Left and walked over to the Mirage. Got nailed by like 5 porn slappers, 2 drink slappers and a bogo dinner slapper. Friend at work wanted the cards so I sort of just left it be hand slapped. 

Gambled for a little bit at The Mirage and ended up 100 dollars up on video slot quick hit machine. Main reason we were at the Mirage was to see The Beatles LOVE. Even snagged a selfie with a performer and an empty stage.

Not the best photo of me but a rare shot of one of the main performers.

We also had decent seats as well, we were about 7 rows back next to one of the entrance ways to the stage.

One of the best shows I have ever seen while in Las Vegas. If you ever visit Las Vegas, I would highly recommend seeing this show. Probably second best to Le Reve IMO, because of the fact Le Reve flowed better and performed in/over/with water. My 2 minor complaints about LOVE is no photography (Trust me, they actually look for people taking pictures) and there is a ton of stuff going on. I felt like I could only really focus at times on a handful of performers instead of the entire show going on around them. Overall a fantastic show and would definitely watch it again. 

After the show we had to run to the front of the Mirage to catch the Volcano.

Back the California for a late dinner. Decided to go to the Market again. Big mistake. Even though we were perhaps the third party to go in on the line, it literally took about a half hour to get seated then another half hour to get our food.  I did have a good sausage omelet though. (I know breakfast for dinner but I am like that) Basically we got done eating dinner around 11pm Vegas time. Off to gamble now by myself as my wife and MiL retire upstairs. And again no luck. I did find myself on yet again another Quick Hits machine in which I was up and down for a good hour so I was able to rack up some points. Off to bed I go.

Friday 9/29

Crap, now I am on Vegas time as I am getting up at 9am. Off to the Main street Buffet for Breakfast. Decent line but it moved pretty quickly. Typical setup, even included an omelet station. All food was pretty good, nice cheap buffet breakfast 3.5 out of 5. Coffee was even better this time around. Today was our slow down day as it's the last day of our trip. It was time to explore the other side of the strip.

First stop was MGM. Yes I took a picture of the TV on the bathroom faucet because I have not seen this before. It ranks right up there with Gas Stations with TV's on the pumps.

 Since I barely got any gambling in, I decided to leave the ladies so they can do some shopping and I can find some slots. They decided to exit out and go to the M&M's Store.

I ended up finding a 9 line dollar quick hits and played some decent money through them, hopefully it'll trigger some offers through MGM. No bigs hits and it slowly drained me so I left to catch up with the ladies. We ended up meeting at the Coco Cola Store down the Blvd from M&M's. Several shots of the corner there.

Yes I had to capture the shot with the carts on the roller coaster being upside down. (NYNY)

 

Excalibur

Hooters

Instead of crossing we decided to go back to the car at MGM and move ourselves to the parking lot at Excalibur (First time here). One would assume the parking lot was at least connected to the Casino, but it's not.

Property was not too shabby, at least it has a Starbucks in it. Cute theme to it, easy to navigate around. Next stop was NYNY (Again my first time here) and went to the Hershey's Shop.

Shot from the pedestrian bridge they are working on between NYNY and Excalibur.

Hershey's Chocolate Statue.

Alright, we exit NYNY, head back to Excalibur and hop on the Tram which takes up to Mandalay Bay and of which we hop on another Tram and we back track to Luxor. First time being here as well with some pictures.

 The Ladies and I split up again, they headed over to the Mandalay Shops and I left to gamble. Here's a quick hit on a quarters machines, quick 100 dollars.

 

Overall, Luxor is ok. Very quiet compared to other casinos I've been in and it was a Friday!!! I thought about staying here in the past but after playing here and quickly running out of machines that I liked I'm glad I never did. The Ladies decided to go to the Shark Reef at Mandalay so I slowly made my way there. The Guinness shop was pretty cool, if they had a certain sweatshirt my size I would of bought one. Pete Rose was in one of the memorabilia shops but I was all set with paying 100 dollars to meet and greet the guy for a signed baseball. He wouldn't even bother to look up to even say Hello to anyone. (I guess for picture reasons) The guy next to him must of been an agent as he was more lively. Isn't Pete Rose still banned from baseball from betting on it and he's in Vegas? 

Well Anyways back onto the Tram from Mandalay Bay and back to Excalibur to the car and back to the Cal.

Since Casa Di Amore was a complete failure, I wanted to redeem myself so I decided to select another place on the fly and it was Capo's. Capo's website

A true Speakeasy restaurant, definitely needed reservations to get in.  Service was top notch. Revisited my Veal Dinner and this time is was on point, Veal was tender like it should be and certainly thicker. Pasta was cooked perfectly. MiL got the chicken alfredo and she claimed it might of been of the best pasta dishes she's ever had.  Wife got the Chicken Carbonara and she loved it. If any complaints, the portion of Chicken on both dishes were slightly lacking but easily enough for the ladies. Very dark inside and once it starts getting busy, it'll get a little smoky from cooking as it has a slightly open partial kitchen. I would definitely eat here again and if you ever get the chance you should check this place out.

Back to The Cal. Nothing really to report here, gambled for a bit longer and hit the sack.

Saturday 9/30 Heading home.

Got up around 8ish and we went downstairs for one final meal before we departed. Again went to the Market and arguably had the best service there of all 3 trips there. Our waitress seemed like she has been there for years and knew what she was doing. They have a mini buffet for breakfast so I went with that. No sausage though, was looking forward to that. Oh Well.

The long walk to check out. Saw the host beforehand. Our Room was free to begin with and she knocked off the price of Fri and Sat nights off of the MiL's rooms and she was under my name. I billed my room all food from the main street buffet and the Market and that was all covered with a 200 dollar food offer I had prior. So I just had to pay for 2 nights of one room, tues/weds, not too shabby.

Back to the airport with my rental in which I have a true hate relationship with. Budget quickly checked in my car and emailed me a receipt. (Thank-You). Off to the airport and we got the most chattiest shuttle bus driver on the planet. He was humorous at times of which I needed since we're going home.  

Checked in bags, got boarding passes, again, TSA PRE (SWEET) and at our gate massively early again. I guess it's better to be early than late for your flight. Except, our flight was delayed, they found a scratch on our plane. I'm thinking to myself how does one get a scratch on the plane?!?!? The more I think about it, I think one of the luggage guys hit the plane with the conveyor belt to load baggage. The reason why I think that because they fixed the plane and loaded the passengers on but our bags were still on the tarmac. Well instead of having a 2 hour layover in MDW (Chicago) we now have to get off our plane and run over to our connecting flight back to PVD. And again, different terminals. Well Anyways, we made it back home and I have a few final thoughts on everything.

Get the American Casino Guide before your trip. I got mine a month prior so it was half off the price because it was so late in the year. A ton of valuable coupons in there for you to save money. You basically make up the price in the book with the money you saved on the coupons.  Click here to get your own book

Southwest, for the love of GOD, why do you make connecting flights in different terminals? At least keep it in the same terminal, would not even care if it was B4 to B29, as least you're in the same terminal.

Thank you Starbucks on the dozen of coffees I drank which were all extremely good. (No Dunkin')

When choosing the rental I should of went with the Sonata. The Nissan Altima base model is horrendous with acceleration and using the highway at least 4 times a day you need something quicker to navigate the highway.  Does it get it up in speed? Sure if you have a book nearby and don't mind the wait. Overall it did exactly what I needed it for. Very noisy in accelerating as well.

I was reading up on Trip Advisor how people felt like they were out of place while staying at the California. I took it as a grain of salt. However, yes there's a huge Hawaiian Clientele here, including people who work here. Most people felt they were alienated here but we did not feel that way at all, they're just not chatty people and when you do engage, all have been extremely friendly and sometimes quite funny. 

I personally would not stay at The California again. Rooms were nice with the renovations, staff was friendly and the food options were eh, ok. Problem was, I couldn't hit on anything there and trust me I played on everything. There was a few people hitting on the Flaming 7's Dollar Machines but that was about it. Even dabbled over at the Main Street and still nothing. Both Casinos were extremely smoky especially the Main Street if you're not a fan of smoke.

We hit a ton of places on this trip, we did not hit Circus Circus or Wynn which was on the Bucket List of things to do.

I definitely want to check out Circus Circus and Treasure Island in the future.

I started this blog late last night and wrapping it up nearly 16 hours later. I've been distracted with the tragedy that has transpired in Las Vegas and considered my family and I lucky. We were on the Tram on Friday with people were talking/going to the event and we were catching them setting up that afternoon. Funny how if nothing transpired I would of never thought about them again but now I find myself hoping they made out ok. 

I never really dedicated anything to anybody but I would like to take the time to dedicate this blog posting to the people who were lost and also hurt in the shooting of the Las Vegas Country Music Festival. This act of violence is never going to deter me from going to Vegas, and acts of terrorism has never deterred me from visiting my hometown NYC or visiting Boston. Las Vegas is about getting away and having a good time and forgetting responsibilities for a period of time. What has happened can happen anywhere and it should never deter anyone from going to Las Vegas and having a good time.

Well, if you made it to this final paragraph I am impressed you got through all my ramblings. Hopefully you enjoyed my trip report and I have given you new ideas for your next trip or I hyped you up more for your next trip.

Thanks Las Vegas,

DJ