Viva Las Vegas—quite possibly the longest blog I will ever write.
As almost everyone is aware, there came a little setback in the relationship department that required an alternate plan to develop, thus was born our Vegas wedding, and the days and events that transpired around it. We were married on Friday, February 13th. We can now forever combine the Valentines and Anniversary cards, and that is a fabulous bonus for the cheap and otherwise hesitant to buy a greeting card sort of person that I am. I think it also may be nearly close enough to roll in with Neil’s birthday, but I will try not to be that cheap. Now, the Week in Vegas- a play by play:
Thursday 12 February 2009
We got in rather late on Thursday, chatted for a good half hour at the Avis Rental car with the very friendly and colourful clerk, walked about looking at cars before deciding that we would settle with the convertible Sebring, which was also a four seater and we wanted to make sure that we would have room for our friends in case we wanted to drive anywhere. We checked into the Luxor and got settled into our room before discussing the rest of the evenings plan. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time dining, so I suggested we go to the buffet at Excalibur, unfortunately, after paying the money for the buffet we rounded the corner to realize all too late that there was a horrendous line and it wasn’t moving at any sort of reasonable pace. It was nearly an hour before we finally had a table, and I was a bit unsure about the freshness of the food, as most everything was lukewarm, that violates health department code. Needless to say, we took the gamble (what else would you expect in Vegas?) and we survived. After eating we went downtown in search of the Clark County Marriage License Office, which happens to be conveniently open 24 hours a day. This was not an easy place to find because the road in front of the office is under construction and closed off. We eventually parked in a garage and walked that way. We filled out all of the information and got our document to bring to the Wedding Chapel. We checked in with them and upgraded the package to include the DVD at their suggestion. The wedding chapel was conveniently located a block from the licence office. We then decided to drive the strip with the top down, and after some serious searching found instructions on how to lower the convertible top. It was really a fantastic experience.
As almost everyone is aware, there came a little setback in the relationship department that required an alternate plan to develop, thus was born our Vegas wedding, and the days and events that transpired around it. We were married on Friday, February 13th. We can now forever combine the Valentines and Anniversary cards, and that is a fabulous bonus for the cheap and otherwise hesitant to buy a greeting card sort of person that I am. I think it also may be nearly close enough to roll in with Neil’s birthday, but I will try not to be that cheap. Now, the Week in Vegas- a play by play:
Thursday 12 February 2009
We got in rather late on Thursday, chatted for a good half hour at the Avis Rental car with the very friendly and colourful clerk, walked about looking at cars before deciding that we would settle with the convertible Sebring, which was also a four seater and we wanted to make sure that we would have room for our friends in case we wanted to drive anywhere. We checked into the Luxor and got settled into our room before discussing the rest of the evenings plan. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time dining, so I suggested we go to the buffet at Excalibur, unfortunately, after paying the money for the buffet we rounded the corner to realize all too late that there was a horrendous line and it wasn’t moving at any sort of reasonable pace. It was nearly an hour before we finally had a table, and I was a bit unsure about the freshness of the food, as most everything was lukewarm, that violates health department code. Needless to say, we took the gamble (what else would you expect in Vegas?) and we survived. After eating we went downtown in search of the Clark County Marriage License Office, which happens to be conveniently open 24 hours a day. This was not an easy place to find because the road in front of the office is under construction and closed off. We eventually parked in a garage and walked that way. We filled out all of the information and got our document to bring to the Wedding Chapel. We checked in with them and upgraded the package to include the DVD at their suggestion. The wedding chapel was conveniently located a block from the licence office. We then decided to drive the strip with the top down, and after some serious searching found instructions on how to lower the convertible top. It was really a fantastic experience.
Friday, 13 February 2009
We awoke on Friday ready to start the day. We had decided the night before, that due to our very full schedule; we would be best off buying the all day $25.00 pass for the Excalibur buffet. That would be 3 meals for only $50.00 in Vegas, which is a mere $8 and change per meal. It would have been nice if there had been a refrigerator in the room, but since they want you to spend money dining and gambling, they made sure to leave such things as refrigerators, coffee makers, and free internet out of the room. Keep that in mind if you ever go to Vegas as these are typical feature in most US hotels, and not in Vegas. The breakfast was nice, they had biscuits and gravy (a favourite of mine), and a huge variety again. This time the food was very hot and fresh.
We then headed over to the outlet mall. Specifically looking for a large duffel bag and a tie for Neil. The outlet mall is very large, and we had a nice walk around, enjoying getting the walk in since I bought us a few pedometers to keep us motivated. We found a fantastic tie that had dice and cards all over it and both of us agreed it was the perfect tie for our wedding. We then walked around looking for gifts for our friends who were also in Vegas for their 10th wedding anniversary. (Happy Anniversary Mr. And Mrs. V!), we both loved a cake stand that we found, but felt that it would be a burden for them to get home as it was breakable. We found a nice little ornament with Vegas-y stuff floating around in it for their Christmas tree instead. At this point it was getting close to the countdown to the wedding, so we headed up the Strip and stopped at a liquor store to get some Zinfandel wine for the Limo ride. Afterwards, we picked up the Verbenkos, who were fairly shocked that Neil was driving. I have to hand it to him though, he did a fantastic job driving on the “wrong” side of the road! The four of us went to the Buffet and had lunch. I wondered if the same food would be served for dinner as well....
After changing outfits, sipping drinks, taking pics, and sitting around the room for an hour we headed down to the lobby and met the Limo. We piled in and had fun taking pictures and chatting. I was surprisingly not nervous and feeling very positive about the day, and our friends commented that we didn’t seem nervous. We were both pretty relaxed and really enjoying the experience. When we arrived at the chapel we were excited and enjoying ourselves. We popped through the top of the limo and said our vows. It was a really fantastic service and I feel very thankful that I stayed in the moment and really enjoyed the event. There was a bit of a mix up in which we didn’t get a dvd of the ceremony, but they compensated, apologized profusely, and we weren’t even originally going to get a DVD but changed our minds at the last minute. Oh well!
We awoke on Friday ready to start the day. We had decided the night before, that due to our very full schedule; we would be best off buying the all day $25.00 pass for the Excalibur buffet. That would be 3 meals for only $50.00 in Vegas, which is a mere $8 and change per meal. It would have been nice if there had been a refrigerator in the room, but since they want you to spend money dining and gambling, they made sure to leave such things as refrigerators, coffee makers, and free internet out of the room. Keep that in mind if you ever go to Vegas as these are typical feature in most US hotels, and not in Vegas. The breakfast was nice, they had biscuits and gravy (a favourite of mine), and a huge variety again. This time the food was very hot and fresh.
We then headed over to the outlet mall. Specifically looking for a large duffel bag and a tie for Neil. The outlet mall is very large, and we had a nice walk around, enjoying getting the walk in since I bought us a few pedometers to keep us motivated. We found a fantastic tie that had dice and cards all over it and both of us agreed it was the perfect tie for our wedding. We then walked around looking for gifts for our friends who were also in Vegas for their 10th wedding anniversary. (Happy Anniversary Mr. And Mrs. V!), we both loved a cake stand that we found, but felt that it would be a burden for them to get home as it was breakable. We found a nice little ornament with Vegas-y stuff floating around in it for their Christmas tree instead. At this point it was getting close to the countdown to the wedding, so we headed up the Strip and stopped at a liquor store to get some Zinfandel wine for the Limo ride. Afterwards, we picked up the Verbenkos, who were fairly shocked that Neil was driving. I have to hand it to him though, he did a fantastic job driving on the “wrong” side of the road! The four of us went to the Buffet and had lunch. I wondered if the same food would be served for dinner as well....
After changing outfits, sipping drinks, taking pics, and sitting around the room for an hour we headed down to the lobby and met the Limo. We piled in and had fun taking pictures and chatting. I was surprisingly not nervous and feeling very positive about the day, and our friends commented that we didn’t seem nervous. We were both pretty relaxed and really enjoying the experience. When we arrived at the chapel we were excited and enjoying ourselves. We popped through the top of the limo and said our vows. It was a really fantastic service and I feel very thankful that I stayed in the moment and really enjoyed the event. There was a bit of a mix up in which we didn’t get a dvd of the ceremony, but they compensated, apologized profusely, and we weren’t even originally going to get a DVD but changed our minds at the last minute. Oh well!
Onward to the evening! As any newly married couple, we donned our bright pink all-day buffet wristbands and headed to the buffet hall! I was relieved that they had a new dinner menu, and the food was okay enough. I then changed clothing (Neil just took off the jacket) and the four of us headed out to the Mystery Adventure headquarters. There were 13 people in the group (13 on the 13th), the first of many eerie coincidences that kept us wondering if this Murder Mystery wasn’t tailored for us. I don’t believe that the information here is a spoiler in any way if I keep it general, but in location 1 there was a note “beware newlyweds”, location 2 had a sign “Pens Immigration Services”, and had a picture of an animal of particular interest and amusement to us, location 3 had both of our names written in a calendar and on a spreadsheet . We were actually convinced that it had been planned, but oddly, it was just a coincidence. The Mystery Adventure was a really fantastic experience. After such a long day, we dropped the Verbenkos off at the Paris hotel and headed back for a much needed snooze. (At this point it was 2am my time and 7am Neils time).
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Happy Valentine’s Day! What a memorable day it was! We started off with a trip to Dunkin Donuts for Muffins and coffee. Before picking up the Verbenkos for our unique shopping morning. The first stop was a Yarn store. Karen and I wandered around and bought a few things, I got a crochet hook and some yarn to make pot holders for the kitchen since I have not found any that I have liked. If you can’t buy it, make it! The next shop was the Comic store and it was a real treat. We bought several books in there and I am now reading one of the Hellboy books and the Hedgeknight TPB. Afterwards we hit the south end of the strip and found another Yarn store and Comic shop. Also on that road was “The Gun Store” and we joked about stopping there, but that joke got to be a need, so despite being starving, we stopped to check it out. Karen was not interested. I like shooting and figured I would do it, but then I read the risk form and backed out in no uncertain terms. Neil and Al stood in line with their big packs of bullets, ear mufflers and target posters while Karen and I knit and crocheted respectively. Both Neil and Al came out of the shooting range looking perhaps TOO satisfied!
After this I was not feeling very well, so we decided to go back to the room for a while. I think that I got quite car sick, because I was fine after about an hour laying down. The Verbenkos had gone to New York New York to ride the coaster and we headed that way to get food and meet up with them. We had hotdogs. The four of us met up and we started wandering some of the hotels. We ended up at MGM and followed the sign to the tram. What that sign doesn’t tell you is that it is about a mile away from the Las Vegas Blvd, and you are stuck in MGM grand, til finally you reach it and they are charging to use it! So we walked back toward our hotel, got the car and drove to the Palazzo to eat dinner at Sushi Samba. We had a taster meal and the food was fabulous. The first course was Yellow Tail Taco with lime and hot sauce. Second- 4 types of sushi in an American style, Salmon, tuna, yellowtail and something else. Third- Crab, escargot style, with a cheese topping. Amazing. Fourth- Mushrooms and Kobe Beef. Unbelievable. Fifth- Hawaiian Lobster, Chilean Sea Bass, Peruvian Corn, and Brazilian Scallops. Really nice course. Sixth-Crab Rolls, Spicy Tuna, Salmon mint and cheese, and something else. The Salmon Mint was crazy delicious. 7th and Dessert course-Chocolate Layer Mousse, brown chocolate taco, green passion fruit, raspberry and caviar; Pear pie with nut and vanilla cream, and two sorbet desserts. After this fabulous dinner we wandered around the Venetian for a while before heading back to our room.
Sunday, February 15, 2007
On Sunday, we started the day at IHOPS, each of us getting the International Nutella Crepe Passport meal and enjoying every minute of it. We then headed into the strip to see what tickets we could nab for a half price discount at Tiks4Tonite. No luck, but we did find a store that sold cute personalized signs and we got one for “Mike’s Batcave”. Around 11 we picked up the Verbenkos, walked the outlet malls for a while, stopped at Canes Chicken for Chicken fingers, chips and lemonade, and dropped them off at the airport for their trip back to New Jersey. On the way, they gave us a gift, which is a very cute statue of a bride and groom in a funny pose. It is a lot of fun. We then headed back to the hotel and were going to go to Mandalay Bay to see Shark Reef, but before we got there we got lured into a conversation with the “gee, we are giving things away if you go look at our timeshares” people. We were able to talk them up to two tickets to Excalibur’s Kings Tournament show, 2 tickets to Shark Reef, 3 $25 vouchers, on for a meal and two for slot machines and cruise tickets which I threw away because they say by taking the cruise, you give permission for them and their affiliates to cold call you for sales for the rest of your life. No thanks! We then walked over to Mandalay and Neil started taking pics with the tripod. After a while I sat down at “keeping up with the Joneses”, a penny slot, and started playing. Neil came over and leaned on the machine he was sitting at where he promptly WON by accidently pressing a button when someone had left credits in it. Heh heh...lucky!
We then went to Excalibur, NY NY, MGM, Paris, and the Bellagio to take photos, and ended the day with dinner at MORE buffet, which is located in the Luxor and was quite nice.
Monday, 16 February 2009
Monday was a day of excitement! Starting with an early wake up and not enough time to grab a coffee before catching the shuttle to the Grandview Towers Timeshare presentation. I was very grumpy thanks to lack of coffee and I didn’t think that at the rate they were going we would be back to our hotel by 10:30 as they had promised, Neil suggested that I keep cool and not worry about it until the two hours had gone by, then I could gripe all I wanted. We went into this knowing that we were going to be under a lot of pressure to buy something before leaving the grounds, and we did a fantastic job of staying on track and not caving, despite really liking the salesperson, and there is no doubt that this is a very nice timeshare location, we wanted to spend time researching before making that sort of purchase. Our salesperson graciously accepted our decision and sent us into “the pit” as she called it. Unfortunately for Neil, he was not aware of this comment, and unfortunately for our sales girl, the two hour nice limit had expired. The sales girl waved us over in an overly rude fashion, and she started talking AT us, I got quite nasty right away. I chided her for telling us that the product that we didn’t buy in the other room with the incompetent sales people was a thing of the past, and nobody in their right mind would want to OWN that. I asked her if she worked for the same company, and if so, why was her company just trying to sell us $40,000 worth of a thing of the past, and only after we don’t get suckered into that, they offer us a “good” deal? So on and so fourth I had a comment for her every word, with Neil wondering what the hell was happening because he thought we were just getting the stinking vouchers. After a few moments he realizes that this pitbull is too pushy and he has some good fun telling her off as well, before we happily exit the pit and claim our hard-won vouchers and merrily make our way to Mandalay for our free admission to Shark Reef! This couldn’t have gone any better, because it happened to be raining, so there was a huge line at Shark Reef that we got to by-pass. Another plus on the time-share adventure was that it took us past South Point, which was a casino with a 12 screen movie theatre and we headed back that way to check the place out after Shark Reef and a quick MORE buffet stop. We then signed up for the Luxor’s player club, which entitled me to 10 dollars of free slot gambling, so Neil and I had 60 dollars of free money between us to play with. After all the gambling we cashed out with 34 or so dollars of that. We then headed off to the room for a nap and walked to Excalibur for the 8:30 show and dinner. The show was very entertaining, and we did a lot of “Huzz-AH”-ing! We had a Cornish game hen, broccoli, and potatoes, and ate with our hands. A really fun dinner show!
Tuesday, 17 February
After having been on the go for nearly a full week, on Thursday we slept in and lazed around until around 3pm. I went to the Starbucks downstairs and got coffee/hot chocolate, oatmeal and fruit to eat. We researched timeshares and worked on, and answered emails, regarding the Visa applications. We went to Pyramid Cafe where we used the food voucher we had received on Monday, then headed to the South Point Theatre to watch Benjamin Button. I cried...sigh....
We ended the night with a healthy dose of reasonable gambling on penny slots.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
As we had planned all week, we got up early on Wednesday and started driving to the Grand Canyon. We ended up missing a turn which then led us to go all the way to Flagstaff, where we had the unexpected pleasure of discovering historic route 66. There was a lot of snow on the ground, but the air temperature was pleasant, and we got out of the car several times to take pictures. Hoover dam and the Grand canyon were fabulous, and lots of pictures were taken. On the way home we noticed that there was a cop behind us, and I was certain he was going to pull us over. Sure enough, the lights come on and we pull over. Apparently, Neil had been doing 53 in a 35 zone. He walked back to his car and I went on and on about the ticket and what would have to be done once he got the ticket, only to have the cop come back and give Neil a WARNING!!! I was astonished, and we were both giddily pleased! We put the top down at Hoover dam so we could see the stars and drove back to Vegas in time to go to Freemont street, in the historic downtown area of Las Vegas, see the Freemont street Experience, which is basically a huge ceiling of lcd lights that look like a big tv. We also picked up our Wedding Certificate and were happily “official”. We again, ended the night with a healthy bit of gambling.
Thursday, 19 February 2009
We started Thursday morning with a trip to Starbucks, where we got $10 off the order (free). Then we drove up the strip to see the Bonanza gift shop and eventually landed in the Stratosphere for lunch. The room rotates 360 in 1 hour 10 minutes, and that is just about what it took us to eat, so we got to see all of Las Vegas from the sky. I had Kobe Beef and Neil had Rib Eye and we shared the Chocolate Stratosphere Tower desert. We then went to the observation deck before heading down. We had decided that we wanted to see a show called “Bite”, and we thought we should be able to find some discount tickets for it. Unfortunately, Bite does not show on Thursday night. We headed to Tiks4tonite. I was hoping for Phantom, but the price was incredibly inflated. We settled for a show that was playing in our hotel, Fantasy. We then headed to Palazzo, and Neil started taking photos. We ended up at Circus Circus, which was just disgusting and we barely got through the door before turning around and heading back out. We were starving, but managed to walk a few blocks to Denny’s, where we had burgers and Neil had a very tasty milkshake. I had fun during this tour of hotels by playing one dollar in a slot machine that we ran across in each casino, and we ended up making a few dollars playing this game because I would cash out the first time I won. After Dennys we headed to the Luxor for the show. Fantasy is a topless show with about 8 dancers, a comedian and a singer. My assumption was that it would be done well since it was a show that the hotel hosted, and this was correct. It was a fun and entertaining show, but I would have been sorely disappointed if we had paid full price.
Friday, 20 February 2009
The time had come. Checkout was at 11am, so we packed and showered, and dragged our things through the hotel to the car. We went to IHOPs and had our Nutella crepes again, we went to the outlet mall and bought a Samsonite duffel bag. We turned the car in at Avis, where the smart ass check in guy got a flippant comment from me and a good telling off from Neil for his attitude and service. We took a shuttle to Terminal two, repacked bags so that Neil could take some things back with him that I had brought from Virginia, and eventually, we parted ways, after many kisses and hugs. In going separate ways I remind myself that now is the time where we do the work to get the Visa so we can be together, and I smile because we had a really nice time and there are no regrets. I couldn’t have asked for anything more than the time that we had in Vegas. It will always be a very happy memory for me.
702Weddings: Very friendly and professional, they added an extra $40 on the tab for a DVD of the ceremony. We paid for it. They forgot to do the DVD or it was no longer available as a service for drive through services, and offered us professional pics instead. We took them, and they weren’t as good as the ones we had taken. I believe this was a one off issue. I would recommend them.
Avis Rental Car: Got great rate online with Neil’s flight tickets, upgrade to convertible was reasonable, Agent was fantastic, returning the car we were met rather rudely by the check in administrator. I would recommend.
Benjamin Button: Very good movie that made me cry, so very bad movie for me! ;)
Clark County Marriage Office: Super fast and pleasant service. I would recommend.
Excalibur Buffet: Nasty line if you do not buy the all-day for $25.00 pass, which gives you a VIP placing in line. Reasonable deal if you don’t mind an OKAY meal, lots and lots of variety, can make everyone happy. I would recommend the ALL DAY PASS, or a meal at an odd hour.
Excalibur Kings Tournament: Tasty dinner and fun show. Suitable for kids and entertaining for adults. I would recommend.
Fantasy at Luxor: Topless show. Pretty girls, fun music, good comedian. Good show for guys and girls (but mostly guys!) I would recommend if you get a discount.
Freemont Street Experience: Once an hour showing. Worth seeing..it is free!
Grandview Las Vegas- It’s a timeshare. We were offered a 2 bedroom lockdown, two weeks plus four extra weeks and 122,000 RCI points for 35,000. Maintenance was $530. There is a rule with timeshares. DONT buy them at the presentation. You can get cheaper resale units that are a better value. The developer will never get you the best deal.
Luxor Hotel: Very nice rooms, clean and odor free. Beautiful views, no free internet $14.99 per day 12am to 11:59pm is a day,$5 fee per day for cleaning, no coffee maker, no refrigerator. Daily calls trying to sell things. I would recommend. You can call and request that you be taken off of the sales call system.
MORE Buffet at Luxor: I recommend if you are staying at Luxor because the food is decent and it is convenient. I wouldn’t go out of the way for it though
Mystery Adventure Tour: Fantastic fun! I would recommend.
Outlet Mall: Was fun to walk around in, but I don’t recommend going there to shop. Everything has to fly home with you in the luggage and states like New Jersey do not have sales tax on clothing, so you can get a better deal shopping on the east coast if you are looking to save money (and I assume that is why most people shop at outlet malls!)
Shark Reef: Lots of fun and a bit of a change of pace from regular Vegas sites. One of the few things on the strip that is fun for kids, not really worth the $16 dollar admission, but we had freebies.
Tiks4Tonite: An absolute must. These locations are located throughout the strip. Tickets are posted at the locations at 9:30am and the line opens at 10. Many shows are discounted up to 50%
