Quick Synopsis:

 Flights:

Southwest Airlines.  Excellent nonstop service from Birmingham… scored
the jackpot of having an empty seat between us both coming and going.
Closest thing to first class on Southwest!

 Hotels:

Bellagio, three nights, comped thru Wagerworks, got a lake view room
by bribing the check-in girl $20.  Golden Nugget two nights in a suite for $175 per night.
No complaints about either, GN continues to be one of my favorite places to stay.
I like the strip less and less with every trip to Vegas.

 Dining: 

Sushi on Tropicana: great as usual.  Highly recommended.

Bellagio Breakfast buffet:  excellent with wonderfully varied selection.  Recommended.

Mon Ami Gabi at Paris:  a very nice surprise.  I ate almost everything
on my plate despite having eaten the Bellagio breakfast buffet just
hours before.  Friendly if a little confused service.  Highly recommended.

Lotus of Siam:  an explosion of wonderful flavors.  If you like Thai food at all, you must go.
Highly recommended.

Lanai Café at the Cal:  Love the Oriental Soup Combination.  A huge bowl of soup with noodles,
spinach, shrimp, roast pork, fish cake, and won tons, all for around $6.  We ate there late night
(1:30 AM) after the soiree festivities.  Interestingly, we were some of the few non-Hawaiians in the place.
Recommended.

Bamboleo at Rio:  OK, but not great.  They have a really good lunch special including soup,
a metric ton of mediocre Mexican food, and flan or sopapilla for $10.  I am glad we didn't pay
more for this, because it was very average. Not recommended. 

Wow!
Has the Bamboleo slipped? Or is he just wrong?

777 Brewpub at Main Street Station.  The worst sushi I have ever had, but really good beer and
brewpub food.  I had a perfect grilled chicken sandwich, and the Mrs had a great looking cobb salad.
Highly recommended, except for the sushi.

Mr. Lucky's at Hard Rock:  Steak and shrimp special for me, pot stickers and wings for the Mrs.
All was excellent, including an amazing coffee milkshake.  Recommended.

Binion's snack bar:  Had a cup of beef stew after the Solar System Series of Poker, and it was
very very good, just enough to hold me over until Lotus of Siam on Saturday night.  Recommended.

Golden Gate:  Had a breakfast of shrimp cocktails and crackers on Sunday morning.
They are as tasty as ever.  Recommended.

 Shows:

EFX:  Embarrassingly bad.  We actually walked out early.  If I had
paid $75 to see this crap, I'd be furious.  Not recommended.

Mac King:  Hands down, the best way to spend $7 in Las Vegas.  100% of
our group gave it a thumbs up!  Highly recommended.

Glen Campbell at Texas Station:  Great show.  I didn't expect to enjoy
it as much as I did, and it was well worth the $27.50 per ticket.
Highly recommended.

Wayne Newton:  The guy has totally lost his voice, and overcompensates
with a LOUD (and obnoxious) orchestra.  A quintessential Vegas
experience, but a fading one.  Recommended, with reservation.

Secret Garden of Siegfried and Roy:  Enjoyable because it was comped thru Wagerworks.
If paying full price, I'd probably consider this somewhat of a ripoff.  You'd probably do better
by going to a real park or zoo.  Not particularly recommended, unless you just LOVE animals.

 Soiree:

Once again, a great time with great people.  Is it (next) June yet? Highly, highly recommended.

 Gambling:

I play mostly blackjack and video poker.  The Mrs likes to play stupid games such as let it ride,
three card poker, etc, so we played a little at those too, for small stakes.  I lost my ASS the first
two days, then proceeded to get back up nearly even, to fall back slightly at the end.  Ended up
down $325 after five days of relatively heavy playing.  Received over $1000 in comps, however,
and countless drinks. Put tons of points on my slot card at MSS and was assured I would
continue to receive great room offers.

 Socializing:

Spent lots of time with AVLVers (the newsgroup where I got this) …. Andrew Love was already
at Bellagio when we arrived, and we spent tons of time together.  Ask him how to go to Vegas for
six nights and never ever pay for a hotel room. Burtcohen and Carefree Karen had lunch with us
on Friday, and we all saw the Mac King show together.  Karen and the Mrs really hit it off,
even enjoying the scary confines of the Spike.  Steve Harder-Kucera was at the soiree and brazenly
cheated to win the penny slot tournament.  I remain co-champion, because I put a penny in his machine.
Meiko and Phil were also at all the big empire festivities, and we ran into them at Main Street Station
Sunday night and had a very enjoyable but rushed dinner at the 777 before we had to (regrettably)
leave to catch the start of Wayne Newton.  David and Roz Berman were at the soiree and it was
great to see them.  Roz commented to me how much fun she was having, which made me very happy,
because I know that David had to convince her to come to the soiree, just as I had to with the Mrs.
I met several lurkers and a couple of former members, and it was great to see everybody.

I'm going to try to post a full report, (ha ha This was the short report?) but it might take some time,
because I have been very busy with work, and have a lot of catching up to do.  This is an outline of
my thoughts, and will serve as the basis for my full report later.

Thanks for reading.
 

Andrew