Margaret Shemo is one of my favorite writers.
I just stumbled onto this in my mailbox (it was
dated Christmas Day)
It's a trip report from Las Vegas!
Sidebar:
I wonder how many other hidden gems are in my
mailbag.
If I asked you for something and you sent it,
and I haven't printed it or answered you, tell
me.
From: mshemo@hotmail.com
Subject: Trip Report from Vegas
This was a real break with tradition for us --
over the past 20 years, we've never failed to visit
at least one fine arts museum wherever we go
on vacation. Until we went to Las Vegas --
and we didn't mind at all. (There is a
Liberace Museum, of course, and the Golden Nugget
exhibits the golden nugget.) This is an
over-21 (truth be told, over-41) type of vacation that
can be enjoyed on the cheap. There are
younger people, too, especially at places like the Rio,
but there's plenty of room for us Boomers (and
we need every inch).
Las Vegas has plenty of expensive restaurants
-- outposts of big names from other parts of the country.
On a budget, food is meats and sweets at the
buffets. As for drinks -- well, one must pay to indulge
one's tastes, but if you're not too discriminating,
the Barbary Coast was featuring $1 drinks -- you call it.
We played video poker at Main Street Station
primarily to get a couple of the Triple 7 brews
from the cocktail waitress. We were unaffected
by all the drinks because we'd always just eaten,
or maybe because there's more water in the desert
than we'd been led to believe.
ha ha
We have Senator McCain to thank for the low introductory
air fares we were able to get
from National Airlines, which began service at
our local airport just a couple of months ago.
They've declared bankruptcy, but they're still
flying.
ha ha
What could be safer than flying with an airline
who can't pay their bills?
We rented a car from Alamo. Alamo gave us
a Buick Century at the price of a Cavalier.
Once you stagger off the Alamo shuttle from the
airport, you can be in your car in just
a few minutes -- if you remembered to sign up
for the Quicksilver card before you left home.
We drove around for eight days, and filled the
tank with regular just once, at about $1.64 a gallon.
We were able to return the car just as quickly.
Our first stop from Alamo was Vacation Village,
a locals' casino. They'll give you a chance to
enter a cash drawing and a free spin to win half
your airfare. We won one roll of nickels and
two rolls of quarters. (Those aren't the
type of rolls referred to in the term "high-roller".)
Having the car allowed us to go out to Palace
Station, Sam's Town, Arizona Charlie's East,
the Suncoast and the Regent. The odds are
supposed to be better in the casinos away from
the Strip, but we discovered we could lose anywhere.
We got into town on December 10, just as the cowboys
were leaving town (the rodeo),
and a lot of the big shows closed down for a
couple of weeks. Even the pirate ship at
Treasure Island was "dark." That was OK,
maybe we'll see a show next time.
(Las Vegas has its own established stars -- singers,
impressionists, magicians -- who have
theaters named after them, but most of whose
names were unknown to us.) For the first
five nights, we stayed at the Flamingo ($29 plus
tax) on the 20th floor, overlooking the penguins.
The room was big, the towels a little thin; I
thought the location was excellent. Over the weekend
we stayed at the Golden Nugget ($59 plus tax)
-- much smaller room, but plusher towels.
At the Mirage, the volcano was spewing; we had
time to watch it once from the street side and
once from the hotel side. We walked through
the "tropical rain forest," and watched a white tiger pacing.
There's a shark tank (big aquarium, many fish,
little sharks) in back of the reception desk.
The fountains at Bellagio were working, too (except
for one jet in the middle -- comic relief).
After dark, there's a new "show" every 15 minutes.
The names and the look of the Italian
ice cream in the gelato place in Bellagio are
authentic, but the product is just a bit too cold
and not quite creamy enough. The buffet
at the Bellagio is generally regarded as among
the top three in town. We went for lunch
-- $14 or $15 each. The food holds up well, roasts
are hand-carved and some dishes are individually
prepared. I was fond of the duck liver and
mushrooms in pastry; the roast pork and the roast
turkey were excellent.
This buffet had the widest selection of fish,
too -- hot, cold, smoked, sautéed, Asian preparations.
I lost count of how many desserts I had, but
it was their fault, they put out roasted pecans, which
seemed to go well with the bread pudding, the
ice cream, the pecan pie . . . My understanding is
that the Bellagio is trying to rank among the
best hotels in the world. If you stand gaping at the glass
ceiling sculpture at the reception, someone in
a red jacket may come up to you and offer help.
Their conservatory featured a Christmas theme
(otherwise, decorations for the upcoming
holiday were not as elaborate and widespread
as I'd expected). It was at the Bellagio that
I first noticed a table for "casino war" -- that's
right, the card game.
The Paris buffet is a screaming bargain if you
go for a very late lunch, at $15 per person
-- dinner begins when the crab legs are
rolled out. Many of the Las Vegas buffets feature
"stations" for Italian, Mexican and Asian food;
at the Paris buffet, there are stations representing
Provence, Normandy, Burgundy, Alsace and Brittany.
Duck, veal marengo, veal sausage,
bouillabaisse, made-to-order crepes, mussels,
mashed potatoes made with Camembert -- and
(perhaps as required by law) jumbo shrimp with
cocktail sauce, and bread pudding.
I think I liked the Paris buffet best of all.
We didn't spend all our time in casino buffets,
of course. Sometimes we went to restaurants.
We ordered a couple of Cuban sandwiches at the
Florida Cafe on the North Strip, near downtown,
and the waitress was kind enough to bring us
cups of chicken and potato soup, as well.
The papas fritas were like Mom used to make (under
another name). We couldn't eat more
than $12 worth of food, so we'll have to go back
on our next trip and try harder.
Gourmet Magazine said the Lotus of Siam (953 East
Sahara Avenue) is the best Thai restaurant in the
United States; you're supposed to ask for their
northern menu. We just went to their weekday lunch buffet ($6),
featuring good pad Thai among a dozen dishes
(soups, stir fries, egg rolls, vegetable fritters, etc.).
At Dona Maria Tamales (910 South Las Vegas Boulevard,
on the north end of the Strip,
close to downtown), we liked the green sauce
on the chicken tamales, but the pork tamales
in red sauce ($2.65) were better.
It's old news, but I really liked Caesar's Palace:
the best fake sky on the Strip and a Trojan horse
in the Forum Shops. It was a treat for
us to eat at the Palm. We enjoyed a prix fixe ($14) lunch
available there on weekdays: Caesar salad,
10 ounce filet mignon, cottage fries and hash browns,
friendly and professional service. For
a light dinner, there's decent pizza from La Piazza Food Court.
May we all one day be rich enough to stay, for
an extended period, at the Mandalay Bay -- which is
the only way we're ever going to see their beach.
The Venetian was nice: phony Rialto Bridge,
pseudo Doge's Palace, pocket Grand Canal.
No gondola rides for us, thanks. I liked the Monte Carlo,
even though nothing exploded, smoked or roared.
We listened to an Elvis impersonator at the MGM Grand.
They have lions there, too.
We're not complete pushovers. We liked the
Luxor much better from the outside than the inside.
The Aladdin is lackluster; we felt sorry for
all those people in costume. (Watch out -- if you get too close,
they'll speak to you in character.) The
shops at the Aladdin were uninviting. I have heard of people
staying at the Imperial Palace, but I don't think
even they eat there.
Gambling? All I know about video poker,
I learned on my PC. If you hunt around, you can find
a few machines that pay nine coins for a full
house and six coins for a flush. We kept eating, and
for the most part it distracted us from all the
gambling going on. Really, the calm of the players
-- winning or losing -- was surprising.
We got more excited over winning nine coins than one
woman did over a $1,000 jackpot.
The Fremont Street Experience is an attraction that the whole family can ignore.
ha ha
Main Street Station is said to have downtown's
best buffet, but somehow we missed it.
If there's better bread pudding than the one
served at the Golden Nugget buffet, please
tell me where. Since you have to eat breakfast
on Sunday morning anyway, how can
you avoid brunch? Eat enough and the champagne
won't give you a headache.
We played penny video poker (with those stakes,
it should be called video piker) at the Gold Spike.
It's not recommended for those who are grime-sensitive.
Just ignore that raving individual in back of you.
If you're smoking, you may not notice what the
air smells like. But you know, a cocktail waitress even
came by the penny slots! Which reminds
me -- the servers deserve their tips.
Even we pikers were treated well -- firmly, soberly,
but politely.
We drove to Hoover Dam and took the short ($8)
tour. If you have time, watch the video about the
dam's construction in the visitors' center.
On another day, we drove around in Red Rock Canyon,
and walked on a couple of trails. We weren't
really prepared for rock scrambling, though. On our way
back, we stopped to eat at another buffet (surprise):
the Upstairs Buffet in the Regent in Summerlin,
a 25-minute drive northwest of the city.
The buffet room is particularly attractive. This was another
$14 all-day-sucker of a meal: the Mexican
station had no tortillas (none that we could find, anyway)
but the pot stickers at the Chinese station were
really quite good; the crab claws were much better
than the small, flabby shrimp; look for the asparagus
on the salad bar, and try the pasta salad.
The tiramisu was suspiciously like whipped cream
-- not that's there's anything wrong with that.
After you put in a few hours at these buffets,
you become philosophical: you may scorn the
spaghetti and meatballs at the Italian station,
but a dish like that could be a lifesaver for families
with young children. What you lose in the
sirloin, you make up in the prime rib. The turkey was
better at the Bellagio, but the ice cream was
better here than there. And it's not as if you've
really been hungry since the first night of your
stay, anyway.
Speaking of children in Las Vegas: Circus
Circus has some, playing carnival games and watching
Russian acrobats; the Bellagio discourages them,
unless they are guests. "Disneyland For Adults"
is much more "For Adults" than it is "Disneyland."
Las Vegas is definitely not the happiest place
on earth, but that's to be expected with all
those poker faces.
Margaret, great report!
Send more like that.
If anybody has a Las Vegas trip report,
send it to me.
It doesn't have to be recent, and you don't have
to be as good a writer as Margaret Shemo to get published.
(Pretty much anything with "Las Vegas"
or "Chinaco" gets published.)
Do like Margaret did and give us dates and times.
Where'd you stay?
Where'd you eat?
Was your call girl cute?
Give us your gambling stories.
...and we're still kicking around the idea of a bartcop.com Las Vegas tequilafest.