Summer of Birthdays-Gwen's Birthday!

This is the last Las Vegas birthday in my trilogy of trip reports,  a Summer of Birthdays! If you haven't read the first two you might want to read them first. They are at the following links:

June: Liz's Birthday Trip report at:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/08/summer-of-vegas-birthdays-trip-report.html

My July Birthday Trip Report at:
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/08/summer-of-birthdays-part-two-my.html
Photo of Delano from their Facebook webpage.

It was August 22nd and time to to celebrate Gwen's birthday with her! Flight out of San Jose was uneventful and on time. My limo was at the airport waiting for me, i.e. chauffeur Laura and her husband Yon in their rental car. Thanks Laura and Yon for chauffeuring me around the strip several times! For the first three nights of this six night trip I would be staying at THEHotel at Mandalay Bay for the last time, as the following week it would officially turn into Delano. My husband and I have always loved THEHotel at MB but the rooms were long overdue for renovation so I was eager to see what Delano had done with them as the branding of the property was now complete, though there was still some construction going on to finish up the lobby in time in time for the Grand Opening.

Check in was efficient so we were able to take my luggage to my suite before the three of us went to lunch.

The lay out of the suite is the same as it was when it was THEHotel,  however the furnishings and style is completely different.

The color scheme is neutrals and whites and time will tell if this was a mistake for a color scheme in Las Vegas. However, the furniture seems cheap enough so perhaps they just plan on replacing it frequently.

THEHotel sofa used to be fairly comfortable, all three of us thought the new sofa was very uncomfortable. The room was clean, but sterile, sort of like a upscale hospital room and channeling some Ikea style furnishings.

Below is the art hanging over the sofa.

The half bath guest room has new wall paper, the sink has not been changed.

The bedroom furniture is new but as previously when it was THEHotel it has two small but new closets/wardrobes on either side of the drawers and the TV. However while there was plenty of room in the closets previously for a Vegas stay some genius has put the clothes hanging bar in from front to back instead of side to side making not only less room for clothes but making it harder to reach the ones you do have room to hang up. What's up with that?

I'm happy to report the bed is very comfortable but be warned the pillows are rock hard. I had read about this months earlier when people started to stay in the renovated rooms and I was really surprised this hadn't been corrected yet. Latest reports say they are replacing the pillows but how many months does that take? I know, first world problems, right? But for some of us a decent pillow is the difference between getting some sleep or not.

I neglected to take photos of the master bath but it's the same as it was, and still with the dark color scheme that matched THEHotel but doesn't match the Delano style. The bathroom toiletries are Malin+Goetz which I liked.

After touring the room the three of us had lunch at Mandalay Bay's Raffles Cafe.

Yon enjoyed his Raffles Omelet with hash browns.

Laura had the yummy Belgium waffles with Sausage.

I liked my Apple Salad with Shrimp added to it.

 After lunch Laura and Yon headed out to check in to their hotel and I went to the player's club to have my free play put on my card. The regular line at the M-Life player's club didn't have a wait but there was a separate line with about 10 or so people for MyVegas rewards.

I gambled a bit with my free play but wasn't winning anything.  My friend Sdguy had just arrived in Vegas and while he was staying at Bellagio he came to Mandalay Bay to meet me. We decided on making our way to Bellagio to check him in by walking and playing slots together along the way.

I forgot to take photos of us this trip but there's plenty from NYE's if you are curious about Sdguy. On our way to the Mandalay Bay Tram we saw Jurassic Park and had a lot of fun playing it for about 20 minutes. Well, I had a lot of fun because I was getting frequent bonuses, Sdguy not so much!

After taking the Tram to NYNY and trying and failing to get a bonus on the Spinning Streak Monkeys Slot we played there we walked to Monte Carlo. We were now pooling our money and taking turns on our slot. We hit a fun bonus on the Big Money Cheese-Caper and also on the old Slotsky Slot!

After that we spent about a hour or so having fun playing Ruby Slippers 2 together before it was time for me to run to Wynn to register for a slot tournament the next day with Teresa and Sdguy to continue on to Bellagio. Sdguy and I had plans to meet up later at the Grand Opening of SLS and then also on Saturday night for more slot play together but you know what happens sometimes with plans in Vegas, they don't always work out.

At Wynn I met up with Teresa and we registered for the tournament and then found Gwen as they were returning with me to Mandalay Bay for dinner at the Crossroads House of Blues Restaurant. Gwen's Mom who was on the trip with her wasn't feeling like eating so she stayed at Wynn.

Our server tonight was John, I know this not because I have a great memory but because I found the receipt from our dinner. What a character John was, we got the greatest kick out of him because he was calling us "boos", "baby", he called me "mommy" a few times and as Gwen reminded me recently when he brought me my delicious Jalapeño Rush Cocktail above he said "Here you go baby. Here's your medicine, it'll make you feel better!" We got in the spirt of this by Teresa calling him baby cakes and well you get the gist. ;)

Voodoo Shrimp with cornbread, this is the reason I was eating there. If you like shrimp and spicy it's worth eating at Crossroads just for the Voodoo Shrimp, it's got just enough heat in my opinion and while normally I don't like cornbread, I can't stop eating their cornbread!

Lobster Mac & Cheese, Teresa had this and I believe she liked it.

Gwen ordered the Fried Chicken and said it was okay.

My Steak Salad was very good.

After dinner the big plan of the evening was the midnight opening of SLS, but there was time to play some slots before that. Unfortunately my wins were few and not that great.

OMG!Kittens give me a couple good hits but never got the bonus on it this trip.

Around 11:30pm our group met at Wynn as Gwen had arranged two limos to take us to SLS.

Above is Barb and Ger, below is myself, Teresa, Gator (Larry) and Gwen's Mom. Gwen and Terri were also with us.

To see photos of SLS and our experiences that evening, the link to my review is here:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/09/sls-grand-opening-night-and-room-photos.html

After leaving SLS I went back to Mandalay Bay and played the new 3D Sphinx slot which I like. Also had a nice bonus on The Walking Dead before I went to Bed.

Next morning I slept in until it was time for me to go to Wynn for Teresa's slot tournament. This tournament required a partner and I was Teresa's. Terri was also in the tournament with a local friend and Gwen's partner was her Mom Claudia.

While waiting for the tournament to start I met up with Julie a friend of mine on Facebook that I originally met through a forum and my blog. Julie's so sweet and we like the same places in Vegas so I hope to be able to spend more time with her when we have future Vegas trips that coincide.

Our team came in 7th for our session but when the results were announce later we were not among the winners.

After the tournament I had a few minutes to chat with Terri, her friend, Teresa and Julie but then headed back to Mandalay Bay to meet my friend Jonathan at Fleur for lunch. Jonathan had just arrived in Las Vegas a hour before lunch and this was our only opportunity during this trip to get together.

 Jonathan ordered the Garden Vegetable Burger with Avocado and liked it.

I ordered Martie's Grilled Salmon Paillard, Arugula, Artichoke with a red wine vinaigrette, it was very good. Service was excellent during lunch but they weren't very busy.

After lunch Jonathan and I got to hang out for about 90 minutes playing slots together. I was able to get one spin on this penny Wheel of Fortune, but Jonathan had several on his WOF.

I tried the nearby Pelican Pet and had a good bonus.

Before Jonathan left we had to take a selfie!

I spent the rest of the afternoon gambling with little luck other then a few hits on Jurassic Park,

As I was ending my session I found several Dragon's Temple slots at Mandalay Bay and had a great bonus. I like this slot, if you hit the bonus it gives you a choice of how many spins and wilds. Each time this trip when I would hit a bonus I would take the 3 wilds and 5 spins.

If you haven't played this slot yet, here's a video of the above bonus:

 Tonight I was going to Michael Mina with Teresa and it was restaurant week!

Their regular menu is above but we both ordered off the restaurant week menu.

Teresa had the Cable Car cocktail, a favorite cocktail of mine now when a spicy drink isn't available.

I really enjoyed the Feisty NiNo! This drink is made with Herradura Silver, Watermelon, Cointreau, Lemon, Agave and Ancho Chile! I love spicy drinks!

Teresa had the Ahi Tuna Tartare, ancho chili, pine nuts, mint, egg yolk and sesame oil in the below photo. I had a delicious salad that you can barely see part of above.

We both had the Miso-Glazed Sea Bass with fingerling potato and summer truffle.

We also both ordered the Mascarpone Cheesecake, Huckleberry and Vanilla Streusel. Yes, we seem to like the same things! Our table was in a back room of the restaurant and I preferred that spot over the busy front of the restaurant. Service was excellent!

After dinner I was planning on Teresa and I meeting up with Sdguy, Dan and Brent. Well, Sdguy decided to take a nap while we were at dinner, Brent returned to Wynn where he was staying to gamble as he needed to give them some play, but fortunately Dan was still around so we had some fun playing slots together while we waited for Sdguy to wake up.

We played the new Star Trek Slot, some dollar slots, penny Walking Dead and Triple Trouble,  and while I think Dan was ahead, Teresa and I were losing at Bellagio.  We were having a lot of fun together but since I was losing I decided to return to Mandalay Bay and Teresa joined me. Dan decided to stay at Bellagio to wait for Sdguy but I'm assuming he finally gave up as I learned the next day that Sdguy didn't wait up until next morning around 7am!

 Teresa and I played slots at Mandalay Bay for a hour or so but very few wins for us so Teresa returned to Wynn and I went back up to my suite to get some sleep.

The next day we were eating Sunday Brunch at Wynn Buffet. Laura and Yon picked me up and then we stopped at Aria for Debbie and Brett and were soon at Wynn. There was fourteen in our group, Gwen, her Mom Claudia, myself, Teresa, Laura, Yon, Debbie, Brett, Bar, Ger, Jon, Maureen, Chad and Mel.

Myself and Barb. Miss you Barb!

Teresa, Gwen and Claudia above and Chad and Mel below.

A few photos of the plates of food that some of us had at the Wynn Buffet is below, but if you want to see additional photos and a recent review visit this link on the blog:
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/wynn-buffet-re-visited-april-7th-2014.html#more

The food was good for a buffet. The meatloaf next to the prime rib above was really good.

The best dessert in my opinion is below and to the right, with the zig zap chocolate pretzel on top. It was a delicious peanut butter, chocolate, creamy dessert, don't miss it!

Outside of the Wynn Buffet after we had eaten. Debbie, Gwen, Barb, Teresa, Maureen and me.

Debbie and her husband Brett with Gwen.

After lunch Laura and Yon dropped me back off at Mandalay Bay where I decided to lose some more.

Fortunately Dragon's Temple was one of the few slots that was giving me some wins.

I really love the chair on the Sphinx 3D slot, it's the first motion chair I have sat in that you can adjust on a slider to go forward or back.

I can't stay away from The Walking Dead even though I don't watch the show.

Sometimes the old slots are the best!

For the most part I wasn't winning at Mandalay Bay so I walked over to Luxor. They have Ruby Slippers 2 there and I had a fun bonus on it.

I really want to like the Back to the Future Slot but the bonuses just don't pay much.

When the pennies aren't paying it's time to move to the quarters! After playing slots at Luxor I returned to Mandalay Bay to change clothes for dinner with Gwen, Claudia, Teresa and Liz who had arrived during the afternoon.

Botero is a beautiful restaurant named after artist Fernando Botero. The restaurant has many pieces of his artwork and in the center of the restaurant is a sculpture of a voluptuous reclining woman. The restaurant is modern, comfortable seating and our round table had some of us facing a view of the Encore Beach Club Pool and others with a view of the restaurant and the statue of the reclining woman.

Assorted Bread at Botero, loved both the cracker bread and pretzel rolls! It's served with a lemon zest ricotta instead of butter.

Service was good tonight, including taking our photos before dinner. Gwen's Mom is seated on the left, Liz is behind her, I'm standing up on the right with Teresa between Gwen and her Mom.

Iceberg Wedge Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese and Smoked Bacon. At this point I don't remember who ordered what and I'm guessing you don't care anyway.

Two in our party ordered the Iceberg Wedge salad and up above is the way it's suppose to be presented, however one person received it in its I've fallen down and can't get back up presentation! Other then this one salad however the food presentation was good.

The Prawns were fresh and presented well.

Starter Dungeness Crab Ravioli with PittyPat Squash is delicious!

Red and Gold Beet Salad with Goat Cheese.

Eight ounce petite filet with peppers and three sauces. I really enjoyed this, sauces were good too.

Yukon Gold Whipped Potatoes. I didn't try these but I didn't hear any complaints.

Love this side! It was Crispy Zucchini Flowers, stuffed with Manchego Cheese!

Gwen and I had to order Chickpea Fries to see if they were as good as the ones we had at Prime last year, and they were!

I was told the New York Strip was great!

Liz said the American Wagyu Short rib with Potato Puree and Red Wine Reduction was delicious.

Tator Tots with aged Cheddar. I tried one, and they were terrific!

After all the fabulous starters, mains and sides we were too full for dessert. Next time!

Why the close up of my headband, other then I always wear headbands? This one was custom made for me by Gwen and I wore it to dinner for the first time this evening.  Gwen has a store on Etsy that she recently opened and I was her first customer before it opened up online. I love my sparkly headband and will be ordering more in the future. Want your own headband or hair decoration? Here's a link to Gwen's Etsy store. Use promo code vegas15 and you can get 15% off your purchases!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/GwenOffuttDesigns

After our dinner at Botero it was time to meet our friends at Wynn's Parasol Up Lounge.

Ger and Jon fooling around above, below is Ger's wife Barb, Liz, Teresa and me. I guess Gwen was taking the photo!

This is a refreshing Cucumber and Ginger Cooler.

Cranberry Mojito was wonderful, love this drink.

 Some of us feel that Wynn is our second home, right Liz?

Drinks with this group is always fun, I had a great time.

After dinner and drinks I returned to Mandalay Bay, where I continued losing.

 Until all of a sudden my luck turned around with a bonus for $300.00 on The Walking Dead Slot.

Since it was my last night at Mandalay Bay as I was moving to Palazzo in the morning I put my win from The Living Dead in my wallet and decided to finish up early and use my point play in my favorite $1 Davinci Diamonds before going up to my suite.

It's been a while since I've had much in the way of a good win from $1 Davinci but it started to hit, nothing huge but my credits were steadily going up.

Then surprise I hit a decent bonus and before I knew it I was up over $1200.00 for the day.

Once last hit after the bonus and then it was time to go to bed. Or was it?

Walking back to my room I passed The Walking Dead Slot and decided to run a hundred through it at max bet. Total surprise when I got the feature that gave me a few wilds on the screen and then shocker a hand pay for $1787.20!

The video is here if you want to see the hit, also there's a bonus in the beginning but you can skip that and go to the end of the video.

After my hand pay I did go to my room and I went to sleep very happy! My brief streak of great wins put me even for the trip. Yep, not ahead,  but even or I guess ahead if you count my comps.

Next morning I took a taxi to Palazzo and was quickly checked in and inside my room  unpacking again. There was a huge Toyota Convention at Venetian so initially I thought I wouldn't get my favorite room in the 900 section of Palazzo but thanks to a certain someone at VIP registration  My favorite room and view was ready for me. Sometimes getting to know the registration clerks can really help, for example I'm no longer asked for a ID when checking in, though of course they still ask for a credit card.  They are also great in ensuring on trips with my Mom that her room connects to mine which also gives her a automatic upgrade to a room with a view.

It didn't take me long to get settled as I'm so used to moving from hotel to hotel in Vegas I have speed packing and unpacking down.

Today was Monday and the tonight we would celebrate Gwen's birthday with dinner and a show. In the meantime I had a few hours to play slots and initially I was having some fun wins.

The Leonidas slot the last two trips is growing on me but just the one at Venetian the same slot at Palazzo is cold as ice to me.

I discovered that Venetian also has three of the Dragon's Temple slot and I was happy to see them envisioning more fun bonuses. Well, I tried for 3 days to get a bonus on those slots and while I had a few good hits, never a bonus was to be found!

Since the previous night I had my fun with $1 Davinci Diamonds I decided to give the newer version of it meaning not a stand alone Davinci but the newer ones with the "more games" a try. I had some brief luck but the rest of the trip it was a money pit. I so miss the old version of $1 Davinci Diamonds that they removed from the Venetian casino last year.

The best hit of the day was on the original Wizard of Oz slot that is still at Venetian near the Grand Lux cafe. I love this slot and will be sad when they finally removed the last two. This is a video of my fun Monkey Bonus.
After my Wizard of Oz win I went back to my room to change for dinner and then I met up with half our group at Wynn as we were going by Limo to Casa di Amore while the rest of the group was being pick up in another limo mid-strip with the exception of Laura and Yon who had their rental car and were driving themselves tonight.

Monday is half price wine night at Casa and we were happy Gwen's birthday fell on a Monday! We love our Cakebread wine, especially when it's half price!

Inside the entrance of Casa di Amore.

Our favorite server Brad wasn't working this week but we still had great service. Casa di Amore is a restaurant I will always recommend for large groups looking for a place to eat together in Vegas.

Gator Larry, Teresa, me, Liz and Claudia.

Teresa is so happy that they had Cakebread wine that evening as that's her favorite!

Our beer drinkers Liz and Larry.

The Bruschetta Appetizer is always good. When we have a group larger then 6 we usually order several plates of Bruschetta and the Antipasto Salad to share.

Don't miss their Antipasto Salad full of artichokes, peppers, olives, cheese, meats and other yummy things.

Yon, his wife Laura and Jon.

Gwen with Debbie and her husband Brett.

Teresa, Liz, Barb and her husband Ger.

Baked Lasagna, not sure who had this or how they liked it but I know from past dinners at Casa it's been very good.

Someone ordered assorted appetizers for their entree. I'm thinking it might have been Liz.

I know what this is because I ordered it, Chicken Francaise, and it's one of my favorites here.

It's time to play guess that entree. I have no idea at this point who ordered what.

It's now a tradition each year for a photo of me being greedy with the wine and Gwen's Mom looking askance. I love Claudia, some day we are going to visit Disneyland together.

Gwen and her birthday cake! It was beautiful and delicious.  I loved the icing so much I was being handed plates of it, no I didn't eat it all! There's entertainment at Casa and tonight it was a duo so they played and helped sing Happy Birthday.

One of the gifts I gave Gwen for her birthday was the hat that she didn't wear to dinner. I'm not sure why not, LMAO!

After our great birthday celebration dinner with Gwen we were off again in the limos but this time to Luxor where we were seeing Carrot Top. Gwen had bought tickets for all of us for the front row and with the exception of a few seats we were the first row!

As always Carrot Top's show was a riot and of course he wished Gwen a Happy Birthday and made a few other comments to her. Also he kidded around a lot with Barb and Ger and they were just as funny as Carrot Top in their responses to him!

After dinner it was time for some of us to say goodbye for this trip as Barb, Ger, Jon, Laura and Yon would be returning home the next day.

Laura and Yon were also staying at Palazzo tonight so they gave me a ride back in their car.

It was time to continue losing at Venetian and Palazzo.

Sure there was wins and fun but more money like usual was going out then coming back. Darn slots!

After a couple hours I just gave up and went to bed for the night.

I slept in late next morning and ended up having lunch at Grand Lux when I woke up. Like usual I ordered the Sonoma Chicken salad, this salad and the Manhattan Chopped salad are my favorites there.

I played a few slots and had a few wins, operative word, few on the wins.

My offer this trip at Palazzo in addition to Food Credit and Free Play was $150.00 Spa Credit. Instead of going to Canyon Ranch Spa this time I had them do the massage in my room. The lady who came was very good and I found it saved a lot of time for me to have it in my suite.

After taking a shower after the massage and being totally relaxed, I dressed for dinner and went down and tried a few slots. The Batman slot is very cute but the wins are so low.

While I didn't win any big money on this new $1 Wheel of Fortune Triple Gems slot I like it so far.

I only played slots for about a hour because we had a early dinner today.  I was excited about our dinner as Terri, Teresa, Liz and I were trying a new restaurant, Giada at Cromwell!

Giada link review with lots of photos is here:
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/09/giada-giada-de-laurentiis-new.html

After dinner at Giada we went back to Wynn and I said goodbye to Liz as she was leaving the next day and also goodbye to Terri as I wouldn't see her again this trip.

I had a few nice wins and some fun with the Ruby Slippers slot but you know the drill, more money was going out then into my wallet.

Hoping tomorrow would be a winning day, I went back to my room to get some sleep.

Next morning I slept in very late and again had lunch at Grand Lux. Normally I don't order a drink at lunch but today a Mojito was calling my name and I answered!

I ordered a salad of apples, lettuce and goat cheese off their small plate menu. It's a tasty salad with a touch of honey. For a small plate I was only able to eat half of it.

I also had the Salmon three ways which is another favorite of mine at Grand Lux.

Remember the Toyota convention I mentioned being there when I checked in? There was some party today in a area near the Venetian Box Office and there was a huge line that stretched from the doors they were entering for that party all the way back to Palazzo. I caught it when it was finally moving so you can't really tell from the photo below how long it was but for a while they were blocking the whole inside walkway from the box area of Venetian to Palazzo's Waterfall Atrium. As I and others were struggling to move past them a lot of Venetian security finally arrived and got the line organized so it didn't completely block the walkway.

This was the last day/night of the trip and while I had some decent wins at Venetian and Palazzo, I wasn't winning back my losses from the previous day.

The Walking Dead slot would frequently give me a decent win but no hand pays at Venetian or Palazzo so that I might go home a winner.

The peacock slot was a new one I tried. Pretty graphics but the bonus didn't pay much.

Above is the sign for the new restaurant coming early 2015 to Venetian. It's a chain restaurant and doesn't seem that exciting to me.

After losing at the Venetian casino I lost at the Palazzo casino though I had some bonuses on the old Outback Jack slot!

Tonight I had a early dinner at the Wynn buffet with Gwen, Claudia, Gator Larry, Teresa, Debbie and Brett.

I think we've seen enough of the Wynn Buffet but in case I'm wrong here's more photos.

After the Wynn Buffet Gwen, Claudia, Gator Larry, Debbie, Brett and myself went to the V Theatre at Planet Hollywood to see Zombie Burlesque!  Thanks Gator Larry for the ticket, I thought the show was a riot!

For photos and a video clip of the show go to the link below.
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/09/zombie-burlesque-show-at-v-theater-at.html

After the show it was time to say goodbye as all of us were leaving the next day.

Back at Venetian and Palazzo I started to finally have some wins!

I still love the original Willy Wonka slot but it won't give up that 5k golden ticket for me!

My farewell bonus from The Walking Dead slot.

I was having fun, and getting bonuses but I needed a last minute hand pay to recoup my losses at Venetian/Palazzo and it didn't happen.

Thankfully on a six night trip I wasn't down a lot thanks to my last minute wins at Mandalay Bay.

Played $5 Wheel of Fortune for a bit hoping to hit the progressive. No progressive for me but it did give me a couple $250.00 hits on the sevens.

After the two seven hits, I had a spin but it was the lowest amount on the wheel, $125.00.

I was definitely on an upswing and now up for this one day but it was getting late and I decided not to risk putting it back and off to bed I went.

Next morning everything went exactly as planned with room service delivering on time the breakfast I had ordered the night before, the bellman showed up at the time requested that I had also set up the evening before and the limo was waiting to take me back to the airport. Other then coming home with less money then I had arrived with, (shocker I know, LOL,) this was a fabulous fun trip with friends and a great way to end a summer of birthdays!

Plane left McCarran airport on time and flight home to San Jose was uneventful.

Next trip is in a couple days on September 29th, because I can't seem to get out a timely trip report anymore. I'm going for G2E (Global Gaming Expo), which I have attended the last 4 or 5 years because I like the excitement of the convention and seeing the new slots that are coming out. I'll be staying at Palazzo and the convention is at the Sands Convention Center which is connected to Venetian. There will be friends there at the same time so I'm sure to have a blast. Would be nice to have a winning trip for a change too.

Thanks for reading. Cheers!