Hedy and Lexie Rock Vegas-A TR

Way back when Lexie and I were first planning the trip, she mentioned that she wanted to schedule Belly dancing-I believe the term I used in the giant Gmail planning draft was “Lexie wants to do bellydancing stuff.” Of curse, this leads to the question of how Heather spends her time-I divied it down to either gambling or shopping. Once I learned about the Disney parks outlet in Vegas, I knew where I was going. I had called to concierge at Bally’s to find out the best way to get there-they said I could take the Deuce bus, but a cab would be recommended. I contacted the outlet directly, they advised that the Deuce bus would take me right to the outlets. Lexie and I said our goodbyes, and I headed down the strip, stopping to buy an all day Deuce pass. I was debating the idea of stopping at the MGM Grand’s RFC for Tonga Toast and to cash in my slot payout, but it was raining, so I headed to the Excalibur’s Deuce stop. It was a fairly easy ride to the outlets. I stopped in at the customer service desk, and got a map, as well as a coupon book for showing my AAA card. The parks outlet is in kind of an annex off the main building-not too fun to walk to in the rain. I entered the outlet. I was instantly amazed-all this stuff-I had seen so much of this stuff in the parks! My first order of business was the massive pin display. I had consulted with Santa before I left for Vegas, and had permission to get something for Mordie and Ferdie. I decided on a pin with Mickey holding the Union Jack for Mordie, as he likes big pins, and a Stitch with a bouncy head for Ferdie, as he likes Stitch. I also picked up a Haunted Mansion (DLR) pin for DisneyMSF/Minnie, as I had her in the holiday grab. I then set about checking out the rest of the store-I got a wristlet for $3, a headband with hidden Mickey cherries, a shot glass, a couple of little keychain things, and the piece deresistance-the same stuffed Remy I had seen in France last year (’07) for half the price. I also spotted some Star Wars Disney racer (Ferdie loves Star Wars, and had gotten 2 disney racers when we were at DHS), but what could Mordie get? I saw a Disneyland hat (as Mordie collects Disney hats) or some candy (as Mordie would eat anything that has sugar). I did what any responsible aunt would do…I called Santa. He was unavailable, but Mrs. Claus was available. Mrs. Claus decided the pins would be sufficient. I checked out, and walked back to the main mall. I popped into a couple of stores, but saw nothing. Out of sheer curiosity, I stopped by their Oxygen bar and bought a session. My lungs felt nothing, but the massage was great for my back. When I left the mall, I saw that not only was it raining, but there was now snow on the mountains. I boarded the Deuce back to the strip. My phone rang-it was Lexie, who was back at the hotel.
I went back to the room, and we compared notes. We were heading down to do New York, New York; Excalibur, the Luxor, and Mandalay Bay. We wanted to eat, but as we had our big expensive dinner that night, did not want to spend a lot. We decided on an Indian place on the strip that we had a 10% off coupon for. The fact that it was apparently the only store still exsiting in a shell of an offstrip mall probably should have tipped us off. We got there, we paid. The food was unlabelled, and our waitperson was not interested in telling us what was what. We guesed the best we could. Honestly, the food was meh-I would have preferred grabbing the Luxor or Excaliber’s buffet for a dollar more-truth be told. Oh well. We walked down the strip, and headed over to New York, NY.
Lexie commented that she felt like she was in New York, as she saw a Starbucks as soon as we entered. She was very impressed by the theming. I took so many pictures of this restaurant when I was in high school it was insane-how in god’s name did I afford to do ANYTHING during the days of film?
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We poked around some more, then crossed over to the Excalibur. I had a mission at the Excaliber, and its name was sour cream Krispy Kreme donuts. According to KK corporate (or should that be korporate?), they distribute donuts by “local demand.” Apparently me e-mailing them looking for them in MA was not local demand back when there was a KK at the end of my flipping street! I got my donut, and it took us longer than it should have to get to the Luxor.
We started snarking on the fact that the Kardashians were their NYE celebrity. Seriously, how low do you have to be for them to be your celebrity on NYE? We also snarked on Holly Madison and Criss Angel, and Heidi and Spencer (I’m mildly disturbed that Lexie teaches at a college, yet I know more about this stuff-she didn’t know who Heidi and Spencer were). I spied an ebay slot and we played for a bit. Well I played, Lexie looked around. We were thinking of going to Mandalay Bay, but decided we’d be better off prepping ourselves for our dinner that night.
So we crossed the street and saw a Deuce bus, but the driver indicated that we needed to go down to the bus stop. So we started running. However, Alice crocs and wet pavement are not friends. I slipped, and fell down. Ow! My train of thought <I>Oh, dang it, I hope I don’t need to go the hospital.* I hope my camera wasn’t hurt. Am I ok</I> I was bruised but fine, so we sheepishly boarded the bus. I thought this looked like a dinosaur, Lexie didn’t
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Lexie and I were talking smack about various celebutantes, and I was saying that say what you want about Paris, she at least is making money. The old guy next to Lexie began chatting with us about Paris-he was a fan of her presidential commercial. We got off at Bally’s and headed to the room. Thankfully, I always travel with at least one first aid kit, so I cleaned myself up, and we headed to Enoteca San Marco.
Now, I’ve eaten at a few of Mario Batali’s restaurants in NYC, so I was pretty excited. Lexie was also excited. The place was great-we were “outside” near where the Ventian performers were singing Christmas carols. It was a little trippy, as they were in Italian Renaissance garb. I decided to start my meal with the cheese tray, which was great.
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The sommelier came by, and I had some of Joseph Bastini’s wine. I ordered pasta with tomato and eggplant, and Lexie’s had pine nuts and squash-both were excellent. Our coupons from Tix4Dinner were taken without any issue, but I did not get any OpenTable points from my reservation because of them. We finished dinner, and headed out towards the rest of the Venetian. As I had a 50% off coupon for Mme Tussads, we decided to head in there. We enjoyed looking at the wax figurines. They had a NotPhotpass (LOL) photographer offering to pose you with Hef and the girls. Yeah. Zac efron is apparently an athlete
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In lieu of taking pictures, we did mature things like laugh at the wedding dresses strewn all over the floor despite the “please hang gowns up” sign near George Clooney. We passed an area called “Area 51” I was reading the warnings (your standard do not do area 51 if you have x, y, or z). I couldn’t figure out what was going on, then something next to me growled. It was a dude dressed up scary. Yes, a human. I screamed like a girl and ran into the next room. It was the Vegas icons room. I was still a little shaken (Lexie did a decent job of hiding the LOLs). When I was there in 01, they had this cool Judy/Liza set up that they don’t have anymore (make your own joke about me liking that). We finished up and headed back to our room. I fell asleep with my clothes on-I think Lexie was too scared I’d yell again if she woke me up. LOL
Next day: The end..
*While I was signed up for COBRA coverage, I hadn’t paid my first premium yet, so if I had to go the hospital, I would have had to pay oop and be reimbursed,
 
We did Madame Tussads as well, it was fun, but mostly because we had the coupon too!
 
Here it was-our last day in Las Vegas. We were up, and kind of half-puttering around getting packed. We decided to head over to the bakery in France to grab breakfast. I took the opportunity to check into my flight on Lexie's iPhone-for reasons I don't get, Jet Blue's mobile site and my phone don't get along. We finished breakfast and decided to check out. Now, when I made the reservation, I was told that whomever checked in first (myself or Lexie) would have the entire stay charged to her credit card (it was already charged to my card when I made the reservation). Lexie had checked in first, so I had paid for all meals on my credit card. So Lexie went to check out, but there was an issue because the reservation was still in my name (the code was through their players' club). Sure enough, when I got home, I found out I had been charged for the stay. Grr. The rate we had was killer, but that would effect whether I stay at a Harrah's property again. We headed off to Ceasar's. Apparently the PCD are worthy of a slot machine-who knew? We popped into the stores-I went into FAO Schwartz and bought a candy bar and a teddy bear Santa wanted me to get my mom-there were some crazy sales in there-ironically the teddy bear was less there than it was at the NYC Fao Schwartz more than 1 month later. We also popped in Apple and Gap. We headed back out. We went to the Flamingo and saw the Flamingos. They were ok (as you may recall, I don't do birds.) Lexie wanted to get back to the hotel-I offered lunch at Margaritaville, but she wanted to return. We said our goodbyes and waited for her shuttle.
Once she was gone, I took a cab to Hard Rock Hotel-we had walked there in '01 from the strip, and it seemed like a long way, and their shuttle was from a kind of vague place on the strip. I walked around and played some slots-while the Hard Rock is pretty cool, I liked the one in Orlando much more. I got lunch at the Mexican restaurant there-which was to die for (for those of you who don't know, I lived in Mexico in college for a semester). I picked up two HRC pins (I was happy to find two non-pin up girl ones, as they were for my nephews), a fierce magnet, and a free shot glass. I was amused they had a book by Cary Hart there, as they had a costume of Pink's in the lobby (which is a moot point now, but anyways). They also had a bunch of "Rehab" stuff-I debated getting a bracelet (there is also a lot of TruTV watched here-so we see the previews for most episodes) as a gag gift for my mother's stocking, I didn't. I walked over to the cafe, and got in the shuttle. I then had no fewer than three people ask me if I knew where the shuttle was going-apparently people get into shuttles on vacation and don't want to know where it's going. It let us off by the MGM grand. I cashed in my stub from the first day, and wandered down near the CBS studios. I poked in the store (ucky-the NYC and even that Patriots Place one is nicer). I then noticed that they were offering you to preview a TV show for some coupons. I decided to check it out. BAD IDEA! The TV show was not "new," it was already on the air, and the coupons stunk. All "with purchase" oh well.
I walked down to the M&M store-I looked at some stuff but didn't buy anything. I think the Times Square M&M store has spoiled me. I headed over to the Coke store. I met the Coke Bear. I ended up with a t-shirt made from recycled bottles, and I went up to their fountain. I had a gingerbread Coke float-if you want my opinion, Coke should market the flavor syrups-gingerbread Coke would be very popular at our house of Christmas eve. They also sell a sampler of Cokes from around the world, including Beverly. It was $7-PT Barnum was right. I headed down the strip-I had an important decision to make-I had time for only one dinner, but had yet to go to in and out burger, Earl of Sandwich, or Planet Hollywood. I figured I can always go to PH in NYC, and In and Out Burger was a hike, so Earl of Sandwich it was.
I got my customary Caprese. Mmm...if I stay at PH on my next trip, I am eating here a lot. And I must go to the one in DTD in October. I got my free bottle of water in Brighton, then did one final survey of the stores. I had read about a bar at the Bellagio where you can watch the fountains, but it was closed for a poker tourney. I watched the fountains, then headed back to Bally's for my shuttle
 

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