Las Vegas 9/13

Just arrived home from our long trip to Las Vegas and then on to Seattle.  We spent 6 days at the beautiful Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip.  Found the best deal on this hotel on Mirage's website...upgraded room and $50 off the total bill.

It's in a wonderful location...between Treasure Island and Caesar's Place and across Las Vegas Blvd. from the Venetian and Harrah's.

View from our room

We arrived at around 9 PM and there was no waiting in line.  The desk staff was very pleasant, checked us in right away and then it was a long, winding walk through the casino to the guest elevators.  There are plenty of elevators...very little waiting.  We were on the 2lst floor and our elevator skipped the first 17 floors which made for a quick ride.  Our room had a lovely strip view and, of course, we got to see and HEAR the volcano every night until midnight.  I loved it but Dick couldn't sleep through the noise.  I ask you, who sleeps in Las Vegas??

The room and bathroom were spotless and we were happy to leave a daily tip for the housekeeper.  In return, she left lots of bathroom goodies everyday....the shampoo and soap are heavenly.  Wish we would have brought a small coffeepot.  We ordered a "large" pot of coffee everyday through room service at $22 + plus tip....no pastry, zip...only a very small pot that held about 4 cups (not mugs).  But we were on vacation.......and we were in Las Vegas.....and I can put a $20 bill in the slot machine and lose it in about 3 minutes (yes, I'm justifying!)

The bed and pillows in our room were heavenly.  I'm sorry I didn't purchase 2 pillows at the Impulse Shop at the Mirage and have them shipped home.  I'll spend forever trying to find those pillows!

Went down and signed up at the MLife Player's Club since I knew I'd do most of my gambling at the Mirage.  (I'm a small timer, only playing slot machines).  But I actually got some free play, 2 buffet breakfasts and $380 comp'd. off our hotel bill...a pleasant surprise.  Oh, yeah....I now have a "pearl" status card so start those hotel discounts coming, Mirage!

As far as the slot machines go, I was up and down....had a little luck on the Buffalo slots, Michael Jackson slots and Triple Dragons.  But I'm like most other people and just can't walk away when I'm ahead!

Met Scott and Christi the next day and the fun began.  We went to Dick's Last Stand (a wacky restaurant) at Mandalay Bay before seeing One (the Michael Jackson cirque show).  Dick's was crazy...all the tables are covered with white paper and the waiter throws the paper at you so that you can set the table yourself.  Insults are thrown back and forth between the wait staff and the customers so you really have to be in a party mood for this place. 

 

 

"One" tickets were a birthday gift from Scott and Christi...thanks again, you two....and it was wonderful.  Lots and lots of choreography and most of Michael Jackson's hits!  Terrific!

Next day I spent the afternoon at Caesar's Form...the shops...and it's a "not to be missed" place in Las Vegas...circular escalators, moving fountains.... painted ceilings...and of course, the up-scale shops. 

If you search hard enough, there's an H&M so you don't have to spend all of your money at Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, etc.

The shops at the Mirage are small stuff compared to the Forum but I found one shop appropriately named ---

The pool area at the Mirage is terrific....it's not crowded because, unfortunately, it rained again in Las Vegas.  Back to the slots for me.

While I was doing a little shopping, Scott and Dick were betting on some football games at the Mirage...lots of TV's, lots of seating and they won their games!

We had a beautiful dinner at the Heritage, Tom Coliccio's restaurant at the Mirage.  The dinner was pricey....about $450 plus tip but the filet mignon was delicious.  Three of us had the filet and Dick had the fish of the day which he didn't like (it was smothered in sauce, not his favorite especially since he asked that it be put on the side).  Our fault for not sending it back....the waitress and waiters were terrific.  All of our entrees were served at exactly the same time by 4 different waiters.  Classy!

The concierge at the Mirage quickly printed our airline tickets and we were off to Seattle to meet up again with Scott and Christi and the grandchildren.