30 years ago, my best friends and I decided that since we were 21…Las Vegas would be a fun idea for spring break…and the rest is history.
Sunday November 16
Due to ridiculous prices, we had to move the annual trip back a day and leave at the crack of dawn on Sunday rather than the crack of dawn on Saturday. 2025 was home to the infamous Government shutdown, so the weeks leading up to the trip were a bit anxious, but my United flight made it off on time.
Upon arrival, I first made note that the airport liquor store was holding a tasting later that day. Sadly, in all the excitement, we forgot to circle back for it. I met Greg and Doug over at the car rental, and we navigated the mid-sized line to add Greg as a second driver. Of course, once we got there, they let us know that was actually done at the exit booth, so we lost just a few minutes of precious time. We were directed to a line of sedans. I originally went for a Malibu, but then moved over to a Nissan. Upon opening the door and gagging on the weed smell, we piled back into the Malibu.
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| Opportunities lost, I've had a few |
The first stop was at Target to grab a package of water, then we made our way across the street to Silverton. After picking up the new slot card, we sat down where I promptly lost my first $20 of the trip at a Hot Tamales slot. The gambling always takes a little to ease into, so we next picked a spot for lunch.
Lunch brought us over to the newest brewery (with restaurant) in town, Evolve. With football games on all over the building (and a mildly) rabid Bears fan base, we perused the beer and lunch menu. I decided to go slightly lighter with a Santa Fe salad. For the beer, a flight of their coffee cream ale, Marzen, coffee stout and triple IPA. The service was great, the salad was filling and the beer was top notch.
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| Salad and beer - I'm much healthier in my old age |
Moving on, we hit up Durango Station. I tried a triple play VP machine and held my own for a little while, finishing down about $4. We headed north from there, stopping in at a Total Wine to see if there was anything worth taking home (there was not). But they did have a whisky and Scotch tasting going on, so we got four samples of various offerings.
Suncoast was up next to lose a few dollars at ($10 of VP this time). We did get the waitress to stop by, so I scored my first free non-liquor store drink of the trip. As time was getting a little later, we figured it was time to mosey over to our digs for the night, the El Cortez downtown.
We’ve stayed at a number of the downtown properties, but had yet to try the EC. We parked in the garage (still free), and maneuvered our way to the front desk. With the room, we each received a fun book. (Free play, free drink) and by showing our boarding pass at the players club, we got a $25 match play, free play, and…a free drink. Heading to the rooms brought a different experience. We were surprised to see that the elevator was the same bank as for the parking garage. Then, we found out that the rooms were motel style…door facing outside. Normally not a big deal, but it was a bit of a raw day. The sign pointed Doug to go one way and Greg and me in the other, so we said we’d meet up in a bit. A bit turned out to be a minute later as we rounded the corner and saw we had rooms next to each other.
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| Doug in 5565, Us in 5566... Clean, in a Bates Motel sort of way |
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| Not sure why Armondo was being welcomed in our room |
The main goal for the night was to check out the evening party at Golden Gate. First, we collected our goodies at the El Cortez desk. From there, we went to check in at Golden Gate. The line was long but moved fast. We got a mystery envelope (I got $5 in free play) and a wrist band. We decided to kill a few minutes at the Plaza. After grabbing a refreshed players card, we tried the Silver Strike machines and I had my first round of luck for the day. My $20 buy in netted me two strikes (one at the beginning and one of my last pulls), a drink, and $1 dollar to top it off.
Returning to the GG, we got in line for the bar for when the clock struck 6. The party got started, we were treated to a pair of drinks apiece, then wandered the floor looking for something to play. I dropped my $5 free play in a random slot, then late in the game. I hit a big bonus game and ended up walking away with $60. Hard to beat that event!
Greg and Doug had flown in on Southwest, and The D gives $50 in match play for showing your boarding pass. They picked that up and we headed back to the EC. We landed on trying Siegel’s’ $20 Prime Rib dinner for the evening meal. Veggies, a potato, and a pretty solid piece of meat. The prime rib dinner is a staple in Vegas, and it was nice to get a reasonably priced, tasty dinner.
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| Very solid dinner at Siegel's |
We killed a few more minutes in the EC, using up the free play we had gotten. I turned $15 of free play into $9 of real money, and cashed in one of my free drinks to end the day on an up note.
Or so I thought…you see, our motel room opened up above the Container Park. There’s a giant mantis statue at the entrance there. We learned that it makes a huge noise, accompanied by loud music, and breathes fire. About every 20 to 30 minutes. Luckily it stops at some point, but it was becoming apparent quickly that this may be our one and only stay at the EC.
Day 1: 4 new beers, 5 free drinks (not including store tastings) won $26, 18,609 steps (8.3 miles)
Monday, November 17th
I woke up reasonably early in anticipation of a quick run downtown. Staying at the EC made me change my normal weaving route, and I ran north to the Plaza and turned left until the morning characters got a little shady, then headed back the way I came. Returned to the motel, got a quick shower and then moseyed downstairs where Doug and I got our butts handed to us at a “Mo Mummy” slot (lost $40). I cashed in my drink ticket for a morning Screwdriver (when I noted this to Suzy, she asked if morning drinking was a sign of a deeper problem. YMMV.) Greg made it down and off we did our $25 match at EC. Dealer busted and like that, back on top.
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| Just to prove I'm not lying |
First stop on Fremont was Walgreens for a Coke Zero and Milky Way Midnight for breakfast. From there, Greg handed me one of his $25 matches at The D, where the dealer busted and we were on a roll. Thanks to Greg. Went upstairs and sat at a Spinferno machine for a bit and I pulled in another $21 win after several bonus games.
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| Spotted outside El Cortez. The man IS a Master... |
Luck didn’t quite hold up the rest of the visit downtown. I lost $10 at Four Queens and another $9 at Binions. Greg passed off one of his unused drink tickets for the EC and we did one for the road. Went back to pack up the rooms, then off we went again.
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| Check out #2. They have to say it for a reason |
To kill a few minutes, we wandered around Spinettis. I found some dice from a Princess Cruise line and Greg found some dice he had been looking for. We moved on to the Gamblers General Store (after fighting with parking). Unfortunately, the inventory there has gone a bit downhill since we last did it.
Enough time had elapsed that we could do lunch. It was time for the annual pilgrimage to Able Baker. Of the 30 beers on tap, I only had previously tried four, so there was plenty to choose from. Having secured my flight (Hazy, BA Dark Ale, BA Porter, and BA Stout…one of these is not like the other), I ordered a chicken bowl from the lunch counter. Everything was great…we’ve come to expect nothing less.
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| Tremendous flight at Able Baker |
For the second round, we moved on to the new location for Las Vegas Brewing. They had just shy of two dozen options to pick from, so I secured a flight (Hefe, Hazy, Tripel, and Vanilla Cream ale.) Once finished, we were about 10 minutes from hitting our parking time expiring, so we made the trek to hotel number 2.
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| Rock on! |
When picking our hotels this year, Caesars had a fantastic set of rates for their strip properties, and after considering some of the lower rent ones, we decided to go to Caesar’s itself. We tried to check in at 2:55 and were told it was an extra $35 to get in. So after conferring with a friendly fellow next to us, we came back at 3:01 and got in. Who says Vegas is nickel and diming their customers?
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| Fine enough for Caesar himself |
We headed north, past the construction of the new Hard Rock casino (guitar partially completed). The goal was the TI, which had a new slot club. We broke those in at a bank of one of the fishing slots…and attracted an individual who was asking for money (we think). Security came fairly quickly – we heard the Vegas version of the Miranda rights for those getting banned from a property, and now can’t be seen there again. Oh wait – I mean that guy shouldn’t be seen there again. In all the excitement, I lost my $20 buy in.
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| It's coming... |
Went up to the Wynn, then the Encore, then seeing they had messed with some of our places to play, back to the Wynn. I tried to look thirsty, but to no avail. I did win $4 there though.
That was enough to trigger the start of getting hangry – so we went through the Palazzo and Venetian and up into the Canal Shops looking for something to eat. We checked a few spots and ended up at Canonita. No beer for me, I was much too fancy and got their margarita flight (OG, pineapple, and jalapeno) and a shrimp burrito. Solid dinner and drinks, great service.
Flight and Burrito
On the way back to the hotel, we played a few minutes at the Casino Royale (got a drink, broke even). We spotted a bank of Konami machines in Linq, and I hit a decent bonus at the end to finish up $25. Our last stop was in the shadows of the back of the Cromwell playing quarter blackjack, then VP. It was a slow burn until the end, when I lost 18 of 20 hands and saw my meager lead and buy-in evaporate. If ever there was a message to fold up the tent for the day, that was it.
Day 2: 8 new beers, 3 free drinks, won $62, 25,743 steps (11.5 miles)
Tuesday, November 18th
It’s always a bit depressing to start Day 3 – you know you are now past the halfway point.
Doug was downstairs, and I joined him while Greg put his face on. I sat down next to him at a “Big Hot Flaming Pots” game, and deep into the buy in hit a serious bonus and finished ahead $60 for the session. That was a great start.
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| The machine is so happy for me |
Second goal was to get a little breakfast, and we knew there were a few solid options at the Miracle Mile shops in Planet Ho. We rolled the dice and passed on La Salsa Cantina (which I think we like slightly better) and made a return appearance to Blondies. I had a breakfast Bud Light (don’t tell Suzy) and the breakfast special was better this year than I remembered. In the end, a positive choice overall. We tried to kill a few minutes at the casino. I started OK on the 50 hand VP, but started to backslide and pulled out after a $4 setback.
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| Blondie's breakfast and beer |
On the way out, I stopped in the bathroom, which I only mention because there was a guy who didn’t seem to be all there…and as we left, security had agreed and was gently escorting him from the premises…
We checked out of Caesars, and headed south. We stopped at another Total Wine – while no tastings we did pick up a few things for later in the trip. At this point, the sky opened up. Did I mention that Vegas got about 30% of their annual rainfall in the weekend we were there? Always thrilling to be part of weather history.
Not wanting to be on the road too much (mainly because I know what people who don’t know how to drive in weather do when faced with it), we made a break for the Orleans. Hadn’t been in a while – lots to choose from and I chose to lose money at both slots and VP. I did score a couple of drinks for my troubles.
We had a very minor debate last year about whether going to Habit Burger was becoming a habit (wakka-wakka-wakka), so I pitched doing Fatburger in Sunset Station. The first mistake was that a combo meal was $20. The second was that it was a Pepsi place. The killer though – apparently “everything” on the burger now includes relish, which absolutely dominates the flavors. Much like the EC – unlikely we’ll be back for a while.
Sunset has been the home to many great memories (the most memorable being Carl dumping his drink on the BJ table), so we had to try a slot bank. Good fortune smiled upon me again, as I pulled a great bonus on the slots and walked away up $60. Would have walked away happier had the waitresses not sprinted past yelling “drink?” over their shoulders as they ran away. This actually happened at least three times on the trip. Not sure I understand the thinking there.
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| Definitely on a roll this day...4200 pennies |
Since we were in Henderson, it only made sense to hit a brewery. We made the trip back to Mojave – over the years, they’ve been solid, but not really had a ton of change in their lineup. But this year, there were a number of intriguing options. I went with a Cherry cider, pastry stout, blend of a stout and cream, and a BA stout. All very solid. And they gave me a 3D-printer toy of a dumpster fire, which feels oddly appropriate.
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| Mojave flight |
At this point (since it was past 3:00), we were able to check-in to our final stop for the trip, Mandalay Bay. All three of us had enough points with MGM for a free room, so we decided to each get one there. Once settled, we headed north. Stopped at the Hershey store (nothing exciting). Put $25 of free play in at NYNY and turned it to $20.
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| It was a little dark when we got there - a lovely room |
Next up was Park. Generally, I like the vibe here, even if their gaming floor has always seemed a little less than I want. With a lot of free play left, I decided to go crazy and sit with Doug and a $1 machine. About four pulls in, I pulled a triple 7 and won $200. Which is definitely near the top for best session ever for me.
The rains started again as we circled back south through the Coke store (try the holiday vanilla cream Coke if you haven’t), through the M&M store (nothing innovative in their world these days, sadly), and finally stopping at the MGM for dinner at Wolfgang’s Bar and Grill, another habit we have – without any complaints! I tried something new this year with Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccolini. Delicious, but deadly. The place was super busy and apparently their beer taps were all out. Not a big deal in the end – great meal overall. We walked over to Blizz, but it looked like they had closed early (or at least didn’t want customers).
We head south and I sat at a slot in Luxor and I turned $25 of free play into $12 (but at least scored a drink. At several places throughout the day, I had seen some “exotic” (i.e. imported) Kit Kat bars that sounded great – and they caught my eye at a store in the Mandalay Bay shops. Thinking I’d bring home some to the family, I started to scoop a few up when the clerk informed me they were $12.99 each. I think I’m still in shock. As I put them back, this was really to my mind (outside of the resort fees at hotels) my first experience this trip of all we read about Vegas driving the average customer away. I would later look online and find candy stores selling these from $1.99 - $3.99 apiece.
Finally sat at Mandalay for a while. Was doing my best to turn $25 of free play into half of that when I saw the waitress walking by quickly. She unhappily took my order and then disappeared. I waited her out, only to find she “forgot” my drink – but wrote it down this time, so I was compelled to hang out longer. Kind of a bummer end to a fantastic day.
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| The aquarium channel at MB. Really. |
Day 3: 4 new beers, 4 free drinks, won $338!, 20,394 steps (9.1 miles)
Wednesday November 19th
Day the last. Boooo!
Day four usually brings my second run, and this was no exception. I ran south out of the MB parking garage, which was towards the famous sign and the police station. I stopped for neither, but did at the last minute stopped at the red light where I realized someone with the right of way was turning. So, tragedy averted.
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| Most iconic run of the day! |
Because I needed to shower, I was the slow one this time – met the brothers downstairs where we decided to forgo a real breakfast. We headed north, stopping at Target for the classic peanut butter cup / Coke Zero breakfast. We continued north, not setting down for gaming until the Bellagio, where I got absolutely dominated by the slots, but recovered with five 9s on a Bonus Deuces Wild game, which got me all of the way back to a $35 free play to $35 cash session.
On the way out, a nice older lady tried to direct us to play a certain slot where she claimed to have won $5K the other night. Then she started walking with us. She regaled us with how she used to pull in $5K a week (I can’t recall as a waitress or as a showgirl). She ended by telling us (mostly Greg by this point as Doug and I did our best to back away) that she used to be hot, but she was 52 now. I am also 52, which just made this the most depressing thing I had heard in many a moon.
I lost $20 at Paris playing Moneyball slots, then decided it was time to push for lunch. We had gone to the Tacos El Gordo at the north end of the strip last year and we decided to try the south end version this year. We were there a little before the lunch rush, so that may have been why it felt so much more spacious (but still a good stream of customers.) I wanted to branch out this year, so beyond my two pork tacos, I tried the suadero (beef shoulder) and tripa (fried guts). The tripa was interesting – I doubt I would do that again, but the suadero was very solid. Not ready to jump to beef eye yet, but possibly the pork maw next.
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| Pork on the left, adventures on the right |
Virgin (former Hard Rock) has a new slot club, so we headed that way. In one of the greatest ironies, they have a massive sign on their parking garage proudly touting their history of free parking. As we pulled in – they let us know that because of the F1 race, starting the next day, parking would be $100 a day through the weekend.
I was able to hang on to my buy in at the casino. Meanwhile the rains came (again). To wait it out, we went to South Point and wandered for a while. Doug was looking for a few ingredients (Diet Coke and Coors Banquet) to make a drink, so we went to a local liquor store. Found the ingredients, and I found a 2021 Goose Island Double Barrel on sale…which I missed back in 2021. Review forthcoming.
We gassed up the car and went back to Mandalay. Doug made his Colaweizen…which I guess was along the lines of a Radler, but not my thing. I also cracked the beer I bought at Total Wine the day before. It was solid.
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| I'm not proud of everything we've done... |
The one thing I really wanted to squeeze in was a trip to Ellis Island. The rains appeared to be letting up enough that we started the trek north. By the time we were outside – the clouds had parted and we saw a rainbow. Once we got to Ellis, we refreshed the slot cards and hit the bar. I wanted their Eggnog, which was tremendous again. I was hit with the choice of a second or their seasonal Dopplebock. Since I could get the beer comped while playing VP at the bar, my cheapness one out and I got the beer. While not as good as the Eggnog, I have no regrets. Other than the lost $35 at VP.
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| Ellis Island beer and VP |
We started the slow walk home, trying to contemplate dinner. Greg had mentioned a Thai place in Aria, which didn’t quite land. But in Park, we looked at the menu for Lala Noodles…and all said “I can find something here.” Greg quickly cashed in for a free appetizer. For me, I can’t pass on Mongolian Beef. All was great – we all left quite pleased.
Mai Tai and Mongolian Beef - what a way to end it!
For the home stretch on gambling, I turned $25 of free play into $30 at a slot and got a drink. It was all downhill from there. Between Luxor and Mandalay, I turned $100 of free play into $39 of cash and only got one more drink for the trouble. Time to pack up and call it a trip.
Day 4: 2 new beers, 2 free drinks, won $49 (despite the $160 of free play!), 32,647 steps (14.6 miles) (not bad for a 52-year-old)
Epilogue - Thursday, November 20th
I pushed for a 4:30 departure. AM. I sailed through the bag drop and security. Since I was in Terminal 3, I decided to walk the loop of the E gates and D gates before my flight. It took 34 minutes and by the time I sat down, I was at 7,009 steps.
On the flight home, they had no Coke Zero (not that they ran out…they just had none.) He offered me Diet Coke, but I pivoted to Buffalo Trace and Coke, which made the steward laugh heartily (“That’s the substitute?!”) Don’t tell Suzy.
Got my meal. Not bad, except for the mold on the blueberries. Then I started drafting this sucker. It all started with a thought…”30 years ago, my best friends and I decided that since we were 21…Las Vegas would be a fun idea for spring break…and the rest is history.”
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| Fuzzy blueberries - great name for a band? |
Day 5: 7,009 steps
Trip metrics: 18 new beers, 14 free drinks, won $475, 104,402 steps (46.6 miles)
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| Ah, Vegas. All sunshine and rainbows! |
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