Threads on Las Vegas crop up every once in a while. Well, it’s time for another one. My GF and I along with two other couples are heading out there in a few weeks. As usual our primary concerns will be the NASCAR races and trying to drink the town out of alcohol. This will be my fourth time in Vegas (the third time for the race). It would be nice to find some new things to do to go along with the races and the drinking. We are staying on the Strip. We will not have a rental car, but we should have plenty of cab fare. Keep in mind, suggestions should be compatible with drinking. We wouldn’t want to ruin a good drunk or anything.
Sorry to reply immediately to my own OP, but I should mention a few other things. Any advice on good places to eat (a steakhouse for one) would be appreciated. I guess I’m looking more for value than anything. It’s been my experience that you can pay however much you want for food out there, but the quality doesn’t necessarily go up with the price.
Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a decent (and cheap) place to play some Hold 'Em. One of my friends insists that we play some poker this time.
Last, what does everyone think of the sports books out there. So far I have to say that I like the one in Stardust about the best, although I did like some of the prop bets available in Caesars.
As for Hold’Em - most of the big casinos now have poker rooms or poker nooks. And the games range from $1/bet on up to $100/bet - You may have to go to Fremont Street to find something cheaper
Do yourself a tremendous favour and grab a bite to eat at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in Caesar’s Palace. I took one bite and very nearly fell under the table. Good Bloody Mary’s, as well.
Thanks for the replies so far! On the restaurants, would you have a guess at the cost per plate? I’m going to have to sell my friends on these places, so I better know the details.
Well, the Sahara has a NASCAR themed area. They have race simulators that are pretty fun. I imagine it’ll be packed though. They have a short but fast roller coaster that is pretty cool. Magnetic induction rocks.
If you can do one morning not hung over, there is an indoor skydiving place called FlyAway that is pretty dang cool. Picutre a giant fan facing up with a net over it. It’s a blast.
The rolled coaster at the NYNY rocks. I haven’t been on the Stratosphere rides yet but they are supposed to be cool. Probably not good while drunk/hung over.
Penn & Teller have a show at the Rio. What else can I say, it’s Penn and Teller. Damned good show.
There are tons of good places to eat. If you like buffets the Rio has the biggest damend buffet ever*. It’s pretty good bu kind of exspensive.
Slee
Per plate, with wine, Emeril’s is going to be over a hundred bucks/person. Cheaper without wine, but you don’t sound like the without wine type. We never would have gone had we not ALL done REAL well at craps at…of all places …O’freakin’Shea’s. Trying to teach someone how to play craps at a $1 table and next thing you know, I’m up $700.
I second the stuff sleestak said. Plus, if you’re geekily inclined, the Star Trek rides (particularly the newer one) at the Hilton are cool. You can incorporate drinking by consuming mass quantities at their version of Quark’s bar.
Oh yeah, and the rides at the Stratosphere are pretty damn good. Well, the roller coaster isn’t all that awesome, but the upward shooting ride-thingy is AWESOME. (the Big Shot). The Teeter-totter over the edge of the tower is pretty cool too, especially if you’re in the front seat…you’re staring at the blue roof of the IHOP some forty stories below.
I’ve been on all the coasters on the Strip. Speed (at Sahara) is the best IMO. I would guess that we will try to catch that one again. The one on Stratosphere was actually pretty lame other than being 1/4 mile in the air.
I’ve done those NASCAR simulators before both out there and at Mall of America. That might be kind of fun considering all of the guys on the trip have driven race cars. It will probably depend on what the line looks like.
Does anyone have any comments about the Cirque du Soleil shows? My GF really wants to see one (I think Mystere in particular). Me, I would much rather see Penn & Teller. I’m not sure that we will be able to reach enough of a consensus to actually go to one of the big shows. I’m hoping we manage to catch the Star Trek stuff at the Hilton this time though. Yes, we’re mostly geeks.
It would be nice to find an Elvis somewhere, so my GF can get a picture with him. We had a funny experience with that last year. We were walking the Strip and getting quite lit up. We were down around the M&M factory when we stopped at a liquor store in a strip mall for beers. Go figure, I had just bought the last round at MGM for $50. Sigh! Anyway, there was an Elvis in the parking lot. The girls went to get pictures. He said something about getting a tip before any pictures. One of my friends made a smart ass comment (something really dumb like, “your socks will get wet if you walk in the rain”) as he was digging out some tip money. Elvis didn’t have a sense of humor and decided to fly off the handle and storm off. We do have one funny picture of Elvis’s back and my GF with a surprised look on her face.
Seriously though, my biggest concern right now is if we are going to even get there. Against my judgement, we booked flights on Northwest. :smack: :smack: :smack:
The news with their pilots is looking pretty grim there right now. Wish us luck!
I second the comment about the upward-shooty thing on top of Stratosphere being incredible. I still think it’s the most amazing amusement-park-type ride I’ve ever been on.
Virtually identical rides can be found at a number of amusement parks - I’ve been on the one at Disney’s California Adventure - but they all suffer the drawback of being based at ground level. When you ride the one on the Stratosphere, you are high enough above the ground that there’s no visual sensation of vertical movement as you bounce up and down. I found that disconnect cool as hell…
I thought the roller coaster up there sucked, too. I won’t miss it, if it’s actually gone.
I don’t fit that NASCAR stereotype, so that one will get a pass. That does bring up another good question though. What’s the best strip bar? I went to Cheetah’s one night and had a fun time.
The end of March should give them time to resupply.
Coming in late to mention that the Mesa Grill was surprisingly inexpensive (I think for me and Mr. Bunny, bloody mary’s included, it came to maybe 50 bucks?), but we went for brunch and not dinner. I’m sure the price leaps up considerably then.
As far as brunch goes tho, still the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted in my life. The bread basket came with blue corn muffins, jalepeno cheese biscuits…aaak, I need to stop talking about it or I’m going to start eating my desk.
I was bummed we did not have time to seek out Emeril’s.
I did that two years ago, but I still grab the armrests of my chair whenever I think about it. In fact I am typing this reply with only my right hand because I can’t seem to let go of the armrest with my left.
