We walked through the huge lobby of the Luxor pyramid, and
on to Excalibur.
We then went over to MGM Grand and explored before getting
completely lost and emerging at some side entrance down a back alley with a
bunch of employees who were changing shifts. Er, whoops. Casinos are confusing!
In the heat, we worked out how to get back to the strip (my
offline iPhone map actually proving very useful) although we’ll gloss over the
short elevator ride with woody from Toy Story that took us to nowhere and back
again. We walked through Paris but didn’t play on the slots for more than a few
minutes as the waitress reckoned we needed Passports to prove our age. Pft!
Apparently our driver’s licenses weren’t good enough. Well, screw you Paris!
Onwards we went and had a good wander around the Venetian.
The effect on the ceiling that makes it look like permanent sunset is
fantastic.
By now it was 4pm and we were getting hungry so we made our
way to the Wynn for today’s buffet dinner.
The Wynn buffet was amazing. At 4pm there was no queue and
our seater said that come 7pm, the queue is typically an hour long. Good plan
us for arriving early.
After the frenzied eating of yesterday’s buffet, we were
glad to be able to relax and enjoy this one slowly. We followed the same rules as before (no bread!) and shared
lots of very small portions. The food was lovely and perhaps even a bigger
selection than the Wicked Spoon. The salads we started with were fab. The
deserts were gorgeous and very decorative.
Laura got chatting to a couple of old ladies, one of which
was like Blanche from the Golden Girls. She lived in Las Vegas and comes down
for buffet regularly. Laura would like to be her when she grows up.
We also chatted to Jim and Rose who live just outside Vegas
in Summerland and they were really sweet. We talked about where we were from
and what we’d been doing for the last two weeks. Jim gave me some very good
advice about being careful on the I-15 as we drove over to LA as he reckoned it
was quite a dangerous freeway (he was right – it was an awful drive!)
After the buffet we played some of the 1c slot machines in
the Wynn casino. I found the best game ever – Happy Snake – which had really
loud music and a crazy Chinese theme. Quite quickly I got the bonus and won 15
free spins. Then the machine seemed to go mad and kept giving me more free
spins. Each spin seemed to win me something and then I’d get more free spins.
After about 5 minutes the machine was still playing by itself and I had 75 free
spins happening! It was brilliant. By the end of the free spins I’d won about
$20 on my original 10c gamble. Fab.
After the buffet we watched the free show outside TI. It was
really cheesy and overacted, but fun.
Back outside the Wynn, we bought a couple of bus tickets for
$8 from the on street vending machine that would last us for 24 hours. We
caught a bendy bus up the strip to Freemont Street.
At Freemont Street we arrived with just enough time to get a
nice central spot ready for the free light show. The massive overhead screens
displayed graphics and video as Stevie Nicks blasted out. It was really cool.
After that we popped into a few of the different casinos and
eventually found one that still paid out actual money money and not barcode
ticket money. This was fun and made our hands smell like money. At one point
Laura cashed out all her money and then put it back in, just so she could hear
the ker-ching, ker-ching noise.
In Binions a lovely old waitress who looked like Dolly
Parton brought us drinks. In my mind she lives in a house with lots of pink
things and goes line dancing on her nights off.
A few hours later we caught another of the light shows, this
time it was Queen. We then caught the bus back down the strip. Our original
intention had been to go to the Mandalay Bay Beach Party, but in the end we
realised it probably wasn’t quite our scene and that what we really wanted was
to spend some more time playing the slots. So we got the bus all the way down
the strip to Mandalay Bay, navigated the ridiculous entrance (cars = good
entrance, people = no proper entrance - weird) and then found some slot
machines near to where the band were playing.
We both played Wolf Run and just as Laura was on a losing
streak (a whole $5 down!) she said “I’m just not feeling this game” and then
within 30 seconds she suddenly won dozens of free spins and her luck changed.
Five minutes later that original $10 had turned into $22. She then played two
other Wolf Run machines (including the one that was eating my cents and not
paying out). By the end of the night her winnings were up to $51.02! Result. I
came out slightly ahead.
Like we both kept saying to each other, it wasn’t the amount
we were gambling, it was just the feeling that was fun and when we won, it was
like the best feeling ever. Over the two days we probably only spent about $30
each on the slots. Loads cheaper than a show ticket, plus we got free drinks
from the waitresses :)
From the comfort of our room we saw (and heard!) the beach
party below and confirmed that it was definitely not for us.
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