Plans Made in Jello - Sun., Mar. 2

As RVers we know plans are only a suggestion. For months, my cousins and I planned a mini family reunion in Las Vegas. It had been mentioned that Sunday was going to be the day we would spend together in addition to Saturday night.

Cindy, my cousin from Tennessee, was in Las Vegas for a convention. Turns out, she ended up in a class all day Sunday. We picked her up from Mandalay Bay around 4:30 p.m.

Kristin, my cousin from Stockton, California, was feeling under the weather with a cold and severe back pain. Kristin was game to go to breakfast with us. Bob and I took her to Blueberry Hill Pancake House, one of our favorite breakfast places in Vegas. The wait for a table was about 20 minutes.

After a hearty breakfast, Kristin wanted to go to the M&M Store near the MGM Grand. Bob dropped us off at a bus stop right in front so Kristin wouldn't have to walk far. Shopping in the M&M Store is a colorful experience! Kristin bought some gifts to take home.

Kristin and I

M&Ms wall - $12.99 a pound - serve yourself.

Kristin choosing her flavors carefully.

When we finished shopping, we called our chauffeur/tour guide Bob who drove over to pick us up. Kristin had never been in Bellagio so we HAD to take her there. She loved everything from the Chihuly glass ceiling in the lobby to the dancing fountains in front of the casino. It was fun to people watch and enjoy the fountains as they crescendoed to the music.

New York New York "skyline"

Statue of Liberty at New York New York

Impressions of Bellagio... 

Logo over main entrance door

10' tall orchid floral arrangements in the lobby.
(These were sitting on countertops.)

Chihuly art glass ceiling in lobby

Kristin and I, Bellagio lobby

Opulent Bellagio lobby

Bellagio check-in desk

Then we went outside to watch the fountains. Just beautiful and the waters are timed to the music they play. We happened to be standing in the right place at the right time to capture rainbows in the photos.

Bellagio fountain show.

Looking toward Paris Casino's Eiffel Tower

Looking toward the new wheel behind the Flamingo.

Fantastic sky to go with the scene

Spectacular finale.

Booming finale.

The new wheel - set to open in 2014.

When we finished showing Kristin around Bellagio she wanted to go back to her room to lie down before we met up with Cindy, John and Rich to have dinner, drinks and gamble. Meanwhile, Bob and I drove back to Lake Mead to feed the kitties and change clothes for the upcoming night out. Bob took me on a little detour through the old downtown of Boulder City.

Art deco sculpture at entrance to Boulder City

At 4:00 p.m. we picked up Kristin and John from the timeshare, then picked up Rich and Cindy from their convention at Mandalay Bay. New York New York Casino was the dinner destination choice. Two restaurants caught our eye: Gallagher's Steak House and Nine Fine Irishmen. The thick-cut steaks we could see in Gallagher's made me drool until I saw the menu in the window. $35-$50 per entree. Skid to a stop, back away, and look elsewhere!

Off we headed to Nine Fine Irishmen Restaurant which was a little more moderately priced and decided to eat there. We were told there was a 20-minute wait. That seemed unusual because it was 4:50 p.m. Hardly the dinner rush hour in Las Vegas.

Anyway, we took our buzzer and waited for it to summon us to be seated. Bob has a theory about the wait time. He thinks it is a ruse by the casinos to get people to gamble while they wait. Me, I think it's because they didn't have enough wait staff until 5:00 p.m.

While we were waiting, the six of us scattered in different directions to see the gambling options for after dinner. When our buzzer finally went off, we had to search for two people in our party as they weren't in the immediate vicinity. Once they were found, we were seated.

I must say, the restaurant had an elegant ambiance. Plenty of excellent choices were on the menu. Bob ordered Chicken Pot Pie which looked like the winner for best dinner. "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" Bob said.  I had Lamb Stew which was good, but more like broth with lamb chunks, root vegetables and potatoes, Cindy had a salad, John had Irish Bangers, Kristin chose Fish and Chips and I don't remember what Rich ordered.

John, Rich, Cindy being goofy and Kristin

Kristin, Susan, Cindy (cousins)

Our room at Nine Fine Irishmen - left to right:
John, Cindy, Kristin, Rich, Bob

Bob ready to devour Chicken Pot Pie

My Lamb Soup Stew

After our repast, we headed into the casino. Bob and I chose slot machines. He played blackjack. I played Goldfish...put in a $20 bill and cashed out with $43.75. Then I played a different slot game and lost $20 - BOOM - just like that. All in all, I came out $3.75 ahead. That's better than a lot of people.

Cindy and Rich played craps. Cindy ended up $190 ahead by the time we said our good-nights around 9:00 p.m. When we left, Kristin and Rich were hot and heavy into the craps game. They all decided to keep gambling and catch a taxi back to their timeshare. We, on the other hand, had an obligation to pick up some items at Bob's sister's house and drop off a coat Bob's mom loaned to me. We didn't want to arrive there too late. We also wanted to get some sleep as we planned an early departure for Phoenix on Monday morning.

We returned to the 5er at 11:00 p.m.

Travel Bug out.