I had no idea I would be so wordy on such a short trip but here's the first part. I'll try to do another this weekend on the actual gambling visits.

Vegas On The Cheap Trip Report – Part I

First, thanks to all the folks that replied to my previous post for info on hotel recommendations.

We attended my niece’s wedding at the beautiful Cheyenne Mountain Golf Resort where we had a great view of the mountains and the Will Rogers shrine in Colorado Springs and then off to Vegas.

Arrived at the airport in Colorado Springs which almost appeared to be closed, it was so quiet. We arrive at TSA security and standing at the little gate, the officer told me to come thru. He gestured toward Bill and asked if he was with me. I said since it was our anniversary today, I said I guess so but I’m trading him in tomorrow. Well, this set the TSA guy on a bunch of jokes as well as the scanning folks. It was probably my most pleasant TSA experience ever. Admittedly, I’m one of the rare folks that never seem to have a bad time with TSA but this was pretty funny.

We got to the gate and there were probably about 30 people including one absolutely hysterical screaming kid with presumably his father. I’m guessing he was about two and if you look up “Terrible Twos”, this kid’s picture had to be there. He was screaming for his “Mama”, whom I’m guessing was polishing off a fifth of vodka in the bar to endure this kid’s rampage.

We all get on the small plane, since it’s just a short flight to Denver and then off to Vegas thankfully hoping the little cherub would spare us. We’re only a few minutes into the flight when we hit some nasty turbulence. I think the whole flight held their breath waiting for the little snowflake to let loose. We then hit one of those “dips” where you suddenly come out of your seat a bit and we hear……….. “Wheeeeeeeeeeee” from the little whippersnapper. Everyone started laughing and probably the only time any of us wished for more turbulence.

Arrive in Vegas safe and sound. Since we didn’t rent a car, we randomly selected one of the shuttle services. I think it was Belle Transportation and $6.50 per person. Since it was the tail end of the holiday weekend, traffic was incredible but this guy knew every shortcut in the book. We passed a bus that wedged itself (including the door) between some hotel construction columns. I can’t imagine how pee’d off I’d be but we arrived at Harrah’s within about 15 minutes.

Check-in was very quick, a few minutes and my only special request was a quiet room. They gave us Room 2024 in the Carnival Tower. It was very quiet, clean and updated with a beautiful view of the mountains.

Since it was our anniversary, we went seeking someplace special for dinner. Being the last night of the holiday, every place was packed. We finally settle on someplace close to Harrahs. We both decided on beef dishes and the pomme de frites. It was delightful with a beautiful view of the golden arches.