We arrived in Vegas on February 13th at 10:00 pm, shortly after the airport re-opened after closing for high winds (70 MPH gusts). It was an unpleasant flight that involved one aborted landing attempt about 30 feet from the runway, lots of white knuckles, and a plane packed full of anxious travelers. After hearing that we had one more chance to land or else we were being diverted, the captain received thunderous applause when he actually put the plane down, albeit clumsily.

As always, we do carry-on only, so we quickly got a cab and arrived at the MGM. We checked in to the MGM easily around 10:30 pm. This was my first time staying at this property, and I'm not sure I'm in a hurry to get back. We were put in a "West Wing" room, which is some sort of code for "ultra-sleek design involving a non-private toilet, non-existent bathroom countertop, and ship-like tight quarters designed to distract you from the fact that this block of rooms has ABSOLUTELY NO VIEW." Hell, we'd paid $69 a night and it was Valentine's Day weekend, President's Day weekend AND a fight weekend at the MGM. I'm pretty sure we're lucky they didn't put us in the maid's closet.

One of the things I love about Vegas is looking out of my hotel windows and seeing the mountains in the distance. It reminds you that, despite the glitz that is Vegas, Nevada still has a tremendous amount of natural beauty if you step outside the city. I barely saw the mountains at all this trip since we had such a crappy room. If I had it to do over, I'd have requested a different room.

We hit the casino late that night and stayed up until about 2:00 am. I really don't remember much of what we did that evening, though I feel certain we lost about $200. I should've known when our flight landed safely and (relatively) on-time that I'd already pressed my luck enough. As usual, I couldn't leave well enough alone.

On Thursday, February 14th, we awoke to beautiful skies, brisk temperatures, and MY BIRTHDAY! We got out around 9:00 and headed over to NY NY. This casino is undergoing renovations, but it's still nice. We ate at the Il Fornaio (sp) cafe, where I had a yummy, fat-laden parfait and a latte. We soon moved to the blackjack tables where I promptly lost about $100. Huh. However, NY NY will "rate" you if you're playing even $5 a hand, so I'd like to think that I'll eventually see some of that $$ back in reduced room rates at other MGM properties. I also began imbibing vodka and grapefruit juice at this point. Perhaps a bit prematurely, but whatever, it was my birthday.

We soon moved to Planet Hollywood, which replaced the former Aladdin. Woooeee, this place is fancy! Planet Hollywood redid the front parts of the shoppes, and it's now white and very sleek. I quickly entered Max Studio and promptly dropped some moolah on a silk shirt. Again, it's my birthday. I took my loot and hit the casino. I played slots for a while and stayed constant. Hubby went to the blackjack table and managed to win. Yeah! Once I came over to the blackjack area, he started losing. Eventually, I took hubby's place on the table. I noticed that the table surface said "The Pleasure Pit." Apparently, after 8 pm, dancers mount these little stands and wiggle it to very loud music. The combination of loud music and a grouping of blackjack table was popular at many different casinos, including Flamingo and Harrah's. I don't get it, you can't hear people talk, and it gives me a headache.

Anyway, I played for a long time and embarrassed myself with my tipsy verbal banter. Hubby finally pulled me away as we had tickets to O that night. We grabbed a quick piece of pizza at the MGM before heading over to the Bellagio, and we saw Howie Mandel while we were eating. A minor celebrity for sure, but I'm pretty bad at noticing people, so I felt happy I saw someone famous on a big weekend in Vegas. I later found out that George Clooney and Paris Hilton were in Vegas that weekend as well. I mean, come on! I wish I'd seen George instead.

O was incredible. It's a Cirque Du Soleil water show, and I was mesmerized. We had great seats, about 14 rows from the stage in the center row, and we were on the end. That means that the actor's interacted with us a bit, as they come up and down the aisles several different times. Though it is expensive, I'd highly recommend this show for anyone who wants to pick one show to see in Vegas.

After O, we went back and ordered room service. I fell asleep, exhausted but content.

Friday was spent gambling at the Monte Carlo, which had just reopened that day after being shut down for several weeks due to the fire. Business was slow, but the employees seemed glad to be back. We played for a while and then had lunch at Diablo's, a new place that opened up in front of the Monte Carlo. It's a mexican joint that reminds me of the Pink Taco at Hard Rock. We had some great nachos and margaritas, and it was nice to take a load off.

We tinkered around to several different casinos and played more blackjack. I'm pretty sure we lost again. Dinner that night was at Trader's Vics on the patio, under heat lamps. The food was so-so, but the Bellagio fountain view was great and the company couldn't be beat After dinner, we hit Paris, where I jumped on a $10 blackjack table. With the Italian (my husband) standing behind me, I quickly started garnering quiet, hateful stares from my tablemates as I won hand after hand after hand. I couldn't lose - for once! I more than doubled my cash and walked away.

Saturday was our last day. We were leaving on a red-eye back that night at midnight, so we had the whole day to kill. We ate at the MGM buffet that morning, and I'm glad we waited until Saturday to use our free meal. The buffet was positively buzzing that morning as it was a fight day. I'm not a boxing fan, but this was apparently the middleweight championship fight between Pavlik-Taylor. There were quite a few "important" folks in the restaurant that morning - now, I'm not sure who they were, but they sure thought they were important.

We checked out at noon and headed down towards the North strip. We ended up playing most of the day at the Mirage, which continues to be the one casino I can rely on for blackjack wins. I was dismayed to see that most of their blackjack tables are continous shuffle, which really sucks for the player. However, we found a few traditional tables and played most of the afternoon, leaving about $400 up. We had dinner at some random restaurant, tinkered away most of our winnings at Paris and the MGM, and then headed for the airport. We didn't time it too well because we were leaving right as the fight ended. The MGM flooded with more people than I thought possible. Fortunately, a very nice porter moved us to the front of the extensive taxi line, and off we went.

I was exhausted and ready to go home. I needed detox. I needed my treadmill. I needed my bed.

Our flight was on time and we arrived home around 7:00 am.

Overall, I was less enthused with Vegas this time than I've been on my prior trips. I didn't win, which is unusual for me, but typical for the average player. I suppose I've had better than average luck until now, and that was bound to run out at some point. I didn't care for the South strip area around the MGM. I much prefer to stay in the Paris/Flamingo area as that area has less junk shops and "p*rn slappers" shoving naked lady cards in your face. I don't know if I'm in such a hurry to go back. I look at the money we spent that weekend and think "gee, I could've gone to Mexico and laid around a fancy resort all weekend and gotten really relaxed." Instead, I spent half of the next week exhausted and drained.

Nonetheless, it was a good birthday. I really enjoyed O, walking around during the beautiful sunny days and seeing snow covering the Nevada mountains. I was dismayed at some of the changes I saw in the casinos, from switching to continuous shuffle blackjack to the exorbitantly high table limits at most of the places on the strip. A lot has changed since my first ever visit in 2004, and I've seen changes for the worse every year since.

I feel like I've ended on a negative note, but the trip was very fun. We spent part of Saturday evening sitting in the Paris hotel walkway at a cafe, watching dozens of people attending fancy events walk by. Some of the wardrobe choices were questionable, and we had fun making up stories about the people that walked by. People-watching in Vegas simply can't be beat. I think it even surpasses New York. Like I always say, if you can't find a way to have fun in Vegas, you don't know how to have fun.