Dermot woke up around 8 a.m. itching to play some poker. He went downstairs to try and talk one of the pit bosses into comping us a free room for the night. The pit boss was not too eager to grant us a free room. Dermot decided to try his luck at craps. After a couple of long rolls and some ups and downs, he managed to win $100 in about a half hour. He decided to try his luck at 3 card poker next. 30 minutes later he realized it was a poor decision as he very efficiently returned the $100 he won to Circus, Circus. Dermot returned back up to the room with breakfast for Katie. He decided to go back to the floor one more time in the hopes of getting a free room. After talking to one of the Player’s Club representatives, they decided it was not worth giving us a free room. Dermot told them he was not going to gamble another dime in their casino unless he got a free room. They called his bluff and said no, so he went with his tail between his legs to the poker table and played for about an hour where he won $1. (That’s still $1/hour more than his current job pays).
Katie worked on updating the website and planning the rest of their travels while Dermot gambled. After finding out that Dermot was unable to get a free room in the Circus, Circus, she also managed to find a 50% off deal for the Excalibur Hotel and Casino further down on the strip. So we packed up our stuff before our 11 a.m. check out time loaded the car back up. We decided to go check out Old Las Vegas (it was interesting actually having a car in Las Vegas). We parked in Binion’s Horseshoe Casino parking lot looked for a non-casino restaurant, which we soon learned is next to impossible in Las Vegas. We ended up settling for the Shamrock Café in Fitzgerald’s Casino. We had a very standard bacon, eggs, hashbrown potato breakfast and then heading back down to Fremont St to check out the area.
We spotted a caricature artist and Dermot immediately wanted to get one. (Katie shunned the Oregon State Fair artist, because she said the artist was horrible). The caricatures ranged from $20-40 for two persons portrait which was a bit expensive, so we decided to let the roulette table decide whether or not to get one. We went it to Binion’s to get our parking garage ticket validated and play $10 on roulette. 5 minutes later, we turned our $10 into $30 and decided to go get the caricature.
We explained our story to the artist, Lucas, so he decided to make a caricature of us standing on top of the world. We opted for the less expensive $20 black and white caricature. He put lots of extra detail into caricature, because he knew we were going to put the drawing up on our website. We think he did a great job, so we gave him $25 for his effort. His art studio his called 4 & 2/3 Studios (because he is missing the tip of his left middle finger) and he also runs an e-commerce business (www.pride.wwdb.biz). One other funny tidbit we learned from Lucas, the children born in Primm County Nevada, where prostitution is legal, are called brothel sprouts.
With a caricature and validated parking ticket in hand we retrieved our car from the garage and heading back towards the strip. Katie spotted a sign for a local creamery—Leatherby’s, so we decided to make a pit stop for a treat. We got the black and white sundae (vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow, whipped cream and a cherry). It was a bit expensive, but it was supposed to be the best ice cream store in Vegas, so we went for it.
The room we reserved was not ready at the Excalibur when we got there, so we opted for the $20 upgrade room which was available immediately. We brought our stuff up to the room which was very nice and then headed down to the Dick’s Last Resort restaurant for happy hour. We used our 2 for 1 coupons from the hotel to enjoy some draft beers. From there Katie went to the pool and Dermot went to the Poker table. 4 hours later they reunited. Katie had a nice tan and Dermot had $40 less in his pocket since they were last together, but we both enjoyed our time alone. (after the pool, Katie once again worked on travel plans while Dermot gambled) Back up to the room to get ready for the “O” show. We headed up to the Bellagio, got our tickets and grabbed a quick bite to eat before the show.
Words could not do justice to the “O” show at the Bellagio. It had acrobats, synchronized swimmers, divers, dancers, flame throwers and clowns who all performed on an amazing set that include a gigantic pool that disappeared and reappeared throughout the performance. If you are in Vegas and can get tickets, it is well worth the $100 ticket price to see the show.
The show got out around 12:30 a.m., so we headed back to our hotel and called it a night.