Itinerary: Las Vegas '08
Trip Start
Oct 08, 2008
1
6
Trip End
Oct 12, 2008
Dayton,
Ohio,
United States
Sunday, August 31, 2008
I am staying three nights in Las Vegas at the Imperial Palace hotel on the strip for $79/night Wednesday and Thursday night and $139/night on Friday night. My flight will then leave at 1am on Sunday morning from Las Vegas and have lay overs in Houston, Texas and Detroit, Michigan before arriving in Dayton at 2pm. I am meeting up with my parents who will be in Vegas earlier in the week and staying with me the nights I am there (the hotel rooms are $30/night more expensive as a result of more people in the room - one of the ways I convinced them to go was that I paid for these hotel nights, they had always wanted to go to Vegas since my brother and his wife have gone a half dozen times in the past few years).
In case you are wondering why I am returning at 1am on a Sunday, it is a result of Northwest's horrible policy on compensating people after booting them off over booked flights. I was scheduled to fly to Pittsburgh from Dayton on Northwest for a job interview earlier this year and ended up not being allowed to get on the connection in Detroit due to being over booked. I was compensated with $20 in food coupons, a "free" round trip ticket, and potential free overnight stay if I could not get on a later on. (Luckily I did and was upgraded to first class). When I asked about the free ticket I was assured it was good on all flights. What they failed to tell me was that it was only for select tickets on each flight and as one representative put it to me "we wouldnt give out a whole flight for free!" Maybe they should think of that before over booking in the first place. In either event, I could not get a free plane ticket to Vegas ANY time of the year, and had to go on this specific weekend when graduate school is out. In return the ticket was transferred to a $250 off coupon which I used on the cheapest flight I could find, and thus I am returning at 1am on Sunday morning. My other option would have been 11am on Sunday. If I would have chosen this option the plane ticket would have cost an extra $100 plus I would have had to pay the ridiculous $160+ hotel room prices for a Saturday night, just to leave first thing in the morning. But that is enough of a rant and warning of shady business tactics, onward to the itinerary!
Day 1: October 8th, 2008
Depart Dayton, Ohio at around 7pm with a layover in St Paul, Minnesota and arrive in Las Vegas, Nevada at approximately 11pm. Flying with Northwest. Since I am not checking any bags I will ideally arrive at the hotel by midnight, meet up with my parents, and have enough time to bolt to the Bellagio fountains if I am not completely exhausted.
Day 2: October 9th, 2008
Up early and walk the strip as well as pick up tickets at the respective venues will call windows along the way. Hit up the various casinos, with a little gambling thrown in, including the Bellagio, Venetian, Luxor, MGM Grand, and more for a welcoming taste of Vegas. Mid-day stop at one of the world famous buffets before hitting up more casinos. The evening will include a stop at Margaritaville or Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. After dinner it is time to go see a 7pm show of Cirque Du Soleil's 'O' at the Bellagio before hitting up the strip at night! Likely stop includes the Star Trek bar for the Warp Core Breach fish bowl with dry ice and then taking the bubbling drink in a to-go cup to finish enjoying the strip, ending the night at some odd hour in the morning.
Day 3: October 10th, 2008
Up early and walk the strip to the Stratosphere and go up to the top and enjoy some of the thrill rides over looking the entire strip. Afterwards hitting up another one of the world famous buffets before trekking through more casinos. Additional stops for today likely include Siegfried and Roy's White Tiger Habitat and other landmarks on the strip before another dinner at one of the famous restaurants on the strip. In the evening a trip over to Fremont St to see the Fremont St Experience before heading back to the strip to again enjoy some of the night life, casinos, and Bellagio Fountains. I am taking my SLR camera and am going to try and get many artistic shots of the strip during the day and night on this day pending weather.
Day 4: October 11th, 2008
My parents leave early this morning and will be on my own to see whatever left there is on the strip that I may not have had time to see in the first two days. I will hit up one more buffet for lunch before continuing on down the strip and a light dinner. At 7pm I will see another show, Cirque Du Soleil's "LOVE" a Beatles themed Cirque show. After the performance ended I will make one final mad dash to the Bellagio Fountains, head back to the Imperial to collect my bags, and make it to the airport at about 11:30 to catch my 1am flight home.
Day 5: October 12th, 2008
Depart Las Vegas heading home to Dayton with layovers in Houston, Texas and Detroit, Michigan and should arrive at 2pm. Flying with Northwest.
The following blogs will include detailed descriptions of what I did each day, money spent, many photos, packing list, and a detailed conclusion summarizing the important details of the trip.
