As many of you know I began working at a new firm and as with any new job, vacation days do not kick in until you have been there for a certain period of time. For me it was 6 months. Tons of stress from the morning commute and the complexity of the work built up so I Was very much looking forward to the day my vacation time kicked in. In anticipation thereof I began actually reading the hotel/casino offers I routinely receive in my emails. Aria. Bellagio. Vdara. Golden Nugget. The Linq. Which would I choose, they all seemed like great options to escape the NY winter and decompress for a few days. After much thinking, I decided to check out the new Park MGM. They had offered me 4 comped night (naturally I would have to cover the dreaded resort fee. However I wanted to stay 5 nights so, I checked up on what they would charge for the 5th night and lo and behold. I got the 5th night for $15. I then used my credit card airline miles to book my flight and since I had not flown in approximately one year, I had built up over 50k miles. This would allow me to fly first class on American roundtrip non-stop!The trip was booked and I eagerly anticipated the vacation. As with any job deadlines have to be met and I was assigned case that had a strict deadline of Tuesday (2/26/2019). Of course I was not assigned this until Friday (2/22/2019) so I worked the weekend and put my nose to the proverbial grindstone and by lunchtime on Tuesday (2/26/2019) I had completed the legal brief - YES! My co-workers were excited for and wished me good luck and I headed home to pack that evening. Upon arriving home I received text messages from friends informing me there was a major accident involving the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) and the next morning’s commute was going to insane. Luckily, the next morning I would be on my way to JFK rather than the office and not have to deal with the aftermath of the terrible accident (and yes I have deep sympathy for the people who lost their lives in the accident).I arrived at JFK checked in for my flight (which I was unable to do online since for some inexplicable reason, I was not sent a 24 hour pre-check-in email and the pre-check-in link on the airline's website was "greyed out"). The TSA line at that time of the morning was minimal and I was soon through and ready to relax at the gate.
Upon boarding the aircraft, I attempted to figure out how to recline the seat. Finally, I asked the steward who said that my seat "stuck" a little and I would have to use some force to have it recline. Well I did just that and, watch out the seat reclined only about 30˚. The seat cushion was rather thin so there was not much support for my back which had a dull ache by the end of the flight. Now I had not eaten anything as I knew they would serve breakfast on the flight. The steward began taking orders starting with the last row in first class. I was in the front row and due to variance, was the last to order. Everyone before me ordered a cheese omelet with fried potatoes. As I have been trying to eat high protein/low carb diet, that sounded perfect to me so I ordered the same. I was then informed that oatmeal was the only breakfast now available. I was perplexed having just heard everyone else order the cheese omelet. He stated they all ordered it when they checked-in online. I informed him I was never sent a 24-hour pre-check-in email so I had no way to order it, so I asked what the options were, to which he replied: "I told you oatmeal sir." I then asked if there were any other options and he said no - so I said "I guess I am having the oatmeal". However, less than 10 seconds later he can back and informed me someone just canceled their cheese omelet - HOW? HOW did they just cancel it when he went right from taking my order to the galley? Who knows...who cares? I ended up with the cheese omelet. I had my meal and was too tired to watch any of the movies available on the setback screen - which were plenty - and I slept most of the way (but now need a chiropractic adjustment LOL)
A friend of mine that resides in Vegas surprised me by picking me up at the airport. We caught up on all the goings on and headed to Palace Station to try a burger place he raved about: BBD.we then had lunch at bBd's at Palace Station - a burger place that originated on Long Island. We ordered the pretzel dust crusted Mac and cheese as an appetizer and I had a double grilled cheeseburger as my lunch. It was delicious. Thereafter, we headed to Walmart so I could stock up on supplies for my room -- 2 2-liter bottles of Coke Zero, 12 bottles of water and 4 cans of sugar free Red Bull -- all for around $20. Price on the Strip for those items -- somewhere around $1,000,000.
I then headed to the Park MGM to check in
I relaxed in the room, grabbed a shower and then went for a walk
Escalator to Aria from Park MGM
Entry to Aria Baccarat Pit
Happy Chinese New Year!
Chandelier Bar at the Cosmo
Bellagio
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace Sports Book
Happy Chinese New Year again!
As I arrived at the Forum Shops, my buddy texted me asking if I want to grab some dinner so we headed to the Gold Coast steakhouse where we were seated at the bar. My buddy knew most of the staff and the bartender was friendly and provided excellent service. I had a 7oz. filet mignon with truffle butter and a side Caesar salad. The filet was nicely cooked and the atmosphere was fun.
After arriving back at the Park MGM I decided to check out their new High Limit room.
The blackjack was $100min, DAS, DOA, 3;2 and S17. I bought in for $2k and played with a friendly Ethiopian dealer and an affable pit boss. The shoe began with a couple wins in a row. I pressed it up to 2 chips and was instantly dealt a natural. I kept the press up and was denied the next two hands. After a couple of back and forth hands I was dealt a 5,5 v dealer 9 so I split (LOL) kidding, I doubled and was dealt a Queen – the dealer turned over a 10 – BAM! I won the next 5 of 7 hands and halfway through the shoe decided to go take a walk and relax - Trip +1200
I wandered around the Park MGM and had a nice conversation with a security guard in the new EATALY section of the Park MGM. He told me he believes Park MGM was redone to appeal to millennials but he is not sure millennials are really going to gamble. He stated he hopes that the property does does abandon the low rollers that made the original Monte Carlo a fun and relaxed place to play. The guard then told me about all the new features of the property and was very knowledgeable – it is great to see that employees of all levels really know the property they work for – it adds to the experience.
Thereafter, I headed to the Park and enjoyed the cool evening air and finally headed up to my room, watched some television and headed to bed. See you all tomorrow.