Festivals
follow me around in my bookings in Vegas. I guess I have to be more
careful to check for them when I arrange my trips.
No
matter when I plan to come, there seemes to be something like a Life
is Beautiful festival screwing up the buses and adding crowds of
people who don't play poker to downtown, doubling the price of rooms
and blacking out my meager comped nights.
I
booked Excalbur for 4 nights. Certainly that was safe from Festival.
Well,
noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
On
Sunday of my booking from 2 until 10 the entire strip was to be shut
down so some folks from around the world could run.
Regular
buses would just not be there.
For
some of the time it would even be impossible to cross from one side
of the strip to the other.
Of
course, all the things I had planned or considered were on the East
side of the strip and I was napping on the West side.
Luckily,
this was not on Saturday when I had a rare reunion of all my Vegas
relatives.
Or
on Sunday when buddy John Blowers, author of the novel Life on
Full Tilt, Confessions of a Poker Dad was to meet me for lunch
and perhaps a poker game.
I
had some luck in the planning.
I
was also nervous about the marathon after the Boston terrorism. This
was just days after the French attacks. I was not about to be
standing somewhere watching this run. So I stayed in the hotel. It
was a good time to play my $50 of Excalibur MyVegas freeplay.
And,
truthfully, it was a very low key day anyway. The reunion with
relatives the day before had wired me up, and I did not sleep much,
so I welcomed an afternoon nap.
In
the morning I considered my options for buffets, but actually could
not feel any draw to anything, and so I opted to go back again to the
Gold Coast where I could pay the inflated Sunday price with my Boyd
points.
It
was a fine move.
While
in line, a fellow came and handed out 2 for 1 coupons to two couples
and one to me that I could use for half price. So I spent under $10
in points for a really outstanding Sunday buffet. The best tastes
were the soups: Jambalaya (to which I added Chinese greens) oxtail
(to which I added bits of rather dry fried chicken) and lentil soup
(plain and good).
The
crab legs did not look that great. I skipped them.
The
popcorn shrimp were okay. I had one ravioli, six strawberries run
through the chocolate fountain, a small bit of no sugar added
macadamia nut iced cream ( to which I added just a very few small M
and M's)
I
did not make the healthiest of choices. No salad, no fruit.
I
had one glass champagne.
It
was a fine meal even if I cheated the diet a bit.
And
I asked and got Cholula. Perhaps all my letters to the Gold Coast
asking them to get that hot sauce have made a difference. Tabasco is
still the main sauce on the tables. But asking gets the other.
To
get there I went Tropicana to Arville and walked to the Gold Coast.
I like that walk, but I don't know why. There is a hint of mountains
and there were a few flowering bushes.
PHOTO
FLOWERS
Mostly
I wanted to get a good walk, exercise without the constant darting
and dashing marathon runners slipping in almost unnoticed, and
without any crowds whatsoever.
All
the car focused businesses were closed. It was quiet and just the
right length. I could have waited a half hour for the Arville bus.
I beat that bus by at least 7 minutes, maybe more.
I
came back using the Boyd shuttle to the Orleans and the 201
to
Excalibur. I was back in my room and ready for a nap by one thirty,
long before the scheduled shut down of the strip.
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