Day 31- The Minute You Walk In The Joint

Not the best start to the morning! I sat on the toilet & shut the door only to be blinded by the shocking pink mural.

We went down to get our free $18 worth of breakfast. 2 coffees & a quiche & a Flamingo croissant cost $25. We had to pay the difference for very greasy food. During breakfast, Jackie tried to upload more funds on to our Caxton prepaid card, but it was blocked. This meant returning to the room & having a long wait contacting the Bank & then explaining to them what we were doing & our problem.

Eventually we got out & went to the free monorail, but it wasn’t. Change of plan then, we proceeded along The Strip in a southerly direction. We passed the shops in the parade in front of Bally Hotel & used the ATM. We looked to withdraw $200, got to the end of the transaction & suddenly it announced it was going to charge us $5.95. No way.

We continued & enquired about tickets for David Copperfield at a Tix4Tonight stall. Apparently David had had some time off & he was literally just returning to continue his run of shows. We were quoted $81. Thanks we will bear that in mind.

We then found another ATM recommended by the receptionist in a Travelodge Hotel. Jackie took out our $200 & was charged with a $3.95 fee. Whilst Jackie was doing we banking stuff, I was accosted by 4 showgirls wearing just nipple tassels & feathers. They asked me to take a photograph, but I came over all embarrassed, fluffed my lines & meekly said, “Maybe later”.

Now $200 better off, we zigzagged through Planet Hollywood Hotel, then out & toward the MGM Hotel. We found a Tickets On Demand booth & enquired about D.C. tickets. We were quoted $71, getting better. In to MGM we went & found the official ticket office for all MGM shows. The guy I spoke to offered us tickets starting at $90 for the very back row going up to $250 for meet & greet seats at the front. Thanks for your help.

We had a wander around MGM then headed out of one door & saw Hooters Hotel & Casino on the other side of a 12 carriageway road. I somehow managed to persuade Jackie we needed to check it out. Half an hour later we had crossed the road & walked into Hooters. It was quite tame But we decided to play a fruity & try & blag a free drink.

We got out the princely sum of $5 & sat a machine requiring a minimum bet of 20 cent. Before we knew it we were on a winning streak & got up to about $23, the only problem was the waitress was like the scarlet pimpernel. Eventually we caught the attention of one & a second immediately followed. We ordered a free beer & even tipped the waitress a dollar each. After 45 minutes of good fun we walked out over $5 up.

We made our way to back to the Tickets On Demand booth to buy our $71 David Copperfield tickets. Unfortunately the only tickets they had left for the 7.00pm performance were at $132. We enquired & picked up some apparently prime location seats for $71 got his show the following night. Today was going well financially!!

We popped into New York, New York Hotel primarily to see the scariest roller coaster we had ever been on, that used to actually go in & out of the hotel. We couldn’t see it, so I enquired & apparently it doesn’t anymore. Sharp-eyed Jackie noticed that it was now happy hour & drinks were half price & they had deals on food. We took advantage with a plate of wings & 2 large beers.

After what felt like the perfect lunch, we put $5 into a slot machine. Again we did well & I left $5 up. We headed on to The Strip & bought some cheap booze & a tacky drinks holder. We continued & then we were accosted by 2 more feather adorned dolly birds. They asked if I wanted a photo & I took photos of them with Jackie. They then demanded a tip of $10 each for the privilege. I handed over $5 for them to share & we hurried on with them calling me back or names or something!! My photos had better be worth it!

With my $5 fleeced, we headed back to the Flamingo for a quick nap before hitting Downtown later. Jackie insisted on spending her $5 winnings in the fruit machine which she did in 10 seconds flat.

Back in our room, we played Instagram tennis with Sue Drackett, our friend from up north, who was literally over the road lording it up in The Bellagio. Sue was off to a show, we were heading Downtown to the Fremont Street Experience.

Around 6.00pm we caught a bus to Downtown Vegas & entered Fremont Street. It was still too light for the ceiling light show, so yet again we popped into a Casino. We found a 25 cent fruit machine & Jackie was quickly stuffing her $5 into it. I popped to the loo & returned to find she was in credit by over $15. We’re in the money 💰

I went in search of a cocktail waitress & found the same fruit machine we had had success on in Hooters. It is all lights & noise & requires more player interaction. Jackie cashed out of her machine & inserted her $15 slip into Crazy Money II. We were playing 20 cents a spin & were still continuing to make a small profit. I had now gotten the attention of a waitress & the free beers were flowing.

At one point, I noticed that Jackie had accidentally hit the 160 cents a spin, but before I could stop she had hit the button & the machine went crazy. Phyllis from Philadelphia, who was sat next to us, assisted us to maximise our winnings by playing the money catch (You have to tap the dollar notes as they fly around the screen) for us. WELL, she won us about $140 & it was high fives all round with total strangers. We’re really in the money 💰 💰

We continued playing (Note: Quit when you’re winning) & actually got up to $168 in credit. We eventually walked away, several free beers later & with a payout ticket of $135.11.

By now it was getting late for us, so we walked up & down Fremont Street. It was all action, a light show was playing on the arched ceiling, people in zip wire sleeping bags whizzed over our heads & a band was playing on stage. There were all sorts of freaks & hustlers & beggars. One muscular bloke was stopped beside a sign saying ‘Kick Me in the Nuts. Bet you Kick Like a Bitch’ & needless to say, there were scantily clad women trying to extort money for photos.

We then caught the bus back to The Strip & our hotel. We were starving, but had a disagreement over which stop to get off at, so we called it a night. It was late for us - about 11.30pm.

FITBIT = 19,078 steps / 8.86 miles.

Song of the Day = Big Spender by Shirley Bassey.Read more