Merry chrismas

[mickg]

the exciting bit for me other than the wedding and of course Las Vegas and coming home with $1,600 more than I went with was we flew on a Virgin Atlantic Jumbo for the first time

One the first day we had to call at the court house to pick up the marriage licence which was in the Old Las Vegas Town so we had a walk round this area, lots of casinos so we had a mooch and I got 29 black twice on the bounce and after a few more bets on the same table walked away with $850



the next time I got double zero and 29 black twice and walked away with $1,100 - she was taken off the table double quick and replaced with a guy who sole aim was to take it all off me but failed, I walked past him a couple of hours later and he gave me the dirtiest look possible

and the 3rd time I ended up playing with 5 dollar chips and was banging them on like it was my last game and won again

I lost lost some in between I must add but they would not let me take any photos in the posher places on the strip

I'm not a big gambler as you can see with the bets but it was a good result all the same and a bit of fun to plus we ate and drank free all week

[Dave_L]

Sounds like you had a ball! We drove our rental car to the dam, parked up in the multi-storey car park and walked to the dam, over the top etc, onto the tour and then walked to the big bridge afterwards.

Here's me and the missus on the dam roadway



The new road bridge you can walk over as viewed from the dam

[lutonlagerlout]

money goes to money eh mick :;):
all that ever happens to me in casinos is the long walk home with no cab fare
how did you get on with the tipping?
it pissed me off at first but when you realise they are working for a pound and hour basic it makes sense
LLL

[mickg]

I very rarely gamble in the UK

if I receive a good service which most of the time you do and the staff do go out of their way to please the customer I don't mind leaving a tip its when the meal does not quite go to plan and your sat there waiting then I won't tip

trouble is though everywhere you go your leaving a tip, order a taxi, order a round of drinks, a meal etc and your parting with a good few extra dollars every time which can mount up but like you say they are on a very low wage and Vega is certainly not the cheapest place to order a round of drinks

on the receipt at the restaurants its already written down for you with the amount you pay at 10% 15% or 20% tip, that in my opinion is an insult

[lutonlagerlout]

well In new york you have the sales tax of 8.9 % as well
so a $100 meal will cost $108.9 + 20% tip =
$128.90

my mate lives there and says for bad service you only tip 10%
mediocre 15% and good 20%

its one big tax fiddle as they avoid paying income tax on their true earnings

round here its a quid for the taxi driver and barber and 10-12.5% in restaurants

wouldn't dream of tipping someone to pour me a pint,as surely that is their job?

LLL :;):

[mickg]

it is their job for sure but they are all still on a low hourly rate so why would that mean you don't tip the bar person but you will tip the waiter ?

[mickg]

where else did you go in the rental car Dave ?

we booked the Hoover Dam first thing in the morning and left the hotel at just before 8am, on the way back to Vegas around 12pm they was queuing about half a mile back at the first check point and when we got closer to Vegas the que was massive heading in that direction, I had read before we left book any trips early doors and I'm glad we did

have you got a photo from the centre of the bypass bridge looking down on the dam ?

[Dave_L]

Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Gun Store, Out to California to the worlds largest (tallest) thermometer (Baker)

View from the new road bridge

[Dave_L]

Anyone is welcome to have a browse through my album, I took a fair few pics!

http://s1222.photobucket.com/user....%202012

[mickg]

that's awesome Dave thanks for posting, wish I had asked our tour driver to take a detour now and paid him a bit extra

[Dave_L]

You must hire a car when you go to Vegas, drive from hotel to hotel, save on the rip-off taxi fares from the airport I swear they all go the long way.......between 5 of us it wasn't expensive. Some front wheel drive V8 Cadillac we had. We used to drive about for food, Wendy's for breakfast, InAndOut burger was an awesome burger joint.

We went at Halloween and we went out in fancy dress that night, I ended up drawing the short straw and ended up as "Betty" went out in a dress. F*cks sake. Was fun though. Did the Skylinez down through Fremont Street, unforgettable experience.

[mickg]

I agree with the car for travelling about but not for going hotel to hotel, we stayed at the Mirage which was at the bottom of the strip and we walked to all the other hotels during the day and in the evening otherwise eating the enormous portions your served at each mealtime would of gained too much weight

we had this food on our doorstop why go anywhere else, king size pastrami sandwich



or a 12 inch steak sandwich for breakfast next door at Caesars Palace



I'm glad to be home eating sensible meals again

you got a photo in the dress ?

[rab1]

Great pics lads. I do grudge tipping in the same way as giving the forklift driver a drink, its your fecking job lol.

Dave i'm with Mick on this, do you have a picture of you in a dress :p

[cookiewales]

luton you wont get nora on the QE 2 to posh :p

[Dave_L]

There were NO photos of me wearin' that dress. I made sure of that. :p