Headed over there from here….

 Leaving the Strip behind and unfinished,  and heading Over There…

Laying in bed on April 21st, Kodi was thoughtful.  While on the Strip, she’d hoped to get to Ross to shop, and the PepperMill restaurant on the same day…to the Venetian/Palazzo, because she loved walking around there, and eating at Grand Luxe, to Ellis Island for their wonderful ribs, to play Glow in the Dark Golf at Bally’s, visit the new Pinball Hall of Fame, and a couple of other places.  She hadn’t had the energy to do any of that, which shocked and dismayed her.  She’d still enjoyed the things she did, but….the ‘old days’ were certainly gone. One thing remained the same though.  When she could see the last days of her current trip winding down, she got pretty sad!

They were moving ‘Over There ‘ today.  The Orleans Hotel and Casino was calling them 😁.  Their stay at Planet Hollywood hadn’t been her favourite, for sure,  ( In spite of that only significant win so far).   She’d loved the Caesars group in the past, but their new system didn’t make her feel warm and fuzzy. The resort fees on the 2 comped nights annoyed her.  The check in process was awful. Where was the Love?

The reason they were staying at the Orleans was because, when they had originally booked Vegas, Canada had still required a negative Covid Test to return. Orleans had a testing site there, that didn’t require a vehicle to access. That requirement changed a few days before they left home , but room prices had skyrocketed by then. 

This 5 night stay was the most expensive lodging of the trip. Saturday alone, was $195.00 plus Resort Fee of $35 plus taxes.  It was still one of the cheapest Saturday night rates in Town for April 23rd. Kodi fondly remembered getting 2 nights Boyd comps offered each month when she went to Vegas annually.

Both Kodi and Tom had a good appetite, and decided to try one more restaurant that morning, before heading off the Strip.  They had never eaten at the PBR Sports Bar, just outside the casino in the Mall. It had recently begun serving breakfast, so they took a look at the menu and asked for a table.  

It only took a couple of minutes to clean their booth, and another for them to get the menus and water delivered . Their server was taking care of about a dozen tables, but checked in with them and said she’d be back shortly.  They weren’t in a hurry, so it didn’t bother them.

Service ended up being very slow, but efficient . The  food was reasonable and tasty, and they’d be happy to return.  The merchandise discount that is attached to the bill wasn’t of any value, since the PBR  ( Professional Bull Riders) store is not open currently.

Check out time from PH is 11:00 and they were ready to roll at that time.  They headed out, and quickly got an Uber… once again, they found the car clean, and the driver pleasant and careful.  The charge was $10.80 and they tipped their usual $5 cash.  The driver got another fare opportunity as he dropped them off at the Orleans.

The  registration desk wasn’t busy, and within 10 minutes, Kodi had 2 keys to Room 1978.  

Once again she’d asked for a room close to the elevators, and scored a perfect one.  It was the first room off the elevators, so was ideal. Kodi quickly found out that there was a little rise in the hall just before you got to the doorway .  Can you say..stumble, and near face-plant!😳 ( and it only happened 2 more times  in 5 days.)

They unpacked a fair bit of stuff this time. There was room to shift things around and put some of the carry-on things they brought down, into the big cases going home.  The Quest Protein Bars they’d bought for snacks or in room breakfast were nearly gone, as were the EmergenC drink packets, so the cases would weigh a couple of pounds less now.  The cane came out again for the bathroom. 

The  tub/ shower combination would be a bit of a pain, ( except for the little window at the end of the tub is nice) as was the heavy sliding door to the bathroom, since they liked to leave some kind of light on overnight, but Kodi was so happy to have a coffee maker again!   Tom, ever the gentleman, took the bed that had the bathroom light hitting the pillow area, LOL.

They soon headed downstairs to see what had changed since they last stayed at the casino.  Walking near the Boyd Rewards desk, they saw a sign that there was a promotion on that day , giving a free gift to members getting a set number of points before a certain time.  Kodi walked to the area where one had to go to pick up the gift…so she could see what it was.  Hmmm, a rigid plastic mixing bowl, wth a strainer bowl the same size inside of it.   Might be a handy kitchen tool….

She wondered out loud, if it would fit into her suitcase.  The lady unpacking and stacking the promo gifts overheard, and said. “ No worries. You can stuff clothes inside it. It’s not very heavy.  Perfect to take home in your suitcase!”   She let Kodi hold one, so she could get a good look at it.  Finding Tom around the corner, she said…”You go and check out the rest of the casino…I have work to do.”  She then sat at a nearby slot and inserted her players card and $20.

She was still playing an hour later, when he came back into the same area, reporting that not too much was new, except a couple of restaurants were closed, and the were a couple of new ones.  They had received a coupon sheet when checking in.  They wouldn’t use most ( they had no use for the discount off 4 candy apples, and would not be bowling, or using the barber)  but could use the 10% off a meal at Bailiwick, Tom suggested.  Kodi finished getting the points she needed, and went about getting her bowl and strainer, and then they walked to Bailiwick, to check out the menu.  It sounded good, so they arranged to meet there at 5:30.

 Off Tom went to find some Keno treasure, and Kodi took her prize up to the room..after first checking out  the closest handicapped stall. 😉 

Neither of them had any success to report when they met up to get dinner.  They were quickly seated at a table near the back of the restaurant, and the cheerful server was happy to answer their questions about the menu items.  

They ordered the house made Tomato soup, and Tom got the Stromboli, and Kodi the BBQ pork belly burger.  

The soup was incredible.  Tom’s Stromboli was very good.  Kodi’s burger was…well it was dripping very red juices onto the plate at first bite. She loved rare steak and roast beef, but had always ordered any ground meat product cooked medium, since knowing someone who had permanent kidney disease after contracting E-Coli a few years ago.  She put the burger down.  It was quite a while before their server returned to check on them. She apologized and returned the plate to the kitchen.  They were getting busy, so it wasn’t back very quickly.  She took another bite and the juices still turned the bun red. 

She ate a bit around the edges, but didn’t finish it.  When the gal returned to check on them and saw the meat, she said…” I’m sorry.  Our regular chef isn’t in tonight. We’ve borrowed him from another restaurant.  Do you want me to get another burger cooked for you?”  By now, Tom’s meal was nearly gone, so Kodi declined.

Before they left,  the Restaurant manager came to the table and apologized. She said she take another 20% off Kodi’s burger, besides the coupon they were using, and said she hoped they would try them again.    They did not…but perhaps someday.

The played many different games on the casino floor that night and their pockets were empty by bedtime.  Kodi was concerned that she wasn’t accumulating any Rewards  points, so decided to address it the next day at the Player’s Club.