Wed April 20th, Dinner among the ruins…

Kodi was awake before Tom the next morning, and when Tom stretched, yawned and looked over at her, Kodi said “Damn you!”

“Whaaa? “ he stammered. “What are you talking about?”

“ I came up last night expecting to shower you with hundred dollar bills and you were dead to the world”

“ You actually won something!  How much?”

“Well, just OVER  $500, but that’s how much went into the Take Home Envelope.”

“Excellent.  What’s on the agenda for today?”

“We have another MyVegas reward to use, so we’re going to have a late brunch at Luxor.  We have a  2/1 buffet coupon.”

“Great!  I’ve been missing buffets.  What time?”

“ I’m still full from last night, and I was thinking of eating at around 1 p.m.  so leaving here at Noon.  I’ll get a coffee or two at the machines this morning. You have your juice, so if you…”

Frowning he replied  “Remember, you had shrimp and meatballs last night, but I only ate chips and dip.”

They decided he’d go down to the Mall to Tea Leaf and Coffee Bean, for a bagel and cup of tea.  They’d meet up in the room at 11:30 and get their hats and sunglasses.

Kodi played the same types of machines she’d won on the previous night, but lost more than half her day’s stake.  Even worse was  a woman with the shrillest voice Kodi had ever heard, who was constantly shrieking “Wow, Yes! Oh my God! Again! “ ( Kodi was startled the first time, and wondered, since this was a ‘Hollywoody “ casino, whether there was a porno movie being filmed on site..) whose husband was playing max coins on the link machines, and hitting hand pays on every machine he played.  

Kodi thought they’d finally left, but soon realized that they had just moved to another bank of machines half way across the casino, and she could still hear her! 🤪  Luckily it was after 11:00, so she headed up to the room to freshen up before heading down the Strip.

Tom was already there, preserving his bankroll for the day…

They headed across the street to the bus stop near Bellagio, and then grabbed the Deuce, getting seats this time, riding down just past Luxor. 

They actually had never entered the Casino from this direction, and enjoyed the scenery. 

They walked back from the bus stop in the sunshine, to the pathway,  and entered the casino, then  followed the signs to the M/Life Cashier Cage desk.  It was busy and  they got behind about 20 people seeing that there were two people serving the Players.  One was obviously new, as she had to stop and ask her teammate questions quite often.  She signed a couple up for their first cards,  and followed a procedure sheet, taking so long that  the other rep served 5  or 6 members.  Kodi said under her breath, “Please, please not her..” and of course she got her when it was her turn.  Tom was now waiting near a table game, after staying next to her as a leaning post during the long wait.  (At one point, a guy in front of them was joined by his girlfriend and another couple, meaning there were now 4 people needing assistance, rather than one.  🙄)

The newbie, bless her, hadn’t done many MyVegas transactions.  After trying to complete it three times and failing, she asked Kodi if she had her confirmation number. FINALLY!  Carrying the paperwork with her paid off.  This helped to get everything done to the rep’s satisfaction, and they were on the way to find the elevator to take them to the lower level buffet at 1:35.

The line downstairs took them about 15 minutes to get through.  The hand sanitizer station there had an empty container, ( which Kodi mentioned to the hostess seating them) but Kodi had some in her bag.   They paid $29.25 all in, for the two buffets, using the coupon, and were soon sitting in a booth.

The drinks were self-serve, so Tom went up first and got them , and some water as well.  Kodi asked the hostess for straws when she walked by, seating guests near them, and she brought about a dozen of 🙄 them a few minutes later. 

The food may not have been fancy, but it gave them multiple choices and they felt it was certainly worth the $15 each it cost them for their main meal that day.

Kodi really looked forward to some roast beef, which she asked to be rare.  The two people ahead had received a nice slice and she was anticipating the same.  There were only scraps left on the counter..like the fatty ends and connective tissue she’d often seen cut off of roasts at buffets,  before they were carved for customers.  He still had half of a well done roast.  Instead of scraping the ends of the previous rarer roast away..the fellow picked them up and put them on her plate. There was a tray full of foil-wrapped roasts 10 feet behind him, so she asked that he give her a slice off of a new roast. He said “ They aren’t ready. Do you want this other one?”  She looked at the grey meat to his left….shook her head and just walked away. Most of what she had on the plate was not edible, and ended up being impossible to cut with her table knife.  

Thinking she’d try again later, Kodi got some sliced Turkey breast, which was delicious, and then had something she had been craving all week. ..French Toast and maple syrup.  She and two other ladies stubbornly stood in front of the empty tray for about 15 minutes, making a bottle neck in the line, waiting for it to be filled. A server behind the counter was cleaning up and asked them about it, and then turned to the cook, who was ferociously making pancakes on the grill about 15 feet from them, and who had looked over at them two or three times. After she spoke to him they had their French Toast in 5 minutes. By the way…the pancake tray was overflowing.  She got a bit of 🥓 bacon to go with hers and headed back to her booth to enjoy it.

Tom had his usual buffet fare, fruit , pasta ,pizza, fried chicken, rolls and other carby things. He usually has some beef, ( rare as possible) but after seeing Kodi’s, didn’t fancy it. She also didn’t go back to the beef station, because she wanted some dessert with her coffee.

The buffet was full, and from what she’d seen at the cashier, many MyVegas rewards were being used. The food was tasty enough that they would return under those circumstances…personally, they weren’t spending $60 on a meal very often this trip. They needed money for other things. 😉

They put $30 each into machines before they headed back to PH.  Tom had some entertainment on a quick hit machine , and broke even after an hour.  Kodi played some goldfish, getting only a couple of bonuses until her $20 was gone and then sat next to Tom, losing $10 very quickly, while watching him get free games over and over…LOL. She cashed out one lone coin from her investment.

They crossed over to the MGM side of the Strip and spent two dollars for the ride back to their home casino.  

The rest of the day was uneventful..with Kodi chasing another Major that never materialized, and Tom just beating his head against every game he tried. He might have blamed his sweetie for being broke that night because he’d fallen into the trap of playing beside her, at her insistence..in case the Dragon Link game next to her was the lucky one.  😌 She tried to get back in his good graces by going to the ABC store and buying them chocolate bars before going up to the room that night…to pack once again. He was gifted with a Twix , and she had a wonderful (double) Mars Bar ( which she can’t buy at home in Canada.)