#7 Escaping the Bay, and heading to New York…

 Kodi messaged her friend Kiddo to ask her if shorts would be okay for the dinner portion of their ‘surprise birthday outing’.  

“Of course not”, she told her.  “You’re not going to In and Out Burger…it’s a high end restaurant.  “.   Since Capris were the closest they had to anything dressy ( using carry- ons for nearly two weeks) she got a thumbs up for that, but still felt stressed.  

So….they’d be out in the desert heat , who knows where..in the afternoon, getting sticky, and maybe stinky, and then going to a fancy restaurant. Good Grief!  😩

Ending that conversation, she dragged her thoughts back to the present.  They were going to have a late lunch at Nine Fine Irishmen at New York, New York later that day, but needed to have a decent breakfast first, so decided to visit Liz at Della’s, for their shared ham and cheddar omelette.

Even after a few days away, they were greeted by name and then showed to a table.  Liz said she be off for a couple of days, and Kodi told her they’d try to see her one more time, before they left Mandalay Bay, on Saturday.  It was great how much she brightened their mood each time she served them.  She certainly was in the right business. 

They spent a few hours in the casino, and met in the room to freshen up before heading out. Kodi just loved the keyhole mirror in the elevator lobby and forgotten to take a photo each time they’d seen it.  There was no one else there right then, so she took a shot.

It was the first time Toos had taken the free tram from Mandalay Bay, and they stopped at the top of those escalators to look North towards the strip.  

They were going the two stops, up to the Excalibur, and then going outside to walk across the bridge to NYNY.

Kodi also had something else in mind for later, if Toos had enough energy.

When they were walking along the long ramp from Excalibur to the bridge outside, they heard a very loud noise that they couldn’t identify, and felt a little vibration .   As they stepped outside they saw that there were trucks lined up next to Excalibur, and they were pumping all of the water out of the “moat” attached to the hotel. Not sure what happened afterwards, but things change so quickly, so it possibly wasn’t just a refill operation.

It was still over 100F and  Toos wasn’t a happy camper, LOL.

Kodi headed to the MLife desk to get her MyVegas reward loaded onto her card for a 2/1 entree at the restaurant, and also a $25 free play from Konami. ( which returned her $12 cash).  Toos was hungry, so they headed to NFI and waited about 10 minutes for a table.  

The hostess was about to sit them at a table for 2, in a walkway, but Kodi asked for a particular table that she saw in the distance. It was a table she’d had 3 times in the past, and she really liked the location .  It sat 4, supposedly, but was in a little alcove near the washrooms, and wasn’t very roomy, so with their canes, it fit the two of them well.  There was a single lady at the other smaller  table there.

They perused the menu and both decided on the bangers and mash. While they waited, they saw the lady nearby, who was a tiny thing, get her beer, her fried sausage appetizer and then a huge plate of fish and chips delivered.  No way she was eating all that!  She got halfway through her pot stickers, and then chatting animatedly to the server, asked her to box the rest up.  She tackled her fish dinner as they were served their Bangers and Mash.  

The plate of food was all that they hoped for.  Delicious sausage, creamy garlic potatoes with braised cabbage mixed in ( Kodi wished there had been more of that) and incredible Mushroom gravy, that they couldn’t waste a drop of!  

They both ordered coffee afterwards, and just after they had received it, they saw the lady diner’s head drop down onto her chest.  She lifted it a moment and then it dropped again. Toos, who was facing in her direction, loudly asked if she was okay. She didn’t respond.  Another lady nearby, and Toos got up and approached the table. The waitress then came over, asking the woman if she was okay.  The corner was now packed with people.  The lady roused for a second, and put her hand on her beer glass, took a sip, and mumbled…I’m fine, just a little dizzy.  The beer is making me tired, I think.  Then her head dropped again.  She had lost most of her colour.  Toos called for cold wet cloths for the back of her neck.  Kodi asked the server if there were any first aid personnel she could call.   She left and when she returned, she said she’d called security.  The gal was still upright, but very pasty, and now clammy , and mumbling from time to time.  

Two security fellows arrived on bicycles and leaned in the window next to the tables ( neat location , eh?) asking questions.  The lady roused a bit again.  The security team continued to speak to her.  “ Is there someone we can call for you?  Are you staying in this hotel?”  

“No, no, just me…MGM.  I’m fine…I’m just sleepy from the beer”, she slurred.

The cold cloths seemed to help, and within another five minutes, she had her colour back, and was sitting upright, looking entirely normal.  The security staff talked to her for a couple more minutes, and with her assurance that she was fine now, they left.

She chatted animatedly to the server, asking for another doggie bag for the remaining two pieces of fish on her plate, meanwhile finishing the beer.  She thanked her for getting the cold cloths, ( not knowing about Toos or the other lady helping) and said they did the trick.  She laughed and claimed that exactly the same thing had happened to her once before at work …50 years ago. For some reason, her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, and testing showed absolutely nothing wrong.  She was 75 now, and had no real health issues, grinned and said that if it only happened every 50 years, she’d be just fine.  

Well, Kodi and Toos had had an extra long rest over lunch, LOL, so it looked like they might be able to add one more thing to the day’s itinerary.  They each paid cash for the part of the bill that wasn’t covered by the reward, and split the tip.

Toos usually started to ‘wind down’ about this time of day, but she agreed she was okay for another adventure.

They left the restaurant, and searched for the Uber pickup area.  Kodi actually chose Lyft, as she had better rides and service from them the few times she’d used Rideshare.  Off they went to the Bellagio!  The Summer Conservatory was going to be  featured until September 10th late afternoon , and then a changeover would be taking place and the area would be closed to a public, until after they left town.  They were arriving at the Flamingo on that day, and since they didn’t know how switching hotels would go,  Kodi wanted to be sure Toos got to experience it, because it was one of her own favourite things to see when she was in Vegas.

Toos was suitably impressed with the lobby of the hotel when they arrived.  It was packed with people, as was the walkway heading down to there, in the middle of the hotel.  She loves gardening, flowers, trees, and water features, and knowing the work involved, enjoyed examining all of the displays. It was difficult for Kodi to get all the photos she wanted, because it was so crowded. 

She tried taking one of them together, in front of the framed Summer scene, but failed rather miserably 3 times.  A friendly middle aged lady stopped, and asked if she could take the pic for them.  Kodi has said no to the same offer many times before while on holiday ( judging books by their covers and not wanting to possibly lose her phone to sweet talking scammers) but felt fine this time, and Samaritan did an excellent job for them. 

The beautiful lion and cub seemed to be the most popular piece, and many people were lined up to pose in front of them .  Strangely, although she really liked it, Kodi’s favourite was the Zebra and it’s youngster.  Toos loved everything, and couldn’t choose!  

She was getting noticeably weary, so Kodi suggested a rest and a treat, to perk her up, because she had one more goal that day.

Feeling like salmon swimming upstream, they made their way over to the corridor leading to the Bellagio pools. That wasn’t the destination, as Kodi just needed to take her down the Mall area a bit…to buy them each a delicious gelato.  She had tried for weeks to get a 2/1 reward on the MyVegas app, but had failed.  Nevertheless, she knew it was lovely.

Kodi’s heart dropped, when she saw that all of the little tables next to the windows opposite the shop were full.  Now what? Toos desperately needed to sit for a while,  and hopefully get a second wind. (and Kodi was starting to feel the same). As they slowly walked the last 50 feet, nearing the shop, Kodi saw a lady stand up at a little table.  She put her hand up to catch her eye, and said, “ Excuse me…are you leaving?”  Her companion looked over and got up then, and picking up their glasses of water, they said they were…. now.  Perhaps they were taking pity on 2 Dames with Canes, but whatever the reason,  they smiled and strolled back towards the casino, and the Canadian gals were grateful.  Toos sat heavily, and Kodi asked her what her 3 favourite flavours of Gelato were.  

Armed with the information, she limped into the store, and got in line, trying to read the small signs on the multitude of tubs in the freezer window, as she inched forward.  She always felt panicky there and at McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s and the like, as her turn came and she didn’t know the menu and couldn’t read all the choices with her vision issues. Both “How can I help you” and “What would you like?” made her head spin when a long line of people were waiting impatiently behind her.

Consequently , she asked for popular kinds of gelato…vanilla, strawberry, banana , butter pecan, etc. getting triple scoops. 

Foolishly, she decided to get a medium sized cup instead of a small, that would have been more appropriate after the large lunch. It was too much… but somehow they got through them, slowly…(with minimal brain freeze.) They spent about 45 minutes resting, and then headed back to the casino.  When they arrived, Kodi said “Just one more thing to see.”,  ( thinking of making sure she experienced the fountain show in person) but Toos said…”Is it on the way home?”  Kodi said they would have to go outside to the front to see the lake and fountains and they’d probably be about an hour more in total, at the rate they moved , or if she preferred, they could head back to the lobby area and get an Uber “home” to Mandalay Bay. Toos chose the latter, and although Kodi was disappointed, she had assured her friend, as well as her two daughters when they planned the trip,  that she would follow Toos’ lead, and not push her past her limits.  This was the main reason she was still concerned about the darn ‘surprise’ that Kiddo had for them…and not JUST the lack of control, haha.

The Lyft ride cost about the same to Mandalay Bay from the Bellagio, as it had from NYNY to the Bellagio 3 hours before, and when they got home, Toos decided to rest in the room for an hour more, and Kodi needed a gambling fix!  

They’d perhaps catch up in the casino later, since it wasn’t immense, or would see each other at bedtime.