We’ve just come back from a fabulous week in Las Vegas and I have my wonderful wife, and 3 of our kids to thank for the trip. Way back in August, I was informed by Susie, our daughter Krissi, her twin brother Kenny, and Krissi’s husband Mike, that in honor of my upcoming 75th birthday, they were going to take me to Las Vegas to celebrate! After discussing dates and everybody’s life schedule, it was decided that we’d arrive on the 12th, as that was 10 days after my actual 75th birthday, and the kids would take the red-eye home on Wednesday the 15th, with Susie and I staying till that Friday. We had months to go and plan, but before we knew it Summer was over, Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went, my birthday was here on January 2nd, and the trip was just 10 days away. Now it was real and we went into travel mode, re-checking reservations, grabbing our suitcases at the storage place, and deciding what to take. At the last minute, Mike’s boss decided that they needed to have a meeting in Vegas, so he flew out a couple of days early. On the morning of January 12th, the four of us (Krissi and Kenny in New York and Susie and I in Ocean City) got up way too early and prepared to head to Las Vegas! Here are some highlights of the trip, because if I detailed everything we did, you’d still be reading this on my 76th birthday!

SUNDAY

We were fortunate to be able to use miles we had to reserve round trip First Class seats to Vegas on American Airlines. Although we’d driven to Philly every time we’d flown since moving to OC, this time we were trying something different. We were booked directly from Atlantic City International Airport to Las Vegas…..but how you ask? American Airlines had begun bus service from various regional airports to Philly. The trip was booked like a connecting flight, but leg one was in a luxury bus with the American logo on the side. The only wrinkle was that we got to Atlantic City’s Airport a little after 4 AM, but the American folks didn’t show till 5 AM! Oh well, there was nothing we could do about it at this point, so we waited till he got there, checked our bags in to Las Vegas, went through our TSA Screening, and waited for the bus at the assigned gate. The ride to the Philly airport was fast and trouble free (it was still dark on a Sunday morning) and we arrived in plenty of time to make our “connecting flight”. Having gone through TSA Screening in AC, we had no need to do it again. The bus actually drives on the field, dodging planes that are parked and taxiing, and drops you off right next to the shuttle to other terminals. From one bus to another and quickly from Terminal F to Terminal A and our flight to Las Vegas! This was so super easy, and it is something we’d definitely take advantage of if we fly again. The flight was great, with an excellent Mexican Egg Enchilada breakfast and several Cranberry and Vodkas, and before we knew it, we were starting our decent into Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport.

Kenny and Krissi’s flight from JFK had gotten in about a half hour before us, and we met them in the baggage claim area. They parked the old folks in a couple of seats, and proceeded to collect our two suitcases, and then the 4 of us headed out of the terminal and boarded the Rental Car Shuttle Bus. We picked up our BMW SUV, and in no time we were driving down the Strip on our way to our hotel, Paris. We’d chosen Paris because of it’s mid-strip location, and the fact that all of us could get rooms for just the cost of the Resort Fee and Taxes (just out $50). During the check-in process, the young lady wondered if we’d like to upgrade to a suite. “How much?” we asked. When she replied $285 we said, “No Thanks!” When she said $85, we said yes. We had a lovely one bedroom suite with a living room, two bathrooms, and a view of the Eiffel Tower and the fountains of the Bellagio across Las Ve

After we were all checked in and settled in our rooms, we met in the casino and had our first drinks in Las Vegas at Le Central Bar.

After drinks, and a visit to a few slot machines, we were hungry, so we visited Bobby Flay’s Burger Bar for a bite to eat. Later that evening, a long time friend of Kenny’s, and a Vegas resident, Megan, along with her husband Daniel paid us a visit. We ended up in Vanderpump à Paris, which according to the kids, is a bar/restaurant owned by some reality TV star. All we knew was that it had a nice atmosphere and would be good for conversation. The kids were additionally excited that our waiter was somebody’s son, and had also been featured on this reality show. Don’t ask us…..

After a couple of more drinks, the older folks were tired and headed to bed, leaving the night to the young!

MONDAY

Monday in Vegas was a special day among special days! 20 years ago, on the occasion of our 25th Wedding Anniversary, Susie and I, along with our great friends Pat and Steve Grosskopf, flew to Las Vegas, and at the Chapel of the Bells Wedding Chapel (the place where Clark and Ellen Griswold renewed their vow in Vegas Vacation), we renewed our vows. Susie got the bright idea that since we’d just celebrated our 45 Wedding Anniversary back on September 29th, and with 3 of our kids in attendance, we should once again renew our vows. With Krissi as the Matron of Honor and Kenny as the Best Man, and Mike as our witness, for the second time at the Chapel of the Bells, we renewed our Wedding Vows.

It was a lovely service, and afterwards we adjourned to our suite at the hotel for a sparking wine toast! Later that night, we Uberred to Lawry’s Prime Rib for some martinis and a wonderful dinner. Susie and I have been there, as had Kenny, but Krissi and Mike were Lawry’s virgins. We had a couple of great martinis in their beautiful bar, and an excellent dinner with wonderful food and a great waiter. We’d been singing this place’s praises to Krissi and Mike for weeks, and after dinner, when I asked Mike if I’d oversold Lawry’s, he said that on the contrary, I’d undersold it! It was a great night with Kenny taking care of transportation and drinks, and Krissi and Mike picking up the dinner bill! Krissi and Mike told us that they tried to get our oldest Billy to join us as a surprise, but with his family and work situation, it was impossible.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was reserved for downtown/Fremont Street. We tried to get a cab for all 5 of us, but the doorman said there were no large cabs in the line, and two cabs would be about $56. For $60 we took a party van, (Krissi’s a good negotiator) and a good time was had by all! We toured various casinos, won and lost some money, had some drinks, and ended the adventure with a couple of cheeseburgers each from White Castle! What a great day!

We had the party van drop us off at the Horseshoe casino next door to Paris, and after some gambling (and winning – “put a dollar in, win a car”), we adjourned to Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Sports Kitchen.

Everybody enjoyed their meal, and once again it was time for Mom and Dad to call it a night, and leave the fun to our three younger partners.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was a sad day because it was the kids last day in Vegas, but we still had some fun! Back in 2003, Susie and I got the idea that someday we might want to retire to Las Vegas. With this in mind, with the help of our friend Sharon, we bought a house in Vegas. We picked out the model, the lot it was to be built on, and all the finishes and appliances. 3 months later, the build on 10423 Gwynns Falls St. was completed, and although the plans were to rent it out, we decided that we were going to be the first people to sleep in the house. We shipped a king sized aerobed to Sharon, and spent 3 nights living there before we rented it out. We timed it right, and land values in Vegas skyrocketed. We rented the house out for the entire time we owned it (paying our costs) and sold the house 22 months later for a profit of about $135,000. That profit became the downpayment on our Ocean City house, so this Vegas house in a very real way led to us purchasing our now forever home! I’ve told you that story so I could tell you that we started Wednesday by getting the car from the Valet at Paris, and we drove out to visit our house.

The area had grown greatly in the past 22 years, but we were able to find the house. We drove the neighborhood, took some pictures and then headed off to our second stop of the day, an early lunch at In-N-Out Burger.

In-N-Out Burger is a West Coast only chain that we’ve known about for the last 20+ years. During that time, anytime we’ve made a trip to California or Nevada, the trip has included at least one stop at an In-N-Out. In 2016, when we drove across the country after I retired, we even found one in Idaho! The last time we’d eaten here was about 7 years ago, so a stop was a necessity, and we chose one near the Vegas house on Eastern Avenue. Susie and I ordered Double Doubles Animal Style and Animal Style Fries well done and a couple of drinks. I’m sad to say that we were not (nor were the kids) blown away by the food. Perhaps the hype over the past 7 years has been too much, or the quality has changed, or our taste has changed, but Susie said she’d rather have had a Big Mac and frankly the fries stunk! To be brutally honest, I enjoyed the White Castle cheese burgers the night before on Fremont Street better!

After a disappointing lunch, we headed to another one of our favorites, Green Valley Ranch for some more gambling! We marveled how the area around the casino has grown since we first came here 20+ years ago, and gambled for an hour of so alongside and apart from the kids. Having had enough of our adventure for the day, we loaded into the car, and drove back to Paris.

Wednesday’s evening meal would be our last with the kids, and we decided to go back to Vanderpump’s. We were shown to a great private table in the back of the restaurant, ordered some drinks and an assortments of some wonderful finger foods, and thoroughly enjoyed our last meal together!

With still some time to kill before the kids had to head off to the airport, we returned to our room, and had a rousing game of Texas Hold-em with Mike serving as the dealer and using another deck of cards as chips. We had some drinks, enjoyed the cards, and our time together till we said our goodbyes, and Krissi, Mike, and Kenny headed off to the airport.

THURSDAY

Now with just the two of us, Susie and I had plans to visit one of our favorite places in Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon. 25 years ago, on our first trip to Vegas, we’d explored the canyon, and it was a place that we have visited virtually every time we’ve been to Vegas! It frankly was the place we fell in love with in the Las Vegas desert and probably the inspiration for even thinking we might enjoy retirement there. Luckily for us, our friend Eileen was in Vegas the week before us, and through her Facebook posts discovered that you now needed a reservation to tour the canyon, so I went on line and secured one for 1 PM on Thursday afternoon.

Thursday morning we got the car and headed around the 215 Beltway to one of our favorite Hotel/Casinos, located just down the road from Red Rock. Red Rock Resort and Casino is about as far away from the Las Vegas Strip as you can get and still be in Vegas and we love it. The first time we went to Red Rock Canyon the hotel wasn’t even there yet, but it’s now one of our favorite destinations. We started with an early lunch in the Coffee Shop, and then killed some time gambling before we headed off to the canyon for our 1 o’clock reservation. As I said, we’ve visited the canyon many times, and have even brought friends there over the years. The main thing we are interested in is the 13 mile scenic loop, and within no time, off we went.

After taking a little more than an hour on the loop, we headed back to Red Rock Resort to play a few more games of chance, we returned to Paris to think about packing our suitcase and to have dinner at the Cafe Americano.

FRIDAY

Friday was our last day, as we were scheduled to take the red-eye back to first Philadelphia and then on to Atlantic City and home. We checked out and left the hotel about 10 AM, and decided to have breakfast at a Nevada place we’d first been to in Reno, Peg’s Glorious Ham and Eggs. We decided to take advantage of their menu and take a brief trip back to Hawaii and both enjoyed Loco Moco, a dish we’d first had at Oahu’s Rainbow Cafe. We enjoyed it a lot!

Then, after filling the rental car with gas, we returned to Red Rock Resort, where we’d decided to spend the rest of the day. Now this resort in addition to a hotel and casino, and a bunch of restaurants also has a bowling alley and a 12 screen movie theater. No, we didn’t go bowling, but after gambling and having some luck for a couple of hours, we bought tickets and throughly enjoyed the movie Wicked!

It was a great last day, but it was time to head home, so after the movie we grabbed a bite at the resort’s food court (Orange Chicken and Fried Rice at Panda Express), hit the bathrooms, and headed back to the Vegas Car Rental Center, and the shuttle bus back to Terminal 1.

The flight to Philly, the transfer between terminals, and the bus back to Atlantic City worked perfectly, and early on Saturday morning we were reunited with our brand new Honda CRV, in the parking garage at the AC airport, and were on our way home!

It was a great trip, a wonderful way to celebrate the 75th anniversary of my birth, and just so special to renew our vows with Kenny, Krissi and Mike in attendance. Thanks to our great kids and my wonderful wife for coming up with the idea, and then being part of this adventure!

The Adventure Continues……