(Richard enjoys taking pictures from the airplane)Our flight into Vegas took a little longer than expected, so we were all so glad to get off that plane and hit the Strip. We checked in to Bally's in the early afternoon (and then immediately considered checking out, what a dump!)
(Richard and I want to switch hotels and go to the MGM!)We decided to stick it out and hope for cleaner bathrooms in the morning. Instead of hanging out in our rooms, we went hunting for food. First stop: The Spice Market Buffet at the newly renovated Hard Rock Casino (formerly Aladdin). Lots of yummy options from around the world. This is the one place in Las Vegas that is very vegetarian-friendly.
That evening we got our tickets for the "Price is Right Live" stage show at Bally's for the next day. Mom was not thrilled at the prospect of attending a knock-off game show, and she made it very clear that if anyone called her name she would get up and walk right out the door. She was very clear: If she hears "Rita Lerch, Come on Down" there would be hell to pay!
After some slot machine action and desperate hopes to spin the Wheel of Fortune, we called it a night. Then we promptly woke up around 4 a.m.!!!! Darn that time change!
We spent Thursday morning at the MGM looking for my lucky Wheel of Fortune slot machine, but, alas, they have changed the portraits on the walls and Gregory Peck was nowhere to be found. We settled for lunch at Il Fornaio at New York, New York.
(I needed the venti soy latte... I was up at 4 a.m.!)On the way back to Bally's, Richard decided to try his luck on one of those big slot machines we've all been warned to avoid. After waiting an obnoxious length of time for another guy to finish his $20 (one dollar at a time), Richard put in his money and pulled the arm. Much to our surprise (and to the enjoyment of the 40+ Asian businessmen gathered nearby) Richard won $50. The big slot machines still pay out with coins, so it was a very noisy, satisfying win!
("Triple bar... Triple bar... Wooo-Hoooo!")
(Check out the nifty Price is Right name tags!)Once we got into the theater they got the crowd warmed up with sample pricing games, then Randy West came out to warm us up. All the while Mom offered her diatribe on how they had better not call her name.
With detailed instructions on how to "Oooooh" and "Aaaaaaaah" properly and how to cheer for contestants, we were ready to play. Randy explained that not only would contestants be called down to play the game, he would randomly call out names from the audience to win all kinds of fabulous prizes. He asked if we were ready, and we all (well, not mom) yelled "Yes!"
Then he called mom's name.
Seriously...
The first name Randy called was "RITA LERCH!"
Oh, if only they hadn't taken away our cameras before the show...
The good news? He didn't say "Rita Lerch, Come on Down!"
The bad news? Mom was halfway down to the stage when he said that mom won a fabulous prize and didn't need to come down after all.
More good news? Mom won a gift certificate for lunch for two at the Eiffle restaurant at the Paris casino. And she didn't even have to take part in any pricing games.
(Hey, there's the big winner!) The excitement continued as Randy called out contestants, four at a time. They would call new contestants for each of the pricing games. So, in this way, it's very different from the show on TV. That, and the host is not Bob Barker or Drew Carey, or even the promised Todd Newton. And the prizes were things like toasters and cookware.
We thought we had our little bit of luck when Mom won her restaurant gift certificate, but a little bit later in the show we heard, "JENNIFER SHATZER, COME ON DOWN!!!!"
We couldn't believe it. Jen actually got a chance to play the game!
Unfortunately, she listened to us when we yelled that she should bid $150 for a microwave. (The actual retail price was only $90). But in my defense, it was an LG microwave and they are pretty swanky. (Go ahead... Check them out on Amazon. Way swanky!)
Jen won a lovely Price is Right t-shirt for playing the game. And mom won her free lunch, which the girls planned to use the next day when the boys took on the Star Trek Experience.
("I was on the Price is Right and all I won was this lousy t-shirt!")We found our way back to our hotel room where we planned to order bloody mary mix to add to the vodka purchased at the gift shop...
(If this isn't a group in need of bloody maries, I've never seen one!)(Warning! Warning! Double chins result when taking self portraits!)
Stay tuned for "Vegaspalooza 2007 (the Conclusion)!"
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