January 28, 2008

Monte Carlo Fire

Friday around 11 o'clock, a fire broke out at Monte Carlo. My office building is less than a mile away, and we have a direct line of sight. Smoke filled the air and ash showered down from above. Here are photos from my perspective of the blaze.



Luckily no one was harmed. Floors 27-32 sustained the bulk of the damage. Here's a couple showing the aftermath.




The resort is still closed. An opening date has not been released. The cause of the fire and amount of damage is unknown. However, repairs are underway.

January 21, 2008

The Suite Life... Take two.

We received a promotion that allowed us to book the Signature for $149, we couldn't resist. We had another fabulous stay last weekend. We tried to upgrade to a 1 bedroom suite again, but none were available. Our room was in tower 2 on the 37th floor (37-715).

We got settled and ordered room service. Frank had a ham and cheese omlet and I had the scumptious banana nut french toast. Afterwards, we relaxed... in the tub, in bed. Delightful. When hunger struck we made reservations at Nobhill, we dressed and walked over to MGM.

Nobhill was very quiet, but it started to fill up toward the end of our meal. We were seated in a private booth. We started with cheese fondue and charcuterie board. The selection of meats were very good and the aged parm was the best I've ever tasted. The fondue was divine. Frank ordered the special, bone-in ribeye. It was delicious! We agreed it was better than those we've had at Delmonico. It was served with roasted potatoes, watercress, and a veggie medley. I had bacon wrapped berkshire pork loin, which was accompanied by roasted duck, and brussel sprouts. They also delivered a variety of potato puree: horseradish, tomato, pesto, garlic and traditional. Everything was excellent. We passed on dessert, but we received hot chocolate as a complimentary after dinner treat. Needless to say, we were pleased by yet another Michael Mina restaurant.

We hit the casino, we each played $20 in a new nickle slot. I lost $20, Frank won $20, even money, we went on to play Sigma derby. Frank lost his share fairly quickly. I was doing well, so I gave him the quarters I had left. He ended up winning a few races, he cashed out once he broke even. We went on to drop a couple quarters in misc. slots. Anytime we won, I'd cash out the ticket. By the time we were done, I had a handful of TITO slips. We cashed those in and wound up $6.25 ahead. We had fun, too.

After our "big win" we decided it was best to take the money and run. We stopped in the Signature lounge to redeem our 2 free drinks (included in the room promotion, along with $25 dining credit) we each had an ice cold beer. When we got back to our room, we cracked open a bottle of champagne and snuggled in bed. There's nothing better. Eventually we dozed off.

I was first to rise, but I lounged in bed and watched tv most of the morning. Frank got up and soaked in the tub. Then, he ordered room service. We had the same spread as the day before. Excellent, once again.

After breakfast, I took a bubble bath, while Frank enjoyed a cigar on the balcony. Wouldn't it be lovely if every day started like this?

We lounged around the room until check out at 1pm. I only spent a short-time on the balcony, it was a bit cool and the sun didn't hit our unit. The views were nice, much like those we had on our first stay.


We were reluctant to leave, but we knew we'd return. We settled the hotel charges, then valet brought around our car. Rather than heading straight home, I suggested we stop at the Atomic Testing Museum. We killed two hours there, we learned a lot about the Nevada Test Site and the history of the atomic bomb. T'was very interesting!

As usual time slipped by way too fast, but it was highly enjoyable playing tourist.

January 2, 2008

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping that everyone has a fabulous 2008 filled with good health, wealth, and happiness. Our New Year's Eve was low-key this year. Frank and I played Bingo at Red Rock. Then, we met my mom and uncle Jeff at Rio's All American Grille for dinner. They sat us upstairs, we had the place to ourselves. Each of us had steak and we started with an order of chicken wings, the meal was good, it was nice getting together. Afterwards, we went home and watched Robbie Maddison make the world record breaking jump live at the Rio. We followed up with local coverage of the New Year's festivities until eleven. Then, we headed out to Spring Mountain and Durango to view the fireworks over the strip. You can view the 8-minute display here.

The last major event of 2007 was the opening of the Palazzo. Per usual, we attended the opening night festivities. We got over to Palazzo about two hours after they opened their doors to the public (about 9pm). Crowds were minimal, evidentally, not many got word that it finally opened. I think most that were there wandered over from Venetian and likely had no clue that they were among its first customers.

Anyway, we were underwhelmed. Maybe once the stores and restaurants are complete it'll be a different story.View photos here