Just another Monday

But it was a busy one and fun filled, too.

First we met up with friends for dinner at Casa Don Juan. It was our first visit. The restaurant is located downtown outside the Arts District. It's a cute place with bright colors, reminiscent of Mexico. It had the homey authentic flair, it had promise. See, we've had trouble narrowing down a really good Mexican restaurant. We've tried over a dozen, but none can master it all - each falls short in some aspect of the meal.

Casa Don Juan's shortfall is the salsa. It is weak. It was runny and really only tasted like tomato. We asked if they had another, they claimed it was mild. But I think he misunderstood what we were asking. The new salsa had a better texture, it actually stuck on the chips, it was more flavorful, too. The chips were quite good, by the way. I don't like re-fried beans but Frank said they were good. We also had guacamole. It was alright, a bit bland, smooth and creamy for my taste. I appreciate a lumpy guac with a lot of flavor.

Our food quickly arrived. I had a chile relleno and cheese enchilada with rice. Frank had a pork chimichanga and our friends had combo fajitas (steak, chicken, shrimp), and bean and cheese chimichanga. Tortillas are made fresh in house. I love fresh tortillas they can really make a dish. Everything was quite good. The chicken was the best of the fajita combo. The servers lacked personality but they tended to us just fine. Tasty food, good company, what more can you ask for? Prices were reasonable, too. We'll definitely come again.

We parted ways with our friends. I made plans with friends visiting from Chicago, we were to meet up after 8 o'clock. Rather than going home, I suggested we go to Bellagio to kill time. Frank agreed.

We checked out the conservatory. I didn't love it. They've had better summer displays past years. I attempted to take photos, but my camera went haywire. It looks like I may be getting that new one I have my sights set on sooner than later. We had winnings from Friday night (Thanks, PT's) so we gambled to pass the time. I lost twenty bucks and Frank broke even. We saw $10 blackjack tables, Frank was tempted to play but it was time to go.

We met up with our friends at Margaritaville. We had a group of eleven and no real plans so we just wandered between Casino Royale and Bellagio. We stopped for drinks, chit-chatted, gambled, and saw the sights. Weirdest one being three guys in full Ghostbusters gear walking through the Imperial Palace. I haven't seen such detailed costumes since I was twelve at Universal Studios, Fl.

Table limits were bizarre. "low limit" joints like Casino Royale, O'Sheas and Bill's all had ten dollar minimum bets on blackjack. Craps were three or five bucks most places. And they were all packed. The $10 table were practically empty at Bellagio, the casino was dead as a whole. But everywhere else we went was packed.

At one point, the girls and guys of our group split up. Guys went to hit the tables and us girls were on a mission to the daquiri bar at Imperial Palace. We ended up getting swayed inside Tequila Joe's club with free drinks. We entered with coupons in hand, went directly to the bar, got our free round, and jetted out. Thankyouverymuch. Made our stop at the daquiri bar and then continued on to meet up with the guys. The night continued bouncing between bars, tables - just gambling, drinking and chatting. We ended the night at Bill's, we were highly amused by the Karaoke and cheap drinks. It was after midnight so we decided to call it a night. It'd had been fun. We said our goodbye's and headed back to Bellagio. Walking through the casino we noticed they, too, had $10 tables and even one $5 table. How strange is that? They weren't even very busy, I suppose that's why the had the lower limits. We could've stayed at the Bellagio and played there. Oh well, we made out well and had a good time. Final night's gambling tally, I lost $20 and Frank made $210. You gotta love this city, I know I do!