The Travel Monkeys

Eighteen days into our journey we left Utah and headed towards Las Vegas, Nevada where a free hotel room awaited us. (Somehow all our previous attempts to break Vegas are now paying off because occasionally we get these great offers for free rooms.)

The road to Vegas from Zion took us through the corner of Arizona, where we got to see many more miles of spectacular rock formations.

John drove this leg of the trip and quickly noticed that this stretch of 17-South is very much like the expert level of a driving video game.

At this point in our journey, we realized that we were pretty overstimulated from everything we’ve seen. I found myself thinking, “Dear brain, please process breathtaking canyon #263.”

We were delighted to roll into Las Vegas, which is pretty familiar territory for us. The universe plotted away in our favor and Bally’s somehow decided to upgrade our room. They really weren’t kidding.

Ridiculous. I loved it.

We played some poker and just a dab of roulette. Lady luck was on our side so we ended up treating ourselves to a lovely Italian dinner at Al Dente. John had the lasagna and I had the rigatoni bolognese. (I was so good at eating lots of vegetables during our trip that the only thing my body craved at this point was pasta and meat!) We paired our feast with a lush and fruity 2005 St. Francis Old Vine Zinfandel from California.

For those of you who would like to take a stab at free hotel rooms and fancy dinners in Las Vegas, here is our Roulette tip:

Find a table with a low minimum bet ($10 if they have it) and buy in for an amount you can afford to lose without feeling too disgusted (just in case you do lose it). Then choose 10 numbers that you fancy and spread your chips on them – this is called “playing singles on the inside.” Then watch the little ball and wheel as they spin and think uber-happy loving and grateful thoughts.

When to stop:

1. You hit few spins and are happy with what you won (maybe you started with $50 and now have $100)

2. You played for a while and are sideways. One hour of not losing your money is a statistical achievement.

3. You lost. Perhaps you didn’t muster up enough good thoughts. Try harder next time.

Most important – always use a player’s club card for the casino you are in. That is how you get free posh hotel rooms.

On Monday we drove through Memphis, Tennessee and the city looked pretty rough. We made an executive decision not to stay there that night, and instead we headed south along the Mississippi river to the Tunica casinos and Sam’s Town.

We ate a ridiculous amount of fried southern food at Smokey Joe’s Cafe. The bucket you see was filled with fried crab, catfish, shrimp, hush-puppies, and corn. Everything in it was fried – including the corn -The whole cob was battered and fried! (Note to mom: If I look thin in the above photo – don’t worry – It’s just the angle and I certainly won’t be thin after eating the contents of this bucket. )

After dinner we settled in to play some No-Limit Texas Hold’em for the night.  Unfortunately, we ended up leaving a little bit of money at the tables and my favorite shirt in the hotel room.  Que sera, sera. Arkansas, here we come!

We started our cross-country adventure in style at the brand new MGM Grand at Foxwoods.

The hotel uses one of my favorite color combinations – the brilliant contrast of brown and blue.  The rooms are modern and stylish. The bathrooms are great – huge and marble and lighting that makes you look about 10 years younger.

Least favorite thing: The room had an asortment of yummy, salty-looking nuts in clear jars what will magically charge your credit card ridiculous amounts if you touch them.

We ate at Altastrada, an Italian Bistro and wine bar. Our pasta dishes were delicious (I had the mushroom and my husband had the pork ragu). The portions were a normal, healthy size that is just enough to satisfy you without being ridiculous.  I ordered a glass of Barolo without looking at the wine list and was enjoying it very much when my husband informed me that it was $25 a glass. (Tip: check prices before ordering a glass of wine at expensive italian bistros.) Nevertheless, it was fantastic – a 2003 Damiliano “Lecinquevigne” Barolo from Piedmont – the scent and flavor were reminiscent of chocolate port, with a rich, full body and hearty structure. John had a glass of 2005 Giacosa Fratelt “Bussia” Barbera d’Alba – a very friendly and smooth wine that let its fruity flavors “pop” with our pastas.

The service was professional, kind, and attentive. The bread was crusty and warm, and we were well pleased.