(Well, not actually. Here’s my report from earlier this month for those who haven’t seen it: https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/f…es-to-vegas-for-a-quick-sternum-strap.215406/)
This trip, like many of my trips, is quite unique. There’s often some “anchor” to the trip’s theme… last year it was the cross-country train ride from Chicago to Kingman, AZ. This time around, it’s a key change in my life… which is that I am now able to drive! And I am now making up for lost time in terms of all the travel I couldn’t do as someone reliant on rideshares and planes/trains/buses. Or very generous and kind VMB members who have offered me rides over the years… my gratitude for this will never fade!
The “simple rundown” of this trip is: I’m flying into Orlando from Detroit this afternoon… driving from there to Dallas with a few stops along the way in Mississippi/Louisiana, then flying from Dallas to Vegas, and then renting another car in Vegas where more adventures will ensue. Total trip duration of 26 days. And to make things crazier… the first seven nights will be one-night stays, so I won’t be getting too comfy anywhere for a while!
Of course, many of you want more detail than that… so I will of course gladly indulge you
Tonight: Staying at an airport hotel in Detroit. With tomorrow morning’s flight being on the early side (9:52 am departure), I had two choices. Either bust my ass to leave my place around 5:30 am and navigate public transit in a hurry (waking up at about 4-something am), or get an airport hotel the night before and catch their 8:00 am shuttle to the airport just a few minutes away. A younger and more adventurous/thrifty version of me would have chosen the former… but given the amount of moving parts here and the fact that a good night’s sleep is essential to safe driving, I opted for the latter and I feel good about it. There’s also a Lebanese takeaway down the street from this hotel which looks awesome and I cannot wait to have dinner there!
Tomorrow: Departing at 9:52 am, arriving at Orlando MCO at 2:52 pm with a connection in Baltimore. This flight is on Frontier and was booked back in March after Southwest announced their dreaded policy change of no more free checked bags for everyone. So as a jab towards Southwest, Frontier ran a promo in which one could get a carry-on bag, a checked bag, AND seat selection included in any fare. So not only did I pay just $39.98 for a flight with all the “trimmings”, but because they changed my flight from direct to connecting, they gave me a $50 courtesy credit… which means they’re basically paying me $10.02 to take this flight
Picking up my car rental from Dollar… booked it for a week for USD $289 going from Orlando airport to Dallas Love Field airport. The catch is that it’s an EV… and this is my first time driving one. Regular gas cars were more than double the price… and I figured the cost savings along with the learning experience would be worthwhile.
I’m also realizing this is becoming a pretty long post already… so I’ll rattle off the approximate structure day by day from here:
Sat 26: Staying overnight at my friend’s place in Ocala, about a 1.5 hour drive north of Orlando. Social visit, not much to report here most likely.
Sun 27: Driving up to Tallahassee and staying overnight. No reason I picked here other than it was pretty well right in between Ocala and Biloxi, and I was able to get a fairly inexpensive hotel with EV charging. I’ve also never properly spent time in northern Florida, so I’m glad I’ll get to have boots-on-the-ground perspective.
Mon 28: Driving over to Biloxi, Mississippi and staying at Harrah’s Gulf Coast on a comp. On the way I’ll be stopping in Robertsdale, Alabama to visit Buc-ee’s for the first time which I’m very much looking forward to. My time in Biloxi will be spent checking out some of the local casinos, including the Beau Rivage which I’ve always wanted to see in person. Also considering doing the Biloxi Shrimping Trip, but I’ll play that one by ear. I’ve scoped out Parrains Seafood as the top candidate for where to have dinner Monday night, which will be my first taste of authentic Cajun food.
Tue 29: Driving over to Lake Charles, Louisiana and staying at Horseshoe Lake Charles on a comp. Same type of deal… this is more for transit than tourism, though I’ll be checking out the local casinos all the same… particularly the Golden Nugget Lake Charles which has always intrigued me for some reason. Dinner will likely be at Steamboat Bill’s which looks fantastic from the reviews I found.
Wed 30: Driving up to Shreveport, Louisiana and staying at Sam’s Town on a comp. Once again, same type of deal. The good thing about this place is that the casinos seem to be much more in walking distance of each other, which will make exploring them a lot easier. I’ll be meeting up with a VMB member for dinner, we’ll be going to BeauxJax Crafthouse in Bossier City just across the river.
Thu 31: Driving over to Dallas, where I’ll be staying at a Holiday Inn close-ish to the airport. That evening I’ll be meeting up with @Johnzimbo … we’ll be getting some BBQ and then playing some mini golf. Depending on when I arrive, I might also try and hit the 3coin showroom… an apparel brand made famous by the On Tilt Boys, who are among my favourite gambling YouTubers!
Now… brief pause. Originally, this trip was supposed to consist of an overnight train ride from Dallas to Maricopa, Arizona on the Amtrak Texas Eagle. Unfortunately, the friend I was meant to go with had to bail, so we just cancelled the ticket and got 75% of our money back and will just try to make it happen next year
The alternate path I chose was to fly directly from Dallas to Las Vegas… and I managed to get a $115 fare on Southwest and use up an $83 credit that was just sitting there. The best part is, Southwest flies from Dallas Love Field airport and NOT the DFW airport… and Dallas Love Field is exactly where I was already slated to drop off the car anyway. That’s a win!
Fri Aug 1/Sat Aug 2: Flying to Las Vegas in the afternoon… I’ll be staying at Main Street Station for two nights. I only stayed here once pre-COVID and wasn’t super impressed. However, the renovated rooms look pretty great… and although this hotel wouldn’t be my first choice compared to other options downtown, it’s hard to come by Fri/Sat night comps as a low roller… so I’ll take it! I plan to attend the Golden Nugget Night Swim event on one of these two nights. During the day on Saturday I also plan to go to Strat to claim free play and dining credit, while also hopefully properly checking out Slots-a-Fun and perhaps hitting Peppermill. @Jsmile898 will be staying at Fontainebleau during this time if I remember correctly, so hopefully we’ll get to line up in this approximate part of the city.
Sun Aug 3: Picking up my next car rental from the Enterprise at Main Street Station, and then picking up my Canadian friend J who I’ll be taking down to Laughlin with me. I’ll be in Laughlin for seven nights in total… two at Edgewater, and five at Harrah’s, all fully comped. Not a ton of plans during this stretch besides doing the London Bridge Jet Boat Tour on Wednesday. J also needs to be back in Vegas on Thursday, so I’ll be driving her up… and will actually be doing an “overlap” night in Vegas at Sam’s Town. Both because I want an excuse to stay there (it’s been too long!) and a place to do laundry, which I will need at this point. I’ll also be picking up my LVA coupon book from the Huntington Press office. Then back to Laughlin for Fri/Sat nights.
Sun 10/Mon 11: After dropping off the rental at Enterprise at MSS, I’ll be staying at The D for two nights. Pretty normal/standard DTLV stuff for me. Planning on maxing out the LVA $100 free play coupon at The D on Monday (requiring $10,000 of coin-in). So hopefully I’ll hit my first-ever progressive royal at Vue Bar!
Tuesday 12 to Tuesday 19: This is the final stretch… with seven consecutive nights in the same hotel. Shocker, right? This will be seven nights in the Versailles Balcony Room at Paris… paying a grand total of $0.00 for all seven nights, which were comped using the 5,000 tier credit awards. I will be renting a car for two days from Budget at Golden Nugget, where I was able to get a Kia Soul for USD $58 for two days in total. Figured that would give me the ability to hit Walmart on the way to Paris and stock up on water/etc., but I’ll also be taking advantage of the wheels to do a day trip to Mesquite on Wednesday using the car. Then dropping it off downtown on Thursday.
I’ve got four show bookings… namely X Burlesque at Flamingo and X Country at Harrah’s (both purchased for $50 each during the Caesars $50 ticket sale), Fantasy at Luxor (snagged for just $27 during a flash sale), and Tournament of Kings at Excalibur (using the MyVegas award for a free ticket).
Set dining plan include Guy Fieri’s at Linq (gotta have that Prime Time burger again!) and Giada at Cromwell to use up my $100 Caesars Diamond celebration dinner. Also have a number of “tentative” places, which will most definitely include Ellis Island.
Then… flying home on Tuesday 19, and back to normal life again!
Just to set expectations, I don’t plan on updating as thoroughly/actively as I once used to be able to do. But I’ll post whatever I can along the way. Just wanted to forewarn there might be some rather brief posts. But with lots of photos as always.
Let the road-tripping begin! 
