The trip that I am not planning! Day 5 - 28th March

This morning we had an alarm at 0615 which felt early! We got ready and packed our last few bits.

I did receive a message from Jennifer at about 0700 asking me why we weren’t at the airport (she thought the time difference was 2 hours not 3 so once I reminded her she was less concerned).

We got our final Uber of the trip to the airport which was a smooth journey.

We were able to drop our bags very quickly and then we headed to security where our bath and bodyworks candles were checked.

I got a coffee from Dunkin as I hadn’t yet had my caffeine for the morning but oddly we didn’t actually get any breakfast – we did have muffins in the room before we left but still!

We boarded on time and had a smooth flight, we had entertainment via our phones this time, although I can’t remember what I watched. I think Rob watched the Ford movie (he’s not here to ask).

We had 2 lots of drinks during the flight and some more biscoff, although no pretzels.

We arrived at Philadelphia on time at 1700, bags took a little while but we were then on our shuttle bus to the car hire place.

We collected our pick-up truck which we mostly booked because it was one of the cheapest options for the weekend and headed to Jen and Tom’s.

We arrived at the house and they were both visibly impressed (other words are available) with our chosen vehicle. ;)

We were quite hungry so we ordered Pizza for dinner.

We also apparently decided to pretend it was my birthday for the weekend (as we normally visit for that weekend in Feb) so there was a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner in our room and gifts for both Rob and I. I also had an amazing birthday card signed by the cats 

We had used our cricut before our trip and had made Tom a sign for his office – Jennifer had told me the wording he wanted.

We also had bought Jennifer her Peloton century shirt (which Rob and I had personalised) and she was suitably amused. Sadly, none of us had our camera’s to capture her reaction which was quite funny.

We also swapped some snacks – we had lots of dark chocolate snacks from the UK (which oddly I haven’t taken a photo of) and returned with some Girl Scout cookies and some Christmas coffee (which they had a surplus of and I liked!)

We spent the evening catching up as while we saw Tom briefly in September we hadn’t all been together since February 2023.

Rob and I were quite tired so I think we had an early night.

The trip that I am not planning! Day 4 - 27th March

Our last full day in Vegas already!

We had a slightly later start again, Rob and I had breakfast in our room and then popped to Target for a quick look around before we met Emma and Chris.

Today we took the monorail to Park MGM followed quickly by NY NY where we stopped for a pizza – I mean we were in New York!

We took a quick look at MGM Grand from the outside and enjoyed the sunshine as we walked back to Vdara via a few shops (which might have included a return trip to Target).

We had the our final Vegas rest and did our packing ahead of our flight the next day (flight was 0940 so we had to be up early).

We met Chris and Emma for the final time and took an uber to Luxor, where we were visiting playplayground as Emma had managed to get us free VIP tickets for the evening.

We had to sign a waiver on arrival but once that was done we were given a goodie bag and free cap or beanie (I picked the Beanie and think it was the ‘cooler’ look) along with our game cards.

We then got our included cocktail / mocktail before we started to figure out the games.

We played everything that was available at least once and I think we were there for about 2 hours and we didn’t get close to using our included points.

Each game costs 15 points per person and we had 360 each, we could easily have stayed for hours but we got tired as some of the games were quite physical.

Once I work out how to use Youtube I will upload some videos of me looking like an idiot – some of you might have already seen them on my Instagram.

We had a really fun night though and if you are in the area I would recommend it – although I am sure most people don’t need the VIP access as you get plenty of points with the standard package.

Finally, we had dinner at the foodcourt, Rob and I had Johnny Rockets but I can’t remember what Emma and Chris had. Our meals were good, but they were expensive – it was almost £45!

We Uber’d back to Vdara and said goodbye to Emma and Chris (they were flying home the next day but at a much later hour) before heading to bed before our early start in the morning.

The trip that I am not planning! Day 3 - 26th March

This morning we had agreed a slightly later start so Rob and I went in search of food and eventually picked up some deli croissant’s at Walgreens.

We had split plans for this morning as the boys were going to Welderup (from the Discovery channel tv show) and originally Em and I were going to have some pool time.

Unfortunately, the pool wasn’t open (despite me seeing people in the Bellagio pool from our window) and Em was having foot issues – she had some blisters 

So, the boys got an uber and I decided to go and visit Paris while I had some time.

I decided to head out via Bellagio and across the road, the sun was out so this was a pleasant walk.

I took a look around Paris and then took a quick look in a few of the shops at Miracle Mile and into Planet Hollywood where I passed by the Earl of Sandwich but resisted buying anything!

I got a message from Rob to say they were on the way back so I headed back via The Cosmopolitan – don’t these dogs look like they are having a meeting? I wonder what they are discussing?

I also passed this mega line for the Wicked Spoon buffet and there is a VIP line 

Here are a few of the photos from the boys morning:

I met up with Rob and Chris (Em was still resting her feet) and we headed over to The Flamingo where we saw some Flamingos 

Then we headed towards The Linq (which I believe is the same idea as the London Eye) where we found a Ghirardelli shop and I couldn’t resist a sundae!

We headed back via Bellagio / Cosmo for our now customary afternoon nap 

All refreshed and with Emma back we got an uber to Silverton Casino where we had a look around and saw the mermaids (really just one but there are multiple shows across the day).

The boys also went into the Bass Pro shop where they found many guns, boats and ATVs. They were amazed at the range of guns!

There were also a couple of ‘choppers’ which were built by Orange County Choppers (also previously a discovery show).

We decided to have dinner at the Sundance Grill as the menu looked reasonable and it didn’t look busy.

We enquired about a table and the greeter quite grumpily told us they were very busy and we would have to wait around 25 mins.

The restaurant seemed quite empty so we assumed that it was a staffing issue, she took our number and then realised she couldn’t text it (we had told her that we didn’t think it would work) so she took our name (or at least Rob’s) and told us to come back in 25 mins.

We got a drink in the bar while we waited and returned as instructed where she yelled “ROBERT” and then headed off at pace towards our table. We practically ran after her as we were afraid of getting told off.

We were seated and had menu’s thrown at us, we realised our table was a bit uncomfortable so fearing for our treatment we dared to ask to move.

Our server obliged and we hoped we wouldn’t get in trouble 

Despite this we actually had a nice meal, we were brought bread rolls and some of the group had salad (not me!)

Rob had steak and asparagus with mash and I had a chicken sandwich – it did come with fries but they were brought separately and I forgot to take a photo.

Overall we really enjoyed our visit to Silverton – it was much less modern than some of the places on the strip but the food was good and reasonably priced (our share of the bill was £60 inc drinks and tip) and the crazy greeter really made for a hilarious meal!

I don’t appear to have had dessert – good job I had 2 cakes the day before! We took another uber back to the hotel and that was the end of the day