The Plan, 12/'17. Shows and Steak.

Less than 2 months to go-time, and the plan is coming together. Good mix of plan/no plan, with a ton of shows and steak to keep things interesting.

Wednesday the 20th, fly in night, I'l be in town by around 9:30p. Catch a cab or Bell, be to Mirage by 10p, check in, get freshened up and head out to do some damage by somewhere around 11p latest. This will likely be a low or no gambling night, probably just get some drinks and a light snack and take it easy on the money.

I was, with an unexpected tax expense, in slight money trouble for this trip but have decided to take out a Discover card with a couple grand limit so if any emergency pops up or if I'm just taking a cash pounding I'll have backup. So former money worries are now no worries. That said I will probably take it slightly easy the first night in town, knowing I have 6 FULL FUCKING DAYS ahead of me.

Day One:
Zero plan for this day. After checking out of Mirage and into Caesars, this will be one of the "wander around aimlessly" days, see where I end up and have no ties or commitments. Likely will stay away from the south end of the strip as I will be there the following day, but again who knows. We'll see. If the weather's decent it could even be a check out Lucky Dragon/SLS day up north. Can't be up TOO late as I have to be up by about 10a the following day for...

Day Two:
The big "plan day" of the trip. Pretty set up from wake up to about 8p. Up, out, down to Town Square for Star Wars pregame. Movie at noon, then cab up to Mandalay and have a couple drinks, maybe at the Franklin, while waiting for the mandatory Skyfall pilgrimage happening at 5p for views and more drinks. Then it's over to the lovely (trashy) Excalibur for a myVegas redemption at the Camelot steakhouse there. Never been, supposed to be OK, and I figure you can't screw a filet and several glasses of wine up too much.

Done and out of there by 8p or so, then it's back up north on the strip walk with a full belly and an empty soul. Could be a late one. This could be a pretty epic day, I like the feel of it.

Day Three:
It's the Saturday before Xmas so who knows what the strip will be like, hopefully a pretty mellow vibe. Nuggs/Dubs at 5:30p if I'm bored and need something to watch up until I go to see Piff the Magic Dragon at Flamingo. This has been a show I've wanted to see for a while and I was able to get it through a Vegas.com promo for $10. No brainer. Then after the show I am cowboy.

Day Four:
Xmas eve, the other big "plan" day of the trip. I'll be free to sleep in and lounge about early in the day, maybe watch a little football somewhere if I'm feeling lazy, then it's back to home base for an early dinner at Old Homestead steakhouse at CP. It has good reviews and I want to have at least one blowout meal on the trip so this will be it. Then it's off to a 7p performance of Mystere at TI. It's the first of all the Vegas Cirque shows and apparently is still pretty great, so for $70 I said why not.

I don't spend much time at TI but may in the future (I'm in their email deals program) so this could be a feeling out process for part of the day. Maybe throw a little in the slots there and see if I can get a teaser comp offer. Worst case scenario it's a good strip location so I can always branch out after the show.

Day Five: Xmas
Possible cooldown day. At this point I will have had a monstrous amount of Belvedere over 5 nights, 4 days and will likely be a bit of a vodka zombie, so the fact that it's Xmas is a good excuse to dial it back and have this be a take it easy day before ramping up for the last day. Maybe do Bailey's/coffees instead of the requisite Belvy all day.

Still should be a fun day, the big Dubs/Cavs game is mid-day which I will probably try to catch either at Mirage or Caesars sports books. Nice and mellow and relaxed. Then in the early evening (maybe after a nap?) I'm headed over to PH for the Beatleshow Orchestra show. It's got great reviews and I got a ticket for $40 with a $50 off voucher for booking so basically free. After that If I'm not too "steaked out" I may try to cross the street and see if I can get a bar seat at STK at Cosmo for their heavenly filet, or if not possibly scoot down to NYNY to hit Gallagher's again. Going to try to eat a ton this day to soak up the liquor and keep the energy up, something I often forget to do in town. Also it's Xmas so there should be some kind of special meal, not just a goddamn sandwich or something.

Day Six:
I enter unknown territory as to my knowledge I've never done a full 6 day trip in Vegas. No plans. Figure it would be good to bookend the 4 show/reservation days with another free and easy day. Will be over to the Monte Carlo in a newly remodeled Park Preview room for the first time and probably will be looking to get a sizable breakfast/lunch somewhere after checking in to get some recharge in the energy banks for the big last day push. Not sure where I'll be cash-wise on this day, all depends on how the gambling has gone. Worst case scenario I can dig into my MasterCard or Discover to if nothing else eat well and drink whatever my liver allows me to. 6 days in I'm sure it'll be yelping.

I will be doing the $50 drink credit at NYNY on this day, and can use the Restaurant.com coupons I have for Slice at MB Shoppes or Senor Frog's at TI for lunch. Since I'll be at the MC/Park I made a reservation at the new Bavette's steakhouse there. I can always cancel that though if I'm not in the neighborhood or don't feel like steak #4 of the trip. I don't have to be up early the next day so if the money's OK it should be a late one.

Then, finally, Wednesday rolls around and it's time to head back home. It's a 4pm flight, going to try to secure late checkout and I will have some time to get something to eat or maybe nurse one last slot machine before heading to the airport after checking out. Should be back home by 6pm, hopefully in one piece. I took the following day off of work to help recover.

So that's a movie, 3 shows and a couple reservations for good steak. A plan, but not overboard.

Wish me luck, this is a long one.