Day 4, Sunday
We woke up around 9 or 10 feeling very rough around the edges, ugh! I fired up the Keurig and we hoped coffee on our balcony would get us going, not so much! After laying around for a while licking our wounds I suggested we try the hidden pizza place for a nice greasy hangover cure. I thought it opened at 11, we got there a few minutes before and the door was locked across the secret hallway. We wandered around for a bit on the third floor and when we checked again the passage way was open, yea, relief in sight!!
We ordered enough to cover a quick breakfast on the balcony tomorrow before packing and moving on to the next adventure. I ordered two slices of the white pizza and the hubby got two combo slices and a plain cheese slice, it was $30 and I added a $5 tip. We took the haul up to the room and enjoyed the greasy gooey cheese fest on our balcony while enjoying a fountain show, perfect! Feeling better but still ragged we decided a walk was was just what the hangover doctor ordered!
We weren't sure what time C and S would show up so we planned a circular route that would not take us too far from home base. We walked up the Bellagio drive and entered by the registration desk. We wanted to see the Christmas display so we headed to the Conservatory, big mistake! It was so packed in there it was miserable, it was so bad we had trouble getting out. For a minute there I thought I might start hyperventilating but we did finally make it out, whew! Here's a tip: don't go to the Bellagio Conservatory the Sunday between Christmas and New Years, especially with a severe hangover, yikes!
We kept walking, past Jean Phillipe, there were a lot of people sitting at the tables and chairs along the corridor enjoying pastries and coffee. Past the monorail station and out the back door to the covered walkway to Vdara, through Vdara and over the bridge to Aria. I still really like Aria, make a note we need to stay here again some day. We walk through Aria to Crystals and then over the bridge to Walgreens for a water run. It felt good to get out and about and this route is especially nice if it is hot or raining as it is mostly inside. It was so gorgeous outside we would have preferred the Strip but didn't want to miss our friends.
When we got back to our room the maid was just getting started, drat! I called every morning before we headed out to request housekeeping and it was always spotless when we returned, we just didn't give them enough time this morning. I would recommend doing this at Cosmo if you like your room serviced early in the day. We hate returning to a dirty room and we often shower twice a day so need fresh towels.
We dropped the water in the room and got out of her way, what to do? We wandered the casino a bit but nothing jumped in front of us yelling "play me!" I swear this does happen sometimes, lol! I decide we should hang at the Chandelier Bar and get a couple of nice drinks rather than throwing another 40 or 60 bucks down the drain for a so called free cocktail. I asked the bartender to make me a nice fruity KetelOne martini but not too sweet, mix me up one of his specialties, all the Chandelier bartenders do this, right? Well, this one looked a bit lost so I suggested the raspberry lemon drop made with some nice muddled berries. I watched him squish the berries and add a tiny bit of what I presumed was simple syrup, he dumped it in shaker with a very strong pour of Kettle One. When he slid it over he asked me to let him know if it was ok, it tasted like firewater, I almost choked! He looked anxious so I didn't have the heart to tell him it sucked so I said it was good and he looked very pleased.
The hubby ordered a mai tai and watching him make that was even more interesting. He put several different liquers in it, mostly rums, but no juice. When he handed it over it was a creamy white color with a dark rum float and was in a simple small cocktail glass with no garnishes or anything remotely fruity or tropical, WTH? Ok, so here we sit in Cosmo's signature fancy pants bar with expensive horrible tasting cocktails, did we complain? Hell no, the drinks were super strong, we would choke them down somehow, no complaints, cheers!
It actually worked out well as it took us quite a while to get them down, I'm telling you they were nasty! We chatted a bit with the bartender and this guy was just strange, not friendly but not rude either. The word I think best describes him would be awkward, he was at the tail end of his shift so maybe he had just mentally checked out early, $33 plus $5 tip.
We finally finished our drinks and now I am quite buzzed, hangover cured, thanks awkward bartender dude, no wonder they tasted like medicine! By now our room is surely clean and the hubby is ready for a nap, we have given up on C and S, they must have decided to head home early. I am feeling pretty good and ready for action so I decide to hit the slots while hubby naps. As he is leaving I get my ATM card out of my wallet and hand it to him. He looks at it and asks what's this for? I tell him he better hang on to it as I had already gone on two stealth ATM excursions and no longer trusted myself if alcohol and slot machines are involved. Hubby, "WTH?!!" Me, "Oops, sorry, it was only $200 each time!" Oh well, he got over it but I made sure he kept the card!
I decide I need a drink so go with hubby to the room to make one of my Red Cup Specials. I am just about to head back out and the hubby is settling on the couch for his snoozle when my phone starts buzzing, it's S and they are in a cab on the way to Cosmo. So much for your nap sweetie, no rest for the wicked! He makes himself a drink and we are off to meet our friends. We find them at the Identity desk picking up new cards and we decide to play slots together.
We try a Willy Wonka first and each put in a $20. I tell S to sit in the seat so she can experience the fun ride when we hopefully get a bonus. C insists we play max bet in case we hit the 300K progressive, I think the chances of getting struck by lightening in the middle of the casino are better! At $4 a spin the first round of $20s are gone in a couple of minutes so we try another round with equal results. C gets frustrated and throws in a couple more before we have to admit defeat, grrrrr! Sorry S, the bonuses are really cool I swear!
We decide to take over a bank of Lil Red/Spartacus machines so we each have our own. The hubby and I pick Lil Reds, C is on Spartacus and S plays a dragon themed one. They are all the same deal with the two games that transfer full rows of wilds from the first to second game. This works out to be a lot more fun as most of the time at least one of us is doing well and you can bet what you want. I started at max, $2.50 but dropped down to $1.50 when I got off to a slow start. It was really fun, cheering each other on when we hit something and sympathizing when the machine would tease with almost wins and bonuses. Drink service was excellent, I had several Cosmos on the rocks, very tasty and my hangover is now in full remission, cool!
We played for a long time, up and down for the most part, C was next to me and was down $200 before he won it all back and cashed out. I finally lost my $100 but S won $100, hubby was on the other side of S and he was sucking the whole time, evidently he kept feeding the machine and was down two or three hundos and completely dry, oopsie! The hubby and C see The Lord Of the Rings they had wanted to play together was now open so they grabbed the seat. I had to make an ATM excursion for the hubby with his card, see dear, it is easy to get carried away, I understand, he-he! TLOTR is not any kinder than Willy, I think I am done with these exotic machines, they are all money suckers, I'll just stick to my Lil Red and Quick Hits, like that will make a difference, lol!
We are all hungry so I suggest Holsteins and we head there, it is around 3:30 and the wait is only 15 minutes, not bad. C and S had not eaten here before so I was excited to initiate them, we love Holsteins! C got one of the famous Fat Boy shakes and loved it and we ordered the Car Bombs and Lobster Mac N Cheese appetizers. The Mac N Cheese was wonderful as always and they like the Car Bombs, way too spicy for the hubby and me. C actually hurt himself with the jalapeño bomb, guess it must have been super hot so beware of that one! Hubby gets the Nom Nom burger and C and S get Nom Nom and El Machete burgers which they split so they can taste each one. I ordered the Crispy Pork Sliders which are not as good as I remembered, only disappointment of the meal. Everything else was fabulously yummy, including the onion rings and fries. C and S loved everything too and we had so much fun, we were all buzzing and laughing, it was a blast! With two glasses of bubbly and two Crown Royals the check was $158 plus $30 tip. We picked it up of course and I am sure it was way less than dinner the night before. I was so happy we were able to return the favor as they really enjoyed the meal.
They were ready to head back to the Rio for a nap before the drive home so we walked them to the taxi stand. What a fun day we had, along with the great dinner last night, thanks C and S!! We will see you in March in Mesquite for the golf excursion which we will finish up with a couple of nights at Caesars, can't wait!!!
It is around 5:30 and the hubby is done for the day so I walk to the room with him and pour a glass of wine as I am slowing down but definitely not done, lol! The hubby, as always, encourages me to give it one last go, he is such a bad influence, we are not going to have much cash left for MB, oh well. I grab a hundo out of my stash and he gives me one of his, top off my wine and I am off!!!
Where to go? My Quick Hit ATM of course! I put in the first hundo and within a couple of minutes I hit a bonus and it is a good one, at least 15 X 2, maybe even 20 X 2 or 3, can't remember for sure. I do remember a large number of Quick Hits and the bonus is worth over $350, you really are my ATM, yippee!! I have just over $500 so I play it down to $400 which takes quite a while. While I am playing I notice my machine says I am now earning 2X points and I have no idea why so after I cash out I head to the Identity desk to find out what's up. I hand him my card, he looks up my info and says "Congrats, you made Gold!" Cool, I wasn't even trying, lol!
I looked it up later and I think it takes about the same amount of coin in as it does. to make Diamond with CET when you deduct the CET bonuses. Unless I am missing something it is $3 per point and it takes 20,000 points to make Identity Gold which is $60,000 coin in. We somehow managed to do this on two trips for a total of seven days with a fairly limited budget. It took way more time, $$ and effort to make Diamond with CET that's for sure, I am definitely a degenerate gambler!
With the $400 TITO tucked in my purse for safekeeping I put my last hundo in a different Quick Hits. I do ok, get several bonuses but eventually it is gone. I find another Quick Hits to burn off the Freeplay I had earned this trip, around 120 bucks. I wanted to go back to my ATMQH but it was occupied, darn! I didn't win so it is now time to say goodbye to the Cosmo casino, what a great time we have had! I did not cash out my TITO, I know myself too well, if I broke it into hundos, I know I would have headed back down with at least one of them. I had ordered another glass of wine or two in the casino so I am feeling quite relaxed and happy when I walk in the room and proudly show the hubby my $400 ticket, yea!
I think it is around 7:30 so this is just perfect, we spend the evening relaxing in our beautiful room, enjoying our view and balcony. We really lucked out with the weather too, it was fantastic every day, not cold at all, perfect balcony weather for sure. We were able to leave our door open at night for the fresh air which we love to do. The hubby points out a guy on the corner of the Strip in front of the fountains, he is holding a gigantic bible and is preaching with a bullhorn, evidentially there are a lot of people in Vegas who are going to burn in Hell if they don't repent now, really?! The hubby says the preacher has been going at it the whole time I was gone and he went on for hours. At first it was pretty funny but it eventually got annoying and we finally had to shut the door when we went to sleep so no fresh air on our last night, damn preacher man, oops, hope I don't burn in Hell!
We are in bed early so we wake up refreshed and energized for our next adventure. Three days, including NYE at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay where we are also celebrating the hubby's big 60, we are ready!!! We eat our leftover pizza breakfast and pack up all our crap. It is a hassle to move but at least we will be down two bags for the next check in, one for dirty clothes and one for crap we won't need that we will leave in the car, whew! I check out in the VIP room, there were a few erroneous mini-bar charges but they took these off, no problem. Service was slow in the VIP room though, I think it is easier to just use the regular check out.
Back in the room we call for the bellhop, it takes 15 minutes or so but he walks our stuff all the way to valet with us, handles getting our car and loaded the luggage. He was a very friendly chap as is pretty much everyone we encounter at Cosmo. Tip the bellhop $15 and we are off, thanks Cosmo for another great time, you have never disappointed!