Helen's Birthday Dinner

At long last we celebrated Helen's Birthday with a dinner at one of her very favorite restaurants - Cheesecake Factory.

Monday was her birthday, but between getting the apartment in shape and just not feeling that great, we've delayed the Special Dinner until Thursday. We made the 10 minute drive to the CF arriving about 6 or so. The parking lot was jammed, but we were able to get seated immediately. We were both hungry, but had to practice restraint because we knew we wanted to savor dessert at the end of this meal.

Helen opted for one of her favorites, a Southwest Chicken Salad, while I enjoyed a Cajun Chicken Pasta dish. Both were excellent and we did save room for dessert. We shared a healthy slab of Turtle Cheesecake with some decaf coffee. A great way to top off a great meal.

Earlier in the day, I went down to the Strip to check out some of the new places and some of the changes to landmark casinos. While I was out and about, Helen oversaw the installation of a handicap bar in one of our bathrooms. That went smoothly and the apartment maintenance guys were friendly and helpful.

I parked at Bally's about 10a.m. and walked over to The Cromwell, a 188-room boutique hotel on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo. This building once housed The Barbary Coast and later Bill's Gambling Hall. Those were casual, low-roller joints, but the Cromwell is exactly the opposite. It's a swanky, modern casino with an upscale vibe. Hard to believe that this place once hosted daily performances by Big Elvis, the 500-pound impersonator of The King.

Anyway, I played a bit of blackjack and was up a bit before changing tables. I ended up playing with a dealer from Livonia. Katina ("Like the hurricane, without the R", she explained) moved out here a few years ago to be near her retired parents. We shared Michigan stories and I explained our Snowbird plans. Katina told me she actually works two full-time dealer jobs to make ends meet. She deals at The Cromwell from 4 a.m. til noon, then heads home to sleep before going to her second job at the Ramparts Casino in northwest Las Vegas where she deals from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. Katrina said she has kept up this schedule for two years now. Her husband works on and off in security and she's basically the breadwinner. They have a daughter at UNLV and another in high school.

Oh yeah and I won $220 before heading out to stroll the Strip.

I walked north checking out the remodeled Flamingo and the Linq, formerly the Imperial Palace. At the Flamingo I got a look at the Margaritaville Casino, a handful of tables and machines that filled up the hallway that runs between the Flamingo and the Margaritaville Restaurant. Around noon it was dead there. At the Linq I bought a $25 sports bet ticket for my friend Gary. If the Wings win the Stanley Cup, he'll pocket $625.

I trekked up to The Venetian, then used the overhead bridge to cross over the road and head south, stopping at The Mirage. I was getting tired and decided to play a little blackjack and enjoy a refreshing glass of orange juice. In about 30 minutes I won $70 and headed back toward Bally's. Lunch was a half of a chicken salad sandwich and water at The Nosh at Ballys.

Then I got in the car and drove to MGM where I wanted to see how they remodeled the place. I had read about how MGM removed the popular Lions Exhibit and replaced it with TAP, a sports pub with a big assortment of beers. In the remodeling, they also relocated the Poker Room and I had to wander around before I found it. After about a 20-minute wait, I was able to get a seat at a $1-2 game. Nothing too exciting here, but I played for almost two hours and lost $15 in the process.

One highlight was a promotion that MGM runs. Every time you get a hand of a flush or better, you fill out a slip that goes in a bin. Every 4 hours they pick winners from the bin and players get from $100 to $500. I hit one flush during the session and had 1 ticket in the 4 pm drawing. The guy to my left had 5 tickets in the bin, but neither of us won anything. They did pull out a name from our table, but they guy had already left the poker room, so they just picked another winner. Right after the drawing, I headed home. For the day I had a nice profit of $275.

If Helen is up to it, we're taking her down to the Strip today. It'll be her first visit and we're thinking of having dinner at the Grand Lux Café in the Venetian. And so, The Adventure continues...