Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

Some of you will know that Las Vegas is my happy place, so when I saw that James Patterson had collaborated with Mark Seal to tell stories from a wide variety of people, I knew I just had to read it myself. Although in this case I actually grabbed myself a copy from Libby, settled down with my husband for a 6-hour drive and we both drifted off to the lights and fascination that is Las Vegas.  Many of the stories we already knew, but many we didn’t. From the Elvis impersonator who officiates at weddings, to the millions of dollars spent on Cirque du Soleil shows, each story took us emotionally back to the neon city in the middle of the desert while physically we were driving along the dreary winter lanes of the UK. A ton of research from both James and Mark has gone into this delightful insight into the sights and sounds of Las Vegas. I was particularly fascinated by the young man who unknowingly hit a jackpot as the machine failed and the Nevada Gaming Commission had just a few wee...

Summary  Thank you if you've managed to read this far and I hope you found at least some of it helpful and interesting. As a quick summary, we booked Hilton hotels (primarily Hampton Inn & Suites) throughout all the time on the actual road, apart from Yellowstone where we chose an independent hotel. We were more than happy with Hilton; choosing the same hotel means you know what you're getting. We had a budget of £150 per night (apart from Yellowstone) so that should give you some idea of what we were getting for our money. Food has always been expensive in Vegas but it seems to have increased, even in the last twelve months. To put this into perspective, we had a Subway in Vegas and for two, foot-long subs it was $46. We had the same in Rexburg and it was $19.  That was just one example, it's easy to spend $50-$70 on breakfast/lunch in a restaurant and upwards of $100 for dinner. We went to Prime at Bellagio on our last night and there wasn't much change from $400....

Day 14 Our last day in Vegas and despite the 36-degree heat, we walked down to Manderlay Bay first, playing a couple of $20 challenges again in there, Luxor and Excalibur, before heading over to Tropicana. From what we’ve read, they are in the process of selling Tropicana, so I’m guessing by the time we next visit, it will no longer be there. From Tropicana, we walked across to MGM Grand and then back up to Beer Park for a drink and a pretzel.  By this time it was around 1.45 pm and we wanted to go and see Big Elvis at Harrah’s. Despite the number of times we have visited Vegas, we have never watched him sing. For anyone who wants to while away an hour, it’s a great free thing to do on the strip. He plays every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Piano Bar at 2 pm, 3.30 pm and 5 pm. If you get there early enough, you can sit in the bar and order some drinks. If there are no seats left, then don’t worry, you can stand behind him! We both really enjoyed the show, he’s a talented si...

Day 13 It’s getting hotter as the days go on and I know that when we get home, we will be complaining that it’s too cold, but honestly, it’s draining - too much food and drink probably doesn’t help either! Today we decided on another trip to Fremont Street and a little $20 challenge in each casino. We have done this before and it’s a bit of fun for not a lot of money. We each chose a machine in each casino, put $20 each in, and pressed at the same time. We had to stop whenever one of us got the bonus, got a line hit for $10 plus or ran out of money! I did log each win/loss in each casino for those of you who are interested, and I’ll add it at the end. First of all we visited Container Park, I think it must be better at night because I didn't think too much of it in the daytime! We had lunch again in Whiskey Licker Up. Neither of us enjoyed it as much this time. The fries were limp and burnt and the music from the stage below was too loud and yes; I know this makes us sound old, ...

Day 12 Saturday morning and a trip to Bath & Body Works. I love their products but they are expensive, so I only ever buy the shower gel and body lotion that is on offer. This is our last trip to America for a while, so I stocked up well, adding another few kilos to the suitcase! We gambled a bit in Wynn, Mirage and TI and then went to Popeye’s for fries and nuggets at lunchtime. Popeye’s has been on our list of places to try since we saw it on a vlog and it was good. Simple, straightforward and tasty. After an afternoon nap, we headed back out for a gamble at  Cosmopolitan and dinner at Holsteins to utilise the resort credit we had from there. I was getting fed up with food and I opted for a NY strip steak salad. Dave had a burger, and we shared some fries.   America isn't as good as the UK for fruity cider but I tried a Blake's Triple Jam Hard Cider. It was ok but Old Mout will always win! Dave tried a Guinness and they didn't know how to pour it - the head on it mu...

Day 11 Up early and ready for a 5 hour drive back to Las Vegas. We woke just after 6 am and the ship was pulling into Los Angeles. We disembarked around 7.15 am and were back in the car just after 7.30 am and back on the road. After a brief stop at Terribles Roadhouse (billed as the largest Chevron gas station in the world) for snacks, we arrived back in Las Vegas around midday. I had chosen Vdara Hotel & Spa for this leg of the trip as there is a washing machine and tumble dryer in the room and even we don’t have enough underwear for three weeks! I had also double booked us into Cosmopolitan for two of the four nights. The room was comped, and we had resort credit and freeplay, so it was a no-brainer. We have seen so many vlogs where people do this that I didn’t have any qualms about taking up a room - after all, there are thousands upon thousands of hotel rooms in Vegas! Dave activated his Freeplay at both Cosmopolitan and Aria (Vdara’s linked casino) and we were all set for ano...

Day 6 Up early because 10 hours of sleep is more than enough! We went to Sadelle’s for breakfast. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast and Dave had a huge omelette with hash browns and toast.  We have $500 resort credit to use and we aren’t even making a dent in it because we are eating in other places! After breakfast, we walked over to Aria and played a little in there. I think we both walked away in profit for a change and moved onto Park MGM for an hour. Nothing much happening, but again we didn’t lose anything.  Around lunchtime we headed back to Bellagio to see if the Sportsbook was showing the Miami F1. Result - TV screens, a couple of drinks and a bit of video poker. $1.25 a bet and won 4-of-a-kind twice, totalling around $220. Whilst Dave carried on playing, I went for a walk in the sunshine to watch the fountains. No matter how many times you’ve seen them, they never get tired and I hope they remain a part of Vegas for a long time. We went over to Cos...

Day 5 This seems to be a Vegas trip of winging it and not deciding what we are going to do until we get up! First thing, we took a trip out to Silverton Casino to visit Bass Pro Shops. We’ve been before but it’s a pretty spectacular shop specialising in outdoorsy stuff. Think hunting, fishing, boats, quad bikes and everything in between - they even sell clothes! We had a gamble in here, Dave lost lots and I found the new Director’s Cut of Little Shop of Horrors and played for ages on it. It’s similar to the original with a few new bonuses and better graphics. I haven’t seen it anywhere else yet and definitely not at any casino on the strip. We wanted something to eat but could only find Johnny Rocket’s at the Food Court in Silverton, so decided to head back to the strip and walk over to Beer Park. We’ve never been before and I’m not sure how long it’s actually been there only a few years, I think. It was Saturday morning, around 11.30 am and we were lucky that we didn’t have to wai...

Day 4 Up at 5 am and in the car to drive to Bellagio at 6. The traffic is horrendous on the strip at the moment as Vegas gets ready for F1 in November, so we took advantage of the continued jetlag, checked out of Resorts World and straight to the room at Bellagio that we had checked into yesterday. I spent the next hour or so finally unpacking all four suitcases as the clothes need to be sorted before the cruise as we won’t take everything with us. Even if it’s just for a few days, we can live out of a drawer again! Dave had gone down to the casino, and I caught up with my blog before heading down to join him. It seems I had forgotten to pack my laptop charger, so we walked over to Miracle Mile and the ABC store to get something that would work - I didn’t want you all to miss out on my trip and I can’t write this much from a phone! Around 11 am we jumped in a Lyft and headed downtown and Whiskey Licker Up at Binions for lunch. We love it there. The revolving bar is just great for peop...

Day 3 - Resorts World, Las Vegas Waking up in Vegas! Unless you’ve done it, you won’t know what it means. Every time we arrive, I just feel like I’ve come home. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my Norfolk home. This is just different! We managed 4 am this morning and I know it will get better as the days go on. Just before I started to write this, Dave said to me ‘don't worry about what time it is, Vegas deals with that'! Who actually cares what time you get up and what time you go to bed?! Dave went downstairs to get a Starbucks (you’ve just got to love a 24-hour Starbucks when you’re waking up at silly o’clock) and brought it back to the room. We chilled for an hour or so and then, of course, the casino called and he went off to spend some of his Freeplay whilst I wrote my first two days’ blog for you. At 7.30 am I was ready too and went down to find him before we headed off for breakfast at Jardin at Encore. We didn’t know anything about this place until we saw it on a Veg...

Day 1 - Travel Day Checked in for our flight to Denver, at London Heathrow, headed through priority security and went straight to Galleries Lounge South, and from dropping the car, it took about 30 minutes. Not bad going!  After a cheeky glass of champagne and some nibbles in the lounge, our flight took off more or less on time at 2.45 pm. I know some people will turn their noses up, but yes; we flew Club World and if you get the opportunity, I would choose this over economy any day. I’m too old now to sit up straight for 10 hours when I don’t have to! After a couple of drinks and some food, I managed to sleep (or doze) for the majority of the flight and we landed in Denver, right on time at 5.30 pm (7 hours behind the UK). Quickly processed through immigration and after grabbing our (four) suitcases, we jumped on the shuttle bus to collect our car from Avis. I would highly recommend Avis, especially if you are travelling from the UK as all insurance is automatically included so yo...

⭐⭐⭐⭐   How I came about reading and reviewing ‘Some Guys Can’t Handle Vegas’ by Liam O’Neill is rather random and involved me contacting the author initially. I’m so pleased that I did. This is a well-written book that is all about my most favourite place in the world and my go-to happy place, Las Vegas! Anyone reading this delightful book, who is a Vegas lover, will discover many references to various locations and points of interest throughout this great city. The author brings Vegas to the reader, with mentions of the Bellagio fountains, the many Elvis impersonators up and down the strip, and the Statue of Liberty wearing a Golden Knights hockey shirt! Think, ‘The Hangover’ with British characters. Three English male friends who have never been to Las Vegas before but one at least has read the rulebook for how to play the table games. Elliott, David, and Matt weave their way through their trip, which, for various reasons, turns into a longer vacation than initially planned. ...

September 2018, my husband's 50th birthday and so we decided on a trip to San Francisco (first visit) and Las Vegas (tenth visit - I think)! Day 1 - We arrived at San Francisco International at around 4 pm on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow, and after collecting our luggage we found our way to the Lyft pick-up and ordered ourselves a Lyft, which we had never done before. For those of you who have never used Lyft or Uber, it’s very simple and straightforward, just download the relevant app. After a 45 minute journey, we arrived at Argonaut Hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf, where we upgraded our room for one with a view of Alcatraz and wandered out to get our bearings. We went down to Pier 39, had a quick look at the seals, soaked up the atmosphere and ate some fries. One of the things we didn’t do much of on this trip was eating, so I am unable to comment on restaurants, etc. We had breakfast each morning, and that pretty much set us up for the day, other than that we j...