pinball hall of fame – Page 2 – The Adventures of Mike and Cindy

This post is about my trip to Las Vegas with Garrett to see a Carlos Santana concert. The concert was Cindy and my birthday gift to Garrett and since it was in Vegas, we made a four-day dad/son trip out if it.

Day 1

This was our travel day to Las Vegas. We drove since it was only about 4 1/2 hours from our house. We stayed at one of our Hilton timeshare properties, the Flamingo Hotel located on the strip. It was a nice one bedroom room, but was right next to the Flamingo pool. Here is what our room looked like.

Here is the view of the pool from our room.

So what was the big deal about being next to the pool? This pool is the “go to” pool for the strip and starting at 10 am had exceptionally loud electronic music that played until 10 pm. So going to bed early or sleeping in late were not really options. After we got settled in, we visited the new Pinball Hall of Fame located on the strip near the “Las Vegas” sign. They have video games from the turn of the century all the way up to modern times. They had bubble hockey, a favorite of mine, and my childhood favorite pinball game, Captain Fantastic. Of course, I won a free game on Captain Fantastic. This is an absolute must visit for any video game fan, and of course there is a link at the end of this post. Check it out.

After geeking out at the Pinball Hall of Fame, we had dinner at Chubby Cattle, a kind of cook your own soup at your table kind of place. It was delicious and we had a really good time.

This is another must eat at place so check out the link at the end of this post.

Day 2

After a leisurely morning, complete with loud electronic music that started right on time at 10 AM, we had lunch reservations at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant, Hell’s Kitchen, where the television show of the same name is filmed. The food was a little pricey, but so worth it. I had one of the best filet mignon steaks I have had in a long time, and Garrett had a braised rib that was outstanding. This is also a must visit, but because of the prices, you may want to save it for a special occasion. Of course, there is a link at the end of this post.

After our delicious lunch, we walked around the strip a bit and happened to see the Atlantis Show inside of Caeser’s Palace. This is a really bad animatronic figures from the 80’s show that has not changed since the 80’s, so of course we had to watch it for a few minutes.

That evening, we headed off to our exciting evening event, Battlebots. Battlebots is a show where teams design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament. Garrett and I started watching the show around 2002 when Garrett was only 2 or 3 years old and the show was aired on Comedy Central. We watched it for several years and enjoyed it. We were really excited to get to see the show in a live version. Here is the entrance.

Once inside, there was a tournament board, and banners hanging from some of the past champions.

There were examples of two of the battlebots from past TV shows. We had seen “Nightmare” fight on TV before, but were surprised at how big it actually was. We thought it would be around the size of a small lawn mower, but it was much larger.

Once inside the battle arena, we were excited for the show to start.

Bill Dwyer, the host from the original series, was also the host of this live show.

Before each battle, the team members for the robot would come out and put on a little show.

And then it was “robot fighting time!” We got to see five different battles and they were all a blast.

To say we had a great time would be an understatement. If you want to see this outstanding show, check out the link at the end of this post.

Day 3

Like day 2, this day started off rather leisurely, until the 10 AM loud electronic music started. That was our signal to get out and wander around the strip a bit. Our concert was at the House of Blues music venue in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. That was just over half a mile from our hotel and we had plenty of time, so we decided to walk there to pick up our concert tickets. We wanted to pick up our tickets before the show because we had special tickets that allowed us to get in early through a special shorter line than general admission. Walking to the venue was easier because there was a ton of road construction going on around the strip making the traffic a nightmare. Once we arrived at the hotel, we learned I was incorrect about the location of the House of Blues. It was in the Mandalay Bay Hotel, a two mile walk from our hotel and a mile and a half further down the road from where we were. We quickly walked back to our hotel and got the car so we could pick up the tickets and return with enough time to get ready for the concert AND drive back to the venue for the concert. It was still early and how long could it take to drive 2 miles? How about an hour and a half. The traffic was beyond anything we could have expected. We picked up the tickets and still had about 2 hours before the show, but based on our previous experience, the trip to our hotel and back would take around 3 hours, not including the time to change clothes. As Scooby Doo would say, “Rut Row!” We figured out a solution. There was a tram that stopped at our hotel and there was a tram stop across the street from the Mandalay Bay Hotel. We drove to the tram stop across the street, took the tram to our hotel, got cleaned up and changed, took the tram back, drove back across the street and were early for the show. Score one for the good guys.

Here are some pictures from the concert.

At 75 years old, Carlos Santana can still play with the best of them. He and his band put on an amazing show. Toward the end of the show, he introduced his son, who was one of the keyboard players, and his son sang a sort of Latin inspired rap song.

I’ll bet when Carlos was playing at Woodstock in 1969, he could never imagine that one day he would be playing in Vegas with his adult son singing a rap type song. An amazing show to say the least.

Day 4

This was our travel day home. We made our usual stop in Baker to buy some Alien Beef Jerky and made it safely home before sunset.

Stay tuned for Trip 5 which will be a several post accounting of a visit to Montana to see the world famous Aunt Barbara, a stop in Omaha, Nebraska, two short stays at our place in St. Joseph, Missouri, and a trip to see Corrianne in Spring, Texas. Yes, that trip will squeeze a lot into one month. Until then, stay safe!

LINKS

Carlsbad was supposed to be our last trip of the year, but circumstances changed. Our travel companion, Sylvia, had her mother pass away at the end of October. The memorial service for her was scheduled for Sunday, December 19, in her parents home town of Las Vegas. Garrett’s birthday was also the same week end, so he came along with a friend so we could also celebrate his birthday.

Day 1

Day 1 equals travel day. We got an early start, picked up Garrett’s friend Shane, and were off. Our first stop was at Eddie World, the candy store/food store/gas station off the 15 freeway in Yermo. It’s the one with the colorful shake you can see from the freeway.

The boys enjoyed the stop and we forged on.

The next stop was for lunch in Baker, California. When one stops in Baker for food, The Mad Greek has to be the place. The food is average at best, but it is still a must stop. Here are pictures of the place, a cat eating there, and the Country Store across the street.

The Country Store has sold 8 jackpot winners in the lottery. And they have “over 400 world soda pop,” whatever that means.

We finally made it to our hotel and checked in. We had some Hilton points left over, so we stayed at my favorite hotel, the Trump.

I could make some political comments, but I will not.

Garrett’s friend had brought a present for Garrett and here he is wearing it. Ya gotta love it!

We went out and had a birthday dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Palazzo Hotel. After dinner we walked back to our hotel and got some sleep. Here are a few pictures of the strip at night.

Day 2

From our room, we could see the new Resort World Hotel across from our hotel. The next morning, we decided to walk to it and check it out. Here is Cindy with a statue of Iron Mike Tyson, and a giant art ball.

Interesting fact: I met Mike Tyson when he spoke at a jail rehabilitation program I used to be in charge of. He was one of the nicest people I have met and I have nothing but good things to say about him. Anyway………………….

We walked by the food court and they have one of my favorite foods. Here it is.

You read that right, a roast duck burrito. When that place opens, I will be getting my roast duck burrito.

We headed back to our hotel, picked the boys up, and were off to Top Golf. Top Golf is a driving range on steroids. You can play games, have drinks, and food, and generally have a good time. This was our view from our driving spot.

Some general pictures.

And Garrett teaching Cindy how to hit the ball.

And Garrett hitting away.

And a picture of me as well. I was able to hit three balls over 100 mph. Not bad for an old guy.

Our next stop was at the new location for the Pinball Hall of Fame. It is now located in a much bigger building and is at the very beginning of the strip. The Pinball Hall of Fame is a giant arcade with all kinds of video games and pinball machines. An absolute stop when in Vegas,

The boys spent the night hanging out on the strip and Cindy and I went to our favorite Vegas restaurant, Lawry’s. The place was really crowded, but luckily we had reservations. After waiting past our reservation time, and seeing a few people who came in after us get seated, I went back to the desk to find out what happened. The lobby manager checked and said we were next. I think they made a mistake and skipped us, but we were next to be seated, so no big deal. Within a few minutes, the seating girl called our name, but oddly, left to seat another couple before we could make it to the desk. We followed the girl and couple into the seating area, with the manager following us. As I watched the girl seat the other couple, the manager asked me if we were being seated. I pointed to the other couple and said we must be next. He quickly walked up to the girl, whispered in her ear, and returned to stand next to me. I was close enough to the girl and other couple to hear what happened next.

The girl asked the couple for their name, and the woman refused to answer, instead saying the table was their table and everything was fine. After a few rounds of this, the manager stepped in, asked the same question, and received the same answer. The manager had enough and had to get verbally forceful with the couple to get them to vacate what was actually our table. Yes, the couple had attempted to steal our table by pretending to be us. WOW. That was a new one for us. Here we are finally seated at our table.

We had a delicious meal and decided to walk the 2 miles back to our hotel. On the way home, we noticed the full moon.

That must explain the table stealers. We walked back to our room without any incidents and got some shut eye.

Day 3

We started the day with breakfast at the Donut Bar, near downtown. We went there because they have really good donuts and they are famous for being on an episode of “Tanked.” They Here is the fish tank from their episode.

Their normal hours are 7 am to 1 pm, however, they close when they run out of donuts, which is almost always before 1 pm. We got there around quarter to noon and they were almost sold out. Here is the inside and our donut order.

We ate our donuts outside and they were delicious. As we finished, they had already closed, but allowed us in because a member of our party was in need of a restroom. It turned out they were celebrating the birthday of one of the two brothers that own the place and they invited us to join them. We did not want to break in on their private party, but they continually offered us cake and were very nice. They were all class acts. We will definitely return and recommend anyone near the downtown area in the morning to go there as well. They are fantastic people with great donuts.

We walked around the downtown area then left the boys there to have their fun. Cindy and I went to Sylvia’s mother’s memorial. It was a very nice service.

Afterward, we went and walked around the Caesar’s Palace area. I had a whiskey with a clear, round ice cube that was rather unique.

I was fascinated by the ice cube until the bill came and I discovered I had been charge a dollar for the ice cube. Are you kidding me?

Day 4

The final day of our trip and our travel day home. We hit the road and had to stop at the other must stop in Baker, California. Alien Beef Jerky. It is a jerky store that also sells some candy and drinks that is alien themed.

Everyone picked out their favorite jerky and we enjoyed the newest addition; an alien Trump and an alien Biden. They each said sayings that each person has made famous. It was rather clever.

As you faced the machines, Biden was on the left and Trump on the right. I wondered if they did that on purpose or if it was a happy accident. Either way, it was fun to watch.

The rest of the drive was my favorite type of drive, event free. We made it home safely and started to plan for all of next year’s trips. The first was the month of January in our new house in Missouri, followed up by a week long trip to the Big Island of Hawaii with the Webers in February. We also will be attending our first NASCAR event, and first in Los Angeles in quite awhile, The Clash at the Coliseum.

Until then, stay safe and healthy.

Tag: pinball hall of fame

2023 Trip 4 – Las Vegas with Garrett to See a Carlos Santana Concert

Trip 11 – Las Vegas, Nevada