WTF...When Did Vegas Become So DAMN Expensive???

Hey folks...word to the wise, never launch a blog the day after you return from vacation! My butt is TIRED, but I'm going to post a little something anyway.

I have been to Vegas on 2 other occasions, once staying at MGM Grand and later at the Bellagio...this time around I stayed at Mandalay Bay. My question is when in the hell did Vegas become so damn expensive? Last time I checked we were in a recession so I would think there should have been deals galore, but not so much.

I will confess that until my most recent trip, it had been about 6 years since my last Vegas stay, but prices there have gotten out of hand. Our hotel and flight were reasonable, but drinks and food in Sin City were obnoxious!

Vegas has gone all fancy with all of the hotels having various restaurants fronted by top name chefs like Emeril, Bobby Flay, and the Too Hot Tomales. The problem is most of them are over priced with mediocre food at best. For the record I don't have problem forking over major bucks when I know I am about to feast on a wonderful meal, but that didn't happen...Instead my husband I would look at each other when the bill arrived and the conversations went something like this:

Me: OMG...that appetizer was 16 bucks...we only got one fricking crab cake!

Strawberry Man: this is crap, are they serious...I can't believe this bill. It wasn't like this was a stellar meal.

Me: told you we should have gone to the damn buffet..same food and I could have gotten ice cream at the dessert bar!

Strawberry Man: I don't like cheap buffets!

Me: Trust me a Vegas buffet is not like Old Country Buffet, plus you ain't roll'in like Donald Trump.

Strawberry Man: To be honest this meal wasn't much better than OCB and what do you mean I'm not Donald Trump...I'm a young up and comer!

Me: WHATEVER. Let's pay the bill and roll out so we can go loose some of your up and comer cash at the high stakes table.

Here is the low down folks. Drinks on average were running about $12-$15 per cocktail. Appetizer averaged about $15, but the problem here is that the appetizers were created for 1 person. Case in point the crab cake appetizer for 16 bucks with 1 lone average sized crab cake on the plate. Most meals were à la carte. For instance, I had a $38 piece of sea bass which arrived on the plate very lonely. The spicy green beans (so my sea bass would have some company on the plate) were extra at a cost of $12. Are you getting my drift??? Shit was ridiculous!!!

Folks the short story is that Vegas on the cheap really isn't and option any more these days. If you are planing on heading to the desert anytime soon be prepared to shell out some bucks, or keep your broke ass home!

OH OH...I can't forget this...now this was classic. So we are at the pool and our hotel has a "lazy river" where you hop on an inner tube and a slow moving current takes you around in a meandering circle. Cost of the inner tube...can I get a drum roll please...................$26 per tube. We were suckers and paid the total of 52 bucks for 2 tubes...but can you say "WTF!!!"

~Nikki