The NFR has been racing by, and I haven’t kept my commitment to blog every day. I don’t even have a good excuse, except for that I’m trying to pack a lot of activity into every day, and keep up with my clients — and that has kept me BUSY!
This sign tells you there are 201 parking places to the right, and 476 more if you go up!
This week we’ve found that one of the things that can turn a mood from happy to grumpy (or vice versa) in a hurry is parking! We LOVE the Monte Carlo – because the parking is so close (and not so full). We don’t have to drive around for a half hour looking for a parking place when we come back to the hotel. They have this amazing system in the parking lot — that tells you where there are places (and how many places) to park! We’ve always done valet in past years, and you have to add on the 20-30 minutes it may take to get your car when we make a plan (and the $$ to tip the valet). We were apprehensive about parking since the MGM Properties started charging for parking this year, but the parking at the Monte has got to be the most convenient self parking on the strip!
The first day we went to Cowboy Christmas in the car, we parked out front – and had a bit of a hike to get in. The next time we went, I had ridden in on the bus (from Swenson street) and saw all the parking via the east entrance – so we discovered two parking lots on that side that were much less walking! Those lots cost $10 to park in — but it’s so handy that we didn’t mind paying for parking! Parking close makes for a happy Mike, which in turn, makes for a better day!
The parking at Mandalay Bay at Roper Cowboy Marketplace is in a parking garage, but we were certainly wishing for signs like the Monte Carlo parking lot has. Even when we went in by 10am the lot was mostly full – and you had to drive around a bit to find a space to park. This parking lot also charges by the hour, and you are supposed to pay before you check out! The pay machines seemed to be giving some people problems but ours went right thru.
The parking at Stetson Country Christmas at the World Markets was another story. They advertise free parking (and indeed it is free) – but there’s not a lot of signage about where to park. The folks directing traffic were insistent that we drive around the parking garage, and when following their directions, we seemed to be going in huge circles. We gave that up, went in a parking lot and parked — and hiked thru the lot and across the street into the show. It seems like a lot of people haven’t found that show yet, because the aisles were no where near as full of people as when it was at the Sands. It’s good if you’re shopping, but not so good if you’re a vendor. We found that the food at the food trucks was not that good and pretty pricey – so one of the things they had advertised as a plus for the location move did not impress us at all! Still – we have a shoutout to the Roper warehouse booth there. It’s in the building closest to the street (on the right if you’re in front of all three) — and they sell overstock boots/shoes and merchandise at rates that are 40-70% off retail! Yes, Mike and I both got new boots, and we’ve been wearing them all over town and doing a lot of walking! No blisters yet!
Good info. We took the monorail to Cowboy Christmas today (Friday). We are going to Country Christmas tomorrow and my friend is looking for new Ropers. We’ll have to check out the booth.