I don't know that I would choose Reno as a destination for a vacation, but we did have fun.  The whole reason for going down was our friends had a special doctor appointment, so we just decided to make a trip out of it. We all had fun, but we all agreed we wouldn't rush back, it's just not our things.  But nonetheless we came away with tips to help you plan your trip if that is something you are interested in.

First off we stayed at the Peppermill.  This motel is not on the strip but is a huge casino resort all it's own.  The place was beautiful as were all the rooms and the lounges and the restaurants.  We had gone online and booked a room in the Peppermill Tower.  We wanted something in the Tuscany Tower, but it was much more expensive.  Well on the way down we decided that since 2 of us were having issues and needed lots of rest we should upgrade at least one of the rooms so we had a nice comfortable place to hang out if we needed.  When we got to the motel we pursued that option and found that the upgrade to the Tuscany Towers at the desk was significantly less than what we had found online.  And because we were in the Tuscany Towers we also got a Passport book to use throughout our stay.  It's a book with coupons it, and every time you use a coupon you get a stamp and the stamps equal free money to play at the slots.  The coupons were buy 1 get one free for meals. In the end we saved money on restaurants that we would have eaten at anyways and we earned $80 in free slots.   So the upgrade overall was well worth it.  We were glad we had made that decision and we loved our rooms.

I have been looking for quite some time.  I have checked out all the motels along the way and which ones have what restaurants in them and I have looked at the price options, but I always have a hard time finding the best locally owned restaurants in town.  But finally I found a website that has directed me to what seems like some of the best.  Not just that but the top 10 places to eat in Reno.  So you can check it out for yourself.  Not going to Reno, no problem, just punch in another city and start searching.

So here are 10 best places to eat in Reno, Nevada.  Oh but the fun doesn't stop there with this website, it also includes nightlife, activites and an events calendar.  Go check it out.  The thing that I really like about this website was that it was easy to navigate, it had reviews and my favorite part was it gave an average price point.  I really like that.

Well we leave in just a few days, so I have continued to look around for more activties besides the Toxic Audio.  And in my browsing I found this website Pioneer Center for Performing Arts.  There I found a Hypnostist that will be performing while we will be in town.  There is also a calendar of events so you can see all the other things that will be happening now and in the months to come.  You can even purchase tickets right online.

Now I have to find some good eats.  Oh, I forgot to mention on the Pioneer Center for Performing Arts you will see a link to Wild River Grille Dinner Offer.  Check that out.

Well I have been checking every website I can think of and trying to come up with some shows that we can go see while we are in Reno.  I have come across this one that I am pretty excited about.  It's called Toxic Audio.  It sounds amazing.  Its kind of a cross between music and improv comedy, and it sounds pretty high energy.  I called and talked with someone and it's general seating, so there is really no need to purchase tickets ahead of time, and while we are there we will have 3 shows to choose from.  So we will wait and see what else might be playing there so we don't end up double booking ourselves or missing out on something esle that looks great.

Alright this is a place that I haven't been to in years and have never been to as an adult.  So this is going to be a fun trip just trying to figure out what they have to offer.  We all know what Las Vegas has to offer, but we don't hear a whole lot about Reno.  There is a group of 4 of us going, us and our good friends from Salem.

I have been online trying to find comedy clubs decent hotels and shows.  The hotel that we have booked is the Peppermill .  We checked the pictures out online and it looks pretty good.  We had heard that the other ones on the strip were very old..years ago, so we didn't want to go there, so we shopped around and found this one.  So I will be reporting back on that one.

And as always I will be looking for some great places to eat that are not chain restaurants.  We don't need to go over that issue again about how I don't do chain restaurants. We will just leave it at that.  Now I am off to search.

There were a few things that I had somehow missed when I was reading up on our vacation.  First off I guess we were not allowed to wear shorts into some of the dining rooms.  We went to the Italian place and it said on a sign out front no shorts or flip flops allowed.  Well we were not prepared for anything else, we had brought nothing but shorts for the guys and my daughter and I had capris.  So we entered with our shorts and flip flops, although we looked nice.  There were people that were not dressed nice at all and no one was turned away.  So if you want to take extra clothes for some dinners go ahead, but it was never required.

The all inclusives are like being on a cruise ship, if you are familiar with that.  You order an appetizer, soup or salad and an entree.  Then you can end with dessert.  If you get something you don't like you can order another thing.  So it's great you get to try a lot of things.  The one dissappointing thing is that we were there for 8 days and the menus never changed at the restaurants and they never had specials.  The La Cascada had a menu you could order off of, but they also had tacos and quesadilla that you could go up and have made at the counter.  We never tire of Mexican food so that was always great to fall back on.

We tipped on occassion.  I was under the understanding that it was all included and you could choose to tip if you wanted.  We tipped a few of our favorite waiters the day we left and gave them a big Thank You.

The other thing that you need to know is that for all dinners, except the buffet, you have to make reservations.  We had the choice of about 5 different restaurants.  One night we waited to long and were able to get into the restaurant that we wanted.  But we also found that we could make reservations for the following nights at the same time so we didn't have to think about it the next day.

When traveling around Mazatlan it's the same as traveling around anywhere else in Mexico, work a deal with taxis.  My son, who loves to barter, really liked all that you could do in Mexico.  We had told the kids get into a taxi, but if it was too much just get back out.  We got out of a few before the guy would give us the deal we wanted.  One time the guy wanted to charge us 120 pesos and we already knew ahead of time it should cost more than 60-80, and we ended up talking him down to 80.  So be willing to walk, there are always more taxis. I tell you, there is a lot of traffic in Mazatlan!!

We were exchanging our money for pesos at the Motel and getting 12 to 1.  Which was great.  We found that out on the streets in the little shops you could do a little better, it was 12.3 to 1.  The other thing is they will take American money but they do a 10 to 1 exchange rate, so if you have your pesos ready you can get a better deal by paying with them after you have talked American money.

Ok, we are not fans of Mazatlan.  Its a very loud busy city.  Lots and lots of traffic.  There is a pretty drive you can take along the coast line through the city. We were able to enjoy that when we went from the Golden District to Old Town Mazatlan.  Old Town was a really fun day.  There are some amazing buildings there and if you walk a ways there is a huge market in which you can buy and trinket, clothing and food you would like.  A few too many pig heads for me, but it was fun and interesting none the less.

Church in Old Town

The Golden District is a bunch of shops that sell the same stuff over and over again.  Our resort was just on the edge of the Golden District.  We went shopping through there one day and did have an enjoyable time.

The one nice thing about our resort is that even though there is a lot going on in Mazatlan it is really quite where we were.  It's like we were on our own private island.  That really helped make it an enjoyable time.  But all that to say I don't know that we will be running back there.  If we found another killer deal like we found this time, then maybe, but I would like to try something new.  I really want to go to Zihuatanejo, Mexico.  This town is the complete opposite of Mazatlan.  Its a quiet, quaint fishing village.  So you will need to watch for that review.

We were greeted at the El Cid with drinks, which was nice and the kids could not believe.  From that moment on they decided they wanted to stay forever.

Our room was fine.  There are pictures on the web that make it look much more luxurious that it really was.  But it was fine for us.  We chose the most inexpensive room you could purchase and we were very pleased.  We had a view out of our room that was spectacular.

There are 3 pools at the El Cid.  We didn't find the 3rd pool until 2 days in.  We were pretty sure there was a hot tub, and we knew it was in the 3rd pool, but we couldn't locate it.  The nice thing is many people can't locate it so it was very quite.  There was always a seat to be had at this pool.  Plus there were some amazing rocks with waterfalls that you could climb up and and jump off of.  And we did that often.

This was all inclusive and that meant all our meals and all drinks.  We went expecting the food to be marginal and that is about what it was.  I consider myself a foodie.  I like good food and I like gourmet food and I really enjoy cooking.  But when I choose all inclusives I lower my expectations and I realize that this is vacation and I don't have to cook or shop or think about it, so it's all good to me.  The other positive thing about food that is good instead of fabulous is that you never overeat.

There were quite a few places that we were able to eat at.  We did most of our breakfasts at La Cascada.  It was a sit down and we found what we liked there, and it had the best coffee.  We went to El Patio one day, the service was not so good and they didn't have coffee, but ran across the street to get some, so it was a long time coming and when it was gone it was gone.  There is always the buffet.  It was fine.  I went to the very back and got an omelet both times.

For lunch we did the outdoor buffet by the beach.  It was easy and again pretty good.  We ate all kinds of tacos most days.  They often were grilling food right there and that was always good.  There was also a snack place in the bar area that had hamburgers, hot dogs and quesadilla.

Dinner wasn't so good.  We went to La Cascada a few times.  I think it was the best.  The Italian restaurant was not good both times we went, and we tried El Patio once and didn't like the selection their either.  I will say it again though, we found things we could eat that we fill us up and we always had the dinner buffet that we could go to just in case we were still hungry.  But because of the selections, we never over ate.  That's a good thing.

So my final opinion would be this.  If you are looking for sunshine and a fun get away at an affordable price I would recommend this place.  We did have an awesome vacation.  If you can afford more there are definitely better places to choose from.  We probably won't go back simply because I am not a huge fan of Mazatlan.

What a great trip!  We really enjoyed out experience with Vacations To Go .   They sent us all the info through email, but were also available by phone and we were able to talk with our guy directly and ask questions at any time.  GREAT experience.  We will definitely use them again.

The trip was all inclusive and even included our transfers from the airport to the motel.  We ended up in a taxi going to the motel.  The El Cid was a long was away from the airport.  It took us about 30 minutes to get there.  You really got to see all parts of Mazatlan that way.  All the way from everyday life to the touristy section. When we left the motel they took us in a shuttle van.

We made partial payment when we booked back in March and we made the final payment in November right before we left.  So it was nice that it was broken up and easily paid for over time.

If you go through the El Cid web site and book the same thing we just did it would cost you $2914 for 7 nights.  With Vacations to Go we spent $2139.

I still have a few things left to buy for our early Christmas celebration and we have a few events left before we leave, but we are snowed in.  I can either be stressed and try and figure it all out or just go with the flow.  I am enjoying the snow and going with the flow.  The good news is in 6 days we will be in 84 degree weather and I can't wait!!

With my time here I have been searching websites to find some more fun activites to participate in while we are in Mazatlan.  The one time I have been there I didn' t not have a chance to go to Old Mazatlan, so I am excited about that.  My daughter loves to take pictures and I think that will provide a perfect back drop for her.

There also seem to be lots of beaches that you can go to, so just for locals.  I love getting away from what the tourists and trying to discover what the locals do.

Well, until the snow melts I can only plan things on the internet instead of buy things I need for the trip.  Oh well.