Each year myself and fellow travel writer Mary Herczog (Frommer's, Dummies) take to the open road in search of good food, good fun, and more good food then blog about it online.

In 2006 the first Plucky Survivors road trip covered more than 2,300 miles in 10 days across the southern part of the United States including Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. From the halls of Graceland to the Britney Spears Museum, from the Bonnie & Clyde death site to the place where four little girls were killed by a racist's bomb in 1963, from giant statues of Christ to crumbling statues of dinosaurs, from the library of a president to the library of a woman who wouldn't sit at the back of a bus, and, of course, the spiritual impetus for the trip, the Biggest Ball of Twine, we saw parts of the country that delighted us in ways both big and small, opening our eyes to the people, passions, and pastimes that make us uniquely American. Along the way, we ate a lot of barbeque and not enough pie.

In 2007, we embarked on “The Midwest Express,” covering more than 2,500 miles across Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Another eclectic itinerary included Hog Fest 2007, billed as the biggest outdoor pork barbecue in the world; the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library; the Hobo Museum; the Spam Museum; the Negro League Baseball Museum; the Museum of Funeral Customs; and the biggest ball of popcorn because we have decided every PSSA trip needs to have a stop to see the biggest ball of something. There was more barbeque consumption, more donuts and, of course, a rematch of the PSSA official road game, Cow.

This year's trip is bigger and better than ever as we head back to the South for more than 2,300 miles through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennesse. Oh, and then there's the part where we'll be driving to West Virginia for a hot dog. But mostly we'll be in those other states seeing the sights both odd and uplifting including an acre of land owned by God, the South Carolina Barbecue Championships, The Colonel Sanders Museum, The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, the Martin Luther King National Historic Site, the Scopes Monkey Trial Museum, a 54-hole bible themed golf course, and the World's Largest Bats (baseball and vampire). We couldn't find a World's Largest Ball of something but thematically, bats aren't too far off.

Once again, we will be uploading daily updates and posting pictures from the road but this year we have a brand new website for it at PluckySurvivors.com. The website contains the road trip journals and photographs from the last two trips plus individual reviews for hotels, restaurants, and attractions. There are games (both road games and online), activities, biographies, and much more on the site as well.

Readers get to travel with us as cyberspace passengers. From the first packing meltdown to the final Cow score, ratings for barbeque and meditations on fame and fate, readers are involved in every step of the PSSA odyssey. Visitors to the site can subscribe to a free RSS feed to get alerts on services like My Yahoo! when updates have been posted or sign up to receive e-mail alerts.

Plucky Survivors See America 3: The Plucky Shall Rise Again starts August 27, 2008.

return to the top

But I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen when we looked at what comes down to a battle between The Strip and Downtown.

You may be thinking this a no-brainer - that The Strip will win every time, but hold on there, Bucky, it might not be that easy. Downtown may not offer the breadth and depth of exciting restaurant, nightclub, and entertainment options that The Strip does, but there are undeniable benefits to staying in the area such as cost and friendliness of service.

In picking which hotels to pit against each other as the representatives for their respective areas, I tried to come up with two that could compete effectively. Putting someplace like Bellagio against Fitzgerald's wouldn't be a fair fight and likewise, putting a very nice Downtown hotel against the low-end places on The Strip that are in a similar price range (like The Riviera, Tropicana, or Imperial Palace) wouldn't be effective either.

So I picked one of the nicest hotels in Downtown - The Golden Nugget and put it against Bally's, a nice but not excessively nice hotel on The Strip that isn't too expensive. Seems like it could be a fair fight. Let's see:

Location
This is a new category for the Casino Cage Match since all of the other hotels previously pitted had been on The Strip.

Obviously Bally's has the better location since it's not only on The Strip but right in the middle of it so it's within walking distance to most of the stuff most visitors will want to see and do.

The Golden Nugget has a great Downtown location - right on The Fremont Street Experience and just steps away from a dozen other casinos. But the bottom line is that it is Downtown and therefore not quite as attractive from a location perspective.

The clear winner here is Bally's.

Parking and Access
Bally's doesn't actually have their own parking garage anymore - you have to park next door at Paris Las Vegas and then start an almost epic journey to get to the front desk of Bally's. After negotiating the parking structure, you have to go down an elevator, take a long walkway to the back of Paris, go down an escalator, navigate through a shopping and restaurant area, then cross the Bally's casino. The whole thing is kind of silly.

The Golden Nugget, meanwhile has a parking garage that isn't even attached to the hotel. You have to cross the street then traverse a longish hallway to get to the front desk. Being outside when it's 110 or when it's raining or blustery and chilly isn't fun, but it's basically just crossing a street and the hallway isn't anywhere near as long a walk as the one at Bally's.

The winner in this category is The Golden Nugget.

Checking In
Both Bally's and The Golden Nugget have the much preferred single-line check in, where guests get into a roped off queue and then get the next available agent. This is so much better than the alternative where each agent has their own line and you have to try to figure out which one is going to move faster.

So since they are equal in that regard, we have to go to the surroundings. The Golden Nugget lobby is small and because of its location has a lot of cross traffic that can make it difficult to navigate.

Bally's lobby area is less a lobby than a side of the room with a long check-in desk. It too acts as a glorified hallway but since it's bigger than the Golden Nugget area it becomes less of an issue.

Gotta throw this one to Bally's.

Getting To Your Room
At the Golden Nugget, your walk to your room will depend on which tower you are staying in. The North Tower elevators are literally steps from the lobby whereas the South Tower elevators are a little further away but down an unobstructed hallway. No lively jaunt through the casino while loaded down with luggage here.

Bally's has a straight shot to their guest elevators but you do have to walk through the casino to get there.

Golden Nugget wins this one by a mile.

Rooms
For this category, the experience depends on which type of room you are booking.

At the Golden Nugget, the North Tower rooms have been recently updated to feature 42 inch plasma television, nice furnishings, and the kind of clean/crisp decor that is all the rage these days. The older South Tower rooms will be getting a similar treatment eventually but for now the look is a little more florally dated.

Bally's "classic" guest rooms also have some older and simpler furnishings while their "deluxe" rooms feature more stylish appointments throughout.

The size between the two hotels is about the same as is the list of standard amenities.

This is a tough call since there are a lot of variables here but if I'm being honest, I have to go with the new North Tower rooms at the Golden Nugget over all the other options.

Casino
Both casinos have some positives and negatives.

The Bally's casino is bigger, brighter, and much more navigable. The spacing between the machines and tables is great and it's a comfortable place to play. The problem here is that it's a really boring room - totally forgettable.

The Golden Nugget casino, on the other hand, is a gorgeous space after a recent multi-million dollar facelift. All golden browns, with luxurious fabrics and wood treatments, the meandering space is a stunner.

But they cram a lot into their very small area so personal space is at a minimum here especially during busy times. The low ceiling and tight quarters put the claustrophobia factor off the charts.

This in combination with the fact that I have won more and more often at Bally's makes me give this category to The Strip hotel.

Service and Amenities
I was expecting that Bally's would win this category in a walk. It's a bigger hotel so you'd think it would have more to offer but it really doesn't.

The Golden Nugget has six restaurants plus a buffet and several bars, lounges, and a nightclub all of which are cheaper (in general) than comparable restaurants on The Strip. There's also a nice pool area, a spa, and a showroom to complete the offerings.

Bally's has eight restaurants but several of them are little more than food court style eateries and they no longer have a buffet. They also have a spa, a shopping arcade, and a showroom, but their pool area is not that exciting although they do have tennis courts so that's a plus.

The benefit for Bally's is that it is located so close to so many other exciting food and entertainment options but we have to look at this in terms of what is offered inside the building so The Golden Nugget, despite offering a little less, feels like it is offering much more.

Add in the fact that the service from the front desk to the dealers in the casino is much more down home friendly at The Golden Nugget and I have to award this category to the Downtown representative.

Cost
Although Bally's has room rates that can go as low as $99, the Golden Nugget goes even lower than that and more often. This one is an easy call to The Golden Nugget.

The Decision
It was a tough fight and some of the calls were very close but by winning 5 of the 8 categories listed above, the victor in this Casino Cage Match is The Golden Nugget.

return to the top