Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Year

So I'm working on this little story about all the weird stuff going on around Vegas for 9/9/09 and I start going through all the promotional emails I had received pertaining to said numerology. Most was junk.

When I came to this one, though, I was a bit in disbelief. Still am, actually.

We'd already featured Restaurant.Com as a Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week earlier this year. It's a great site that sells restaurant gift certificates at discounts. That is, typically a $25 gift certificate costs $10. Already, that's a bargain.

But for a 99-hour span this week -- starting today, natch, and going through Sunday, Sept. 13 -- they're giving 90 percent off the price using the discount code NINETY. That is, a $50 gift certificate for AGO at the Hard Rock, normally costing $20, is now $2. Really.

The restaurants at Mandalay Bay are especially well-represented, including Aureole, Fleur de Lys, RM Seafood and Mix. But there are also some interesting off-Strip places locals love, like Rosemary's, Yolie's and Chicago Joe's.

This is kind of an amazing opportunity to enjoy serious discounts or buy some early Xmas gifts. There are some restrictions -- some restaurants require a certain dollar amount to be ordered -- but I just spent $9.80 on $240 worth of dining certificates. I picked up a few for some restaurants I go to occasionally -- Strings, Cafe Heidelburg, Tillerman and Hash House A Go Go -- and a couple I'd never tried but sounded interesting, like Streets of New York.