Rem's Cigar Snob VII -MGM May 20/24 Live

Don't bother doing a forum search for my first six trip reports, they don't exist. This is my first VMB TR. Just trying to be pretentious with that title and also reflect the fact I've done a trip with this group of friends many times before.

About to leave home and navigate the varied layers of road destruction projects that passes for Portland's road network. You see, here in Oregon, road construction projects are done by descendants of the 100 Years War, managed by the grandsons of Tolstoy. Projects that seem to never end.

 

What fine cigars do you plan on enjoying? Have a fun trip!

 

Cigar pictures will be forthcoming, I promise!

Lady in front of me in the security screening wearing too much perfume.

But the good news is it actually smells just like the aroma they pump into the air at Mandalay Bay!

Hmm.

Oh surprise plot twist...

...it's not a woman in front of me. It's a guy.

I think. Can't be sure. Eau de Mandalay Bay is kind of gender ambiguous, I guess b

 

Good luck, love Cigars, booze and gambling!

 

For some reason, this reminds me of feeding time for the cows on the dairy farm I grew up on.

 

Lake Mead not looking as low as I expected. John Wesley Powell should have come out here by airplane. Much easier trip.

 

$20 trick got me this over a west wing king I booked. Seems worth it for the extra elbow room and the high floor.

 

Ugh, cmon Pens at least make a game of it.

 

Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No 4

 

Love ANY Romeo y Julieta cigar! I'm also big on any Cohiba as well. I usually get drunk and pick one up from the cigar girl on the floor at MGM Grand for $40 hahaha. Doh!

 

Yes, I'm a big believer in Bring Your Own when it comes to cigars here. And not just because of the price, a lot of times the ones they sell on the floor aren't stored well and you get a bad burn.

 

Never been to a Shake Shack, so gotta try it. This Southern California native is curious to see how it compares to In-N-Out.

 

I hope you enjoy!! I loved the Shake I had a couple of months ago. More Cigar pics please!!

 

Enjoying the report so far, room looks great - haven't stayed at MGM in ages. Nice to see a live report with pics again - it started to seem like we weren't doing those anymore, once the new format rolled out!

 

[Thinly veiled brag post warning.]

Everyone knows about bringing a bankroll to Vegas. Some of us also bring a "cigar roll".

 

Shake Shack burger did not disappoint! It was outstanding. I can see why the hype.

No need to compare to my beloved In-N-Out. They both stand alone, very different but both excellent.

Surprised at the super upscale decor at Shake Shack. Are they all like that? Kind of unique experience eating a fast food burger while listening to the Seeb Remix of "I Took A Pill Ibiza". In-N-Out prefers to put bible verses on the bottom of your drink cup over pumping in loud club music.

 

One thing to add from yesterday....

One of my friends barely averted disaster...let's call him Phileas Fogg, as he's a veteran traveler and has Super-Duper-Yes-Sir-Whatever-You-Say-Sir status on Delta.

He and Mrs. Fogg are getting their bags from the baggage claim. Mrs. Fogg's is already out there but Mr. Fogg's is not. And it doesn't show up. And the carousel stops moving. Uh oh.

But there is a bag that looks EXACTLY like his. Same Samsonite, same bright red color, same everything. Except he knows it's not his because it doesn't have the PRIORITY tag his Delta status entitles his checked bags to get. He checks the label to be sure. It's not his. The name on it is Steve Abawababangalongo-Jones. (I could be misremembering that name).

I'm there to pick him up and witness to this developing disaster. And I suggest that maybe we call the cell phone number for Mr. Abawababangalongo-Jones and see if maybe he's picked up the wrong bright red bag.

Phileas gets ahold of Mr. Abawababangalongo-Jones, and luckily enough he's still in the airport. And he tells Phileas, "no I don't have my correct bag." But....


...he doesn't have ANY bag at all. He's apparently taking the scenic tour of McCarran and hasn't even made it to the bag claim. (Mind you, this is 1 hour after that plane landed.) So the empty-handed Mr. and Mrs. Abawababangalongo-Jones walk up and thank Phileas for the safekeeping of his bright red bag. But Phileas is still bagless and itching to get out of McCarran.

So after much sincere but ineffectual eyebrow furrowing and keyboard smashing by the Delta baggage office agent, I get the idea to go back to the carousel and see what other bags from Phileas' SLC-LAS flight are still sitting there. There are only a few. One is a dull red. Rather more like muddy red, if red can be "muddy". According to the tag, it's owner is some Ms. Owinnie Mississinnie (I could be mis-remembering that name also, but I seriously doubt it). But no ID tag with a cell phone that we could call in utter desperation. But it's the best guess we got.

The still-sincere and still-ineffectual Delta agent offers to look up Ms. Mississinnie's contact info. She calls the cell phone, and Ms. Mississinnie answers and says, yes, she's still at the airport. (What is with all these people hanging out at the airport for up to 2 hours after they've landed?)

Turns out Ms. Mississinnie did indeed have the wrong bag. And how she mistook her pathetically beat up muddy-red, almost gray-red hunchbacked bag for my friend Phileas's bright red, angular, almost muscular (if luggage could ever be called muscular) bag beats me. Too many Crown Royals on that SLC-LAS flight, I think.

So Phileas did not have to go Day 1 in Vegas bagless. And there was much rejoicing. Especially by Mrs. Fogg, who didn't have to endure the inevitable foul mood that would accompany an elite-statused Delta flyer having to go bagless in Vegas.

 

Good stuff so far!

 

OMG that is hilarious. Nothing like going to Vegas and spending the day at the Airport with someone else's luggage.

 

Nice cigar porn!!! Haven't been able to snag any Cubans for a very long time, unless I head to Canada. My tastes generally prefer Nicaraguan grown