v-dice
Tourist
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2003
- Messages
- 55
This is my first trip report so bare with me. I started this a few days after we got back, didn’t finish until Mikey called me out. Sorry it took so long.
March 17th, 2004
Had a direct flight out of Omaha on Southwest. We actually arrived about ten minutes early. My group consisted of about 25 guys of all shapes and sizes, single or married from all over the place. We landed in Vegas around 8:00 PM (Vegas time!) While we were walking to pick up our luggage, had our first and only celebrity sighting for the weekend. Carrot Top was down there. Made a point to point him out to the fellas in my group and then we went and stood in line for a limo to the Plaza. Got checked into the Plaza and headed out to Fremont. We camped out in front of Mermaids to get our fill of beads (until the ladies stop handing them us). There was 5 of us standing there drinking our football beers when two girls come up to take there pictures in front of one of the signs. I think they were trying to out do one another for the best picture. The first one was pretty basic but the second had a little wild streak in her. She dropped her tube top like she was getting her picture taken by the “Girls Gone Wild†production crew. We applauded her and thanked her for making our first hour in Vegas a memorable one.
We headed back to the Plaza to do a little gambling. I hit the $2 craps table and the others went and played blackjack. Bought in for $50 and played for a couple hours before walking away down $50. Went to see how everyone else was doing and ended up sitting down at the blackjack table with some of the others. Blackjack is not my game at all; I never get on a good streak of cards. It seems like I get a lot of 12 and 13’s when the dealer is showing a high card. Anyway, to make a long story short, I walked away losing another $50. By this time it was about 4:00 am Vegas time (6:00 am back home) and I hit the hay.
Gambling – ($100)
Drinking -- ($ 80)
March 18th, 2004
Got up around 7:00 and went for a run. (Yes, I said run). I feel a hell of a lot better after a run (especially when I am in Vegas.) Sweating out the alcohol during the run makes it that much easier jumping back on the wagon… After the run, I headed over to Main Street Station buffet. I thought it was excellent considering the $6.00 that it cost me. Hell, if I had been mid-strip, I would have spent twice as much. After breakfast, we went back to the Sports book (at the Plaza) to see if anyone else had arisen from the grave. We couldn’t find any place to sit at the Plaza so we headed over to the Las Vegas Club sports book and found a great sit in front of 4 – 32 inch TV’s and one big screen in the middle. Prime location. We sat there all day until the late games. I even got a glimpse of Hurricane Mikey and Bazootch checking in. Tried to catch them but knew I would run into them later, most likely. We headed out a short time later only to run into Mikey and the gang. I met Mikey, Bazootch, Vegas Jer, CAP, and SteveB. I think I remember everyone. Chatted briefly, they were all playing blackjack at the time. We headed back to the Plaza for a quick shower and change, the plan was to head to the Beach. For dinner, we went to the All-star Café at LVC. The food was good and they screwed up our order so the manager gave us 50% off the whole meal. Made the meal that much better. After dinner, we caught a cab to the Beach, except we were a little early. We then headed over to Magriteville. Being from the Midwest especially Omaha, we don’t get places built like this, so this was a nice place to hit. We stayed at Magriteville for a couple hours and then decided to head down to Harrah’s and check out the party pit. Which was crazy. I have never seen it as packed as it was on this night. You could hardly move. And to get a drink (expensive, damn!!) you had to wait a while. There was 5 of us to start the evening off but 2 of them were tired, so they headed back. We ended up staying until the band was done playing and then had a few more drinks and shots. We started down the strip (heading North) destination was the Beach. Well, we didn’t make it to the Beach so we took a cab back downtown. I saw Bazootch at the poker tables at the Plaza and it looked like he was raking in the piles there. Didn’t gamble much on this day but I sure was thirsty. Got tot bed around 4 am.
Gambling ( .90)
Drinking ($90.00)
Friday, March 19th, 2004
Got up around 7:30 and went for a run. The plan for today was to head up to the Mirage to hang out at the pool with my sister and my mom. They came to Vegas to see Celine Dion. Well, the original plan was for the whole gang to head up to the Mirage’s pool with me. I got back from my run and could not get anyone to budge so I was off to the Mirage. I knew that in order to catch the bus, I had to be on the other end of FSE but wanted to hit the Gambler’s General Store.
That was one of the things I wanted to make sure that I did this trip. On my morning runs, I went by the store both days so I knew it wasn’t far from the Plaza. I got to the GGS and spent about 20 minutes walking around in there. What a place. I was going to buy some poker chips but thought I might get back there before the trip was over because a few fellas in the group wanted to check it out as well. My first thought was to grab the bus. But the only one that saw was the 301 and I was looking for the 302. Besides, I made it up the strip just as fast as the 301. The bus passed me and then would stop at the bus stops and load up. I would continue to walk and it would eventually pass me again but then I would catch it again at the next stop. That continued until I got to the Mirage. Called my sister and she met me in the lobby. I went up to there room to change and drop off the Gambler’s General Store catalog that I picked up while I was browsing the store. Off to the pool I went, it was about 10:30 am. I made pretty good time walking. I blinded a few people when I took off my shirt. 
My mom was even giving me shit about it. Boy, did I pay for it later. We stayed at the pool until about 12:30/1:00. By this time, we were getting hungry and I was fried. We headed back to the room to change and then walked across the street and hit Chipotle Mexican Grill. This place was awesome and very filling. The burritos are huge and very tasty. After lunch, we waddled into the Casino Royale and my mom was playing some slots that she was doing well on the evening before. (She was playing a variety of machines.) Nothing was hitting so we headed back over to the Mirage where my sister found a 5-cent machine of the Adams Family. She put 10 bucks in it and won $20 after playing for about an hour. My sister doesn’t gamble much so she was pretty reluctant to put her $10 in the machine. Her comment was I don’t want to spend my shopping money. I just laughed. My mom and I wandered over to a bank of .25 video poker machines where I started to play. I played for a while and was hitting some good hands. My sister had come over to watch. The next hand I was dealt a 10, K, Q of hearts and I told my sister that I got to go for it and try and hit the royal. The first card was a J of hearts and then I saw an A hit and thought I hit the royal but the A was a diamond. So my quick excitement turned into groan of “so close.â€
I still hit the straight but wanted the royal. The royal would have paid a little over a grand. That would have been a nice hit. We wandered a little more throughout the casino and then headed back to the room. They were going to relax a little bit before Celine. I told them I was going to head back downtown to play some craps at the LVC and told them to call me when they got out of the concert. My thought was I would head back up to the Mirage and hang out with them again since I was planning on hitting the Forums shops on Saturday before leaving. I started to head downtown about 4:30 and the plan again was to take the 302 bus. I never saw this bus so I walked again. Call me crazy but I enjoyed it. A few times I would come up to buildings that I could swear I had seen in the movie, “Casino.†One particular building looked like Joe Pesci’s restaurant. After that I started to look at all buildings and wonder what kind of activity took place there back when Vegas was ran by the mob. It made the walk a little more interesting. Finally got downtown about 5:30, I went straight to the craps table at the LVC and talked to a few people. I was going to join in but decide to head back to the room to shower and change. My plan was to head back over to LVC to play with the T2V gang. I got sidetracked. I ended up hitting the $2 craps table at the Plaza. The table was hot when I first got on the table and then cooled off. I was up initially. I was having a good time when I noticed what time it was and wondering where everyone was. It was about 11:30 and I had been on the craps table for about 5 hours and was only down $30 dollars. About that time, everybody started calling me to wonder where the hell I was. I said I was at the craps table and the beers were flowing.
A few minutes later, we wandered around FSE. We ended up heading into the Golden Nugget and sat in the lounge for a while. It was little after midnight and I was hungry. I walked around to the snack bar and grabbed myself a burger and fries. Boy, did I feel better after that. We then wandered into the Four Queens and we standing around the bar having a few drinks. We saw this attractive lady walk through the casino and someone in our group goes, “ that’s a dude.†
The he/she sits down at the bar with her back to the fella that was sitting there playing video poker. The fella that is sitting next to he/she does one of the full body glances from head to toe and then has this look on his face like this was going to be his lucky night. Our group, by this time, was making wagers on whether or not, she was a he. A couple of us even did a couple of fly-bys to see if he/she had man hands or an Adam’s apple. After a while the fella was deep into conversation with the he/she when the he/she got up to go to the bathroom. In the mean time, the curiosity got the best of us and we asked the bartender if he knew whether or not. The bartender said, “ oh, HE comes in here every night.†We were rolling; in the meantime the fella at the bar was waiting for the he/she to come back. One of the guys from our group went over to break the news to him and he said, ‘ you know, I was sitting here wondering that myself.†
Only in Vegas. We headed back to Plaza about this time and a few of us sat down at a blackjack table. I wandered over to the craps table that I was on earlier and there were still some of the same people still on the table when I walked away. It was late so I went to bed.
Gambling ($30.00)
Drinking ($80.00)
Saturday, March 20th
Got up pretty early today, didn’t go for a run today due to sting that I was feeling all over my body from my sun burn. Called my mom and sister and told them that I was planning on coming up to the Mirage for the day. I would just meet everyone at the airport for our flight. Well, wouldn’t you know it, everyone wanted to go as well. I told them that if we took our bags we could leave them in my mom and sister room while we roamed the strip, that way we would have to head back downtown to pick up our bags before heading to the airport. Didn’t bother me, I only had a backpack. Everyone got ready and we checked out and headed up to the Mirage about noon. Got up to the Mirage and got our bags situated in my mom’s room and asked my mom and sister how the Celine’s concert was. They really enjoyed the show. We headed out to the Forum shops and a few of the casinos before finding our way back to the Mirage. Spent the rest of the day watching a few basketball games and hanging around before we headed to the airport. Pretty uneventful flight home. Got home to the cold in Omaha about 11:30 pm.
Gambling None
Drinking Purely Hydration
I had a good time but was ready to get home to my wife and my boy. My body can’t take the abuse that I throw at it these days. I forgot how those days used to be in the younger years. Didn’t gamble as much as I would have liked but I sure drank like a fish. The craps table at I played on never heated up like past trips so that was disappointing. I experienced March Madness and survived. It was nice to meet the few people that I did meet.
March 17th, 2004
Had a direct flight out of Omaha on Southwest. We actually arrived about ten minutes early. My group consisted of about 25 guys of all shapes and sizes, single or married from all over the place. We landed in Vegas around 8:00 PM (Vegas time!) While we were walking to pick up our luggage, had our first and only celebrity sighting for the weekend. Carrot Top was down there. Made a point to point him out to the fellas in my group and then we went and stood in line for a limo to the Plaza. Got checked into the Plaza and headed out to Fremont. We camped out in front of Mermaids to get our fill of beads (until the ladies stop handing them us). There was 5 of us standing there drinking our football beers when two girls come up to take there pictures in front of one of the signs. I think they were trying to out do one another for the best picture. The first one was pretty basic but the second had a little wild streak in her. She dropped her tube top like she was getting her picture taken by the “Girls Gone Wild†production crew. We applauded her and thanked her for making our first hour in Vegas a memorable one.
Gambling – ($100)
Drinking -- ($ 80)
March 18th, 2004
Got up around 7:00 and went for a run. (Yes, I said run). I feel a hell of a lot better after a run (especially when I am in Vegas.) Sweating out the alcohol during the run makes it that much easier jumping back on the wagon… After the run, I headed over to Main Street Station buffet. I thought it was excellent considering the $6.00 that it cost me. Hell, if I had been mid-strip, I would have spent twice as much. After breakfast, we went back to the Sports book (at the Plaza) to see if anyone else had arisen from the grave. We couldn’t find any place to sit at the Plaza so we headed over to the Las Vegas Club sports book and found a great sit in front of 4 – 32 inch TV’s and one big screen in the middle. Prime location. We sat there all day until the late games. I even got a glimpse of Hurricane Mikey and Bazootch checking in. Tried to catch them but knew I would run into them later, most likely. We headed out a short time later only to run into Mikey and the gang. I met Mikey, Bazootch, Vegas Jer, CAP, and SteveB. I think I remember everyone. Chatted briefly, they were all playing blackjack at the time. We headed back to the Plaza for a quick shower and change, the plan was to head to the Beach. For dinner, we went to the All-star Café at LVC. The food was good and they screwed up our order so the manager gave us 50% off the whole meal. Made the meal that much better. After dinner, we caught a cab to the Beach, except we were a little early. We then headed over to Magriteville. Being from the Midwest especially Omaha, we don’t get places built like this, so this was a nice place to hit. We stayed at Magriteville for a couple hours and then decided to head down to Harrah’s and check out the party pit. Which was crazy. I have never seen it as packed as it was on this night. You could hardly move. And to get a drink (expensive, damn!!) you had to wait a while. There was 5 of us to start the evening off but 2 of them were tired, so they headed back. We ended up staying until the band was done playing and then had a few more drinks and shots. We started down the strip (heading North) destination was the Beach. Well, we didn’t make it to the Beach so we took a cab back downtown. I saw Bazootch at the poker tables at the Plaza and it looked like he was raking in the piles there. Didn’t gamble much on this day but I sure was thirsty. Got tot bed around 4 am.
Gambling ( .90)
Drinking ($90.00)
Friday, March 19th, 2004
Got up around 7:30 and went for a run. The plan for today was to head up to the Mirage to hang out at the pool with my sister and my mom. They came to Vegas to see Celine Dion. Well, the original plan was for the whole gang to head up to the Mirage’s pool with me. I got back from my run and could not get anyone to budge so I was off to the Mirage. I knew that in order to catch the bus, I had to be on the other end of FSE but wanted to hit the Gambler’s General Store.
My mom was even giving me shit about it. Boy, did I pay for it later. We stayed at the pool until about 12:30/1:00. By this time, we were getting hungry and I was fried. We headed back to the room to change and then walked across the street and hit Chipotle Mexican Grill. This place was awesome and very filling. The burritos are huge and very tasty. After lunch, we waddled into the Casino Royale and my mom was playing some slots that she was doing well on the evening before. (She was playing a variety of machines.) Nothing was hitting so we headed back over to the Mirage where my sister found a 5-cent machine of the Adams Family. She put 10 bucks in it and won $20 after playing for about an hour. My sister doesn’t gamble much so she was pretty reluctant to put her $10 in the machine. Her comment was I don’t want to spend my shopping money. I just laughed. My mom and I wandered over to a bank of .25 video poker machines where I started to play. I played for a while and was hitting some good hands. My sister had come over to watch. The next hand I was dealt a 10, K, Q of hearts and I told my sister that I got to go for it and try and hit the royal. The first card was a J of hearts and then I saw an A hit and thought I hit the royal but the A was a diamond. So my quick excitement turned into groan of “so close.†
The he/she sits down at the bar with her back to the fella that was sitting there playing video poker. The fella that is sitting next to he/she does one of the full body glances from head to toe and then has this look on his face like this was going to be his lucky night. Our group, by this time, was making wagers on whether or not, she was a he. A couple of us even did a couple of fly-bys to see if he/she had man hands or an Adam’s apple. After a while the fella was deep into conversation with the he/she when the he/she got up to go to the bathroom. In the mean time, the curiosity got the best of us and we asked the bartender if he knew whether or not. The bartender said, “ oh, HE comes in here every night.†We were rolling; in the meantime the fella at the bar was waiting for the he/she to come back. One of the guys from our group went over to break the news to him and he said, ‘ you know, I was sitting here wondering that myself.†Only in Vegas. We headed back to Plaza about this time and a few of us sat down at a blackjack table. I wandered over to the craps table that I was on earlier and there were still some of the same people still on the table when I walked away. It was late so I went to bed. Gambling ($30.00)
Drinking ($80.00)
Saturday, March 20th
Got up pretty early today, didn’t go for a run today due to sting that I was feeling all over my body from my sun burn. Called my mom and sister and told them that I was planning on coming up to the Mirage for the day. I would just meet everyone at the airport for our flight. Well, wouldn’t you know it, everyone wanted to go as well. I told them that if we took our bags we could leave them in my mom and sister room while we roamed the strip, that way we would have to head back downtown to pick up our bags before heading to the airport. Didn’t bother me, I only had a backpack. Everyone got ready and we checked out and headed up to the Mirage about noon. Got up to the Mirage and got our bags situated in my mom’s room and asked my mom and sister how the Celine’s concert was. They really enjoyed the show. We headed out to the Forum shops and a few of the casinos before finding our way back to the Mirage. Spent the rest of the day watching a few basketball games and hanging around before we headed to the airport. Pretty uneventful flight home. Got home to the cold in Omaha about 11:30 pm.
Gambling None
Drinking Purely Hydration
I had a good time but was ready to get home to my wife and my boy. My body can’t take the abuse that I throw at it these days. I forgot how those days used to be in the younger years. Didn’t gamble as much as I would have liked but I sure drank like a fish. The craps table at I played on never heated up like past trips so that was disappointing. I experienced March Madness and survived. It was nice to meet the few people that I did meet.
