Beach Crazy
Hostess With the Mostess
It is finally Vegas time again and I have my usual early morning Allegiant Air flight out of Peoria arriving in Vegas at 10:30 am. I always head to a hotel the night before so I can get a little extra sleep before hitting Mecca. So I set my phone alarm for 6:30 am and off to bed I go with visions of Vegas dancing in my head. I awake to the sound of my phone but it's not my alarm and it's not 6:30. On the other end is my favorite drunken sailor sanonofresurfer (Larry) calling to say he may be late to meet me. He's supposed to be hitting Vegas around 1pm to take me booze shopping for the Party at the Palace. He proceeds to tell me he has just gotten home from meeting his neighbors and it's 3am CA time, he still needs to pack and sleep before hitting the road. After listening to this same story about 5 times I finally tell him he needs to get some sleep so he can get his ass to Vegas. No hurry, get some sleep...my girl Coaster Kikky (Becky) is picking me up at the airport and she'd take me shopping. Now I'm wide awake.....so much for the extra sleep.
Wednesday
The flight departs on time and it's smooth sailing to Mecca. On the flight out to Vegas they always play the dollar game. To play you take a $1 bill, write your seat number on it and then they collect them all and put them in a plastic bag. They draw one lucky dollar to win all the money in the bag. They drew the dollar bill of seat 8F, the seat directly in front of me. All the sudden this 7-year-old boy jumps up from the seat and screams at the top of his lungs"YES, I'm going to Circus Circus!" The whole plane erupted into laughter. That was the most excited I’ve ever seen anyone get who has won that game. That's kinda the same way I envisioned bazootch (Dougie) acting on his plane ride out. :evillaugh
I get down to baggage claim where Becky is already waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a big 20 oz. coke. Well, 10 oz coke, 10 oz. Captain. We grab my luggage and off to check into my 2 bedroom penthouse suite at Imperial Palace that I'll be sharing with pattiinontario and Sin. While checking in, SHOCK (Scott) joins us and we all head up to the room, drop off my stuff and we are off to Lee's Discount Liquor. We're walking up and down the isles, I have no clue what to get so we're snatching up everything we can. I knew I was spending much more than I did on last year's party, but I also knew that this time I wasn't paying for it alone. Many people had already offered to chip in so that was the plan. Some had even suggested that we pass the hat at the party. So a big thank you to everyone for pitching in. I do want to give a special shout out to my Orangutan friend and neighbor IllMarty who I had asked to bring a bottle of Cristal or Dom Perignon but showed up empty handed.
Marty went above and beyond in the passing of the hat and left me several black chips....thanks Marty, I truly appreciated that. 
Here's a photo of the valet cart as we loaded it up.
First night in Vegas I cab over to NewYork NewYork to meet up with Mikey, Sticky, Doug, George (BigStogie) and Marlisha (BigTips) at the Italian restaurant Il Fornaio for some dinner. We had some great laughs and an excellent meal. For my entree I had the Turtei Con Aragosta. Ravioli filled with fresh Maine lobster topped with shrimp and diced tomato; lobster cream sauce....yummy!! I would highly recommend it and give the place a big thumbs up.
HurricaneMikey, Beach Crazy and BigTips. Mikey, can you look a little happier to see me?!!
After dinner I had to hurry back to IP to meet up with Pattie and a surprise early arrival Sin. Throughout the evening the number grew as we were eventually joined by Scott, Lar, Rich (JoeVegas) and Vegas Jer.
Shock, Sin and Sanonofresurfer
We all wanted to see Jer's suite at Paris so we went and checked it out. I can't believe no one took pictures, IT WAS AWESOME!!! Anyway we eventually ended up at Frontier for a little gaming action until the early hours of the morning where we parted ways heading in different directions. I was pretty tired and wanted to just head back for some sleep so Scott and I decided to cab it back to IP. I really don't remember where this all came from, but here is Scott's explanation of what went down and where I got my trip report title.
Thursday
I think I slept until 5:30 pm, something like that. A bunch of us grabbed a limo and headed downtown to meet up with others at Pullman Grille for dinner (Main Street Station). Sin and I decided to split a steak and lobster entree. The steak was excellent, the lobster was a little over cooked for me. I also thought the service was a little slow, but the company was excellent and the atmosphere is pretty nice too. Eric (Jack21) had suggested that we all meet up for dinner as he had some comps to use, so he generously offered up his comps to the group and we all pitched in for the remainder. Thanks so much, Eric.
Again we all split up going in different directions. Some went to shows, others like me were off drinking and gambling but then we eventually all met up again at Binions. Sin and I decided to try our luck on the mechanical bull. Someone posted the before picture, here's the after. I think there may have been about 3 seconds between photos. Giddy up!!
Friday
Tonight is the big happy hour in my room so I don’t do much today but prepare. It was a great time. Even my Vegas girl VegasDrea (Andrea) and her boyfriend Aaron made an appearance. It was a great time and I met quite a few people I hadn’t met yet...my pleasure, everyone. Unfortunately I didn’t get to talk to anyone as much as I would have liked, but I guess there’s always next time. After the party some of us headed down to the IP for a little table action. My game of choice is blackjack and as much as I love it I’ll have to admit I’ve been on a losing streak for the past several years and tonight was no exception.
Saturday
Stayed out to late and missed the poker tourney, sorry Dougie...maybe next year.
Later in the day Andrea shows up. Eric made 8 pm dinner reservations at Red Square (Mandalay Bay) for us and Foundation Room afterwards and we were running late. Once we got down to the taxi line we knew we were in trouble. It was already 7:35 and I’m guessing the wait in that line would have been at least 30 minutes so we hoofed it over to Caesar’s and jumped into a town car, arriving on time and in style. Have I mentioned lately that I love Vegas! :banana: We met up for dinner with Eric, and his 2 friends Jennie and Ashley and Joe Schmo (Mike). To start with Eric ordered some caviar samplers and vodka flights to go around. I passed on the vodka, but savored every minute of my caviar...nice choice Eric. I don’t remember what everyone else had but I opted for a pasta dish. Not sure what it was called on the menu but it was crab meat and arugula angel hair pasta with sautéed roma tomatoes, garlic, basil and white wine. It was tasty, but not impressive. While we were dining I notice Jennie was drinking something that looked good so I decided to try one. Look out Captain, you’ve got some competition and Sticky you know what I’m talking about!! It was a Bellini, and after one sip it was my drink for the evening. Thanks again Eric, for dinner and FR, it was truly an enjoyable evening.
After dinner we all headed up to Foundation Room. I think Mike (Joe Schmo) described it best in his TR. Later on we were joined by Al and Becky. We lounged around the fire place laughing, talking, texting obscene messages to Sin and sometimes we danced. I also had the pleasure of chasing dirty old men away from Ashley. Come on guys, if you’re gonna hit on someone young enough to be your daughter...or even granddaughter...you’d better at least be good looking or have billions in the bank! Every now and then we would have to head out to the balcony and check out the view. If you want to see the bright lights of Vegas up close this is the spot. I still think the best view is from Voodoo Lounge because you can see the entire strip, but this view is a very close second.
Eric had an early flight out in the morning so he decided to call it a night and the rest of us (well, Andrea and I) decided we needed to show Mike, Ashley and Jennie another side of Vegas....downtown...specifically Hogs & Heifers. We jumped in a limo and off we went. Unfortunately when we got there, Ashley couldn’t get in (lost her ID) so she and Jennie said there goodbyes and inside we went to be joined later by Sin, Patti, Marty, his friend Trevor and my bodyguard, Scott. I love Hogs & Heifers...kinda reminds me of my bartending days way back when...and besides, whenever I go there, I feel real purty, cause I have all my teef.
We left there and Andrea, Al, Scott and I ended up heading to Careful Kitty’s for some breakfast. I’m not sure what all we were laughing about but Al was seriously giving Scott a hard time about his redneck roots. After breakfast Andrea and I are done, we head back to the room and crash.
Sunday
Get up at a decent time as Andrea has to head out...I hate that part
. Some of the gang is leaving today so they are checking out and storing their luggage in the room. Al mentions something about jewelry shopping for Mrs Al so of course I offer to show him a few places. Scott decides to tag along so the three of us walk over to Ballys. Al makes his purchase (what a nice guy) and we are headed back to IP. We say our goodbyes to Al and he is on his way. Patti, Sin, Scott, Marty and I headed downtown to meet DonD and his lovely wife Miss Jennifer. We decided to eat at Upper Deck in the Vegas Club. I’m not sure but this was probably the hardest I laughed the whole trip. If you haven’t read Marty’s trip report yet, you need to. LMAO!! Don was kind enough to get us a comp that covered all our meals, thanks again, Don, you’re the best!!
After dinner we headed to one of the Golden Nugget lounges and met up with Mikey, George, Marlisha, Sammi, Andy and Corey (god, I hope I’m not leaving anyone out). More laughs and drinks. What an awesome place. I love everything they’ve done with the Nugget and I’m actually considering staying there on an upcoming trip. After a few drinks some of the crew decide they want to head to Binions for some poker. Patti, and I decide that we need a little blackjack action so off to Vegas Club we go with Sin and Andy in tow. On the way to Vegas Club Andy decides he needs to reciprocate on the gift that Sin picked up for him earlier so once we get there he’s gone for a minute. Patti and I find a table and proceed to play. Pretty soon Andy shows up with his gift for Sin. He is making everyone at the table look at it. I have to say Andy, you were quite proud of that gift. We are all laughing and having a good time. After a while I decide I need to head back to the room and make it an early night so I color up and cash out. Damn, I made $15. My first win of the trip.
Monday morning was full of sad goodbyes and packing up my crap. Mikey finally made it up to my room and we were off to the airport. In some ways I was ready to go home, I desperately needed a normal routine as all the partying was finally starting to wear on me. The trip home was uneventful with the exception of my flight being delayed an hour and me getting busted by security with a half empty jug of Captain in my carry on that I intended to give to Mikey but forgot about.
And that’s it! I hope I didn’t leave anyone's names out, if I did, I apologize, it was not intentional. And I’m sorry, I only took four photos this trip. These gatherings seem to get bigger and bigger, and to all the people I met for the first time, it was indeed a pleasure and I hope to see you again. Also, to my previous compadres that couldn’t make it...I missed you...but the good thing is that Vegas is still there and we can always go back. Once again, a big thank you to everyone for making my trip soooooo much fun!! Oh, and to my two roommates...can't wait to do it again, girls.
:wave2:
Wednesday
The flight departs on time and it's smooth sailing to Mecca. On the flight out to Vegas they always play the dollar game. To play you take a $1 bill, write your seat number on it and then they collect them all and put them in a plastic bag. They draw one lucky dollar to win all the money in the bag. They drew the dollar bill of seat 8F, the seat directly in front of me. All the sudden this 7-year-old boy jumps up from the seat and screams at the top of his lungs"YES, I'm going to Circus Circus!" The whole plane erupted into laughter. That was the most excited I’ve ever seen anyone get who has won that game. That's kinda the same way I envisioned bazootch (Dougie) acting on his plane ride out. :evillaugh
I get down to baggage claim where Becky is already waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a big 20 oz. coke. Well, 10 oz coke, 10 oz. Captain. We grab my luggage and off to check into my 2 bedroom penthouse suite at Imperial Palace that I'll be sharing with pattiinontario and Sin. While checking in, SHOCK (Scott) joins us and we all head up to the room, drop off my stuff and we are off to Lee's Discount Liquor. We're walking up and down the isles, I have no clue what to get so we're snatching up everything we can. I knew I was spending much more than I did on last year's party, but I also knew that this time I wasn't paying for it alone. Many people had already offered to chip in so that was the plan. Some had even suggested that we pass the hat at the party. So a big thank you to everyone for pitching in. I do want to give a special shout out to my Orangutan friend and neighbor IllMarty who I had asked to bring a bottle of Cristal or Dom Perignon but showed up empty handed.
Marty went above and beyond in the passing of the hat and left me several black chips....thanks Marty, I truly appreciated that. Here's a photo of the valet cart as we loaded it up.
First night in Vegas I cab over to NewYork NewYork to meet up with Mikey, Sticky, Doug, George (BigStogie) and Marlisha (BigTips) at the Italian restaurant Il Fornaio for some dinner. We had some great laughs and an excellent meal. For my entree I had the Turtei Con Aragosta. Ravioli filled with fresh Maine lobster topped with shrimp and diced tomato; lobster cream sauce....yummy!! I would highly recommend it and give the place a big thumbs up.
HurricaneMikey, Beach Crazy and BigTips. Mikey, can you look a little happier to see me?!!
After dinner I had to hurry back to IP to meet up with Pattie and a surprise early arrival Sin. Throughout the evening the number grew as we were eventually joined by Scott, Lar, Rich (JoeVegas) and Vegas Jer.
Shock, Sin and Sanonofresurfer
We all wanted to see Jer's suite at Paris so we went and checked it out. I can't believe no one took pictures, IT WAS AWESOME!!! Anyway we eventually ended up at Frontier for a little gaming action until the early hours of the morning where we parted ways heading in different directions. I was pretty tired and wanted to just head back for some sleep so Scott and I decided to cab it back to IP. I really don't remember where this all came from, but here is Scott's explanation of what went down and where I got my trip report title.
SH0CK said:
Thursday
I think I slept until 5:30 pm, something like that. A bunch of us grabbed a limo and headed downtown to meet up with others at Pullman Grille for dinner (Main Street Station). Sin and I decided to split a steak and lobster entree. The steak was excellent, the lobster was a little over cooked for me. I also thought the service was a little slow, but the company was excellent and the atmosphere is pretty nice too. Eric (Jack21) had suggested that we all meet up for dinner as he had some comps to use, so he generously offered up his comps to the group and we all pitched in for the remainder. Thanks so much, Eric.
Again we all split up going in different directions. Some went to shows, others like me were off drinking and gambling but then we eventually all met up again at Binions. Sin and I decided to try our luck on the mechanical bull. Someone posted the before picture, here's the after. I think there may have been about 3 seconds between photos. Giddy up!!
Friday
Tonight is the big happy hour in my room so I don’t do much today but prepare. It was a great time. Even my Vegas girl VegasDrea (Andrea) and her boyfriend Aaron made an appearance. It was a great time and I met quite a few people I hadn’t met yet...my pleasure, everyone. Unfortunately I didn’t get to talk to anyone as much as I would have liked, but I guess there’s always next time. After the party some of us headed down to the IP for a little table action. My game of choice is blackjack and as much as I love it I’ll have to admit I’ve been on a losing streak for the past several years and tonight was no exception.
Saturday
Stayed out to late and missed the poker tourney, sorry Dougie...maybe next year.
Later in the day Andrea shows up. Eric made 8 pm dinner reservations at Red Square (Mandalay Bay) for us and Foundation Room afterwards and we were running late. Once we got down to the taxi line we knew we were in trouble. It was already 7:35 and I’m guessing the wait in that line would have been at least 30 minutes so we hoofed it over to Caesar’s and jumped into a town car, arriving on time and in style. Have I mentioned lately that I love Vegas! :banana: We met up for dinner with Eric, and his 2 friends Jennie and Ashley and Joe Schmo (Mike). To start with Eric ordered some caviar samplers and vodka flights to go around. I passed on the vodka, but savored every minute of my caviar...nice choice Eric. I don’t remember what everyone else had but I opted for a pasta dish. Not sure what it was called on the menu but it was crab meat and arugula angel hair pasta with sautéed roma tomatoes, garlic, basil and white wine. It was tasty, but not impressive. While we were dining I notice Jennie was drinking something that looked good so I decided to try one. Look out Captain, you’ve got some competition and Sticky you know what I’m talking about!! It was a Bellini, and after one sip it was my drink for the evening. Thanks again Eric, for dinner and FR, it was truly an enjoyable evening.
After dinner we all headed up to Foundation Room. I think Mike (Joe Schmo) described it best in his TR. Later on we were joined by Al and Becky. We lounged around the fire place laughing, talking, texting obscene messages to Sin and sometimes we danced. I also had the pleasure of chasing dirty old men away from Ashley
. Come on guys, if you’re gonna hit on someone young enough to be your daughter...or even granddaughter...you’d better at least be good looking or have billions in the bank! Every now and then we would have to head out to the balcony and check out the view. If you want to see the bright lights of Vegas up close this is the spot. I still think the best view is from Voodoo Lounge because you can see the entire strip, but this view is a very close second. Eric had an early flight out in the morning so he decided to call it a night and the rest of us (well, Andrea and I) decided we needed to show Mike, Ashley and Jennie another side of Vegas....downtown...specifically Hogs & Heifers. We jumped in a limo and off we went. Unfortunately when we got there, Ashley couldn’t get in (lost her ID) so she and Jennie said there goodbyes and inside we went to be joined later by Sin, Patti, Marty, his friend Trevor and my bodyguard, Scott. I love Hogs & Heifers...kinda reminds me of my bartending days way back when...and besides, whenever I go there, I feel real purty, cause I have all my teef.
We left there and Andrea, Al, Scott and I ended up heading to Careful Kitty’s for some breakfast. I’m not sure what all we were laughing about but Al was seriously giving Scott a hard time about his redneck roots. After breakfast Andrea and I are done, we head back to the room and crash. Sunday
Get up at a decent time as Andrea has to head out...I hate that part
. Some of the gang is leaving today so they are checking out and storing their luggage in the room. Al mentions something about jewelry shopping for Mrs Al so of course I offer to show him a few places. Scott decides to tag along so the three of us walk over to Ballys. Al makes his purchase (what a nice guy) and we are headed back to IP. We say our goodbyes to Al and he is on his way. Patti, Sin, Scott, Marty and I headed downtown to meet DonD and his lovely wife Miss Jennifer. We decided to eat at Upper Deck in the Vegas Club. I’m not sure but this was probably the hardest I laughed the whole trip. If you haven’t read Marty’s trip report yet, you need to. LMAO!! Don was kind enough to get us a comp that covered all our meals, thanks again, Don, you’re the best!!After dinner we headed to one of the Golden Nugget lounges and met up with Mikey, George, Marlisha, Sammi, Andy and Corey (god, I hope I’m not leaving anyone out). More laughs and drinks. What an awesome place. I love everything they’ve done with the Nugget and I’m actually considering staying there on an upcoming trip. After a few drinks some of the crew decide they want to head to Binions for some poker. Patti, and I decide that we need a little blackjack action so off to Vegas Club we go with Sin and Andy in tow. On the way to Vegas Club Andy decides he needs to reciprocate on the gift that Sin picked up for him earlier so once we get there he’s gone for a minute. Patti and I find a table and proceed to play. Pretty soon Andy shows up with his gift for Sin. He is making everyone at the table look at it. I have to say Andy, you were quite proud of that gift. We are all laughing and having a good time. After a while I decide I need to head back to the room and make it an early night so I color up and cash out. Damn, I made $15. My first win of the trip.
Monday morning was full of sad goodbyes
and packing up my crap. Mikey finally made it up to my room and we were off to the airport. In some ways I was ready to go home, I desperately needed a normal routine as all the partying was finally starting to wear on me. The trip home was uneventful with the exception of my flight being delayed an hour and me getting busted by security with a half empty jug of Captain in my carry on that I intended to give to Mikey but forgot about. And that’s it! I hope I didn’t leave anyone's names out, if I did, I apologize, it was not intentional. And I’m sorry, I only took four photos this trip. These gatherings seem to get bigger and bigger, and to all the people I met for the first time, it was indeed a pleasure and I hope to see you again. Also, to my previous compadres that couldn’t make it...I missed you...but the good thing is that Vegas is still there and we can always go back. Once again, a big thank you to everyone for making my trip soooooo much fun!! Oh, and to my two roommates...can't wait to do it again, girls.
:wave2:
