Trip Report (7/19-7/26)/Conclusion

Now we will hit some highlights (lowlights) of the trip in some kind of chronological order. I can not vouch for the accuracy of some of this information as it had to be related to me by others after the fact. While, to my knowledge, no felonies were committed, I believe some misdemeanors were.

Monday...slow day, mostly hung around the Orleans. Cabbed over to meet friends at the Luxor. Checked out their Pyramid room and it was pretty nice though starting to show some wear. We wandered around and checked out some of south strip casinos. Kenny was a V-squared (Vegas Virgin) and so it was fun to see him see things for the first time. Played a bit of slots/video blackjack at the Bay and quickly lost about $50...a very expensive gin n tonic. Walked about a bit there trying to play "spot the hooker" but, as all the young talent seemed to be dressing the part, it was tough to tell the difference. We had some food at the Trop and retired fairly early.

Tuesday...we all agreed to meet up midafternoon near the Bellagio. I took the shuttle and they got lost trying to find the monorail. Decided to step into Barbary Coast and kill a few minutes...sat down to waste some time on VP and suddenly realized that Big Elvis was about to start. Talked to boys into coming over and we enjoyed the show and a lot of free cocktails. Afterwards we stumbled up the strip and JT decided we should stop at Carnival Court. Much drinking ensued and we enjoyed the vocal stylings of WonderBoogie, or I think that was their name...fun place and we stayed there until about eight. I am a bit of a karaoke kind of guy and was determined to make my Las Vegas debut on this trip...so we landed at Tequila Joes in the IP and proceeded to spend the rest of the evening there. Many more cocktails were consumed and I got to sing a couple of times, stunning the crowd with my powerful renditions of Piano Man and Eminem's Lose Yourself. I am "pretty fly for a white guy" you know. We stumbled back to the shuttle stop so they could check out the Orleans, enjoyed some Steak n Eggs and crashed. Felt pretty good the next day though our friend Kenny was hurting quite a bit.

Wednesday...moved to the Plaza. Couldn't seem to make a phone connection with the boys all day long so this ended up being an "alone day" and a very good one. Ended up turning $20 into $70 at the Golden Nugget and hitting another 4 Aces at the Lady Luck. Figured I probably won about $70 that day. Did the shrimp cocktail, hot dog n beer and late night steak special for dinner and went to bed fairly early. I did in fact wander down to the Western. It wasn't that bad...at least in the daylight...most people there just looked down n out...not scary. Kind of like hanging out at a bus station with a casino.

Thursday...this day got ugly. Spent most of the day alone, enjoying a good buffet and actually taking a nap in the afternoon. Checked out the casinos I had missed the day before but really didn't win much. Couldn't make those four aces reappear this day. Finally reconnected with the boys who came downtown for the evening (well...the whole night). We immediately commenced to do some drinking. Grabbed some free drinks at the Plaza (coupon book) and, after checking out my room, hit the street. Had always been opposed to drinks in silly containers but decided this was the night to indulge. JT got a football full of beer and Kenny and I went to Mermaids for a yard of Nuclear Kamikaze. Proceeded to suck it down quickly while enjoying a really good (unnamed) band with a super cute lead singer and several Fremont Street Experience shows. After the first yard was gone, we went back for seconds, this time at Le Bayou and this time I enthusiastically agreed to "an extra shot." Well...things started getting blurry after this. I know we saw some dancing cowgirls at the Horseshoe (God...that place was dead, even the poker room) and wandered around a bit. Finally we finished yard #2 and I insisted we save our cups. Back to room where the night goes dark for me...the rest of this was reconstructed with the help of others.
Apparently, we all began sharing sad stories of our personal mishaps with women going back many years. All the while, I was busy text messaging (apparently, I don't remember) every presentable female I knew (including married ones) and offering sexual services of various kinds. They were all pretty nice about it and many of them humored me for a few hours until they took the phone away from me. We apparently drank (and gambled?) some more at the LV Club where JT decided to toss a glass of beer at a poster of Joe Montana. Now JT is a big guy but apparently I didn't care at this point because I reportedly grabbed him by the shirt and told him he "was outta here." We then tried (for 15 minutes or so) to hit on the poor girl shilling for the Girls of Glitter Gulch. Despite my drunken charm, she did not leave with us and, to my knowledge, we never went in. Another trip to the Horseshoe with more dancing cowgirls and then I became almost belligerantly determined to shoot craps....preferably at the El Cortez. In time no on could resist my drunken leadership and we made it to this Las Vegas palace. However the drunken state which had made our trip possible made it impossible for me to form the necessary words or perform the necessary actions needed to actually play craps. I did lean over the table for quite a while with a $20 in my hand but (again, apparently) refused a chance to roll the dice. Oh well...at least I kind of remember that. I think it was the police officer that kind of snapped me out of my blackout phase. Yeah...police officer...JT had decided to take out his frustrations with life and his friends by hurling the contents of box of porn flyers at us...sadly, Mr. Police Man drove by just as he did. After a rather vocal "dressing down," the flyers were returned to their rightful place and we returned to the Plaza to crash, not before some more steak n eggs at the LV Club.

Friday...quiet day, for the most part. We all woke up in my room pretty early. Despite the blur from the night before, our heads and livers seemed intact. They finally took the bus back to the Luxor and I checked out the hotel. Hung out downtown for a few hours and then cabbed it to the Riviera. Long wait for check-in and long walk to the room. Called the boys and agreed to meet them at the Luxor. Hoofed it to the monorail station at the Convention Center and, after some confusion (and perspiration) found the way onboard. Tickettaker was broken so the ride was free. It was OK, kind of slow, but an interesting experience. Made it through the nightmare of MGM and Excalibur to the Luxor and discovered that JT was done. His back was shot (from sleeping on the floor the night before?) so Kenny and I ventured out alone. Pretty much just walked the strip down to TI catching most of the free shows and losing a bit of money at Caesars. Finally grabbed some grub at the Grand Lux (very good) and we parted. Walked back to the Riv and fell asleep.

Saturday...not much. Woke up late and played around the north strip. I mentioned the Ho Dog and the nasty buffet...and the win at The STRAT ...and all the crazy people around the Riviera that night. Did spent a few hours at the Hilton (really like that place) and mostly just hung out at the hotel that evening. The boys had gone home a day early so I was now on my own.

Sunday...woke up with some serious stomach issues...which fortunately passed (pun intended) after a few hours. Checked out, stored my bags, and killed a few hours. As I was still doing quite well financially, I decided that I wasn't going to miss out on the OG this trip, even if I had to do it on a Sunday afternoon. Arrived about 2 and left a couple hours later after several strong drinks and some very enjoyable company. Allowed a couple of black dancers to "play with me" for a while and they were indeed very playful. Left shaken, stirred and dazed...as well as quite a bit lighter in the wallet but it was all good. After that, it was a snack at the Riv, a ride to the airport and well...then it really goes downhill. Back early Monday morning and had a fun day at the store (on 2 hours of sleep) catching up on things. I'm still trying to recover but I think I'm getting there.

Hope you all enjoyed this or that it helped you get to sleep...either way, it served its purpose. Now...time to plan another trip...hmmm...maybe a weekend in October would be good...

 

Nice downtown trip! What's with the dancing cowgirls at the 'Shoe?

 

Well...at least the night we were there, three attractive young ladies were just kind of dancing and singing country songs towards the rear of the casino...don't know if this is a regular thing or not. I think they were pretty good...apparently we went back a second time to enjoy their vocal stylings. I would say that perhaps this was simply a dream but dancing cowgirls are not really high on my fantasy list so I don't think so. Anyone else run across them before?

 

You don't mean they went home a day early from what they had planned, do you? Surely no one would do that. I am begging you to tell me that is not what you meant!!

 

No...Terry, our trips had been planned separately...I had originally just expected to go back solo for a very laid back cheapo week in Vegas. After I had already booked my flight, the boys decided to join me but decided to fly back a day earlier to save a little cash by avoiding a Saturday night hotel stay. As it turned it, the whole part-time solo, part-time group trip worked out nicely.

 

Your TR reminds me of my drinking days of long ago. Can't beat having a good time with the boys.