| 5/13/2004 |
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VIVA LAS VEGAS by Elvis
I've returned!! It's time for the weekend update. This one is a special once since I was on vacation. I'll try and keep it short, but I've got three days worth of activities to recap and recount.
I was up WAY too late on Friday night for getting up at 5am on Saturday morning. Three hours of sleep. After picking up Chris and his parents we left at 9:30 AM, arriving in Vegas 2 1/2 hours later. We flew on Southwest Airlines. Now I’d heard stories about how Southwest is the ‘party plane.’ The Captains are funny. The Flight Attendants are entertaining. This is a good thing… Because by God, if I am 6 miles above the ground hurtling thru the air at speeds of at least 600 miles per hour… I want some entertainment. I want my mind taken off this fact. The flight attendant made a few slip of the tongue jokes that virtually everyone laughed at, because I’m sure it was ‘the first’ time she ever said that speech that the seatbeats “fasten around your lips… uh… I mean hips.” Tho I could have done without the harmonica playing Captain. I want my Captains serious and my Flight Attendants funny.
Once in Vegas, we started out all together, until Chris had to meet up with Josh. We checked into our rooms. The desk clerk offered Chris & I a room that was already ready to go. She ‘sold’ it by saying it has a walk-in shower. “Oooo..” we both thought. Chris was thrilled to havea walk-in shower. It seemed like a cool idea. We didn’t realize what this meant till later. After that it was on our own for a while till later on in the evening till we decided to go to the Stratosphere and Fremont Street.
What can I say about the Stratosphere. I’m not a HUGE fan of open-air heights. If I ‘feel’ like I can fall… I start to panic a bit. From the inside observation deck the city looked beautiful. You could see EVERYTHING. I took some photos that I’ll post here once I get them developed. From the next story up on the outside observation deck it was considerably windy and certainly more frightening. Especially when you see one of the rides they have on the top of this towering monstrosity go over the edge of the tower…. ON PURPOSE!! This is a ride folks! It dangles you over the edge of the city. My palms are sweaty just typing about it.
Gambling wise.. I spent a fair amount of money. I’m just as entertained watching people play as I am playing myself. I did drop in a few bucks here and there and left with 400 dollars. I wasn’t in Vegas a day yet and already a winner!!
The first night was rather tiring. I had been up almost 24 hours by the time I went to bed. My feet were killing me after walking ALL day long. Everyone took a shower to freshen up a bit. We soon realized what the walk-in shower really was. It is a handicapped stall with a hose and a chair that is wheel chair accessible. The novelty of this wore off REALLY quick once we found out that a slightly sloping tile floor was not enough to stop the water from going everywhere. It was very difficult to get a good shower that way.
A couple text messages to and from my man back home and I was out for the night. I found Goonies playing on TBS and feel asleep to the sounds of Chunk & Sloth saving the day. Way to go Mikey!! YOU GOONIES!!!
The next morning Chris & Josh were awake and going WAY before I was. I slept in a couple hours longer, hoping to meet up with them later. I finally rolled out of bed. Went to the lobby to get some food. Still reeling from the previous days victory, I went back to the same machines I was on before and lost my money! Not all of it mind you, but enough to make me go back to the room and sleep some more while I waited for Chris to call. Once I heard from them I was on the go again. We met up with Chris’s parents to go to a $40 buffet. For $40 you would think that there might be certain ‘favors’ included. A gentle grope at least… Nothing! But what we did get was some of the best lobster I have ever had. I ate my $40 worth of lobster, calamari, shrimp, and other delectables of the sea.
By now we were discovering the Art of Free Drinks. If you look like you are playing you can get a free drink. (Free meaning you tip the waitress or she’ll never come and ask you if you want another drink ever again). Chris and I were become pros and figuring out ways to get our margaritas and other coke-combined liquors. Find a waitress. See which direction she is heading. Find an open slot machine a row in front of her and put in a dollar and just sit there and wait for her to come by. Voila! At one place we found some $.01 poker slot machines where the waitress came by every ten minutes. At one point I had three drinks in front of me and was gambling about $2.46 on the penny machine! Woo Woo! Look out! High Roller coming through!!
I was surprised at a couple of things. 1) I figured there would be more visible signs of homeless people or panhandlers. There weren’t. I only came across two. One bluntly asked for “spare beer money” (at least he was honest why he wanted it). And another who just sat there with his hat in front of him. No sign. No catchy phrase. Nothing.
2) I was surprised at the short Hispanic men and women who could be found on every blocked literally shoving trading cards of naked women doing things with things that surprised me. Newspaper boxes… Nope… those were nudie mag brochures. For $99 you could ‘rent’ Spice & Tia for an evening of pleasure. Kind of lost on our group… Oh well. They tried. The running joke by the end of the trip was “The streets of Vegas are paved in Titties and Booze.” Everywhere you looked there would be these nudie trading cards and empty libation containers sitting around. Then at some point throughout the night, it would all be cleaned up and the next morning it would start again.
Sunday night became a game of Vegas Survivor. Josh was the first to go. He had a few too many libations and needed to be put to sleep. The four of us went to see the Mirage and it’s volcano light/water/fire fountain. Stopped by Treasure Islands boats. Chris and I decided we were going to go check out the Bellagio fountains. So we left his parents and made our way across the street. These things were amazing! Chris’s Dad was next. He was tired (or as Chris put it) …tired of losing and wanted to go to the room and watch Lifetime Television: The Network for Women. Once they were gone, Chris, his Mother, and myself decided to live it up a bit more. We made our way around the Paris themed hotel/casino and then his mom was out for the night too. Well far be it from us to stop now. We were on vacation and by God… we were going to enjoy it. Not even realizing what time it was, we continued on and walked further down the strip to the Luxor. A huge Pyramid hotel/casino. It was truly a sight to see from the outside. Inside it seemed a little lack-luster. I wasn’t as impressed with it as my Grandmother was. It was all she talked about on her trips to Vegas. Once it hit 3am we decided we should probably head back to the hotel. As we started walking my feet because really tired. Anytime we stopped at a casino to play a few games… if I sat… it hurt to get back up. Not a good sign. I had to keep moving.
Here we were in Vegas at 3am walking down the strip and the two of us singing tunes like On Broadway, Mrs Robinson, Down On Skid Row, Monday Monday, Under The Boardwalk, New York New York, and other tunes. There was something kind of fun about that. It’s hard to explain, but that was a very entertaining thing to do just to be singing as you walked down the street. I felt like back-up dancers and a soundtrack was about to start at any given moment.
The next morning was TOO DAMN early. His parents wanted us downstairs by 8am. That was insane… we talked them into 930 and even that was pushing it. We didn’t get to bed till about 430 that morning. But hey… it’s Vegas!
Once downstairs and checked out. We left our bags with hotel security to be picked up by the airport shuttle later and we were off to go around the strip some more. Everyone went there own way for breakfast and then meet up after lunch for the shuttle. I decided to do some souvenir shopping. Chris & Josh went to run some errands for Josh’s insulin, Chris’s parents made there way to a few casinos. I was the first to return to the hotel and figured I might as well drop in my last 20 bucks I had on my in my pockets. (keep in mind I’m still up from the money I originally brought to Vegas minus drinks, food, and gifts). I put the 20 bucks in and a few coins later I hit $600. I laugh slightly and cash out with $650. I figure I’ll put the $50 back in and leave with an even $600. I hit another $150. The lady standing beside me just smiles and compliments my luck. I cash out again and tell her the machine is all hers. I’m not going back to it.
I left with money. I made enough to even have paid for the money I originally spent for the travel package. All in all, a pretty good weekend. A few celebratory cocktails on the flight home and I was a happy camper.
So my Vegas recommendations:
-Wear comfortable shoes. I escaped with only one blister.
-Go see the Bellagio Fountains. They will MOVE you.
-Take in a show. I wish I would have. Next time I will.
-If you hit big on a slot machine. Cash out and walk away from it. Don’t go back!
-Don’t touch anything that has a picture of a naked woman on it. It is very possible that a VD could be caught that way.
-Bring a stash of money you don’t intend to use. I lucked out and had money for souvenirs. Who knows when you’ll get back to Vegas again.
-Take plenty of pictures. Be a tourist. That is what the city is there for.
I know that was long winded. Just wanted to give you the run down.
Thanks for reading!!! Comment away!!! |
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I posted this @ 5/13/2004 04:55:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
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