Sorry, it’s a bit long, but it’s my first and I didn’t want to leave anything out.
A little background, my wife and I are in our very early thirties and travel to Vegas anywhere from 4-6 times a year. Since we’re a 3 hour drive away, it’s easy to find an excuse to go. But this trip we actually had a good one, one of my wife’s childhood friends was getting married and there’s nothing quite like a wedding in Vegas. The rest is posted as a reply below.
Trip report 6/5 %26ndash; 6/8; Wedding Vegas Style
Day 1 – A Show %26amp; Gambling
Leave work early and hit the road about 12 and make it to Vegas by 3:30. I’m upset because we have to stop for gas because my gas guzzling vehicle can’t make the brief 242 mile trip without having to stop in Baker for gas. Of course it doesn’t help that I’m averaging 100 because we have a show to see at 7 and I want to still have time to check-in and get dinner.
We get to town and head to the Palazzo, and after me zigging when I should have zagged, I end up in their confusing self-parking garage and can’t find our way to the valet. Making a few more wrong turns we end up in the Venetian valet and ask the nice valet attendant how to get to the Palazzo valet. So he tells me that “You first have to get to the Palazzzo”. Everyone’s a comedian.
Check-in goes smooth, and we make it up to the suite before 4. This was our first time staying here and it was pretty much identical to a Venetian room. The coolest thing had to be the remote control drapes. What always kills me in Vegas is my inability to seal the windows of all sunlight. There’s always that ray of light that beams into the room and cooks your forehead as your try and sleep off that hangover. Problem solved with this little baby, the drapes sealed like a vault and all from the comfort of my own bed.
We hurry up unpack and head downstairs to get some dinner before heading to the show. I wanted to try this new restaurant Sushisamba, but they weren’t open yet as the hotel is still fairly new. Ok, scratch that and off to Jade, mostly because we’re starving and that’s the first restaurant that I see. It is mainly Chinese cuisine but they also offered Pho, which I thought was a little bizarre. The food was excellent. I had the spicy scallops and my wife has the clay pot tofu %26amp; eggplant. But wow, this place was expensive. Those 2 dishes plus tea, tip, and a small spring roll appetizer = $80. But we’re in Vegas, so you can live with those kinds of things, especially when the food is good.
Ok, now we grab a cab and head off to the Sahara to see the Fab Four. The show’s at 7 and we get to there at 5. The Mrs. looks over and just glares daggers. Well, I’ve been rushing her since yesterday and I had her run a bunch of errands since she took the day off and I had to go to work. I also insisted that she didn’t have time to get her nails done. Ok, so maybe I was being a little conservative on time. Luckily, she’s the reason we’re watching this show in the first place or else that might have come back to haunt me. Who am I kidding, that is still coming back to haunt me at a later date, when I expect it the least.
Anyway, Vegas is the greatest place to kill time so we head to the bar to get a couple of drinks. I start teaching her how to place video poker explaining how you should never have to pay for a drink at the bar. 10 minutes and 2 $40 beers later we try our luck at blackjack. We sit down and I decide to sign up for a player’s card at the table. The pit boss explains that they have a great deal for new members, 2 free tickets to any show playing at the hotel within a week, even for the show tonight. Well that would’ve been great if I hadn’t decided to buy my non-refundable tickets the night before because I didn’t think we’d have time to head to the discount ticket booths. The irony is sickening.
So we end up breaking even at blackjack and then head to the show. Ok, I was impressed. I didn’t think I’d like it but those guys are pretty talented and I had a great time. My wife loved it and is now in a better mood, which means that I’m in a better mood. Viva Las Vegas!
Take the monorail over to the Imperial Palace to get some serious gambling and drinking accomplished. I taught my wife to play the Texas Hold-em table game which is just hold-em without any of the skill. I say this because I proceed to lose my shirt and my wife is winning away. Luckily the IP still has the fastest cocktail waitresses around and I’m sufficiently lubricated to handle the beating.
At this point, we head over to Pai Gow, aka Push and Drink. Unfortunately, there is no pushing going on for me, just losing and drinking. Again, the wife is doing well so I decide to venture off in search of a blackjack table. I find one by myself and start having a lovely conversation with the dealer. In the process, the cocktail waitresses are bringing me beers faster than I can consume them. Well it would’ve been faster if they didn’t encourage me to pound my current beer every time they brought me a new one. After a couple of hours of this low and behold, I’m actually winning. They change dealers so I take my winnings and head back over to Pai Gow to rejoin my wife who has also been having some good luck. Bad move, as in a ½ hour I throw all of my hard earned winnings back into the casino. This pattern continues the whole night with me winning at blackjack and then losing at everything else. Unfortunately, there are a lot more games of everything else and I end up down about 3/4 of what I brought to gamble for the whole weekend. Not a good way to start the weekend.
We walked back to the Palazzo, and end up stopping at the Venetian for some more gambling. After I make another deposit, we decide to call it the night…er morning and at this point we’ve both been up for 24 hours and apparently my powers of speech had left me a few hours back. We pick up some Grand Lux to go (open 24 hours which is the greatest idea ever) and head back to the room.
Day 2 – Guys/Girls Night Out
Wake up at 11 feeling surprisingly good. Nothing better than eating a greasy meal before you go to bed to help heal that hangover. Reach over, grab the remote to open the drapes (love it) and get ready for the new day.
The rest of the wedding party is arriving today, so we head over to meet the Maid of Honor (MOH) at Treasure Island, which is where she’s staying and where the wedding is going to be held. She had just flown in from LA and from there we decide to eat lunch at the Carnival buffet at the Rio as I am just craving some crab legs. When we get there I’m amazed that there is no line, the place is always busy. Then it dawns on me that it’s Friday at noon and to my dismay they don’t seem to do crab legs during the week. The food doesn’t seem to be very good overall today, but at least there’s 100 different types of mediocre food to chose from.
After lunch, I grab the spiciest Bloody Mary ever and the 3 of us head to the tables. We decide not to gamble here because all of the open tables have some pretty stiff minimums. Ok, so back to the TI to relax and play some Pai Gow. We hang out here for a couple of hours, I manage to only lose a little and my wife wins a little more. Then we say goodbye to the MOH, and head back to the Palazzo to grab a nap and order some room service to prepare for the evening festivities.
My wife is meeting all of the ladies for the bachelorette party at 7:30. I don’t really know the groom so I didn’t want to tag along to his bachelor party either. Luckily, 3 of my friends have decided to drive up and party with me that night. So I walk my wife back over to TI and catch a cab to meet my friends at Excalibur.
After a few pre-party beverages, we head over to the Palms to go to Moon/Playboy club. As we got there early, I decide to play a little blackjack until its time to go in. The table has a great vibe and we’re all having a good time. The guy sitting to my right tells the table that he bet $2,000 on Big Brown to win the Triple Crown and we’re all excited for him since it will pay $76,000. Ahem, well sad to say, most of us know how that turned out. And for those that don’t, he finished dead last. I wonder what happened to that poor guy.
So after breaking even again, we head to Moon. Amazingly 4 guys have no trouble getting in. I did put our names on the guest list, but those of you familiar with Vegas clubs know that guys, let alone 4 of them, are not getting in anywhere without greasing the bouncer. But apparently, it’s dead, so we have no wait and just have to pay the cover.
So once you get past the ropes, you head into the elevator and head up 50 some odd floors to the Playboy Club. The place looked nice. They had all of the old Playboy décor, and tables with the bunnies as dealers. I’m about to sit down when my friends tell me not to even think about it and hustle me up the escalator to Moon. What can I say? It looked pretty cool but seemed like almost every other club. It was dead in there so we head outside to enjoy the view. It’s awesome, just like Ghostbar you can see the whole strip. So we hang out and talk to a few ladies when next thing you know, the place is packed silly. It happened somewhere between that second cocktail and a shot that a random person handed me, but now the place is going off. Hang out for about 3 hours and then I come to realize that all by myself in a sea of strangers and none of my friends can be found. Oh well, looks like I’ll mosey down to the Playboy Club and try out those tables.
Unfortunately, I cannot find the escalator back down into the Playboy Club so I’m stuck in an elevator line of about 50 people which apparently only heads to the bottom of the club. Once out, I meet up with my friends and they seem to be entertaining themselves at the center bar so I again head back to the blackjack tables. So I’ve been playing for a about an hour chatting with the dealer Amanda, who has that funny sarcastic dealer wit, when all of a sudden I look down and holy crap, I have this huge stack of green chips. Luckily, my friends come looking for so I leave with my profits before I can reinvest them back into the hotel.
At this time it’s about 3:30 and we’re not quite ready to call it the night, so we decide to head to the Palazzo to try and meet up with my wife. Ok, well my single friends were more interested in meeting up with her drunken lady friends. Unfortunately for them, all of the ladies, except my wife, are passed out and done for the night. Apparently, they had a little too much fun at Olympic Gardens, yeah, I don’t want to know the details either. So the wife doesn’t want to ruin the guys night out so she goes and gambles while us fellas decide on following Vegas tradition and visit the nearest gentlemen’s club. We stay there for a couple of hours, get even more wasted, and then stumble outside into the heinous Vegas sunrise. Manage to flag down a cab, say later to the fellas, and head off to the hotel and I’m in bed by 7.
Day 3 – The Wedding
Wake up at 11 and I hurt….a lot…..all over. I’m definitely not in the prime of my partying years and back-to-back nights of heavy drinking with little sleep has definitely taken its toll. Unfortunately I have to get up because I’m starving, and room service is backed up for over an hour. So the wife and I stumble downstairs for breakfast/lunch and she actually has the nerve to feel fine. Eat at the Grand Lux, as it’s the closest thing, and make it in time for their breakfast buffet. They have the standard fare, eggs, bacon, sausage, %26amp; pastries. My wife has an omelet made and loves it.
After the meal, she goes to meet the ladies at the pool at Treasure Island, while I stumble back into bed for some sleep. Unfortunately, the genius that I am, I decided to have coffee with breakfast. It’s not enough to lively me up but just enough to ruin any plans of restful sleep. Before I know it, its 4 and the wife is back, which means that its time to get up and get ready for the wedding.
At this point, I still don’t feel right. But I suck it up and we walk back over to TI for the wedding. It’s a quick ceremony in their little wedding chapel. Only about 40 people or so, as you couldn’t really fit anymore. Bride looks wonderful and it’s a funny ceremony, they’re really casual people as my description of this whole wedding will make evident.
After the ceremony, we head to the Mist lounge in TI for cocktail hour. They have all of the booths reserved, but the bar and center table is still open for your average patron. It’s a nice place, and I definitely needed a cocktail to help stop the pain. The bride and groom eventually join us and have their first dance in the middle of this bar. Its classic, because it takes at least 3 tries for the bartender to play the right song. The other patrons love it.
Ok, now its time to head to the buffet at TI for the reception. Yes, it’s at the buffet at the TI. (This has to be every guys dream wedding). Unfortunately, I still feel like crap and the chicken fingers I ate on the way to TI have come back to haunt me. I can’t possibly eat anything and seeing as how the bride has to pay for people who actually attend, I decide to skip it. The bride and more importantly my wife don’t care at all and I head over to the tables to start gambling.
At this point my luck from last night is still going on strong. I play blackjack and triple up my initial investment. Then I head to Pai Gow and double up again. Sweet! I’ve finally broken even and recovered the funds from the first nights debacle. At this time the reception is over and we all head over to the Mirage as we have a reservation for 30 at the Revolution Lounge for further wedding celebrations.
Lucky for me, we still have an hour to kill before we’re supposed to meet the others so my wife and I, along with a few other wedding guests, sit at a Pai Gow table in the Mirage. This is when I go on the greatest Pai Gow run ever. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it is a very slow game. You usually end up pushing with the dealer. It’s mainly a great time killing diversion. However, the Pai Gow gods are good and I can’t seem to lose. Every hand I get is ridiculous, and before I know it I’m up huge and its time to go to the club.
Walk over to Revolution and it’s a small lounge outside of the Beatles Love show. They’re very cool as they put the whole wedding party on the guest list and not even the guys have to pay cover. One of the groomsmen wants to do bottle service and they let give him only a 2 bottle minimum for 30 people. Now I’ve never done bottle service before because it seemed like a waste of money. The bill can come up to $1000 easy for 2 people. But it was very cool, they give you your own bouncer and cocktail servers and we have a booth that can seat 15 which is ok because the ladies rarely got off the dance floor. Makes you feel very important. They also have these tripping tables that light up when you put your ash tray on it and you can draw designs and stuff. Very psychedelic. So everyone proceeds to drink up and dance and those 2 bottles don’t last an hour. That’s ok, because more bottles appear and I decide that now would be a good time to buy everyone a shot of Patron. All of the sudden I’m feeling a whole lot better, ah good times. Definitely a wedding to remember.
So, now it’s only 2 but our bodies cannot take anymore abuse. So the wife, Maid of Honor, and I say goodbye to everyone and begin the trek back to the Palazzo. We stop back at TI to drop off the MOH, and eat some Pho at the noodle house there. It’s fantastic as always, mostly thanks to the inebriated state I’m always in when I eat there. We finally make it back and I decide to gamble a little more at the Venetian. Wouldn’t you know it, I’m no longer on fire, and I throw away $150 in about 15 minutes. That’s when I call it quits before I can throw back all of my hard earned winnings. Back to the room for some much needed sleep.
Day 4 – The Drive Home
Wake up at 9 and start packing for the drive home. Get out of town a little before 10 and I’m praying for no traffic. This is when it is good to fly because driving home hung over just isn’t fun. Stop by Baker again to refuel and eat at the Mad Greek. I love this place, the Gyros are the best. Anyway, while we’re eating I hear a large crunch and look out the window to see a red pickup has plowed into the side of a BMW X3. Ouch! Luckily the driver of the red truck cannot start his car because he is definitely trying to flee the scene. After much coaxing by the large gentleman who was driving the BMW, the other driver reluctantly gets out of his truck. It was classic. Anyway, we get home without any other event, and had so much fun that we decided to come back July 4th. 21 days and counting….
Trip report 6/5 %26ndash; 6/8; Wedding Vegas Style
Loved the whole report. Sounds like you had a blast!
Sounds like a wild time to me. Lucky you...only 3 hrs. from home :)
Very entertaining TR. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sounds like you guys had a blast. I enjoyed reading your post. Thanks for sharing.
Whoa, I feel drunk after reading that.
What a mad few days, cheers for posting.
Very entertaining review of your trip. I appreciate your writing style. And as for that hangover? Yep, been there too many times.
thx, we got back this sunday, and i%26#39;m still hurting. it%26#39;ll take me 21 days just to fully recover.
Great trip report! I%26#39;m afraid that If I only lived 3 hours from Vegas and not separated by an ocean and at lease two connections I%26#39;d be there every week!
';So the wife and I stumble downstairs for breakfast/lunch and she actually has the nerve to feel fine.'; LOL!!
Great trip report!
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