We both got in late Friday night, and played blackjack for a couple of hours before going to bed...the next morning, we got up early, grabbed some coffee, and made plans...some of which we stuck to...
We followed that up with a great breakfast at the buffet at our Hotel, the Hilton this year...they had good food and endless champagne...
After some blackjack and comped drinks (2 of my favorite things), we went for lunch at Tony Roma's...there's a ridiculous story about how we ended up at Tony Roma's instead of the best Thai restaurant in the Western US during our last visit to Vegas, but I'll spare you everything except for the fact that we both ended up signing up for Roma's email updates, which come as weekly reminders of a funny time...that being the case, we decided to go back and try it again...
Here you can see me poised to dive into a half-sized onion loaf...the waitress assured me that lots of people get them all the time, but Sarah and I couldn't finish the half-sized one between us...we had a great time at our lunch...
After lunch, we headed south on the Las Vegas Strip via monorail and played video blackjack (smaller stakes and they still comp your drinks) until it was time for our dinner plans...we both did well...
We went to the "Tournament of Kings"...a fun dinner theater experience at the Excaliber Casino...
Merlin came by our section prior to dinner to prep us on the show...
The "Kings" lined up and engaged in jousting and sword-fighting...there were good guys and bad guys and fireworks and magic...it was a blast!
Here is Sarah after the show with our King...the King of France...WE WON!!!
The next morning, Sarah and I were both a little dehydrated (probably the dry desert air), so we fell back on the time-honored cure-all of a power-breakfast at the Hilton's Buffet...forcing fluids and spicy foods fixed up right up, and got us ready for the day ahead!
We followed up the breakfast with Spectacular Bloody Mary's at a bar that I remembered at the MGM, which cemented the cure...
This lion tamer/player/worker was busy cleaning and organizing the lion exhibit at the MGM, inside the enclosure with the lions, and he went over for serious smoochies with this lion...the lion was genuinely happy to see him, and enthusiastic to give kisses...
We went over to Gameworks, a cool arcade that we had visited during our last visit, to shoot some zombies (you pay/play by the hour, not by quarters, which insures a great time)...they had lots of great games, one of the most fun was a ride-version of "House of the Dead 4"...we were strapped in after agreeing to lengthy health waivers, and the ride spun and vibrated and shuddered and blew on us and had google-phonic speakers and was beyond awesome!!!
On the way back to MGM, we stopped off at the ridiculous house of hats...Sarah found a great one...
I unfortunately couldn't find a silly hat...
Back at the MGM Grand, we found our favorite bar and blackjack playplace (not to be confused with MacDonald's playplaces), Centrifuge, a great bar with fun music and feel and wait-staff that dances on the bar every 1/2 hour...as per usual, as long as we were playing, our drinks were free...the last time we were here, a hugely pregnant waitress, likely bound by contract, danced in the corner every half hour while her co-workers danced up on the bar...it cemented the place as a classic in our Las Vegas lexicon...
We had a great time hanging out, people-watching, playing blackjack, drinking free bourbon, and...
...watching the "Centrifuge" dancers...we had a super time and/but missed our planned night out at the Stratosphere Tower restaurant and the topless vampire show, "Bite"...the explanation involves numerous comped bourbons as shown above, a late-afternoon nap, and a too-quiet alarm...we'll catch the dinner and "Bite" the next time we're in town...we still had a great night anyway...
The next morning, we headed down to the opposite end of the strip for some play (and free drinks) in the Stratosphere and the Sahara...we had a fun time until we found this computer/video animated blackjack machine, after which we had a phenomenally fun time...we both won a bunch of money, and had fun trying to engage the dealers...we named this one Penny for reasons which we'll tell you in private...
Sarah headed out around noon, and my flight went out later that night...I spent the intervening hours shooting a few more zombies and catching a movie...
Sarah and I had another spectacular time in Las Vegas, and plan to come back next year...I'm happy to be back in Lake Clear (although the constant snow is a bit of a bummer after the sun and 70s weather in Las Vegas), have finally caught up on my sleep and hydration, and spent the day snuggling with Ben and Penny and Cedar...
I like living like that for a couple of days each year, probably because it's so different from my life in NY...
1 comment:
I now have shed all of my judgemental attitudes about Lost Vegas, thanks to you. I want to go!
George
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