Vegas trip report-April 2009

Yes, I know. We just returned from our second trip to Las Vegas in 4 months. So in answer to your questions, no we’re still not tired of it and yes, we are addicted. Sometimes I think it would be cheaper to have a cocaine habit than a Vegas habit.

Our most recent trip to fabulous Las Vegas was my 6th, the wife’s 4th, and the first trip for the couple we went with. In keeping with tradition of nick naming our traveling companions, I will refer to them as Mr. and Mrs. Fancypants (you’ll find out why in a bit). Mr. and Mrs. F for short.
We booked the trip about 2 months ago for 3 nights. We were originally going to stay at the Flamingo until I received a comparable offer from New York New York. None of us had ever stayed at NYNY, but I’ve always liked the hotel. We flew Allegiant Air (motto: settting the standard in extra charges). We had about a 2 hour drive to the airport. There is an airport closer, but the tickets were about twice as much so we opted for the extra drive. I had planned on driving, until Mr. F pulled up and announced he was driving. That wasn’t what set me back when they pulled up. What surprised me was his attire. He was wearing jeans, tennis shoes, a button down shirt, and a suit jacket. I naturally assumed we must be stopping at a funeral on the way to the airport. I was wrong, apparently the reason for the suit jacket was it wouldn’t fit in his carryon. I had no such problem as I don’t make it a practice of wearing a suit unless I absolutely have to. What really bugged me was it looked perfectly natural on him. If I dressed like that, I’d look like a homeless guy that had just stolen a tuxedo jacket from a drunken groomsman.
The flight was typical, there were 3 couples getting married and a group of college girls hell-bent on celebrating a 21st birthday by getting obliterated for their entire trip. Mr. F talked me into taking a limo to the hotel because it wouldn’t be considerably more than a cab per person. I concurred, on our last trip the fare to Flamingo was $25 for two of us so for 4 it might be around $30 to NYNY compared to $40 for a limo. This might not have been a great decision. Our limo driver got stuck in traffic on Tropicana (maybe taking a back way might have been faster?) so it took almost 30 minutes to get the hotel.
Check in was quick at the hotel as we got to use the fancy “Invited Guests” line, which comes complete with 2 square feet of red carpet. We couldn’t get on the same floor as the F’s, they were on the floor above us. As part of the offer, we were upgraded to the Park Avenue rooms. I’m afraid to see how small the regular Skyline rooms are as the Park Avenue rooms are approximately the size of a broom closet. The décor is dark and the shades completely block out the sun, apparently in an effort to help guests sleep off hangovers.
We tossed our luggage in the room and met up with the F’s to go walk the strip. The wife and I were starving, so we grabbed a hot dog and a pretzel before we left the hotel. It was about 4pm local time and they hadn’t had a drink since lunch, so naturally they were parched. Mr. F picked Smith & Wollensky’s for our first stop, probably because it was the first place he saw that served alcohol. We had appetizers and a round and a half of drinks (2 for the F’s, 1 for the wife and I) and the total came to just over $100. Luckily, I had taken out a second mortgage to pay for this trip. Also, Mr. F picked up the majority of the tab. We left S & W and continued north. We stopped at Bellagio for a fountain show (surprisingly enough, it wasn’t Celine Dion) and walked through the conservatory. The next stop was the Forum Shops, where Mrs. F tried to talk Mr. F into buying her a Louis Vuitton bag. My wife didn’t even try as she doesn’t enjoy talking to a brick wall.
At this point it had been a couple hours since our last drink so we stopped at Carnival Court outside Harrah’s. Some old dude that looked like a cross between Ron Jeremy and Gene Simmons was belting out audience requests on his tricked out karaoke machine. We had a couple rounds there, and I tried to hide my surprise that domestic bottles were running $6 each. We left as he attempted to screech “God Bless America,” partly because of his singing and partly because a couple in their fifties (sixties?) was making out next to us. I don’t have a problem with some public displays of affection, but this crossed the line. I was about ready to throw them oxygen masks as they needed to come up for air. We wandered south, and wouldn’t you know it the fountain show was “God Bless America.” I guess I was destined to hear it that night.
We wandered through Paris, then picked up some provisions at Walgreens. I dropped our purchases off at the room and we went to the bar outside Coyote Ugly. I hesitate to refer to it as a bar as there are no walls, it just sits in the walkway next to the crappy etched glass kiosk. We had a couple drinks there and called it a night as it was after midnight by then.