I left the friendly confines of Campbell, CA for Sin City on Thursday morning, the 30th. If I'm going to go to Vegas, I need to get my money's worth! Got in and to the Bellagio around lunch time. Picking us up from the airport was a huge, dually truck limo. I mean, it was giant...the floor of the limo was over my waist. Pretty cool. Rolling to the Bellagio in style! Checked in, lunch at Cafe Bellagio, and then trolled around the shops at Caesar's for a while. The roommates showed up, so I let them into the room, and they unpacked. Then we rolled over to the Oh My Godard shop in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.
Why were we at Oh My Godard? Well, we were there to meet the artist himself: Michael Godard!
Pretty cool. Bubs is a big Godard collector, so the lady who was running the show wanted him to meet Godard. He seemed like a nice guy. After the art show, we headed to the Bellagio Buffet for dinner. And it was delicious as always...lobster ravioli, kobe beef, christmas goose, peking duck...and a 5 cheese tortellini. It was that last dish that ended up being an issue, as they had run out of sauce, and mixed in some walnut pesto sauce to make up for it...without telling anyone. Needless to say, I immediately felt that all too familiar tingle in the back of my throat, asked to confirm the presence of walnuts, and immediately went to the hospital.
So, yeah, I spent my first evening in Vegas in a Las Vegas hospital. A little too "Hangover" for my taste, but I got a cool bracelet for my troubles...
Luckily, I caught it early, got it handled, and I didn't end up having to stay in the hospital for 3 days like last time. I was out in 3 hours! While sitting in the hallway (it was packed, I didn't get a room), I noticed some fun things. There were a few signs that seemed to be ignored. One said "Phone room, please do not block door" with a cart parked right in front of the door. Another said "food and drink are for PATIENTS ONLY" and "make sure all liquids have a lid on them." Of course, the Emergency Room doctor went in there numerous times to get a drink for himself...without a lid. Finally, there was a sign that said "please do not use cell phones in this area" with a guy standing right in front of it on his phone. No one said a thing. Rofl...
Anyways, I got out of there by 1, but I was tired, and went back to the hotel and went to bed. Jason and Crystal were very nice to come with me and wait the whole time. They really didn't have to do that. But it was nice to have them there.
The next day was New Years Eve. I slept in, then awoke, got some delicious green tea, and then wandered down to meet Bubs and crew at a restaurant in the Miracle Mile Shops. We ate, drank, and then they all wanted to do some more shopping. BORING! I hung around a little bit, but then I decided that was crap and found a bar and watched football and drank rum until everyone was done. Much better decision!
After that, we wandered over to the Paris Hotel next door to get some tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower there the next night. Then back to the room to change, and then get some food at the Bellagio Buffet. NO WALNUTS TONIGHT, BITCH!!! Boo-yah! But I did eat some delicious lobster tail! Mmmmmm. Headed back to change into my sport coat and nice clothes. Then we headed out and wandered around a bit...and settled in for some drinking at the Baccarat Bar. I drank more rum. And I got an awesome Bellagio Happy New Years fedora. It was pretty classy. Finally, it was time to head out into the madness of the strip.
Jason, Crystal, and I wandered down the strip to The Mirage to watch the Volcano there, then wandered back to the intersection between Belagio and Caesar's to stake out a spot for Fireworks. I had looked up where fireworks were coming from, and from where we were standing, we could see 6 different spots that they were shooting of fireworks at midnight...including two spots right in front of us! So, yeah, needless to say, as 2010 turned into 2011, we had a pretty rocking view!
The fireworks show lasted 8 minutes...and then it took about an hour to get back to the hotel room. Unreal crowded. But so much fun. Vegas is such madness on New Years Eve. Hundreds of thousands of drunk people screaming at one another, having a good time. Awesome! By the time I got back to the room, though, I was ready to sleep.
The next day, the 1st, was a Saturday, so I stayed around one more day to really get my money's worth out of the Vegas trip. Saturday was probably my favorite day of the trip. Nothing special happened, just little things. Jason, Crystal, and I got lunch at Cafe Bellagio, and then wandered down the Strip to the MGM Grand to see the lions. They were sleeeeeeeeeepy. And then we threw down some cash at the craps table...the only time I played all trip! And, even better, we didn't lose! We actually both finished up about 80 bucks a piece. Not bad. By the time we were ready to bail, Bubs and crew had a table across the street at the Piano Bar at New York New York, so we headed on over.
I love piano bars. They are loads of fun. The two piano players at this bar were no exception. So we had fun drinking and requesting songs and whatnot. Stayed there for like two and a half hours. All the way until our dinner reservation at Gallagher's was up. Gallagher's is amazing. I love it. It's my favorite steak house. They have these crabcakes that are to die for. Literally. So amazing. And the filet is perfectly done. It melts in your mouth. I eat there at least once every Vegas trip. It's a must!
After that, Bubs and crew took off for bed, and Jason, Crystal and I bundled up and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Hotel and Casino. Must say, it was totally worth the 15 bucks to get up there. The views down the strip are amazing. Especially in the direction of Mandalay Bay, and of the Bellagio Fountains.
We stayed up there until we had our fill, and went down to watch one last Fountains at Bellagio show before heading to the room. I watched the recap of the Winter Classic (CAPS WIN! WOO!!). And got some sleep.
Sunday I packed up, watched some football, and headed to the airport...where I watched more football. Actually, Sunday was an odd day where everyone I ran into seemed to be really chatty! My cab driver was very friendly and wanted to talk football the whole time. I was more than willing to oblige. He told me a story of how he once had Peyton Manning in his cab, which is pretty sweet. Got me to the airport. I was early. And security was non-existant. Actually, there was no one in the line, and the TSA ID checker wanted to chat. He saw my ID and asked if I was a Giants fan. I said no, I was actually an A's fan, and he said "no way. A few hours ago Rickey Henderson just came right through here!" Which was pretty cool. And he told me the story about how he did a double take on the ID, and Rickey laughed. Good times.
But I was still really early, so I holed up in a FOX Sports Sky Box bar, and watched the football games. And the waitress, who was really surly to everyone else was really nice with me. And I chatted back and she told me about how the night before she had randomly reconnected with her step sister who she hadn't talked to in many many years, and how she was now tired and whatnot. As I said, I must have looked really approachable that day. So I finally get on my flight 45 minutes late, and we sit on the tarmac in line for the runway for like 45 minutes, and then I finally get home (just beating out the snow in Vegas...it was cold as shit all weekend). I caught the bus back to my car at the Doubletree, and the driver there feels like chatting and wants to know all about New Years in Vegas, as he wants to do it next year when he turns 21. So we chat about that, and I get my car and go home.
As I said, random. People were just in the mood to chat!
Anyways, it was an awesome trip. Its trips like these that really make me love New Years. Its just an excuse to party! And everyone is friendly, and drunk, and ready to have fun. I just love it!
Now I'm back to the real world. I'll get back to the usual blog schedule next week with a new MMR. Got a few trips coming up next month, so 2011 will not get off to a boring start at all! Wooooooo!!!
4 comments:
Oh my gosh, did they comp your dinner at least?
No. I was already in on a comp.
Nice! Looks like you had a marvelous time :) definitely inspiring to get to Vegas eventually. - C
Sweet recap there buddy! lots of little details from the hospital night that made for a good read. All in all, we had a pretty solid trip.
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