Jack found us some great airfare and accommodations in Vegas. We had only a couple of hours to decide if we wanted to take advantage of the deal he found for $192 which included round-trip airfare and 3 nights at Circus Circus. At a price like that, it was hard to say no, so Jack, Steve, Doug and myself paid up and we were on our way. It had been a pretty crazy week. The tuesday before we had partied all night long for New Years at the Denver Mix New Years party, Wednesday was a recovery day, Thursday was a work day, and then we headed for Vegas on Friday.
Arrival in Vegas
We arrived in Vegas and took a taxi over to Circus Circus, which is at the end of the famous Vegas strip. Now, Circus Circus isn't quite the Ghetto of Vegas, it's really more like a suburb. It's certainly not top-notch. But we weren't planning on going there to do much but change clothes. We quickly unpacked our stuff while listening to some rap music on Jack's stereo he brought, and then headed out for the evening.
Westward Ho
On our way to catch a cab, our attention was overtaken by a giant size which informed us that the Westward Ho (one of the oldest Casinos on the strip) had a giant 1 1/4 pound 'megadog' for sale. Even though we're in our late twenties, we still think like 12 year olds, so we were instantly fascinated with this giant phallic food product. We went inside and took a look around. We took note of the fact that we could play Blackjack at $3 per hand there and postulated that our return to the establishment was imminent.
Hard Rock Casino
We headed over to the Hard Rock Casino where we watched a little College Football and had dinner. For part of the game Steve and I headed over into the VIP bar, where as long as we continued to gamble we were given free top shelf drinks. I decided that it was time to try every different famous coniac that I had ever heard about and proceeded to do so. I dropped $50 into a Blackjack machine and Steve dropped $50 into a machine called Double-Double Bonus Poker. With a name like that, in retrospect it would be easy to become confused. What does 'double-double' mean? Are your bets doubled and then doubled again? Who gets the bonus? Whatever the case may be, Steve bet $5 and lost his first hand at the game. When he went to play a second time it asked him to insert more money. Frustrated, Steve proceeded to finish his drink and leave.
Out for the Evening
We spent the rest of the night clubbing at Baby's in the basement of the Hard Rock. We had been drinking for several hours and it started to feel to me like the night should be wrapping up. When I looked down at my watch it said it was 2:30am. I leaned over to Jack and asked, "what time do the bars close out here?" It was at Baby's that I first learned of something about Vegas that I will forever love.... The bars do not close out there at 2am like they do in Colorado. They don't close at all. We stayed at Baby's until about 4am and then headed off to an afterparty location where we stayed until about 8am.
Day Number 2
The next day we headed back over to the Westward Ho for a little Blackjack. Steve, Doug, Jack and I all doubled our money playing. The best part of it was that we were probably the most unlikely winners this casino had ever seen. Once we were all fairly ahead in betting, we began to start making really stupid bets. We would dare each other to stand on a 6 or hit on 17, and each time someone would take the dare, they would win. I remember one hand in particular, where the dealer was showing a 4 and Steve had a pair of Queens. "Hit, Hit, Hit," we dared Steve. He didn't hit, but the player just past him did, and out came an ace. He would have had 21.
Back to the Room
We headed back to the room to get changed and ready to go out for that night's festivities. On the way back Steve grabbed this banana. It looked to be a pretty big banana, but when Steve took the peel off the banana was actually pretty small. From the look on Steve's face this, or incidents like it, appeared to have happened to him before.
Back out for the evening
That night we went to the Club Rain in the basement of The Palms. This was by far my favorite club experience in Vegas, and I definately recommend checking out the link. The club was set up stadium style with the bars up in the rafters overlooking the vegas cityscape and a giant dance floor at the center of the floor. Above the dance floor was a giant metal construction that moved lights, blew fog, sprayed water and spit flame. We stayed there until the early hours of the morning and then headed off to another after hours location.
Day 3: Stop and smell the Roses
The next day Doug and I hit the buffet and the Riviera and were soon joined by Steve and Jack. We talked about what we were going to do with our last full day in Vegas. We went to the pool at Circus Circus and to be honest, I was so tired, that the rest of the day is sort of a blur.
Checking out the best of Vegas
That evening we went out to check out some of the classier hotels in Vegas. We took a look around Belagio, Venetian and Caesar's Palace. I think I would have to say that the Venetian was my favorite. This is a shot taken from inside the Venetian. It was dark outside, but inside it's always daytime, they have giant arched ceilings with clouds and sky painted on and just the right amount of light. Outside this casino/hotel you are solicited to obtain an "escort", inside many people are walking around with "escorts". Kinda weird.
Last Night Out
That night we went to the Harley Davidson Cafe and then out to Light in the Bellagio. We had a good time at Light. We made a deal with each other that when talking to other people that everything we said had to be a lie. What our names were, where we were from, what our jobs were, etc. etc. It was pretty fun to watch how some of us would react when caught.
The Party is Over
We eventually ran out of time and money and had to head back home. But Vegas appears to be one of those places that you go to once and you have to keep heading back over and over. We're looking forward to getting back out again, probably some time in early 2004.
