Well, ok. So you want a Vegas post? I guess I'll just write it then.

WARNING: THIS IS AN EXTREMELY LONG POST.

On August 8th, 2007 I took a much needed break from the "real world" to relax, lose a ton of money, see some old ("new") friends, hang out with Beer Blog Pong This (hereby known as Ru$$) and Stacy G., and drink a whole bunch of free liquor. Here's what happened.


August 8:

Worked all day long and then had a friend take me to the Atlanta airport. I checked in fairly quickly and barely made the standby cutoff to hop on a plane bound for the land of lights. It should be noted that I don't like to fly, and I didn't have time to tie on a good buzz before take off. However, the plane got in the air and I got quasi-comfortable with my surroundings (but didn't sleep a wink).

I landed in a blisteringly hot Las Vegas at 20:45 PST meaning it was already past my bedtime and I was exhausted. I met Stacy G. in the hotel lobby of the Excalibur where we were staying (see: "cheap and with a food court"). A quick trip to the Pizza hut Express followed by dropping $40 in blackjack and I was ready for some sleep.


August 9:

I met Ru$$ at the Sherwood Cafe as he was finishing his meal and then caught up some about his previous activities in The Vegas. He took a much needed nap while I went to go visit The Luxor and buy a present for my 15 year old female cousin, who thinks Criss Angel is the best thing ever. She got a book.

Pictures for proof:

Criss Angel's necklace that confirms "Rock Star" iclonic status.



Criss Angel's first chopper.



Criss Angel's second chopper.


After The Luxor trip it was time to head back to the hotel, eat some lunch, and do some gambling. I played a little video poker, Let it Ride, and Blackjack. $100 was lost, but I was ok with that.

Ru$$ woke up and we formulated a gameplan. He had passes to Moon, Rain (even though Rain was closed), and GhostBar over at The Palms and we were going to do the "Vegas Club Scene." I said "let's do it" and we figured we'd start drinking around 17:00 PST and just see where the night took us.

We headed down to Dick's Last Resort to cash in those "buy one get one" free beers that were presented to us at check in. We watched Warner Robins make the leap into the Little League World Series, talked some politics, and decided it was dinner time.

Sir Gallahad's Prime Rib Eatery Place (not the real name) was the choice for the night. Aside from the incredibly cheesy name of Sir Gallahad's, it was GREAT prime rib. I'm sure there is better to be found in Vegas, but for the modest price, it was a very good cut and flavor of meat. I truly enjoyed it. We stepped outside the restaurant and heard this piece of music lust:



I hope you thoroughly enjoyed that and are supremely jealous, Song Writer.

After eating, the decision was made to get ready and be prepared to go out to the clubs at 22:00 PST. We changed clothes (I did twice because jeans were not a good choice) and took a taxi to The Palms. We decided to hit the Playboy Club first, then bounce over to GhostBar for the view, and finish up at Moon.

Let me start off by saying The Palms is a fantastic hotel. I was very impressed with its simplistic layout, the fact that it's not completely on the strip, and the amount of young people there. It screams "I'm laid back, but young and want to party," which is exactly the way I felt for my vacaction. It's definitely on my "must stay at this hotel" list. So after arriving at The Palms, we went to the Playboy Club. Again, I was VERY impressed by the classiness of the place and the staff (security as well as bartenders) was second to none. Very friendly and very professional.

Pictures for proof:

The entrance to Moon and The Playboy Club.



The Liquor Shelves at the Playboy Club.


After walking around the Playboy Club, we went back downstairs to finish our drinks and go to GhostBar. We played a quick game of Pai Gow Poker (so I could learn) and then caught the elevator to GhostBar for the view. I liked the layout of the place (it was a little too "blue" inside for me lighting wise), but I don't know if anyone goes there for anything but the view out on the balcony. Here's what I'm talking about.

Pictures for proof:

This is a picture of the Rio and the south end of the strip.


*The north end picture turned out pretty bad*



This is the Palms Fantasy Tower. The very top is Moon and just below that is the aforementioned Playboy Club. If you look closely below the "Palms" sign on the front of the tower, you can see the Playboy suites with the pools that go out into the open air. Very cool.


So we left Ghost Bar and headed over to Moon. I was blown away by the club experience there even though I'm not a club person. If I were to be a guy looking to get laid on this trip, this is the place I'd go. It was too dark for pictures inside, but trust me, the place is insane. Everyone was dancing and partying. It was like nothing I'd seen before.


August 10:

We left The Palms around 01:00 and thankfully arrived back at the Excalibur with our lives intact. The cab driver we got was named Steve and he was from Israel...and he damn near killed us 50 times. The dude was out of his mind insane and was zipping in and out of traffic. Thank God I had a buzz at this point.

Once inside the Excalibur, we hit up some Let it Ride and I learned to play Craps. Craps is a very fun game, but you can either win a lot of money or lose a ton of money. I ended up doing both, so I pretty much broke even.

Flash forward to 09:00 PST and I'm hammered and playing Pai Gow Poker while trying desperately to get sober. Ru$$ has wisely gone to bed but I've drank for over 14 hours straight and I need a break. Finally, I take one, go to McDonalds to get some Hotcakes and Sausage, and go to bed.

When I woke up 3 hours later I was too hungover to do anything. I was paying the price for what I'd done. I watched some TV, ate some lunch, blah blah blah and then got ready to go to the Hard Rock Hotel so me and Ru$$ could meet up with Chris H., Aaron, and Mel S. The idea was to hang out, catch up, and watch their new 48 hr. Film Project piece called "9:1." I got to Hard Rock and realized this was probably going to be a short night for me. As soon as we sat down at The Pink Taco, I was told by everyone around me to just take the night off and that they understood.

Picture for proof:

NOT PICTURED: The Delta "puke bag" in my back pocket because I didn't trust myself to make it to the bathroom in time.

So, after leaving the Hard Rock, I went back to the hotel and slept...12 hours.


August 11:

What would seemingly be my last day in Vegas was reserved for sightseeing and other "touristy" type stuff. Ru$$ and I hit the Vegas Outlet Mall and didn't buy anything, and then headed over to the shops at The Venetian.


Two things: 1) I say "outside shops," but they're actually inside. 2) I recorded this for my roomate, Jeb.

I also ran into two famous people:

Being a ladies man myself, I had to get a picture of Jimmy Choo. Adored by women across the world.



Resident site girl Keira Knightley was proud of my choice to hang out at The Venetian.


We walked around, again didn't buy anything, checked out the "Blue Man Group" theatre, and then headed back to the hotel. Being the last night in Vegas, we were going to pack up the hotel room, get ready for the evening, hit the buffet, catch the Bellagio Water Show, and gamble some before bedtime.

After all the packing, eating, blah blah blah stuff was done, we saw this:


For the record, we played it better. PLEASE pay attention to the bassist in the background. That comedy writes itself....and it sounds like I have a lisp, but I don't.


Then, we caught a cab ride to here:



and saw this:



Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to catch the water show when it plays "Claire De Lune" famously known from "Ocean's 11." One day I'm just going to camp out and wait.

We headed back to the Excalibur and I feel in love with the Monopoly slot machine (and I hate slots), then went to bed.

The next morning I woke up, was F*CKING EXHAUSTED, and took this picture for proof:


DAMN...

After getting bumped from the first flight, I caught the 13:00 PST one, FINALLY slept on a plane, and landed safely in Atlanta around 19:30 EST. The one problem? Delta said they had my bag in custody since I flew on a buddy pass and that I needed to go to this shithole to get it:



Please note the people you see sitting down watching television at the end includes the lady WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO HELP ME FIND MY BAG. Was I frustrated? YES. Could I do anything about it? NO.

F*ck Delta.


Anyway, so there's my extremely long Vegas post. I hope you enjoyed it. I'll be back in a few days with some new stuff and expect the first installment of "The List" on Thursday.

Until next time kids.

Be safe (and f*ck Delta).

P.S. -- Special thanks to Ally who kept reminding me that planes don't crash that often.

Labels: General "Kit" stuff, Keira Knightley, Photo Hunt, VEGAS