Vegas Baby

What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas they say. Good thing, wouldn't want to make a habit of whizzing away money, puking my guts out and generally running around like poultry sans head.

I was heading to Vegas to celebrate my friends' John and Jennifer renewal of their vows on their 10th Anniversary. I hadn't been to Vegas for a couple of years, was looking forward to it, although it was not typical Vegas trip but more mellow.

The trip started with a bang Wednesday when I heard from my Mom that their flight from Florida was hour and a half late and they missed their connector, so they were stuck in St. Louis for the night. That complicated my plans since I was supposed to sleep on the sofa bed in their room, but The Venetian wouldn't let me take it for the night without them.

So, ten minutes before I need to leave I have to get online quick and book a room. I search by price and hit the cheapest place on the strip I recognize and probably doesn't involve too many unkown stains in the room; The Tropicana.

With room assigned I head to the airport (LAX). I get to the ticket counter and try to do auto check in and it tells me that I can't check luggage in, I missed the cut off time by about 8 minutes. Seeing that I am having problems a United counter person came over to assist me. I say assist as chronic diarrhea would assist in weight loss. She tells me to go into another line. She doesn't bother to see that I wouldn't have to check my bag as it will fit in the overhead, noooo. I instead get into a 30 minute long line that almost makes me miss my flight. Airline industry sucks.

The lady at the Tropicana was great, she bumped me up to a suite. A nice gesture, but since it was 1:30 AM all I wanted to do was sleep. The problem with the Tropicana and the other older casinos is that the rooms have little in the way of pizzaz and they are quite musty since most were around when smoking was allowed.

Almost every Casino in Vegas has a buffet that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Tropicana was no exception, their buffet was the Island Buffet. I call it the Deserted Island Buffet since it was pretty sparse and required some desperation. What a rip off, but I needed a quick bite and it was close. Speaking of buffets, the buffet would provide one of the memorable moments of the trip.

Friday, Mom, my Step-Dad Paul and I ate at Paris' buffet for breakfast. This turned out to be a bad idea since it really never settled in all the running around. After a nice ceremony for John & Jen they took us all out to the buffet at the Aladdin. It's a huge buffet and I sampled here and there, not a lot but it hit me... I'm not feeling to well. Cut to the chase, I staggered back to the room (now at The Venetian) and proceeded to barf and barf. Pork loin is much better the first time around when it is going down. Lesson learned.. 2 buffet in a day is just stupid.

Forutnately the throwing up was the worst part of the trip. I lost a $100 in minutes, but that happens. The room at the Venetian was nice, even sleeping on sofa bed wasn't bad. Many people claim that the room in Vegas isn't that important since you don't spend much time in your room. Bullshit. Even if you don't kick it in your room for a while, if you stay in a C list Casino you come out into a depressing cheese-a-rama eyesore casino full of trailer trash. You still have some of that element in the A list casino's but it's not as bad.

The hottie quotient is much higher in the A listers and you get fewer of the misfires of humanity. People watching in Vegas is fantastic. I really wonder whether some people own mirrors. I know it's hot, but some of you need to consider more cover. There was an older woman wearing shorts who was so wrinkled it would have made a Shar-Pei say "Damnnn" Then there was the other eye gouge inducing woman in shorts (Ma'am we've had reports of someone smuggling 40 pounds of cottage cheese from the salad bar in each thigh, could you come with us). Then there were the women who resided on the opposite plane of existence. Nice thing about 108 degree weather, less clothes. Overall, you have such a diverse population there is something for everyone.

All in all it was a decent trip. Good to see the folks. Would have liked to have spent more time with John & Jen and their family, maybe another time. The great thing with Vegas is that no matter how much the appearance changes it's still the same sin city and I wouldn't have it any other way.

For those of you who've never seen Las Vegas, trek on to my photo page and go to the Vegas album. Not other place quite like it
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dabigeng/my_photos