Thursday, January 31, 2008

Massive amounts of meat served on giants swords (Vegas pt. 2)

Well now its been almost a week and a half since I was in Vegas but we're gonna give 'er the ol' college try @ recounting at least day two...the only full day I was there.

Ready? .....set? ....blackjack!!! oh wait...

So day two was all set to begin at 10:30 in the a.m. Good thing I didn't go to bed at 5:30am that morning. Oh well. Its Vegas and as Fred always says..."sleep is a crutch." I don't think this could be any more true than in Vegas. So Pomo & Hidalg (yours truly)...


***Side note of important explanation***So one morning at Starbucks, Sarah
& I both ordered a delicious breakfast sandwich. When you order these
scrumptious treats you are required to give them your name so they can more
easily track youdown once they've been warmed up. Now Sarah had always wanted me to give them some ridiculous name but I never could quite bring myself to do
it...at least not with a straight face. Well this time I decided to speak on
Sarah's behalfwhen she was asked her name...and I said it was Pomona. No idea
where that name came from but it just kind of came out so splendidly that it was
clearly destined to be her nickname. Well...turnabout is fair play so when I was
asked to give my name she answered for me...and said it was Hidalgo. I guess you
could call these our work aliases as we both used these names @ the company
christmas party in which we bowled. Yep. Fun stuff...so now you know (what Mo
knows...lol) and knowing is half the battle....GI JOE!!!

...drag their asses out of bed to meet at the predetermined meeting place (Revolution lounge downstairs in the Mirage....cool little lounge...Beatles themed....sweet neon pink/white sign that was big enough that you could sit in certain letters of the REVOLUTION marquee...yea that was a terrible explanation) @ said time of 10:30am. Well we waited for a good 20 minutes (I actually ran back up to the room to use some Q-tips bc I forgot to do that before we left the first time...shut up I need Q-tips or my ears feel funny all day) only not to see a single person show up. Figures. Oh well. We were supposed to meet up to head over to In-and-Out before going bowling @ The Rio's Lucky Strike Lanes. Turns out several of the group still made it over for bowling...but were late and didn't make it to In-and-Out. Meh. Been there before (in AZ) and I've been bowling before...with this group in fact...so I was fine with more gambling and just kickin' it with Pomo....and possibly the Bo-gizzles (nickname we gave the Bogaths when we got off the plane and were running up and down that moving walkway...OMG! I <3 those moving walkway things and escalators. Seriously they're so great. I could (and have) just walk up and down them for no reason.

So we hit the tables some more. We're all over this blackjack business. Decide to head back to TI bc it was so good to us the night before. Really don't remember anything specific between then and lunch. I won some more I know...bc I managed to win at every table...but nothing stands out now. Brian wasn't there yet...our fun, kind of mean but you know he's just playing, dealer from the night before. Yea. So I called Fred around noon or whenever we got hungry and Jason answered. I guess he was just about to head out and Fred woke up so he was gonna wait for him then they'd come meet us for lunch. Sweet. Meet back at the Mirage and decide to go eat at the food court over in the Venetian. Cheaper. And then we have several options. Sweet. Obviously I went for the Panda Express. I mean seriously. So money. Orange chicken & mushroom chicken. If I wasn't so sure it was loaded with 8000 calories I'd probably eat that everyday...that and there isn't one downtown....which is total crap bc there's two malls down here....every mall should have a Panda Express. EVERY MALL!!! rawr.

Ok...so lunch is good and now we have the rest of the afternoon to do whatever we want. Figure we're going to eat before the show, which is @ 7:00pm so we figure dinner somewhere in the hotel around 6:00pm will work perfect. But in the meantime what should we do? Clearly we needed to play more blackjack. So we hit the tables again. Hard. We rocked it...well I did. Like I said I don't remember all the specifics but it was good times. Played until about 5:00 or so when we all started to really lose steam...well everyone except Jay. So we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner and take power naps. So money. Seriously. Little power naps are the way to go in Vegas. Sleep 3-4 hours at night/in the morning and then take a quick power nap or two for 20-30 minutes.

So we're all rested...well....sort of...and ready to grub. We decided to go to this Brazilian BBQ place in the hotel called Samba. I didn't feel too hungry and wasn't so sure about this all you can eat, Brazilian style BBQ. A few of the steaks did look tasty but eventually I decided "screw it...its Vegas...bring on the BBQ!!" and boy was that the right decision. Wow. So not only was it all delicious but they bring the meat around to the different tables (to those who are having the all you can eat BBQ...and its based on this little piece of wood with a red end and a green end...clearly ours was flipped green side up so the meat kept on coming!) on giants SWORDS. Apparently they're supposed to be "skewers" but they're really just giant swords. It was out of control awesome. Ribs. Pork. Chicken wings. Steaks. Sausages. Turkey wrapped in bacon. Freaking tasty. My favorite was this Spanish seasoned/cooked steak...I forget the name but it was probably the best steak I've ever had. It was amazing. Juicy. Tender. Flavorful. Oh man now I want some right now...and I'm not even hungry. Not even a little...but thats just how good it was.

So we finish up dinner and have about 20 minutes before we need to be at the show to be seated...but first we need to make a quick stop for some YARD MARGARITAS!!!! Unfortunately the Mirage doesn't have any places that sell them so we had to head to the closest one over at TI. Bless that tram. Really. Catch the tram over to Kahunaville (who's giant yard drinks are covered in all the employees' pictures...so the guy who made our drinks (Randy) is on my yard margarita making a stupid face...it was a stupid, gimmicky place but one of my goals on this trip was to get a yard margarita so I couldn't be too picky at this point) inside TI. They pride themselves as this stellar party bar or something bc all the bartenders can do fancy drink tricks like Tom Cruise in Cocktail. Meh. I'd rather just have a good drink at a good price. Oh well. We we hook up a yard margarita for myself and Fred and then a yard daquiri for Pomo....someone had to be DW...designated walker...so Jay volunteered his services to ensure we could get back to the show on time.

So we're headed back and its past 7:00pm. The tickets say to show up half hour before the start of the show (which was 7:30pm) bc the first five rows or something are only guaranteed up to 30 minutes before the start of the show. Luckily they hadn't given away our seats...2ND ROW CENTER! So sweet. And now we have giant (Fred later measured and found out they were 60 oz.) blended beverages of bliss too. Bring on the show!...but wait....while we were waiting for the show to start they had music playing over the speakers. And not just any music...but kick ass, old, funky type music. Like Brick House and the YMCA. So Pomo & I were rocking out in our chairs to the tunes. Even Fred joined in during the YMCA. So fun. Everyone around us was laughing at us for being so ridiculous but also bc we were being so AWESOME.

So now we're all pumped from our crazy good dancing, the good tunes & giant adult beverages. WOO HOO!!!So the show: Danny Gans. He's been voted the best Vegas performer for 10 years or something crazy ridiculous like that...which is also probably why his tickets were $110 each. Yea. Wowzers. Thing was....it was totally worth it. The show was amazing. Unreal talented. Even the references that were over my head...I could still tell he was nailing them based on the crowd's reactions. I mean this one guy was impersonating...and doing it phenomenally well....everyone from Stevie Wonder to James Blunt & Anita Baker to Dean Martin and just about everything and everyone in between. Broke it up by generation....so 30s, 50s, 70s and so on...even threw in some contemporary stuff like James Blunt, Michael Buble, Howie Day & Five For Fighting. My favorite part had to be his Johnny Carson impersonation, especially his Karnak. Now Carson was a bit before my time, but I've seen some of his work and Karnak has always been my favorite (if you don't know Karnak...you need to go look him up on YouTube right now bc its hilarious...Carson puts on this giant genie-esque hat and holds a little envelope up to his head...then he tells you the answer to the card which seems harmless and boring enough...he proceeds to open the card then read what it says...which is the punchline...ok so it sounds stupid but I promise its hilarious). Most of the jokes are funny...but if the audience's reaction isn't good enough...he pulled out "insults" from inside his jacket pocket...which were just as clever and funny as the jokes. Danny Gans is just extremely talented and is worth seeing. Even Fred & Jason who have seen numerous shows in Vegas (like Jay Leno, The Blue Man Group & more...), said this was a 10 and was one of their favorites, if not their favorite.

After the show we're all jacked up from giant margaritas and a stellar show. The night is still young and I have yet to walk away from a blackjack table w/o winning money. So clearly more blackjack is in store. Now I can't remember if it was during this time but this is where I'm choosing to share the hand that you DREAM of getting. I got dealt two aces...and the dealer wasn't showing and ace or a ten so I split 'em...and hope for a double blackjack. The only problem here was that I put out a $35-$60 bet (can't remember exactly how much but it was (for me) substantially more than the $5 or $10 minimumbet) and now had to double it. Great!...big money, big money, no whammies, no whammies...STOP! Oh...wrong show...err...yea. Ok so here comes my two 10's....nope. First hit is ANOTHER ace. The play is to split again...so I do. So now I had over $100 out on this hand/3 hands. If I get paid off on this hand I'm freaking ecstatic and feel UNBEATABLE. Well I didn't get any face cards or tens, but as I remember it I had decent hands...maybe an 18 or two. So what happened? WHAT HAPPENED??





....stay tuned until next time and I will tell all. Hahahahaha...kidding.

I honestly can't remember now. I think I ended up pusing on two hands and losing one, or possibly even pushing all three (but I don't remember all three hands being the same...so that wouldn't work) but all I know is that the dealer didn't bust and I didn't get paid. I may have even lost all three...but that doesn't sound right either bc I'm PRETTY sure I would've remembered losing three times in one hand. Oh well. Whatever happened...I still managed to leave the table up dollars so its all good.

OH! I also forgot to say that we ran into three of the girls on our way to the tables and they told us everyone was going to the Playboy club at the Palm's around 11:00. Hey. Sounds sweet to me! Bring on more Vegas, baby!! Well what I didn't realize is that we had to all be there by 11pm (and so I didn't have time to change into something slick or clubbish...damn...guess that plain black polo was going to have to do....sad) or they might not let any of us in. So by the time everyone congregated it was almost 10:45. Yikes. Luckily the Palms isn't too far...but it was still three or four taxi rides due to the size of our group.


...and sadly...this is where this post ends bc its late (tho it won't show that bc I started it earlier today...or yesterday...but I swear its (wow) 12:34am right now (that wow was for Jim Bob and he would know why if he read this)) and I'm tired. So the next, and final, Vegas post will start with the Playboy club & end similar to the way the trip started...drinking at the airport :D


***I would also like to extend my sincerest thanks to those of you who have, in one way or another, told me you have read (and hopefully will keep reading!!) my blog and have enjoyed either my crazy stories or my writing style. So far this has been a lot of fun for me to do and I hope to be able to keep up with multiple posts each week. It makes it that much more fun and easy to find the time when you get positive feedback. So thank you again for reading and I hope to keep you all reading and entertained.***

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