Las Vegas 2008 - Boiler Room Tactics and Free Stuff
Ok, this is what I remember:
Tuesday - Steph and I arrived Tuesday night and had already gotten word from Pete and Christa that they had done a timeshare presentation and were going out to dinner at Brand Steakhouse and seeing Lance Burton as part of their compensation. We checked in to the Monte Carlo and took care of some housekeeping. With Pete and Christa occupied, we opted to get acclimated(Read: Feed me). After a good amount of wandering to investigate the 4 restaurants we made reservations at for our fancypants dinner on Thursday, we settled in at a little pizza joint inside NY, NY. It didn't take long to be recruited for the grand opening of Rok Nightclub. We got a bunch of "VIP" passes and were assured we were on a list and told Tommy Lee would be there and the Black-Eyed Peas were performing. Knowing Wednesday night was taken care of, we took the opportunity to head down to the Bellagio to see the fountains and their fall conservatory display and catch a few shows and stopped in at Shea's Casino for some cheap beers and some of the most ridiculous karaoke I've ever seen.
Wednesday - We got up fairly early and were snagged into a timeshare presentation in exchange for dinner for two at this place at the Venetian, a couple tickets to the wax museum, and a gondola boat ride. They called it the "Romance Package" though I'm not sure how romantic a wax museum really is. Anyway, I'd done this timeshare presentation a couple years before so this was no surprise, but the sales tactics are kind of like what you've read about when discussing the worst of sub-prime mortgage sales. It was a flurry of "yes" questions and then a giant leap of logic. We did our best to let them know that Steph and I weren't even thrilled about being on this vacation, much less the idea of being stuck with a lifetime of vacations together. We were in for the free stuff. With all of our free tickets in hand, we met up with Pete and Christa who were having sushi for lunch and used our tickets for the wax museum. I was actually surprised at how much fun that was. We all took the opportunity to make our mark("Daddy, no!!!"). We hit the liquor store before heading back to the pool. The pool at the Monte Carlo was nice, but don't let them sell you on the wave pool. It was lacking. Also, the lazy river was 3 ft deep and a torrent. Too shallow to tread water, too deep to walk on your hands...we're lucky to be alive. Andy and Kristina showed up in time for cocktail hour in our room and Dell Taco across the street and then we headed to Coyote Ugly at NY, NY. We killed a little time before we met up with Ryan and Crystal(Steph's friends) and we all went to Rok. I've got a couple of great shots from that night, but due to a memory card problem this is all I can muster. Despite a lack of Tommy Lee and Black-eyed Peas, we had a good time and at one point, a couple guys climbed on our nearby dancing platform and "made it rain". I snagged as many bills out of the air as i could and the next morning I had a fistful of stripper cash.
Thursday - I don't really remember what we did during the day. I know it involved a lot of walking. Andy and Kristina went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and met Pete Rose. Andy picked up an autographed jersey and bat from the all-time hit king. Ultimately, we made it back to the pool. Pete bought some waterproof cards for the wading pool and I contributed a football of booze cocktail. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. In the evening time, we put on our fancy clothes and 8 of us went out to dinner at Pearl at MGM. We did a quick cocktail hour at Brand before dinner and documented that we do, in fact, clean up nice. Andy and Kristina met up with us at Pearl and we partook in a grand feast and we all basked in how grown up we were. Dessert was ridiculous. Following dinner, we all split up and Pete, Christa, Steph and I went to see Ka, the Cirque du Soleil at MGM. The show was pretty awesome and the stage was unreal. After the show, we got our gamble on and met up with Andy who had just endured a "fiasco". He also confirmed rumors that Konrad and Jenni were in town as he joined them for a little bit at Mandalay Bay. Not quite ready to call it a night, we headed over to the Times Square Bar for some dueling pianos. We were not impressed. Also, the Utah (Alumni?)marching band had taken the place over and I got stuck in a song circle to Come Sail Away by Styx. Band people are huggy.
Friday - Our last day, we decided to spend our "Romance Package" at the Venetian. En route, we stopped at the Mirage to see the Secret Gardens of Siegfried and Roy. They had a baby dolphin and also two white tiger cubs. They also had Alpacas(who had to be loving the heat) and this sweet turtle. Starving, we grabbed our free lunch at the Venetian and took our gondola ride which was every bit as awkward as I thought it would be as we share a boat with another couple while our boatwoman sings italian love songs. Back to the pool for refill on my booze football and then we made the most anticipated trip of the weekend...Fatburger. It was everything I remembered...This was our last photo opp with Crystal and Ryan as they had to catch a flight home and I can't think of a happier place for it to happen. We parted ways, and the remaining 6 of us piled into a cab to the Fremont Experience to meet up with Konrad and Jenni at Binions. We did make contact and did a little gambling at the tables before they had to leave for dinner. The rest of us went out to the street to mingle with the bikers from BikeFest or something. Feeling the need to get off our feet we head back to the strip and end up at Hawaiian Tropic Zone and Pete works out a deal to get us in without cover charges and somewhow we get a spot in the VIP area on the patio and watch people stumble down the strip. We opt for one last stop for 2-for-1's at Brand on our way back to the hotel and call it a weekend.
It ended up being a pretty damn good weekend and I'm glad we could pull together a bunch of people to make a trip like that. We might just have to do something like that again!
Tuesday - Steph and I arrived Tuesday night and had already gotten word from Pete and Christa that they had done a timeshare presentation and were going out to dinner at Brand Steakhouse and seeing Lance Burton as part of their compensation. We checked in to the Monte Carlo and took care of some housekeeping. With Pete and Christa occupied, we opted to get acclimated(Read: Feed me). After a good amount of wandering to investigate the 4 restaurants we made reservations at for our fancypants dinner on Thursday, we settled in at a little pizza joint inside NY, NY. It didn't take long to be recruited for the grand opening of Rok Nightclub. We got a bunch of "VIP" passes and were assured we were on a list and told Tommy Lee would be there and the Black-Eyed Peas were performing. Knowing Wednesday night was taken care of, we took the opportunity to head down to the Bellagio to see the fountains and their fall conservatory display and catch a few shows and stopped in at Shea's Casino for some cheap beers and some of the most ridiculous karaoke I've ever seen.
Wednesday - We got up fairly early and were snagged into a timeshare presentation in exchange for dinner for two at this place at the Venetian, a couple tickets to the wax museum, and a gondola boat ride. They called it the "Romance Package" though I'm not sure how romantic a wax museum really is. Anyway, I'd done this timeshare presentation a couple years before so this was no surprise, but the sales tactics are kind of like what you've read about when discussing the worst of sub-prime mortgage sales. It was a flurry of "yes" questions and then a giant leap of logic. We did our best to let them know that Steph and I weren't even thrilled about being on this vacation, much less the idea of being stuck with a lifetime of vacations together. We were in for the free stuff. With all of our free tickets in hand, we met up with Pete and Christa who were having sushi for lunch and used our tickets for the wax museum. I was actually surprised at how much fun that was. We all took the opportunity to make our mark("Daddy, no!!!"). We hit the liquor store before heading back to the pool. The pool at the Monte Carlo was nice, but don't let them sell you on the wave pool. It was lacking. Also, the lazy river was 3 ft deep and a torrent. Too shallow to tread water, too deep to walk on your hands...we're lucky to be alive. Andy and Kristina showed up in time for cocktail hour in our room and Dell Taco across the street and then we headed to Coyote Ugly at NY, NY. We killed a little time before we met up with Ryan and Crystal(Steph's friends) and we all went to Rok. I've got a couple of great shots from that night, but due to a memory card problem this is all I can muster. Despite a lack of Tommy Lee and Black-eyed Peas, we had a good time and at one point, a couple guys climbed on our nearby dancing platform and "made it rain". I snagged as many bills out of the air as i could and the next morning I had a fistful of stripper cash.
Thursday - I don't really remember what we did during the day. I know it involved a lot of walking. Andy and Kristina went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and met Pete Rose. Andy picked up an autographed jersey and bat from the all-time hit king. Ultimately, we made it back to the pool. Pete bought some waterproof cards for the wading pool and I contributed a football of booze cocktail. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. In the evening time, we put on our fancy clothes and 8 of us went out to dinner at Pearl at MGM. We did a quick cocktail hour at Brand before dinner and documented that we do, in fact, clean up nice. Andy and Kristina met up with us at Pearl and we partook in a grand feast and we all basked in how grown up we were. Dessert was ridiculous. Following dinner, we all split up and Pete, Christa, Steph and I went to see Ka, the Cirque du Soleil at MGM. The show was pretty awesome and the stage was unreal. After the show, we got our gamble on and met up with Andy who had just endured a "fiasco". He also confirmed rumors that Konrad and Jenni were in town as he joined them for a little bit at Mandalay Bay. Not quite ready to call it a night, we headed over to the Times Square Bar for some dueling pianos. We were not impressed. Also, the Utah (Alumni?)marching band had taken the place over and I got stuck in a song circle to Come Sail Away by Styx. Band people are huggy.
Friday - Our last day, we decided to spend our "Romance Package" at the Venetian. En route, we stopped at the Mirage to see the Secret Gardens of Siegfried and Roy. They had a baby dolphin and also two white tiger cubs. They also had Alpacas(who had to be loving the heat) and this sweet turtle. Starving, we grabbed our free lunch at the Venetian and took our gondola ride which was every bit as awkward as I thought it would be as we share a boat with another couple while our boatwoman sings italian love songs. Back to the pool for refill on my booze football and then we made the most anticipated trip of the weekend...Fatburger. It was everything I remembered...This was our last photo opp with Crystal and Ryan as they had to catch a flight home and I can't think of a happier place for it to happen. We parted ways, and the remaining 6 of us piled into a cab to the Fremont Experience to meet up with Konrad and Jenni at Binions. We did make contact and did a little gambling at the tables before they had to leave for dinner. The rest of us went out to the street to mingle with the bikers from BikeFest or something. Feeling the need to get off our feet we head back to the strip and end up at Hawaiian Tropic Zone and Pete works out a deal to get us in without cover charges and somewhow we get a spot in the VIP area on the patio and watch people stumble down the strip. We opt for one last stop for 2-for-1's at Brand on our way back to the hotel and call it a weekend.
It ended up being a pretty damn good weekend and I'm glad we could pull together a bunch of people to make a trip like that. We might just have to do something like that again!