Vegas Trip
So. About Vegas.
As usual, we drove. This time, we took Lucius - the Bird is really too uncomfortable to take on long trips unless we think we'll get the bonus of putting the top down, and, with expected highs in the 50s, we figured that wasn't going to happen. We also didn't overthink the Dam - we went through Laughlin, which was, to my surprise, a much more aesthetically pleasing drive going than coming back.
We left at about 12:30 our time and arrived around 5:00 Vegas time, checked in (Golden Nugget!) and went straight to the Golden Gate to play blackjack. We both lost, alas, but I made up for it on the video poker at the Plaza, hitting a straight flush and parlaying $20 into $105. Got a Nathan's hotdog at Mermaids (not as good as most Nathan's outlets - I'd avoid it). Finished with a martini in the lounge, which featured a darn good piano bar singer.
Day 2 didn't go so well. I DID finally get to see the famous Vegas sign which adorns my icon (I had never gone that far south on the Strip before), and we did visit the Liberace Museum - it was neat, but rather excessively priced, I thought (especially since I paid both admissions). And I played a slot machine for a bit while Joe ran to the bathroom at the MGM - put in $5 and, two spins later, had $11.50. So I cashed out. On the way back downtown, we passed the "Gamblers' General Store" and wandered through it in wonder. Really cool place - full-sized craps tables, books, slot machines, and everything. I got a set of official casino dice from the Dunes, and now we're considering turning the den into a den of iniquity. We played more blackjack downtown and lost. Then we played more video poker, and won - he has $82.50 when he cashed out (with my help) and I had $72.50. That was the last money we won. Found a new place to play blackjack - The Vegas Club. That's its name, officially, even though all of its signage still says "Las Vegas Club." They've done really nice things to the place, and they have a pretty decent 21 that we liked. We lost, but we liked the place and will go back. We wound up not having dinner - just copious amounts of beer.
Day 3 dawned too early, but we wanted to get to the MGM in time for the 11:00 poker tournament. We did, and, for some unknown reason, they sat us at the same table. Joe was doing pretty well. I'd been playing for an hour - won no pots (split on one, which was a lucky thing, as I was down to the river before the split card came up) and was getting cards like nine/seven and ten/four every hand when I finally got Big Slick (for those of you who don't play poker, that's an Ace/King). Knowing that I was unlikely to get anything else decent, I went all in. Another guy goes in behind me, and then Joe called. I lost, of course - nary an Ace nor King to be found on the board. AND MY OWN HUSBAND KNOCKED ME OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT! So I went off to play a round of video poker (I don't really like to play it on the Strip because the machines usually have crummy pay tables) and came back about twenty minutes later (I was playing nickels) to find that Joe, who'd been one of the chip leaders when I left, had been knocked out, also.
After that, we went by Luxor to say "Hi" to my client (who wasn't there), then called one of my other clients who came downtown with her husband, and we hung around with them for most of the evening, including dinner at Lawry's Prime Rib restaurant, which was excellent. I hit four deuces playing video poker, but had the machine set on nickels and only got $30, which I wound up using for blackjack later.
And the last day, we just played some blackjack. We were doing pretty well and then, all of a sudden - WHAM! Couldn't catch a card to save our lives and busted out. During the drive home, we heard the news (for which we'd been listening every hour on the hour) that Saddam Hussein had been executed. And it was good.
As usual, we drove. This time, we took Lucius - the Bird is really too uncomfortable to take on long trips unless we think we'll get the bonus of putting the top down, and, with expected highs in the 50s, we figured that wasn't going to happen. We also didn't overthink the Dam - we went through Laughlin, which was, to my surprise, a much more aesthetically pleasing drive going than coming back.
We left at about 12:30 our time and arrived around 5:00 Vegas time, checked in (Golden Nugget!) and went straight to the Golden Gate to play blackjack. We both lost, alas, but I made up for it on the video poker at the Plaza, hitting a straight flush and parlaying $20 into $105. Got a Nathan's hotdog at Mermaids (not as good as most Nathan's outlets - I'd avoid it). Finished with a martini in the lounge, which featured a darn good piano bar singer.
Day 2 didn't go so well. I DID finally get to see the famous Vegas sign which adorns my icon (I had never gone that far south on the Strip before), and we did visit the Liberace Museum - it was neat, but rather excessively priced, I thought (especially since I paid both admissions). And I played a slot machine for a bit while Joe ran to the bathroom at the MGM - put in $5 and, two spins later, had $11.50. So I cashed out. On the way back downtown, we passed the "Gamblers' General Store" and wandered through it in wonder. Really cool place - full-sized craps tables, books, slot machines, and everything. I got a set of official casino dice from the Dunes, and now we're considering turning the den into a den of iniquity. We played more blackjack downtown and lost. Then we played more video poker, and won - he has $82.50 when he cashed out (with my help) and I had $72.50. That was the last money we won. Found a new place to play blackjack - The Vegas Club. That's its name, officially, even though all of its signage still says "Las Vegas Club." They've done really nice things to the place, and they have a pretty decent 21 that we liked. We lost, but we liked the place and will go back. We wound up not having dinner - just copious amounts of beer.
Day 3 dawned too early, but we wanted to get to the MGM in time for the 11:00 poker tournament. We did, and, for some unknown reason, they sat us at the same table. Joe was doing pretty well. I'd been playing for an hour - won no pots (split on one, which was a lucky thing, as I was down to the river before the split card came up) and was getting cards like nine/seven and ten/four every hand when I finally got Big Slick (for those of you who don't play poker, that's an Ace/King). Knowing that I was unlikely to get anything else decent, I went all in. Another guy goes in behind me, and then Joe called. I lost, of course - nary an Ace nor King to be found on the board. AND MY OWN HUSBAND KNOCKED ME OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT! So I went off to play a round of video poker (I don't really like to play it on the Strip because the machines usually have crummy pay tables) and came back about twenty minutes later (I was playing nickels) to find that Joe, who'd been one of the chip leaders when I left, had been knocked out, also.
After that, we went by Luxor to say "Hi" to my client (who wasn't there), then called one of my other clients who came downtown with her husband, and we hung around with them for most of the evening, including dinner at Lawry's Prime Rib restaurant, which was excellent. I hit four deuces playing video poker, but had the machine set on nickels and only got $30, which I wound up using for blackjack later.
And the last day, we just played some blackjack. We were doing pretty well and then, all of a sudden - WHAM! Couldn't catch a card to save our lives and busted out. During the drive home, we heard the news (for which we'd been listening every hour on the hour) that Saddam Hussein had been executed. And it was good.