Las Vegas

Our four days of living like high rollers is done and boy was it fun. As you may recall we were staying at The Venetian right on the strip. The room was fantastic and even inspired Lisa on what kind of changes she would like to make to our master bath. Honestly though, we didn’t spend much time in the room as there was so much to see and do while in the sleepless city.

We arrived pretty early (after a very early wakeup in Cleveland) and had our bags held for us until we could check in. My Dad and Patty were already in town at a decorative painting show over at the tropicana but my brother Ed and his wife Cyndy weren’t in yet so Lisa and I took the opportunity to explore the shops at the Venetian. We wandered around past the gondola laden canal and just enjoyed each others company as we marveled at the attention to detail that went into constructing the hotel. Our last store stop was the Lladro store where Lisa splurged and purchased three small figurines that represent myself, Shannon, and Emily. We had them all signed by MS. Lladro.

After shopping we stopped and had a nice lunch at Zeffirino’s which was a nice Italian restaurant. The servings seemed small but they were both very tasteful and quite filling. If you have the chance I definitely recommend eating there. I was starting to really feel the effects of a cold (or something) and ordered a cup of hot tea. I was presented with a large selection of tea and had what is probably the best cup of Earl Gray I have ever tasted. The tieramisu was wonderful! After lunch we checked in, unloaded our bags, and then found Ed and Cyndy to begin what turned into one of the most exhausting weekends of my civilian life.

Once teamed up the four of us went back through all of the Venetian shops. I honestly don’t remember what else happened that afternoon but eventually we ended up at the tropicana to meet up with our parents for dinner. We headed to New York New York for dinner at the Nine Fine Irishman pub. The waitress outfits at this place were pretty memorable however I have already forgotten the food. I probably liked it. Dinner was pretty pleasant but then we left the pub and our parents took off for their hotel while the four of us gambled on slots in the NY casino. Almost instantly I was up $180 thanks to double diamond haywire! However, the other three were not having the same kind of luck and we spent A LONG time at the slots. Slowly but surely I grew a bit bored trying not to feed my money back into the machine and eventually I succumbed losing the 180 plus my daily allotment within about 10 minutes at the $5 slots. I’m such an idiot.

We finally left NY at about 2am and headed back to Venice. I fell asleep at around 4am NV time and had thus been awake for about 28 hours. I woke up four hours later ready to go. What the hell? I can’t wake up at 8am at home when I have to. On vacation my body betrays me and I wake up when I have the opportunity to sleep in. Go figure. On Friday we went all over the place. We spent time in the Bellagio, MGM Grande, the Venetian, Paris, Ballys, the Tropicana, and probably a few other places. We started the day with brunch at the Bellagio. That just involved Ed, myself, and our dad. We had a nice time. Then we headed to Cesears to the sports book where I put $10 on a four team NBA parlay. I had the Pacers, Warriors, Lakers, and someone else (funny how I can’t remember much). Ed put $10 on a three team NBA parlay and $10 on UNC winning the NCAA championship. By then dad had to go back to the show at the tropicana as Patty needed him to work. So we rejoined our wives at a decent little bistro at the Tropicana and chatted with them while they had lunch. At one point I had to step out to use the restroom and encountered a high flying act on a cable system above the casino floor. It was pretty cool watching these two guys spin like crazy over the crowd. They were only about 10 feet above our heads. The ladies in the room seemed to be appreciative of the shirtless condition of the two guys as it sounded like I had walked into a screaming mob! I only caught the end of the show so I couldn’t go back and get the other three. I did take a small movie with my camera though.

At some point that night we headed back to the Venetian to change for the nights activities which included going to see the Cirque du Soleil show Ka. At first Ed and Cyndy weren’t going to go with us but they changed their minds. Ed and I really liked it. However Lisa was a little disappointed and Cyndy didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t as exciting as a typical Cirque show but overall it was still pretty darn good. The stage was a true engineering marvel! And the performers still seem super-human to me. It is unfortunate that Cyndy didn’t like it. I bet we all would have preferred seeing Mystere which we heard was a more typical Cirque type show. Oh well, next time.

After the show we had dinner at Wolfgang Pucks dinner in the MGM Grande. It was one of the most affordable meals we had. Lisa and I ate for $24 before tip (we drank water); we each had a calzone. The food was very good. We then went out gambling some more before heading back to the Venetian. At this point Ed and Cyndy went to bed and Lisa and I went downstairs to play craps. We didn’t know how to play but a nice drunk southerner taught us the basics and then we boldly ventured in the $15 minimum table. I had $40 and Lisa had $60. By the time we were done I had about $125 and Lisa had 0. With the $25 we headed over to a $25 minimum blackjack table where I won a hand. Then I went to a $50 table and won a hand and then finally to a $100 table where I again won a hand. It was much lucky day as my 4 team parlay also was a winner! I was suddenly back up $200 on the trip.

We finally headed to bed at around 2:30 in the morning but I couldn’t fall asleep until about 4. Again, I woke up at 8. Go figure. On Saturday we walked all over again including another trip to Cesears. At Cesears I claimed my parlay money and placed a new $10 4 team bet. This one lost. Ed and I played some craps. I taught Ed what I had learned the night before and suddenly it was my first time being the shooter. I had a golden arm and helped everyone win a bunch of money. I turned my $40 into 110 and Ed’s 60 into 240! We were walking on air at that point. We finally left Cesears and headed way north to the older casinos such as Circus Circus. When Ed and I were kids our family used to stay there. Now it is a dive. Ed said he saw plenty of evidence many of the folks there were Mexican Gang bangers. We didn’t spend much time there. And we slowly walked south passed a few different places that were once the cream of the crop. Eventually we reached the Las Vegas fashion mall where we killed a few hours as the girls did some shopping and we did some resting and people watching.

That evening we headed far south to the Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Treasure Island. We tried craps again at the Luxor and quickly lost all that we had won that afternoon at Cesears. That sucked and we were all pretty bummed. I went and played some $10 a hand blackjack for a while and ended up growing my small $40 back up to $175. I tried craps again and lost the $75. So then I figured I would try a $100 blackjack table. I couldn’t find one until I spied a dealer in the high roller room. I asked her if I could play just one hand and she grudgingly said I could but she would have to shuffle first. I said OK and she commenced to hand shuffling (no machines in the “High Roller” world). I was dealt a 16 and held. She was dealt a 9. She hit and got a 4 hit again and got a King. I won on her bust! I picked up my 2, $100 chips and said “thanks!” she was PISSED. The other dealer in the room and the pit boss both thought it was hilarious that I only played one hand. It took the dealer nearly three minutes to fully shuffle and she was only able to play 1 hand and got no tip. Her attitude sucked. Hell, she was getting paid to be there - what’s the big deal?

At some point that night we made it back to the Venetian where I once again fell asleep at around 4am. I woke up late Sunday: 8:30am - oh boy! We got together with our Dad again and headed to the Casino Royale for our final bit of gambling. Meanwhile Lisa waited at the Venetian for her college big brother, Dan. Ed and I played craps at a mini-craps table at $2 minimum. Our dad hung out and watched. I chatted with him while we played and Cyndy went off and played the penny slots. When all was said and done Ed and I both added another $10 to our winnings and we all went to find Cyndy. Lisa and Dan had rejoined us. Cyndy was about to cash out and Dan told her to bet big one last time in the penny slot. She was done to $4.72 so she bet max bet on all lines and hit! She won $53 on a penny slot putting her up $13 on the day. Finally, we all went to lunch at a decent little Mexican joint before we said our goodbyes and left for the airport.

We all had a great time and I think it is definitely a trip we will repeat!