Ok ok ok.. it’s been awhile … so sue me.
I’ve been really busy and all that jazz.
I haven’t even been checking the sites I usually frequent.
I’ll try to catch you all up but let me say this right away:
The Colts really let me down last night. It’s one thing to have a good game and not win.. but we didn’t even do that. Oh well.. .a good season I suppose.
Anyway…
Vegas was figgin’ awesome!
Jana and I went down on December 30th and I had a BLAST!
I don’t think I really realized how great a time I had until I was home. Jana was worried because we didn’t have a lot of money to throw around the slot machines, but we still managed to have a good time. I REALLY enjoyed seeing Vegas.
I’m glad we went when we did too. I had to stay in Vegas longer than Jana because I had to work at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) for work. I didn’t want my first experience in Vegas to be work.
New years eve was wild. They close down the strip to traffic and 400,000+ people just walked down the middle of the strip drinking and screaming. It was like Purdue’s Grand Prix but on a larger scale.
Jana and I were staying at the stratosphere at the time, which is at the far end of the strip, and we had walked all the way to other end to take part in the festivities. After seeing the Luxor and MGM we headed back to the middle of it all and at 11:00 we were at the Bellagio enjoying the atmosphere and excitement of the city as midnight approached.
Here’s a map to help you visualize it.
Then it hit us.
We were exhausted. We’d been walking for days (we didn’t know about the monorail at this point) and we were far from home. The road was closed down, and even if a cab COULD get to us they’d have 400,000 fares at 12:01.
We decided we’d better start looking for a way home.
We asked a nice looking young lady at the bell desk of the Bellagio if she could give us any strategy on getting back to the stratosphere… or maybe getting a cab.
Here’s what she should have said:
“Sure just walk right over there to the Excalibur. You can catch a Tram to the Mandalay Bay, and from there you can take the monorail all the way to the Sahrah which is right across the street from your hotel.”
But this must have been her first week as a Vegas hotel staff employee cause she had no idea how to help us.
We walked around, trying to figure out how to get to a road that may have a cab, not knowing there were monorail stops all around us.
Thank GOD a bellman at the MGM clued us in.
We were back at the Stratosphere in time for Jana to get changed, me to play a few slots, and get outside for the count down.
We were underneath the stratosphere spire when the new year came and an awe inspiring collection of fireworks launched from the top of it. We may not have been hanging out with the high rollers at the Bellagio but it was a pretty impressive site. And when it was done we could go gamble knowing that we were only an elevator ride away from bed.
Here’s a picture I tried to capture with my mobile phone.
Not a great shot… lousy phone camera, at night, moving target.. but here you go none the less.
I had some great cigars while I was there, two of which were on my “one day I’m gonna try one of those” list. The Padron Anniversary Maduro, and a Rocky Patel 1997 vintage. Both very nice. (the PAM was the clear winner between the two of course)
As far as gambling goes…I did pretty well on the penny slots and actually made some money. (well enough to balance out our loses for the most part)
I also got to play some poker, which was a requirement for me being in Vegas. And I did ok! Jana and I sat down at a low limit table. ($1-$2 Holdem) We each took $100 bucks to the table and I left with at least $150. So I can honestly say I’ve never lost money playing poker in Vegas. 
We played at the Luxor.
Pretty easy game… perhaps I should have moved up to 2-4.
The Luxor was my favorite of the casinos to hang out in.
But I really wouldn’t want to stay there. it is though one cool looking place.
We’ll that’s about it for now…
But here’s one more cool Vegas site: the man made volcano.
(again it’s a cell phone picture, but you get the idea. Very impressive in real life)
Posted on January 17, 2005 by Audra
LOL !!
g)
Wow. Nice. You’re cell phone takes better pictures than mine … although I’ve yet to figure out how to get mine form my phone onto my computer.
I need to go back to vegas.