Las Vegas Trip Report

As previously mentioned, I had a hearing in St. George on Monday. Therefore, I talked b-lo into driving down to LV with me.

I rented a car from Hertz because on long road trips, I like more space than the Mini provides. And satellite radio. I rented a midsize and was upgraded to a full size. So far, so good.

I decided to leave late on Friday night and and spend the night in either Cedar City or St. George to avoid incurring an exorbitant room charge for a Friday night in Las Vegas. St. George was all booked up, so Cedar City it was.

As Fergie sings, G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S. That's right TWO stars. We checked in at 11:50pm and checked out at 8:00am.

Arrived in Las Vegas by 10:00 am on Saturday. Went straight to the mall. b-lo got a swimsuit, I got a pair of brown gingham shorts. Then we checked into the Saturday hotel.

Renaissance. So the trip definitely had forward momentum - onward and upward and all that.

HC was in town with her friends to celebrate her birthday. They were staying at the MGM. The Renaissance has a sub-par pool (it's tiny and has little to no sun exposure), and HC was nice enough to let us into their pool area. I think I am ready to go on record as saying that the MGM is my favourite pool complex in Las Vegas. I've been to Mirage, Mandalay, Bellagio, Hard Rock, Palms, New York New York, Paris, Aladdin, Caesars, Treasure Island, Bally's, Luxor, Excalibur, and I think that may be all. So anyway, MGM pool was great on Saturday. I met some people that were playing actual beer pong on a ping pong table. One of the kids looked exactly like the skinnier, smaller fella from Flight of the Concords. Big thanks to HC and friends for letting us crash the MGM pool.

Later that night b-lo and I went to Nobu at the Hard Rock. I read an article some time ago where celebrities were asked what their last meal would be, and several of them said Nobu's black cod with miso. Ever since, I've been intent to try it. Well, I did. And all those celebrities picked wrong.

Sunday, a couple bad things happened. One especially bad thing. I'm not telling internet about it because I'm too embarrassed. Instead, I will share some embarrassing pictures:

"Take a kayak!"









This is right after the "bad thing" happened (I medicated):









And medicated some more:









I hung out with a little person:









I even put a baby up for sale at FAO Schwartz:









It was a long hard day.

However, things took a turn for the better on Sunday night when I finally checked into the last hotel of the trip. You see, rooms at the MGM for Saturday night were over $400. However, for Sunday night, I got a room for $119 - including a $25 food and beverage credit. Good deal. When I got to the check-in desk, I was worn out from a long day - long weekend - in Las Vegas. Now generally, I am very concerned with getting a good room, i.e. high floor, nice view, etc. This time, I really didn't care. I didn't care to the point that I didn't make a single special request of the desk clerk. I didn't even compliment her hair, her rings, her smile, or anything. I just wanted a room key. I wasn't paying too close attention as she did her reservation talk, though I did hear a couple phrases like "just with us for the one night" "room has been preassigned" "Marquis suite" "do you want to charge to the room", etc. Finally, I got the keys. As we walked down the loooonnnngggg hallway toward the room, I started to wish I'd asked for a better room. My shoes were also killing me (I had a blister) and I wished I'd been more picky about the room. Until I realized that my room was the last room in the hall. As I put the key in the door, b-lo thought I was Punking her. "What did you do?" She asked. I didn't do anything. But a good thing happened:

Living Room:















Living Room 2:















Wet Bar:















Bedroom 1:















Bedroom 2:
















There were also two large baths and a butler called "Frank." There wasn't really a butler. But I am not kidding even a little bit when I tell you that we walked into the room and b-lo immediately called the front desk and asked to extend the stay through the end of the week. They said no go. So she intended to make the most of the luxurious room - by counting the chairs (16), the lamps (14), the towels (I lost track at 22), and the robes and slippers.

So the trip ended on a good note. And I won my hearing.

Today's Song: Glory Days, Just Jack (I heard this song on the Sirius Satellite Radio 1 channel. It isn't available on American iTunes, but is available on UK iTunes. I'd buy the cd from amazon.co.uk - but the exchange rate has finally hit the TWO DOLLAR mark. And that is insane. So if anyone has an mP3 of this song - please e-mail it to me?)