January and February were busy months for me that included 3 trips to Las Vegas in a 6-week period. That's a lot of Vegas for any one person to handle, even myself. Nonetheless, we continue to Make It Happen and here's a recap of how the 3 trips went:
Jan 12-14: Mike's 30th Birthday
My fellow IBM colleague and friend Mike was turned 30 this year. He moved away to Austin several years ago and while I don't see him as often anymore, we still keep in touch through work or when playing video games online.
I arrived in Las Vegas on Friday night and met up with everyone at the Westgate. We would be staying at the Hilton Grand Vacation Suites near the Westgate since our friend Chris's parents owned a timeshare with the chain.
This trip was about trying some of the things that people talk about in Vegas but never actually do. For example, the first night we rode the ferris wheel of balls at the LINQ. For 30 minutes, you go around in a ferris wheel of spherical rooms that overlooks the strip. We also went ziplining down Fremont Street, something I've never done anywhere. We got two drinks literally in ice cups at the ice bar "-5", which was way too cold to want to spend more than 40 minutes inside. They also got me to try one of those oxygen bars, but it didn't do anything for me.
For a 30th birthday, I was disappointed that half of Mike's friends didn't show up for him in Vegas, but it is what it is. He still had a great time and while the tables weren't as nice to me this trip, I was happy to have tried all the new activities that I'd seen but never actually thought about doing.
Airfare: $230
Hotel: $75
Gambling Wins/Losses = -$500
Feb 3-5: Christina's 30th Birthday & Super Bowl LII:
The next Vegas trip would include a stay at the Flamingo. The D.C. group of friends who I know through my other friend Mike were all going to Vegas this weekend for their friend Christina's birthday. This was a busy weekend with the Super Bowl on Sunday, so I flew into Las Vegas on a Saturday afternoon for a cheaper flight.
About 20 people were in for this weekend and it quickly became what one would call the proverbial shit-show. Groups would connect and disconnect constantly and for the most part I just stuck with Mike wherever he went. They had all wanted to try the ferris wheel at the LINQ again, but I passed since I had tried it just three weeks earlier. I later met up with my friend Matt from Tucson that night and taught him the game of craps. It's Las Vegas, so chances are always good that someone else I know will randomly be there the same weekend. :)
Sunday would be the big day, Super Bowl LII between the Eagles (woooo!) and the Patriots (boooo!). We went to a restaurant called Hofbrauhaus that included an all-you-can-drink-and-eat deal for the game for $120 in advance. It was a fair deal and guaranteed that all 20 of us could sit together in the same area. The service was poor, but it was crowded. The food was okay, but filling. Overall, the restaurant experience was average and not really worth the price tag. However, the result game was excellent, which made my day at least! One of the more entertaining parts of the game was Mike putting down about 15 proposition bets of $10-$20 each and watching him hit or miss on several of them. I think in the end he netted $5. As for me, I made one bet, which was $50 on the eagles.
The rest of the weekend would include more drinking and gambling sprinkled here and there. While everyone left early on Monday, I had a late flight out to save money from the busy weekend. When everyone was gone, I didn't want to spend more time gambling since I was actually up for the weekend for a change. So I decided to kill time by catching a movie at the Planet Hollywood. I finally saw "The Last Jedi" and while some are critics of the movie, I certainly enjoyed it.
Airfare: $290
Hotel: $200
Gambling Wins/Losses = +$250
Feb 17-20: Tyler's Bachelor Party:
The final Vegas trip would be for Tyler's bachelor party, which was also at the Flamingo but fortunately we stayed at the Grand Vacation Suites this time instead of the actual hotel (thanks again to Chris who was a part of two of my Vegas trips). Anthony and I got into Vegas on Saturday afternoon and that night we would mostly spend just gambling, finding a decent craps table that engulfed us for 3 hours. I also got to meet up with my fellow IBMer and AHGL teammate for StarCraft 2, Chapin, and we gambled a bunch at Planet Hollywood before calling it a night.
On Sunday, the 7 of us in the party went golfing with Tyler's "golf friends" that come to Vegas on an annual basis. They're mostly Tyler's uncle's friends who invite him out each year to play several rounds. We played a course called Aliante, which was pretty nice yet still affordable. I proceeded to shoot my usual double-bogey golf.
Later Sunday night, Tyler wanted us to try a steakhouse called the Golden Steer that they always visit as part of the "golfing" weekend. Allegedly it has some historical value to it, "being Frank Sinatra's place", but in my opinion it was grossly overpriced. I ordered a 24oz prime rib which was very good, but for $54. There were 12 of us at dinner and not everyone had the same to eat and drink, plus the sides were all really expensive for such little amount. Overall, there was a $1400 bill that we ended up splitting and I really don't feel like I just ate a $130 steak. Regardless, it was what Tyler wanted to do, so it is what it is.
On Monday, we were supposed to go golfing again, but we decided to cancel given the previous night of drinking and the cold weather that day. We made our way out to Fremont Street since a few of the guys had never been there. I then found us an Escape Room where we could go the same day, which was a lot of fun and we escaped with 5 minutes left to spare on the clock. That evening, 2 of the party had left and we were down to just 5, and we proceeded to have a friendly $20-a-person competition at Circus Circus, seeing who could be the first to win 7 of the carnival games, winner take all. It was a close matchup and Tyler should have won, but eventually Anthony came back and stole it at the last minute. Yours truly ended up with 5 points, but hey, at least I got a stuffed panda for Duncan.
At the end of the night, we were able to find a blackjack table at the Flamingo were everyone could get seated. It was a good table (for most of us) and we ended up playing there for 4 hours! A good way to end the weekend.
Airfare: $230
Hotel: $150
Gambling Wins/Losses = -$800
Sooooo finally the trips are done and I don't have to travel anymore for a while. Yay! The wedding was this past weekend, but I will save that for another blog entry. Until next time!
