Rational Babboon's Vegas Vacation

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

I'd like to start things off by wishing happy birthdays to a multitude of celebrities today…including the Great Steve McQueen, who would be 78 years young today. The quintessential "King of Cool", McQueen's image still pops up in matters of distinction, action, and just plain badassery. He's also kind of my namesake…so he's GOT to be cool. Also blowing out candles today are commercial actor Peyton Manning (32), actress Alyson Hannigan ("American Pie" & "Buffy") turning 34, rapper MA$E is 38 years young today…and the Ghost of Harry Houdini has been around for 134 years. Quite the variety of celebrities born this day, I think.

As mentioned before, I spent this last weekend in the city of Las Vegas…and here's a very basic rundown of what we did down there in one of my favorite cities. The pictures were really few & far between (didn't think of it during the intoxicated portions as much…and there were a lot of those portions) but hopefully my words can paint a picture for you. If not, my apologies…


Day 1 - Journey to Vegas

Really, it starts the night before when I got in a little trouble at work…because I was under the impression that a training class was over…as did everybody else…so I went home…and apparently everybody was called back to finish it…except me. Not a huge deal, I'm sure…but was the first time something like that has happened…at least to me. When I went home, eventually my brother & sister-in-law showed up and slept a few hours before waking up for an early flight (departure at 6 AM, ETA in Vegas 6:20 AM). I was able to hook my brother & sister-in-law up with a nice room at the Renaissance Las Vegas with a view of the Strip…and right next to the Hilton, where they have the Star Trek Experience, which my brother really wanted to see. Also, located close to the Strip, which was very good for them. Luckily, the hotel let us check in early, so we could take a quick nap before heading out on the town…but it really didn't work…because I was trying to sleep on a little ottoman…so I basically just kicked back and watched "Back to the Future II & III" on HBO while they snoozed. Good times.

View from the room at the Renaissance

After their nap, we took the Monorail to Paris Las Vegas (surprisingly much cleaner & nicer than the real Paris…with 90% less urine smell) and gambled a bit. I lost two bucks in the penny machines waiting for my Heineken…and Kiel & Ash won $60 off their dollars. I'm usually a Roulette player when I gamble…but I don't gamble much…especially when no buddy of mine is right there with me to help us entertain each other as the house takes our money…at a slower pace than most games…and the drinks keep coming. Anyway, I only played a few slots this trip…and no table games. We walked around to the other casinos like the new Planet Hollywood (which was non-smoking…so going for THAT niche in the market) and MGM Grand before making our way over to the Excalibur so that I could sign off on their tickets to the Tournament of Kings show. I had seen it thrice in the last two years…but my brother hadn't seen it since we were kids…and we was impressed with the use of pyrotechnics, storytelling, and even the meal was filling. Not a bad dinner show conveniently located on the Strip, if I say so myself.

New York, New York

Excalibur

I can't believe that my personal ad

became a best-selling T-shirt

In Honor of Wingmen Everywhere

Meanwhile, since I didn't go to the show, Bubbles came & picked me up after she got off work and we went to the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas…a unique & unexpected oasis just a half hour from the Entertainment Capital of the World. See, the Strip is very loud…and smells like car exhaust & vomit…but has a lot of shinies to look at when the sun goes down. However, when I'm vacationing, I prefer a tranquil, peaceful, and relaxing atmosphere most of the time…and Lake Las Vegas doesn't disappoint. That evening, we met up with Brooklyn & some of her friends for a few tasty beverages. After that, we walked around the resort, discussed a gameplan for the weekend (to help her find an apartment, phone service plan, etc.), and just caught up on going-ons…all while sipping on tasty beverages and relaxing by the courtyard fire pit under the full moon. Not a bad atmosphere, right? Think about that next time you wanna take your wife or girlfriend to Vegas for your anniversary…or any other reason. They even have a wonderful full-service Spa. I may sound a little biased (and rightly so) but there's a reason that I thoroughly enjoy going to this property…because it's simply one of the finer resorts I've ever visited. Anyway, enough about that…on to Day 2...after this picture of bridge at night...

...and this one of Bubbles & Brooklyn

Day 2 - Day at the Ritz-Carlton

To show my appreciation for the hook-up of a great room at the Ritz-Carlton, I offered to pick up Bubbles & her boss some Starbucks in the morning. They were very appreciative (even though I botched the order a little bit). Shortly after returning to the room, I got a call from my stepmom…and apparently the last night, my dad had slipped in the shower room at the gym he works out at…and snapped his femur at the hip socket joint. Obviously, he was in a lot of pain…but they had him in surgery and he's doing okay now…but yeah, I was a little bummed for a while worrying about my dad. Then I decided to relax in the room for a few hours and watch March Madness in full swing. College basketball is awesome…because if you have the right strategy & hustle going against any opponent, you can exploit their weaknesses and overcome them…so it's always fun to watch some school that I couldn't tell you what state their in, like Davidson or Mount St. Mary's play against a North Carolina, Duke, or UCLA. There were actually quite a number of good, close games…some needing overtime to decide. Great way to spend an afternoon relaxing…with a few walks around the resort grounds & nearby Montelago Village just to get the blood flowing. I don't handle heat too well…so I used moderation.

Bridge of the hotel inspired by

Florence's Pontevecchio Bridge

Courtyard with the Fire Pit

After Bubbles' work day was over, we decided to meet up with Kiel & Ashley to hit the Strip. Bubbles had never seen it before…and quickly felt the same way about it that I do. It probably wasn't the best idea to take her there after a long day of work involving a lot of walking around…but she thought it was too much walking & smelled funny too. So after a few casinos like Excalibur and the Luxor, we got some food at the Food Court next to MGM Grand…and headed back to the hotel to rest our feet (Kiel & Ash were walking all day too). Oh yeah, this was the day that Kiel & Ash went to the Star Trek Experience place…and ate at Quark's Restaurant.


Shortly after, Bubbles & I returned to the Ritz-Carlton…and started with the tasty beverages again. We called it an early night though…because we planned in the morning to start a big day of House Hunting…or rather more of an Apartment Safari or something.


Day 3 - Searching & Fremont Street

During the day, Bubbles & I drove all over the Las Vegas area checking out reasonably-priced apartments and finding what she was looking for in a place…as well as what she was NOT looking for…which seemed equally important. We found a few good ones…and also ran into a wonderful Verizon salesman who basically sold us the various phones and packages…so that quickly got that problem out of the way…and we also solved another insanely important matter immediately after…when we found the Café Rio in Henderson. This is her favorite restaurant…so now that she has seen it & experienced it first-hand, it took a great deal of stress off her mind…which is always a good thing. After having a pork barbocoa burrito & her having a salad, we continued with the search. After checking out nearly a dozen places, we decided to head back to the hotel to relax.

While relaxing, we watched a few episodes of this ridiculous MTV show called "X Effect" where they take two couples, where members of the couples dated once…and broke up for whatever reason (usually infidelity) but then they set them up in these elaborately ridiculous situations to see if they'll get back together…while their significant others watch them interact…and the green-eyed monster shows up…and frankly, the significant others usually end up getting together out of spite…and it's pretty incredible to watch…but not in the good way. Still, I guess there's something to watching other people suffering…that can both make you laugh…and sick to your stomach at the same time. Then we changed the channel to watch "The Wedding Date" starring Debra Messing & Rupert Everett. It was pretty funny for a chick flick, I guess. Definitely wouldn't have watched it if Bubbles hadn't suggested it…but it was entertaining. Something about it was eerily similar to the "X Effect" show that we watched earlier…but I'm not going to elaborate.


Bubbles & I were invited to my hot black ladyfriend Jules' 30th birthday bash at a club…but they had a strict dress code…and I'm not really a club-going kind of guy…so we decided against going. My apologies for not crashing your party Jules…but you know that I've got nothing but Love for ya…and our paths will cross again one day…whether you like it or not. Though I know you look forward to it as much as I do. Happy birthday!!! I still say that you look 24 and are just lying for career progression…but whatever. Do what you gotta do, I guess.
After the movie (and my brother calling more than a few times), we headed back down towards the Renaissance, stopped by the Star Trek Experience to pick my dad up a shirt…and I also found these…

We ended up getting this shirt

for my dad during his recovery

He liked it!!!

This is a goblet...and that hand

can easily palm a basketball

They serve some incredible beverages

in those things at the restaurant

Then we headed to the Fremont Street Experience…which has a lot of the glitz & lights of the Strip…but significantly smaller, less expensive, and FAR less automobile traffic than the other stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard. We got a couple of yardstick drinks and bought souvenirs for loved ones…and then decided that we'd check out the Glitter Club. It was a fairly reasonable $20 cover with two free drinks included…and some of the staff were pretty entertaining. We talked to one a few times…but she liked our table…probably because we were big fans of Bettie Page…and she was in a Nurse Betty outfit. It certainly wasn't because we were dishing out a lot of money or anything.

I'm not sure why...but I dig this band

Uh-oh, the aliens are invading...

Send in the F-22's that can fly in space...

"GET 'EM!!!"

Now let us celebrate the Nuclear Winter...

We headed back to the Renaissance to take a dip in the pool and ordered a pizza to help out with the tasty beverages (really hadn't eaten anything in over 12 hours for any of us). Long story short, we ended up hanging out there until about 4 AM, then I drove back to the Ritz-Carlton so that Bubbles had a bed to sleep in (as opposed to the Ottoman) and instead of taking a two hour nap or something, I just stayed up and watched the VH1 Top 20 Countdown & Best Week Ever before heading to the airport…


Day 4 - The Journey Home

HAPPY GREAT ZOMBIE JESUS DAY!!! Really not much to tell here, other than to avoid Bubbles from waking up (a little under the weather) I took a taxi to the airport…and had a good conversation with the driver about the area. He had lived there for eight years…and like I mentioned before Vegas is a possibility if I ever decide to leave the Wasatch Front. I asked him about this large construction area right in the heart of the Strip…and he told me a little bit about this "City Within a City" called the City Center being constructed…using something like $75 BILLION. I actually looked into it a little bit at this link…and you may wanna check it out. It seems interesting.

At the airport, I eventually met up with Kiel & Ashley and we flew back to Utah, went to the hospital to see my dad & stepmom (he was doped up…but doing pretty good considering...and actually going home today), dropped Kiel & Ashley off at their car back at my house, and then drove straight into work…because as usual, I had to work the day I came back from vacation. I called Bubbles back when I got to work…and she was doing much better than when I left. We had a great little weekend…and I honestly can't wait to do it again sometime.


MAJOR OFFERS!!!


Speaking of good times, my dad unfortunately cannot attend the Utah Blaze game with me this Saturday night at 7 PM…so if you or anybody you know (preferably a hot single female that likes American Arena-style football) would like to go to the game with me, there's ONE free ticket. The only catch…is that you have to sit next to me…for the ENTIRE game. I know, there had to be a catch, right? Small price to pay really. The tickets are normally $40 plus for where they're located. Anyway, let me know if you're interested. It's gonna be a great game against the Georgia Force, who are among the AFL's elite squads.

Also, I won some tickets the other day to the Utah Symphony's Video Games Live concert…which is basically a classical orchestra playing classic video game melodies (I know you're already thinking of Super Mario Bros. right now) complete with lasers and fog machines. It is this Friday night at 8 PM, so please let me know if you'd be interested in that as well. I'd hate to go by myself. Consider these free tickets as some sort of blog reader sweepstakes thing. Heck, gimme a call if you've got my number. High-impact carnage of the arena football gridiron…meets sophisticated ridiculous melodies…that's just how this doctor rolls…schizoid style.


I guess that's really about it for the Vegas trip. Not quite as eventful as I’m sure some of yours are…but I've pretty much seen all the usual sights of Vegas…and if you ever wondered what I thought about certain shows or something, I'd be happy to let you know. Just so you know though, I obviously haven't been to a LOT of the clubs, never seen one of the half-dozen Cirque de Soleil shows (though the Beatles Love show intrigues me…and the new Elvis on at City Center when that's finished), and the way that Vegas is, it changes continually…so it's hard to find somebody who has really seen it all…and still has a dollar to show for it. I find though…that no matter what you do in Vegas, it doesn't matter what you do…but rather who you do it with…so I'd like to thank Bubbles, Kiel, Ashley, Brooklyn, and everybody else that helped to make this Vegas trip so much fun…and I hope that we can all do it again sometime. Have a great day everybody!!!