Howdy world. Well, I suppose I’m breaking some cardinal rule of Las Vegas by writing this post, but lets just say I’ll stick to the relatively family friendly aspects of the trip to share with you all. To save you the wondering, yes, I did see ‘The Hangover’, and yes, things went down a little like that. Not quite to the extreme, but there were some interesting moments for sure. In respect of the code, I’ll keep this post short and to the point, and just give you an overview of the whole trip. For a great overview, just click your little fingers over to my flickr site and peruse some pictures and video from the weekend. Then come on back and read the whole sordid tale, including the why, the where and the what.
So first, the why needs to be addressed. Simply put, why not? Well, more to the point, Matt will soon be a father, and the way we see it, it’ll be a lot more difficult for him to get away and party for the weekend when diapers need changing. Also, a few other guys were keen to make the trip. As for me, well, I’ve only been to Sin City for work, so giving it a whirl on a weekend seemed like a good idea to me. Timing was good based on my training and race schedule, so off I went.
Next, the where? Well, apart from Las Vegas generally, we were specifically heading to a 2-bedroom suite at the Planet Hollywood Towers. With 6 of us going there, it made more sense to just try and find a big suite rather than go for multiple rooms with the possibility of adjoining rooms, which wouldn’t be guaranteed. The price was pretty much the same as any other hotel, but gave us a whole bunch of better features. Don’t believe me? Check out the video tour clips here and here. Yup, we had two great bedrooms, one with king size bed, other with a queen. Full kitchen and bar area, dining room, two bathrooms, including a jacuzzi, separate showers rooms, etc. Oh yeah, and the living room? How about a huge high def theater formed by the blinds becoming the screen? Oh yeah baby. Vegas! Washer, dryer, washing machine, the works. I really can’t tell you all how awesome it was. I highly recommend it if you are traveling with 4 or more in your group.
So, that leaves the what, doesn’t it? Well, we came to Vegas with a very detailed plan: no plan. Other than having booked tickets for a few shows, we were flying by the seat of our pants. Speaking of which, one of our group, Jeff, had never actually been in a plane till this trip, or a rollercoaster, we took care of both. With 3 and a half days to wander the strip, you’d think we’d cover more than we did, but such is life when you’re herding drunken kittens 🙂 Let’s take a quick walk through the daily / nightly of our trip.
First night? Well, after a bit of hanging out in the room enjoying some delicious beers, we headed to the nearby strip, and the Harley Davidson Bar, for more delicious beers. Back to hotel form sweet suite poker, before hitting the night hard. Ironically, even though we were all beat form the 4am wake-ups and long flights, this turned into one of our craziest nights. We first hit a casino for a bit, then hit El Diablo, where food, beers, and a few tequilas were consumed. After that, we’ll just have to censor the remainder of the evening. We all lived.
Next morning was quite rough. I woke up unsure where I was, and scared to find someone sleeping next to me. Luckily it was Matt, and I remembered where we were. Shook myself out of bed, and headed out for a run. 24k later, I arrived to the smell of bacon. The lads had gone foraging and scored breakfast stuff and were cooking. I was then reminded of a little chore I had to take care of, so headed to Home Depot. For the record, the wall color there is “Classic Tan”, use flat paint. Couple guys his poker tourney while the rest of us wandered around a bit, then decided to hit a hot tub at Planet Hollywood. Yup, craziness ensued, and a number of other things are censored from here. That night, we grabbed quick pizza, and headed to the Hard Rock for out big show, the Experience Hendrix Tour. Slow start, but well worth the price of admission. More madness ensued, night becomes censored once again after the show. I do remember one highlight, which was hitting the Fatburger for food, and then seeing Dick Dale, a legendary surf guitar guy at another show, before killing time at New York New York.
Few more hours of ZZZs and we were up again, and planning our 3rd day in Sin City. We started by watching The Hangover (seemed appropriate) on our giant screen. After that, again, some went to play poker, rest of us decided to do the strip right this day. We started by grabbing those giant novelty drinks (2 extra shots of 151 proof rum for $2? Why not!), and wandering the streets like everyone else. It soon became obvious those tasty drinks pack a punch. We solved that by marvelling at the modern engineering of the crazy casinos like the Bellagio, and the Venetian. Hunger stuck us again, and we found a place called Strip Burger outside, and had a great feast there, before making our way to Circus Circus. Oh yeah, that was a bit crazy too. Lots of fun though, and the only place where I won anything, a little teddy bear. It made my day. Back to the suite, and gear up for our last night. This time, we were checking out Galactic at another Hard Rock bar, and decided to do supper properly at the Vegas Hofbrauhaus. Yup, proper Oktoberfest fun before a night of funk to cap off our crazy weekend. Censoring follows, but ended sometime with me in the Jacuzzi on the 28th floor, with a couple beers, and a bag of popcorn. Delicious! Night ends.
Final morning, slow waking, but luckily we had spare bacon and toast to cook up to take the edge off. Oh, and some Caesars and Mojitos. Just what the doctor ordered (well, that and the Ibuprofen). We sadly had to make our way to the airport now and get back to real life. We were all sad to go, but at the same time, recognized that staying too many more nights would likely be bad for not only our physical health, but probably our financial health.
So ends the story. It was a great weekend with a great group of guys. Definitely hope to do that again sometime. Thanks guys! Now, back to training and getting ready for the Boston Marathon, which is my next race. Later all!
