Saturday, February 21, 2009

what isn't staying


The hotel we 'stayed' in

We went to Vegas last night. Actually, to be strictly accurate, we went to Vegas this morning. Why? Because Jon and I are both too darn stubborn. We had made plans to go to Vegas for one night, flying stand-by with some extra buddy passes from my mom (she works for Alaska). The flight loads looked good all the way up until a couple of hours before we were supposed to leave, at which point it became clear that there would not be extra seats on the plane and we weren't going to make it. So there we are, our bags are packed, our kids are at Nana and Papa's: We're. Going. To. Vegas.

Long story long, we made it there... here's some highlights.

We flew to Orange County, rented a car and drove the 267 miles to Vegas. We got there at 1 AM, which is pretty much late afternoon in Vegas.

We ate at In&Out, each destroying a double-double animal style, chocolate shake and fries. The burgers alone were worth the trip.

We ran into an old friend within 5 minutes of walking into a casino. We hadn't seen him since college - so random.

We played 30 minutes of video poker and I lost $0.30.

We played 30 minutes at the craps table and lost considerably more than $0.30.

We saw all the usual Vegas folk -- the pro athletes, the drunk fraternity guys, the bachelorettes, the slack-jawed slot machine addicts, the high rollers with accompanying entourages... the people who make you say "Only in Vegas."

We walked around in 55 degree weather without coats and said it was warm.

We got a sweet hotel room, maybe the nicest we've stayed in together. And it was cheap (thanks crappy economy!) -- a 5 star room at the price of a 3 star, with 2 buffet meals thrown in for free. Which seems like a great deal until you factor in the gambling...

I drank a Starbucks caramel mocha in an absurdly deep bathtub while watching TV. Yes, there was a TV in the bathroom of our hotel room.

We slept a very little.

We spent $5 at the hotel business center to update our facebook statuses at 4 in the morning. Seriously, what is the matter with us. That is wrong for so many reasons.

We caught up with friends. One of our best friends from college lives in Vegas, so we met up with him and his fiancee at lunchtime, though we didn't end up eating because we had just over-indulged at the hotel buffet. We had considered passing on the buffet because of our lunch plans, but after losing money the night before we needed to milk the Mandalay Bay for all it was worth.

We spent just over 12 hours in Vegas and that is just about enough for me. I used to say that I liked Vegas in 24 hour chunks. Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe I am saying that to justify the ridiculousness of this day... cognitive dissonance much?

4 comments:

Sabrina said...

Hilarious post...especially the shout out to the crappy economy...ha ha! Glad you had fun. I lived in Vegas, and got married there!

R.A. said...

In 'n Out...the hardest thing about leaving California.

Da... said...

I learned more about christianity in Vegas than anywhere else.
I will admit raising kids there is a little harder, but when I lived there they were more family friendly.
I learned more about bipolarism, both manic and depressive. I think that is because gambling implies you can show a profit. Not a reality. Did you see any light bulbs not burning?
I believe I've heard nearly ever scam contrived by Satan are man.
The casino's vig is small, 3%. So how many times can you run a $100 through a slot until you only have 3% left?
You can compare the cost to Disney World, then decide to go to the movies for 3 hours.
I have to admit that I never had a penny or dollar that God hadn't provided to me.
So, does that not make me the teen out on Friday life on dad's money?

Haley said...

S -- thanks! did elvis perform the ceremony? ;) i was just saying to jon that i think its funny that people who live in vegas when they get married will always say 'we got married in vegas'... even though it won't mean what people think!

R -- you're tellin me girl...

D -- thanks for sharing your thoughts.