Live from Las Vegas!

Hello!!

Arrived yesterday without a lot of fuss. No problems getting to the airport, uneventful flight and luggage pick up. But, you know you've arrived in Vegas when you hear the airport announcer dude, trying really hard to not laugh, go "If he can even hear me... will the man who left his hearing aid and false teeth in the men's room please come to the lost and found?"

When the cab dropped us at the Flamingo, it was a first when we weren't swarmed by bellhops like the chapel peddlers outside the county courthouse. Odd. We had to get in a very, very slowly moving line for luggage check along with the all the folks who'd checked out and were checking their luggage. Seemed to take forever until it seemed like a new shift came on duty and they started pulling out the people checking in (like us) to get us out of line quickly.

Went to the Hertz counter to pick up the Shelby GT-H. Dude at the counter "Um.... yeah.... I tried to call you....." Apparently something "happened" when they were transporting the car here and I guess there was some kind of accident, and they didn't have the car. Hubby said he actually had a feeling something was going to go wrong with the car rental, so he wasn't that surprised. Dude offered a deal on a Vette, but the hubby is pretty specific about his GT-H love. Dude made some calls, and said they'd get the GT-H from Caesar's for us for Friday, if we wanted. Oh, we want!!

The check-in line was long, so we decided it was time to eat or gamble. And when the hubby realized his player's club card was in the luggage (and unwilling to stand in line for a new one) it seemed like lunchtime.

But, a kink in the plans, since I still had my backpack with my laptop and we (ok, I) didn't really feel like doing a long Strip walk while lugging that thing, and the hubby had expressed and interest in going to Emeril's Fish House at some point for lunch. So, we headed over to Planet Hollywood to see if Pinks was open (it wasn't) and then decided to have lunch outside at Mon Ami Gabi, just so we could go home and brag about eating outside while it's a balmy 26 degrees back home. They had daily specials of a mussel/saffron soup and a Monte Cristo. We both got the Monte Cristo, I also had the soup. Both were delicious.

Walked back to the Flamingo, and the check in lines were non-existent, so we got in line to get the room. Apparently the "Go" upgrades are taking over the whole hotel, check in clerk said everything Strip side above the 17th floor was a Go room, which were an extra $50 a night, compared to the usual $20 for Strip side. We asked the clerk to just check if there were any $20 rooms, and she happily went along. Ended up with a room on the 11th floor that I *swear* we had briefly once, before we discovered the TV and internet didn't work and they gave us a new room.

Checked in, we chilled, hubby fell asleep, and I eventually took a little nap. In dire need of a caffeine jolt, we then headed down to the gift shop to get some sodas (machine on our floor is broken.... great....) and sat in front of a couple of video poker machines to test our luck. Dumped $20 in to a multi machine and started some double (or was it double double?) bonus poker and it didn't last long. Hubby was playing JoB and fared a little better. Walked around the bird area of the hotel for a little while, then headed back up to the room to cleanup.

I was very happy to find out that the awesome Betty Page shirt I got in a Secret Santa with these fine folks last (specificly, Beach Crazy) last Christmas fit me very nicely and not nearly as much like a two pound sausage in a one pound casing as I thought I would look. Yay!!

Headed out to get some dinner, even though we were both still fairly full from lunch. We walked down to Planet Hollywood again to check out Earl of Sandwich, but nothing there looked too tempting. And we just didn't feel like walking over to Monte Carlo or Luxor or somewhere that had a food court. We ended up at Trader Vics at the Mag Mile shops. Sat at the bar, each had a couple of Mai Thais and split some appetizers. Some of the best calamari we've ever had, and some awesome duck tacos. Both very very good. And those Mai Thais are killer!

There must be a loophole in the new smoking laws that it's still allowed at outdoor places, since they happily told us we could lite up. Same thing happened at Stripburger last trip.

Hee. WGN noon news is on right now. And they're talking about how much snow the Chicago area is getting over the next two days. Tee hee. I was just cursing myself this morning for not bringing and sandals this trip.....

We were worried the black cloud that followed us last trip might still be following us when it came to gaming. So far, not so. Hubby went out to proove he was not the bitch of a three card table that repeatedly kicked his ass quickly last trip, and I headed over to the video poker machines. Tried some JoB, nothing, then started some Aces something or other and dear god, I was actually winning. I cashed out TWO winning tickets. That doesn't happen to me at the Flamingo! I started actually talking to the machine like it was my bitch, and by golly it seemed to be working. I managed to make back all my losses and ended up even for the day.

At some point, when I was ready to change machines anyway, this really LOUD noise started. Everyone looked around, thinking someone had won a big jackpot or something. Um, no. The fire alarms were going off. For those who noticed, security guards said not to worry. Ok? Guess it was a false alarm....

Hubby finally cashed out from the table, not a winner, but he had his fun and beers were not $100 a piece this time.

Headed to the gift shop, made some impulse purchases (a beanier for me, something flamingo shaped and this awful LED lighter that the hubby had to have) and got some beers, and then chilled in the room looking at the soft glow of electric sex that is Vegas at night.

I was up early today, just enjoying the day. Went and got some coffee and pastries, fought with the crappy shower (perfect height for 5' 3" me, not so much for 6' hubby), and we're off to pick up the GT-H. Wooo hoooooooo!!!!