Well, it's been the better part of a decade since then, but Vegas has called me back. I won't bore you with the details but I'm there to attend an annual Adobe convention. While I'll be working during the day, the evenings are my own. I just don't want to become "that guy": the protagonist in a cautionary tale. When on a company expensed trip, what happens in Vegas doesn't necessarily stay there.
I arrived Thursday afternoon via my frequently flown Alaska Airlines. I used to stay awake through an entire flight, regardless of length (a flight to India is basically 24 hours in the air, not the most fun), but now I fall asleep every time. I awoke over Vegas only to find that Portland's weather had followed me there: cool and rainy. No matter, the experience of Vegas is indoors mostly anyway. Took a cab to the Aria hotel and casino, then settled into my room. And what an amazing room it is: spacious, fully stocked and automated, and with a great view. I probably have nearly as much square footage as my apartment back home, a king bed, and the back wall was a floor-to-ceiling window. The mini-bar comes with liquor, beer, and wine. I can control the lighting and the twenty foot curtains from a button pad, a bedside touchscreen console, or through the TV remote. My view is out to the west, away from the hustle and bustle, with the Rio and the mountains beyond.After settling in, getting some work done, and playing with these new toys, I have one item on my agenda to accomplish: visit the Hard Rock Cafe. It's practically across the street (read: The Strip) from my hotel. I visit a Hard Rock whenever travel sends me to a city with one. What can I say? I love their steaks, drinks, and collecting their location specific glasses: pints for me, shots for my wife. I went with a bevvy of my co-workers so we could talk shop.
When dinner was over, I returned to my room and settled in for the night. I have zero interest in gambling and didn't want to stay up too late before having to work the next day.
Friday, with the work day over, we were supposed to join a company dinner. But most of that same bevvy from the night before opted to dine at Mon Ami Gabi, under the Eiffel Tower at the Paris. It was a nice little restaurant that was so French I couldn't pronounce most of the menu items. But I had the Steak Poivre, a nice spicy dish.
Later, I went back to my room to grab my camera and tripod for some night photography along with a couple coworkers. We walked down The Strip to Excalibur and just missed a shooting. Another of my coworkers was actually at the Tournament of Kings when it occurred. But this is Vegas, the show went on uninterrupted.
Not having any more plans on this end of The Strip, we went to the MGM to hitch a ride on the monorail to the other end of town. As we're going inside, two girls in club clothes are entering as well. It's hard not to notice because one is wearing this black leather corset/tube top that is just holding on for dear life around her impressive [insert Euphemism for Boobs]. While trying to figure out how to make our way through the crowd (did I mention that this weekend is also the National Finals Rodeo?) to our destination, it seems these girls are also attempting to find their way somewhere. It soon becomes apparent that our paths will overlap for awhile so I suggest to my comrades that we follow them. I've seen the effect astounding cleavage can have on a hoard, it's like Moses. Sticking close behind them is the same as tailing an emergency vehicle with its sirens going: everyone gets out of the way and gives you a clear path. What's more fun is watching the faces of those that are making way: men's eyes dart in and leap out sheepishly, old grandmothers say "My God! Did you see the size of those things?!"
Eventually the girls find their night club and we find the monorail isn't the free trip we'd hoped it would be. Not a total loss, but we head out of the casino and wander back down The Strip to the fountains of the Bellagio. This is where the majority of my photography comes in. We continue our trek and turn around at the Venetian before heading back to the hotel and once again ending the night.
Come Saturday, I've only got a half day of work. The rest of the time I plan on picking up some souvenirs and visiting some of the crazy candy shops I'd seen previously. The first such location is Lick, in the Monte Carlo. There I find a giant gummy bear, I think it was about one pound in size. But what's better is the "If you like this item" pictures on the back of the packaging. I ask the store person if they have one of these particular items. They do. It's a three foot long gummy Having completed the shopping and tired of walking, we spend the rest of our time drinking, the perfect preparations for the flight home.
Just one more thing to mention, and that is my need to collect strange items. The first is from work. We were having a series of quizzes and other competitions throughout the convention that could earn us team points in the form of poker chips. The team with the most points won a prize, which wasn't my team, but at the end of the contest they were just giving away the chips. There are worthless on their own, had no value at the casino, but they were custom made for our event and had the convention logo on one side. There was a table covered with them and a few people were grabbing them. But most of the crowd had passed by already and there must have been thousands of them left. I grabbed one for fun. Then I grabbed a couple more in case I wanted to give some to poker playing friends. I wanted at least ten so I could use them to practice chip shuffling. But then the guy who was in charge of them encouraged me to take more, and gave me a bag to hold them. He said what was left would end up in his office, and I suggested he make a fort out of them. In the end, however, I had one hundred and sixty of them, exactly. But I ended up giving one of them away to a coworker before leaving Vegas.
No comments:
Post a Comment