Ah, Vegas

I have been on the go for a few weeks in a row, and have some catching up to do. It started with a long weekend way up in northern Vermont, about 5 miles from the Canadian border. We rent what Vermonters call a "camp" what everyone else would call a lake house in the woods. It hit the spot and 3 days of fishing, grilling and swimming provided a great reprieve from mid-July weather back home.

The following week, I put in three long days at work and on the third, headed to the airport for a trip to Vegas for Wild Bill's bachelor party. Flight cancellations and delays were brutal but somehow I managed to get DJ and I on a later flight and arrive in Vegas a cool 8 hours past our scheduled arrival time. So instead of settling in with a fun Wednesday night of action at the tables, we checked in at 4:30 in the morning. Nice. Thanks, airline industry. Every time I think it has hit its lowest, I'm proven wrong.

The one consolation of the lost time was the fact that Caesar's had given away our room, even though they had been informed by phone hours earlier that we would be checking in late because of the flight delay. Why is it a consolation? Because they bumped us up from our standard room to a "Petite Suite" which was bigger, had a sweet flat screen TV (who watches TV in Vegas? More on that later…) and two bathrooms which connected through a double-headed shower. One of the bathrooms had a jacuzzi tub and a bidet and overall I felt like somehow fate had at least made an attempt to balance out the poor luck with which the trip had begun.

Anyway, local Vegas buddy Big E provided airport transportation for us and we in turn bought him entry to the Caesars buffet at 7 am sharp. I was impressed with the buffet, Caesars has it located right next to their pools with both indoor and outdoor seating. And while no one was yet at the pool at 7 am we still snagged a window seat and chowed down. After breakfast, we took a walk through Caesars to get a feel for it and DJ sat down at a video poker machine, won a few dollars and proceeded to act as if it were still Wednesday night at 9 pm rather than Thursday at 8:30 am by ordering a double whiskey coke no ice straight off. Only in Vegas.

We checked out the Caesars craps tables and since $25 tables right off weren't really appealing to us, we hit up the Flamingo, which was dead so we sauntered next door to the place formerly known as the Barbary Coast and now known as Bill's. Coincidence? We thought we would find out. We settled in at a craps table and hovered around even, drinking multiple whiskey cokes and dropping maybe $75 each before DJ got a hot run going. Over on the table next to us, they were holding a daily "How to play craps" informational session and when it broke DJ was in the midst of firing us back up, having hit a few points and smothering the 6 and 8, which we were playing as well. Well, of course as soon as the yokels got done with their craps lessons, they decided to head over and play some. Not only does one dude squeeze into a non-space right next to the shooter (DJ) making him uncomfortable, he immediately asks if the table is hot. DJ and I exchange glances, followed by the inevitable 7-out seconds later. Well, it was a hot table buddy, thanks for the moosh.

So we left the tables up a few dollars and headed back to Caesars, planning on getting out to the pool. Of course, it's July, it's the desert and it's 1 pm, so of course it is 112 degrees outside. Undaunted, we poured buckets of sunscreen on (I don't tan, I crisp. Anything less than spf 30 and I sport a full on lobster red after 5 minutes) and snagged two seats by one of the pools. As we settle in, about 15 feet away half a dozen gorgeous Italian women pose for a friend's photo. I track down some water and a couple Coronas. Poolside in Vegas. Sun. Women. Beer. Nice.

An hour later we head back up to the room. We had escaped the midday heat by hanging out in the water but after a while it became a little too much and we needed a little air conditioning. Back in the room we checked on the arrival of BH, due in a couple hours. In the meantime, I thought it would be a perfect time to check out the poker room. As it turns out, a 3 pm tournament was beginning in 15 minutes. $65+5, 50 person max, 30 minute levels, 2000 in starting chips. Seats still available.

I bought in.

Next installment: The Painkillers run amok.