Me & Vegas Part 2

Sorry for the delay.....

He practically ran down the escalator to give me a hug.  Yay, the fun could begin NOW!  As expected, the first thing he said was "let's get a drink!"  I told him about the ID situation and we decided to get a cab to take us to Tropicana then down to PHo.  $30 in cab fares later, we're back at the hotel dropping his stuff in the room and having drinks.  It's always fun when a bartender tells you to tell him to stop when you want him to be done pouring your liquor.  Chip had ordered a beer, but once he saw the free pour that was going on, he quickly changed his mind.  We got our drinks and headed down a level to check into his room, which would be home to my friends Chris & Kelly until Monday.  They were to arrive a couple of hours later.

While waiting in another ridiculously long check-in line we tried to plan our evening, knowing full well whatever we decided would get shot to shit as soon as drinking was in full force.  Half an hour later we were upstairs checking out Chris and Kelly's room.  They got the Natural Born Killers room with a partial view of the fountains.  He asked me if I wanted to switch to this room, but I really didn't want to schlep all my stuff down, even though they were about 20 rooms away from us.

We went back to our room and hung out for a bit, dozing in and out of sleep.  Finally Kelly texted me and we went downstairs to give them their keys.  Chip wandered off to meet up with a friend for a drink and I hung out with Chris and Kelly for awhile until they decided they wanted to get showered and get something to eat.  I told them I'd meet up with them later and headed back to the room where I fell asleep again.  Ugh.  Writing it all on here makes it look like I slept a lot, and maybe I did, but none of it was particularly restful.  I wake up to Chip getting back to the room already retardedly drunk and ready to go out.

We set out with no particular plan in mind other than food, stopping at the ABC store for liquor on our way out the door.  It's decided that we'll casino hop until we get back down to the Trop for some blackjack.  In the process we picked up some 151 slushies with an extra shot in each.  Eventually we meet up with Chris and Kelly and play at the Trop for awhile.  I lost $100 again.  Ugh.  I decide I'm too drunk to function anymore and we start our long walk back to PHo drunk and still haven't eaten.  Walking past the food court over by the M & M store, we decide food is a good idea.  $25, two double cheeseburgers and a slice of pizza later, I'm sure they were glad to see us leave.  Actually security might have been close behind us if we stayed any longer.  I don't remember what was said, but I know we made a HUGE issue that they didn't have junior bacon cheeseburgers for whatever reason.  Oh well.  We get back to the room and pass out without eating ANY of the food....

Friday I'm awoken at 4:30am to the sound of a jackhammer and it's not a wicked hangover headache I'm talking about.  What the fuck?  Oh yeah, there's construction going on at the corner of the strip and Harmon, right in front of our window.  Fuck.  I manage to get back to sleep for half an hour and my phone rings at 5:30.  Ok, now I'm getting seriously pissed.  Put the phone on vibrate and throw it across the room, thanking myself for buying that OtterBox case.  Eventually we both get up and out of the room by 9 to get a seat at the pool where we lay for hours.

I have a nice tan.  Chip has that typical midwestern pasty look.  He says he's starting to feel a little burnt, so we head back to the room and nap for awhile.  When we wake up we decide to get showered and head out.  Chip takes his shirt off and all I can do is laugh.  Not only is he BRIGHT pink, but he never rolled over onto his stomach, so the back side of him is still pasty...  It was HILARIOUS and he remained that way for the rest of the trip, because every time we wanted to go out to the pool the rest of the weekend it was raining.

Speaking of rain.  Every day from Wednesday-Sunday it rained at some point during the day.  On Saturday I was at the pool and got caught in a torrential downpour.  I've never seen it rain in Vegas before.

Once we finally get ready we start wandering the strip again ducking in and out of casinos waiting on Chip's friend Tim to get into town.  Chip and Tim went to school together at some point and haven't seen each other in like forever, so they made a plan when both of their Facebook statuses said they'd be in Vegas for the weekend.  Eventually he catches up with us at Gonzalez y Gonzalez in NYNY where we're trying to get some sort of food in our system before another night of drinking.

I'm introduced to Tim and wow, he's hot.  Nice.  Too bad his girlfriend is super model hot.  Oh well.  We sit around there for a bit, then it's time for me to head off to Mandalay Bay to meet Chris and Kelly for the Steel Panther concert at House of Blues.

Chris and Kelly specifically came to Vegas to see Steel Panther.  They had played at our local rock festival and we all fell in love with the ridiculous inappropriateness of their music.  One night when we were hanging out late night on one of my shifts at the bar, we were looking to see where else they were touring this summer, I saw that they play Vegas every other Friday and Saturday.  Friday at House of Blues and Saturday at Green Valley Ranch.  Chris has been through some shit lately, so when I told him they were in Vegas when I was there, they decided to come out with me.  The bonus of me getting them free rooms just added to the appeal.  If you've never heard of Steel Panther, see below or check out Youtube for more. 



If you checked out that video and were offended, sorry.  But it's humor like that which totally kills me.  Call me juvenile or whatever....  Anyway, back to the concert.  IT WAS AWESOME!!  These guys certainly know how to put on a show.  It was 80's rock at it's best, with their originals thrown in there.  We met some great people there too!  Turns out, the show is free for locals, and everyone who had a Godsmack ticket (they played at Mandalay Bay also that night) got in free as well, so the place was a packed HOT sausage fest.

 This guy gets the award for best mullet in the audience....

The guitar player, Lexi, checked himself out in the mirror like the entire show.  He had pretty hair.... lol

While at the show I committed one of my biggest no-no's.  My stomach was upset and Chris and Kelly told me that Jagermeister would settle it down.  People that know me well know that I don't drink brown liquor in any way, shape or form.  There is something about it that makes me ridiculously blackout, violent drunk.  Though I only had half a shot of the Jager, I was feeling the effects.  My stomach was settled and it was basically open bar for me, because that's what Chris and Kelly were doing to show their appreciation for the free room.  I was ok during the concert, but as soon as we got ready to leave, hot damn, what a mess....  Kelly was equally trashed and Chris decided instead of going over to the Trop to hang out at Nikki Beach for the rest of the night, it was time to head back to the hotel.  He managed to herd the two of us into a cab and get us back to the PHo, where we met up with Chip and apparently I was mean.  Whatever.  If anything else happened that night, I don't remember it.......

Saturday had me waking up in a foul mood.  Unfortunately I had a wicked hangover.  Chip and I went and got breakfast, got into an argument and I walked back to the hotel alone.  On my way back, my hangover turned into a full fledged migraine like sinus headache and I had to lay down.  After taking a Vicodin for the pain (it was all I had on me....) I was pretty much out for the rest of the afternoon.  It was probably the best rest I had the entire vacation.  

Around 4 Chip came up to the room happy that he had sold a ring that he had brought with him to pawn.  Apparently they don't have good pawn shops where he lives.  He didn't actually pawn it, he sold it somewhere in the Miracle Mile shops to a gold retailer.  Awesome.  Another $400 in his bankroll.  We got up and went to get something to eat over at Cheeseburger in the MM Shops.  It was decent.  I'd eaten there before.  After that we got showered and ready to go out for the night.  Tim and his girlfriend were supposed to hang out with us after dinner, so we wandered around until it was time to meet up with them pondering if we should go ahead and get married while we were waiting.

After much debate on who was really joking about the situation, Tim called and said he'd meet up with us for some fun since his girlfriend had went off with her friends.  We walked up to Caesar's and then all the way back down to the Tropicana, stopping pretty much everywhere in between.  I watched as the two of them gambled and acted stupid, drinking straight out of my liquor bottle to keep my buzz flowing.  Eventually, at like 2am, we decided we had enough and it was back to the hotel room, leaving Tim to play blackjack and seeing Chris and Kelly make their way in as we were on our way out.  We decided it would just be a waste to get food on our way back....

Ugh, Sunday.  Our last full day in Vegas.  That fact sort of hung around all day.  I really enjoy Chip's company.  Even though we don't get to see each other very often, it's always a good time.  We slept in until the relatively late time of 9:30, showered and headed out to get something to eat.  After wandering the strip for what seemed like forever, we cashed in on a text offer for 2 for 1 meals at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar.  I'm not gonna lie, I can't stand country music, but the food and the awesome service there waaaaaaay outweighed any of the "country" unpleasantness.  The portions were huge and super yummy!!!

After that we roamed the strip, playing a little at a bunch of casinos and were back in the room by 2.  We were going to head back down to the pool, but it started raining again, so that spoiled that plan.  We napped for a bit, but then I was ready to get up and go.  Chip, not so much.  I think the drinking, lack of sleep and everything else had finally taken its toll on him and he was passed out.  Like pick up an arm and drop it back on the bed and he didn't move passed out.  Great.... 

I showered and got ready for the evening.  When I was all done, I tried to wake him up again.  Nope, not happening...  Ok then.  I swear, had he not been snoring, I would have thought he was dead.  He was that far out.  I had some shopping to finish for some friends, so I left the room and walked the strip for a bit, taking pictures and gathering up little things for everyone figuring he'd be awake and ready by the time I got back.  Not so much....

When I got back to the room he was still laying sound asleep in the same spot I'd left him.  This time when I tried to wake him, he just about jumped out of his skin.  Ugh.  I hate that.  He was pissed I had let him sleep that long and didn't understand how I was unable to wake him up.  Ugh, whatever dude.  It's 7:30pm on our last night here, let's move!!  We're out the door by 8:00 heading across the street to watch a couple of fountain shows at Bellagio.  These were the first ones I'd seen in their entirety all weekend and being as that's my favorite thing to do, we stayed around for a couple of shows taking pictures and being stupid....

See, we're cute!!  After that, we headed down to the Mirage since he had never seen the new volcano eruption and waited what seemed like FOREVER for it.  As usual, it did not disappoint and we had a great front row spot for it.  While we're standing there enjoying our time, he drops the dreaded "I think I'm going to move back to Ohio.  I could really see me and you being together...."  I didn't really know what to say.  I mean sure, we have a great time together, but that's vacation, not real life.  In real life both of us work ridiculously long hours and are not the same people we are on vacation.  Ugh.  I told him that he needed to do what made him happy.  And of course I got the "I'm happier than I've been in a long time when I'm with you..."  Ugh.   I was getting nowhere quick with this conversation.  Luckily I was interrupted by an erupting volcano.

While all that was going on, Kelly had texted me telling me they were at TI and wanted to hang out.  I told her we'd meet them down there and when the volcano was done, we headed down there, wading our way through all the idiots watching the Sirens of TI show, into the casino where a lovely young lady handed us free shot coupons for Kahunaville.  Not ones to turn down free shots, we head over there.

Holy fun times!!!  No, the free shots weren't anything to get excited about, but the flair bartending was at its best in this place.  While I sat at the bar and played video blackjack with a minor win, I watched these guys do their thing.  It was great!!

I mean what's wrong with massive shots being poured directly in your mouth, even if they're watered down a little??  We spent a couple of hours there and then went out to the casino to smoke, where a Monte Carlo bonus slot machine reeled us in.  I played for 1 1/2 hours on my $20 and Chip played for almost 3 on his.  We were hitting bonus after bonus and it was really a fun, low key way to spend our last night.  Eventually Chris and Kelly say goodbye and we head out shortly behind them.  

We want food, but in the end decide it's not a good idea and take our time getting in our last views of the strip as we roam back to the hotel around 3.  Chip has a 6:15am flight and mine leaves at 8:00am.  We decide on a nap and to head out to the airport at 4:30.  Sleep didn't happen quickly though.  He wanted to talk.  Ugh.  I was a little too drunk for all that.  I told him that if he felt the same way tomorrow when he was sober as he did tonight then we'd talk.  All too soon the alarm was going off and it was time to leave.

We hopped into a cab and were at the airport with a quickness.  Chip actually had to get a ticket, whereas I had paid for Southwest to automatically check me in and all I needed to do was get my boarding pass.  When I turned back around, he was gone.  I caught a brief glimpse of him at the top of the escalator and thought "well, that was an easy goodbye.  I'm gonna miss that boy."  I got through security and promptly fell asleep at my gate until they started boarding.  I got on the plane and was asleep before the person sitting in the middle row sat down.  What an exhausting vacation!

I wake up to the pilot telling us we need to turn around and head to Indianapolis because we're dangerously low on fuel from circling Columbus for so long.  WTF?  Apparently Columbus was experiencing some super severe weather and we couldn't land.  Great.  It's already almost 3:30 and I'm scheduled in at work at 5.  We head back to Indy, get fuel and sit for an hour and a half.  I'm FURIOUS.  I turn on my phone and get a text from Chip explaining that the guy at the counter was an ass and that they were already boarding his flight (an hour early) when we got there and he had to run to make the flight.  I tell him no worries and that I'd call him when we landed, whenever that may be.  I call Nicole to see what the hell is going on in Columbus that's preventing us from leaving again and she gives me some excuse of hail and sideways rain.  At this point I don't care, I need to be home. It's 6:15 before we finally land in Columbus.  I haven't eaten, drank, peed or smoked in like 10 hours and had to go straight to work.  Fucking fabulous.

I arrive to work at the bar and I'm greeted by most of my Monday night regulars, who have obviously been missing me.  As tired as I am, it's good to be back and get on with life as I know it......  Until later that evening when I see him.....

To be continued....