I haven't posted in a while, and this was about to expire on the website that I originally typed it on, so what better place than a blog to put a summary of my trip to Las Vegas?


3/27 Thursday - Left Omaha about 8 am on Southwest, ended up getting into Vegas at about 10:00 am. After getting my luggage, I debated my rental vs cab options and went for the cab. After $25 for the cab (which returning to the airport was only $15, so I think I got a bit scammed), I arrived at Circus Circus around 10:30 am. Unfortunately, my room was not ready yet so I decided to do a little exploring.


This is where problem #1 occurred. I was to attend Sony's EverQuest Fanfaire convention over at the Hilton. I was staying at Circus Circus. Easy walk, right? For someone in shape, maybe, but on the way there something went wrong and my heel started bothering me really bad. The walk is about 15 minutes to and from, and in addition to the walking, I also went through the Star Trek Experience museum and ride (being a ST fan). The ride is very similiar to the ride in Disney/MGM Orlando for Star Wars, but I still enjoyed it despite my foot. I walked back to Circus Circus and got my room in the Manor rooms, then made a beeline to Dollar Rent-A-Car.


After getting a nice little car, I drove down to Excalibur. I was supposed to meet the group at Barbary Coast, but not knowing exactly where it was, I missed the 'meet' (which as it turns out got cancelled anyways it seems). At the Excalibur, I took a ton of pictures, then headed to Mandalay Bay via Tram. There, I went to the Shark exhibit...by now, though, I wished I would have gotten the car right off the bat as my foot was really hurting, but I suffered through things. I got some nice pictures of Mandalay Bay and then headed to Luxor for the same, then back to Excalibur.


It was about time for Tournament of Kings, so I hung around the sportsbook area, played a little video poker, and basically sat watching NCAA basketball until the Tournament. Again, I walked in with more knowledge than most - I'm an avid Dungeons and Dragons player, for one, and have been to Medieval Times in both Orlando and Anaheim. Because of those experiences, I would NOT recommend Tournament of Kings. At Medieval Times (which is basically the same kind of show), it is truely authentic...no plastic. The bowls are wooden, the mugs are steel, the servers are dressed up as serving wenches. At ToK, the bowls and glasses are plastic, the servers are dressed like modern waiters, and frankly...the fights are more obviously fake.


I drove back to Circus Circus via the Strip, and discovered just how bad drivers are in Vegas. Luckily, Omaha drivers can be just as bad, so I survived. Went over to the Hilton, as they were supposed to be having a preconvention party there, but after about a half an hour (hard for me to get into such sorts of things when I don't drink) I headed back to Circus Circus and went to bed.


3/28 Friday - Woke up at 8:00 am, my foot feeling a bit better. Decided to hit the middle of the strip this time, since I really didn't have much to do. Figured out the trick on how to get to the Strip without dealing with the main traffic, so headed to Harrahs. In Council Bluffs, across the river from Omaha, we have a Harrahs, so I had a Total Rewards card, which as it turned out is needed to get into Harrah's parking garage. Walked through Harrahs and out to the Strip and started my picture taking, heading south to the Aladdin. There, I went into the Desert Passage shops, but a number of them were still closed yet. Stopped to eat, since I had not ate breakfast yet, at 'Cheeseburger At The Oasis' and had a cheeseburger for breakfast (yes, it is on the menu). Was not too bad, but I've had better growing up in Beef Country. Headed back through the shops, and then headed across the street to the Bellagio. Very beautiful resort there, and I got some good pictures of the inner garden area. Missed the fountains, though, which is annoying. From there, I went to Caesar's. Being a Roman History fan, I spent a lot of time taking pictures and identifying all the statues without looking at the nameplates :-)


From there, it was the Mirage. Wow. I thought the sharks were cool at Mandalay Bay, but nothing beats the dolphins and the exotic animal garden Siegfried and Roy have set up at the Mirage. Even though my foot was killing me at this point, I still enjoyed myself walking through this area.


Next was my other love, pirates. And that means Treasure Island. I was too early for the show, but I still liked walking through all of it, and all of the pirate motif stuff.


I crossed the Strip at this point, and walked around the Venetian, but did not go in. I did not realize how much of a major mistake this was until Sunday. I also passed up earlier the Imperial Palace, another mistake I fixed on Sunday. However, I did go in to see Madame Tussade's at this point, and got a good shot of every wax figure on display. Thank god for my 570 shot digital camera


It was time to head back to the Hilton at this point. After registering for the convention, and getting yet another copy of EverQuest and a t-shirt for my efforts, I ran into a group of people that play on my server. For those of you who do not know, Everquest has about 100000 players a day, but they are divided amongst about 40 servers. The group of us headed over to Benihana's and took over about half of the lounge there, talking about Everquest and things. At 8, they held a reception for all people attending (about 2000) where they showed off their new product to be released at the end of the year. I finally found the only other guild member to show up (besides servers, friends get together in the game as 'guilds' on a certain server). After the reception, I was able to put a bid in on a couple of items in the semi-silent auction and buy a couple of items. Then, hobbling, I made my way back to my car and headed to Circus Circus.


3/29 - Saturday - Time to use the car. First, I headed back to the Strip, parking at New York-New York and walking through those shops there. When ESPNZone opened, I got me one of their commemorative hockey shirts. I just about bet on the Marquette-Kentucky game, but decided not to...a big mistake, as it turns out as I would have made a killing on it. Crossing the street, I went into the MGM Grand and bought a little stuffed lion for my good friend's 4 year old. Deciding my foot wasn't going to last very long, I headed back to the car and headed downtown, to see Fremont Street. Mind you, this was during the day, so the electric light show was not operating, but it was still an interesting time. When my foot became unbearable, I drove back down to the Strip, parking at Treasure Island. This time, I was there at the right time and caught the pirate show, then made it to the Mirage just as the volcano erupted. Both brought out the little kid in me... At this point, time for the Hilton again and I headed there for our convention's banquet. It was not too bad, but I'm not a veggie eater, being from the Midwest, so I was a bit disappointed. Thankfully, the deserts made up for it.


3/30 - Nightmare day, but it didn't start out that way. I decided since I had a car to head out and do some exploring. I ended up seeing the Speedway up north of the city, some of the suburbs to the west of the city, until I headed back to my manor room. At this point, I decided that since I was in Vegas, may as well gamble. So, I plunked down my money and proceeded to lose most of it. Not good, but hey, I got paid on Friday via automatic deposit, and I had $800 in the bank before my paycheck came in, so I'd be just fine...


...wrong.


Seems that $800 was missing a few things...like my $850 rent check and my $300 in travellers checks. Yep, I was $350 in the hole and did not know it...so I had only $650 in the bank when I thought I had $1800. Big trouble. After a number of phone calls, I got things straightened out...I thought. It also seems that on Friday, they sent out my new Credit Card...and deactivated my old one doing so. Since all my room and rent a car stuff happened Thursday, I did not know there was going to be a problem. When I tried to use the credit card instead of the bank card (because of the overdraw...I hardly use the credit card, so had plenty of leeway there), bzzt. No work. After getting everything straightened out, I was a half an hour late to the Tribute to the Rat Pack at the Greek Isles. I got there and had to eat my prime rib very quickly. It was very good, and I really wish I could have savored it more. The Tribute was FANTASTIC. I loved it immensely, and it really helped my horrible mood. After the Tribute, it was back to Mirage and Treasure Island to see both shows at night :-) In the meantime, I went into the Venitian shops and discovered Rockport...manufacturer of my shoes, and they had walking inserts...ARGH!


3/31 - Monday - Turned in my car, checked out of my room, and while waiting, I checked out the Midway at Circus Circus and won another bear, this one for another friend's newborn. Then flew back to Omaha...


That was it!
--David
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