Like Cinderella at midnight

Well, I'm back from Las Vegas. Both physically and mentally. I mean, physically, I was back on Sunday. Mentally, well, it takes me a little while to get back here. Now, without further ado, some of the hightlights.

Day One

Mmmarkiep wins the traditional first side bet by being the first to claim his bag off the carousel and get back to the meeting spot. We eat at one of the nicest restaurants I've ever eaten in. I have, without a doubt, the best cut of beef I've ever eaten. Rusty hits a royal flush for a cool grand at the Palms. Disco (hey, he picked the nickname, not me) makes a ridiculous bet that causes strangers at the craps table to laugh at him. They stop laughing when he hits for $800. Killer's nickname officially changes to The Cooler. Mmmarkiep gets hit on by a hooker. Mmmarkiep hits ... something ... on a joke play in a 2 cent machine for over $80. And, finally, a question. Was I the only one to see the midget wearing the old fashioned bell hop\organ grinder monkey costume?

Day Two

Mmmarkiep sleeps in because day one didn't end until almost 10 am. The Guys make a decision to skip dinner and stand in line for Pure at Caesar's Palace. It's worth it. Hot club. Rated #1 in the US by E!. Mmmarkiep charms an attractive bartender there. For the rest of the night, I simply walk up to the bar and she makes my drink before I even order it. Nice. We find that standing next to the propane heaters on the patio is a great way to talk to women.

Day Three

We decide to rush to make the Sirens of TI pirate show at Treasure Island. The highlight is when, instead of firing cannons back at the boy pirates, the sirens, instead, decide to dance fight them. Apparently, they are awesome dancers because the boy pirates ship sinks. They got SERVED! We decide to wait in line for Tangerine, the club at TI. Rusty takes Mmmarkiep's advice and plays the center machine instead of the end one. In a ballsy move, he discards the 6 of diamonds, throwing away a guaranteed flush to go for the royal flush. He hits it for another grand with everyone in line watching. Nice. Tangerine mostly sucks except for the two guys in the kissing booth costumes making asses of themselves in the VIP area. They eventually got thrown out or had to walk the plank or ... something. We head to Mandaly Bay's Red Square for dinner. Not bad even though there was some arguing with the waiter. Then, we hit Tao at the Venetian. Great club! And the costumes in Las Vegas for Halloween are outrageous. Mmmarkiep hits an $800 jackpot on a 50 cent machine picked out by Rusty. This brings him close to breaking even. Cooler calls Disco because he hasn't made it back to the room. Disco loses a bundle at the craps table while on the phone. Hence the new nickname.

After a 30 minute nap, the three of us heading back to Minnesota head to the airport. All in all, another great Las Vegas trip. And that doesn't include all the interesting cabbies we had.

I slept most of the way back on the plane. When I awoke, it was like Cinderalla at midnight. It was cold, drizzly, overcast and Minnesota.

Then I slept for 20 hours.