A December to Remember TR- 12/18-12/20/09

[rjleslie]

Prelude...

I think I'll follow a few other approaches to try to create a story line leading up to how this trip evolved and see how it goes...

My wife and I are definitely not Vegas virgins, but after coming to find this site and realizing we haven't been out there in quite some time, we new we were in for a real treat and refreshing experience considering how the nightlife has evolved.

Previous trips were made with the wife back in 2002 for the NYE weekend. We went with another couple and stayed at Circus Circus. Not sure why we did this but likely due to the room rates for that weekend and we considered ourselves only being in the room for a few hours to sleep and out we go. Seems like we should have stayed at the Venetian considering we hung out there the most- scored free tickets to some live concert on NYE night ft. JaRule and Ashanti (I think). Plus we had purchased tickets to some club what was called Y2k I think for NYE. I recall hitting up RumJungle (this was planned due to my buddy's prior experience there) plus they seemed to have some good tunes playing as we walked by in Mandalay. However, the bathroom lines in this place were horrendous- something like 30-45 minute waits according to my wife. Not good.

Fast track to 2004 for a 15-guy trip out in March 2004. We had three bachelors in the group that were getting married that summer (myself included). We were split up between NYNY, TI, and some off-strip condo. Over the three nights, we managed to hit Ghostbar/Rain, Studio 54, Sapphires/Coyote Ugly. We did so much damage the first two night that when Saturday came around with the expedition to Sapphires, we figured it would be best to stick close to home and just get drunk in a NYNY club/pub afterwards. Surprisingly, CU was actually a good time heckling the bar tenders was great.

Now, we can jump to the relative present time in 2009. It's May 5th, and my wife is a few hours away from delivering our second child, this time a girl. I get a phone call from my buddy who we traveled with to Vegas for NYE, St. Lucia, and a Bahamas cruise last November. He wants to check to see how things are progressing and throws out the question- "What do you think about doing Sandals again, but this time in Jamaica, and for NYE this year? I tell him thanks for the impeccable timing with this one. He laughs and I get back to watching my wife have a field day with these contractions. I tell her what she talked about and isn't exactly happy. Oh well, let the planning begin, or so I thought.

September rolls around, I'm back in my part-time MBA program plugging along to finish up my 2nd Masters. My buddy calls and says he's booked the Jamaica trip and tells me to find my Sandals membership card from the St. Lucia trip to save another $250 or so off of the hotel. We get all ready to book and are about to line my parents up to watch the kids and dog for the 5 days that we'd be gone and they decide to inform us that they are heading to their condo in Florida for the winter immediately following Christmas. We'll if that doesn't detour our plans just a bit...

It's now a week before Halloween, and I'm finishing up an exam for school. When school is in session, my wife more or less takes care of the kids so I felt that I owed ourselves a quick getaway before the end of the year- and after having my wife pregnant on the cruise last year, we needed an ultimate party spot to hit up.

First place that comes to mind is Vegas. The first thing that comes to her mind is Cancun. For whatever reason, I managed to convince her that it would be a good idea to stay stateside with the Swine flu (ha!) and everything going on. Plus, the last international phone bills we had between the cruise and St. Lucia were NOT pretty.

So, let the planning begin for Vegas 2009-

[rjleslie]

Research and More Research...

After searching across the likes of Orbitz, Travelocity, etc., I decide to go back to Delta Vacations (where we were going to book Jamaica through) and see the deals going on for November and December. We managed to weed out the weekends for the NRF, etc., to try to keep the beginning cost of the trip down (with the damaged I caused during the bachelor party trip still lingering in my memory bank). It boiled down to Rio, Flamingo, and NY-NY. I let her pick the hotel, and for whatever reason, she picked Rio. Maybe their advertisements were a bit more flashy. Who knows. Maybe some of the free shows, etc. they offered enticed her. I didn't care just as long as we booked.

Searching the web for Las Vegas message boards, I come across JC.com. Best-Find-Ever!

Next up- the pre-flight check...

[rjleslie]

Pre-Flight Check

It never fails before a vacation day or holiday, that an emergency always comes full circle in the auto industry. Ah the joys of being an engineer. Anyways, managed to put some issues to bed before bolting out of work as early as possible. Get home and start packing the kids stuff up for the grandparents. My wife gets in from work and the house is in utter chaos. Two screaming kids, dog barking, etc. I am stressed to the max making sure all of our stuff is together and whatnot. Get everyone out of the house and to my parents to spend the night. Mistake #1. Unpacking a bit for the night, I realize I forgot a contact case, spare contacts (I am notorious for leaving my contacts partially submersed in the solution after a heavy night of drinking), and my Oakleys. Great, nothing but sun all weekend and I have no shades. Goal #1 when if Vegas, find fake Elvis sunglasses.

I end up taking care of the pre-flight check-in with Northwest and find out I get to pay $15 for each bag for departure. Awesome. I also have to switch our seat assignments because for whatever reason, we are not sitting together even after booking our flights together. God I hate airlines.

We get to bed on a fold out bed from a couch in my 'rents basement and it's the worst night of sleep ever. My son is up all night as is the baby (major sinus infection).

[rjleslie]

Day 1- And We're Off...

Alarm goes off at 4:30am to get ready to be out the door by 5:30am. Our flight is at 8:30am and with holiday travel upon us, I knew the ticket counters would be chaos. We get to Detroit-Metro with plenty of time to spare. Last time, we had to sprint through the airport (remember pregnant wife and all) due to ticket counter chaos and very inexperienced travelers.

The ticket counter lines are pretty packed and there are like two ladies handling four lines. Great. We finally get our bags check and off we go. Security is breeze and I didn't have to use my secret security check point at the Westin Hotel (never a line there if you fly out of DTW). Eat some food and board the plane. My wife looks exhausted and this does not bode well for later in my mind. We try to catch some sleep on the plane.

The pilot comes on the speaker mid-way through the flight and announces we are approaching Denver. Excellent, time to test out the camera phone on the BlackBerry Tour from 30,000 feet in the air on the Rockies. Got some great photos and was actually able to send/receive text messages and do some Facebook work. Ha. Fortunately, the plane's nav system got us to our destination while doing so. My wife decides its a good time to order some drinks and my previous impression of her is quickly vanishing. You have to learn to make due with no sleep in this town and she figured it out before we got there.


Nice view

We land and distant memories are suddenly coming back to me. Waiting for our bags took forever but both pieces of luggage show up and off we go to get a cab. The line was relatively short and we hop right in one and off we go. Typical cabbie. We chat about new Vegas stuff, City Center, what XS made this year, something that Wynn was ripping Tryst out and re-doing the club (????) and that the town was basically dead right now. Interesting. $22 cab ride from the airport to Rio with a tip. Not bad. Traffic was ok.

We approach the check-in counter at Rio and my wife was praying that we could get into our room early. Sure enough, it's 11am and we are golden. First real win of the weekend. Get up to the room to freshen up a bit and figure out what to do. On the immediate agenda, food and Palms wrist band. We decide to take care of the wrist band first and walk over to Palms. The weather is great, couldn't ask for a better day. We find the Stuff store and the girl working in there was pretty cool. I ask her if I can pick up a wrist band now (its 12PM) and she's like ok, but I have to put it on you now. No biggie. She gives me a stamp on the wrist under the bracelet. Not sure what this was for as the wrist band had a date code written on it. We walk back to Rio to find something to eat. Upon talking to the Concierge's desk, I find out that Voodoo Lounge is closed for renovations till NYE (so much for dinner reservations and photos up there as are some other free shows, etc. in the casino. Keep in mind the casino floor looked like an absolute ghost town. Maybe the cabbie was right...



Walking back from Palms to Rio

We find the American Bar and Grill. Perfect. Burgers and a beer. This about saved us with the three hour time change and everything. We catch the Rio shuttle and off to the strip we go. It does a direct drop at Paris. We figure now is a good time to use some free tickets in our trip book from Delta to zoom up the tower. Got some good pics but the little tourist trip is not worth $10 a person in my book.

We walk through Planet Hollywood and the Miracle Mile shops. I hate the flipping vacation/timeshare hagglers. Seriously, find a new job. Do a bit of shopping here and walk over to the Bellagio and Caesar's. Head to the Forum Shops snapping some photos along the way. I see a sport memorabilia store across from the Playboy store. My wife wants to head in there while I check out the sports place. To my amazement, Pete Rose is sitting in there signing autographs. I was like holy sh*t, there no line either (this no line thing was an omen for the weekend). I walk up to the counter and ask this girl what I have to do to get a pic with Pete Rose. She says, "well, you can start by purchasing a 8x10 lithograph photo for $70, his book at $90, balls at $100." I said no, perhaps you didn't understand me first. She says, "No, for you to take a picture with him, you have to buy one of these items first."
I couldn't believe this. Absolutely no line, tons of people walking by not even giving a sh*t this guy was even in here. Whatever.

Walked over to the Playboy store and start chatting up one of the girls in there. We go around about City Center and find out she's dancer at Haze. Interesting. She was excited for Tiesto and Guetta coming up. I guess that's an easy way to see them.

After the Forum shops, we decide to head back to Paris to catch the next shuttle back to Rio for a quick power nap and figure out what's for to do for dinner. With Voodoo out of the line up, a highly recommended Batista's Hole in the Wall restaurant comes into play. I'm thinking, "free house wine and a heavy Italian dinner is not going to be good for later". Get back to Rio and nap for 45 minutes. I think my wife could've slept the rest of the night. I get her up to start getting ready. I fire down a 5-hr energy drink to stay primed for the night.

We opted to stay in Rio since I was hell bent on getting over to the Palms as early as possible. So, we decide to check out McFadden's. Small little Irish pub with beer pong tables set up in the back. There's a small group of girls/guys (wedding party) at the tables and that's it. We're in and out of there in no time.


Some very good Weiss beer

It's well after 8:30pm by this time and figure we might as well get another drink before heading over to the Palms. Pull out another drink pass for the I-Bar. Again, great advertisements lead to false impressions. We get there and there are a handful of people in here. I joke with my wife that I think I remember seeing some website selling front of the line passes for this place. There were two waitresses that were about 6'3" without the heels on dressed in outfits that leave little to the imagination. We get some drinks and my wife decides to sit next to some table that has lights on it. Interesting. Mind you, we have yet to see the Rio waitresses get up on their little podiums for a dance off. Sure enough, this waitress steps right up next to my wife and does her thing. Nice. I told her, just wait till Sapphires She didn't like that comment.

To be continued...

[rjleslie]

Taking the Aria approach now...

Day 1- Nightlife- GhostBar, Playboy, Moon, Rain

We finish up drinks at the I-Bar and proceed to walk to Palms. We take one step out side and my wife was like, "can we get a cab?" It was a bit chilly out, so no big deal. I thought forsure the cabbie was going to give us a weird look to drive us litterally two blocks west. No big deal. $5 cab ride beats a freezing wife I guess. We get to the front entrance and this placed is slammed with limos, cabs, etc. I would assume the Lady GaGa concert had something to do with that.

We take the immediate left to head for the elevators to GhostBar. I see a line that is about 20-30 people all centered around some table with a lady checking a list, etc. I absolutely hate lines and can't wait to try this wristband out. My wife is a little apprehensive about cutting off this line and heading directly to the main guy at the rope. I told her don't worry. I show the bouncer my wrist band, he gives me a head nod and waves my wife right in too. I didn't even have to say a word. Priceless! Stream right passed the cashier. I don't recall if they gave my wife a wrist band or not at this point, but it didn't really matter. Up the elevator we go.

There is a descent crowd already in GhostBar. My wife is checking the place out as I order drinks and questions why there is no where to sit but just table service areas everywhere. I tell her, "welcome to Vegas honey, how things have changed since our last trip..." This isn't really a big deal at the time. We walk out to the balcony and I show her the glass floor portion that zooms down the rest of the tower. Memories of the Real World Vegas come to mind as we joke about some of the people from that show and how that really promoted the Palms at the time. Needless to say, we are Real World junkies and I am pretty sure that her wanting to go back to Cancun (instead of coming back out here) was a direct result of the rescent Real World Cancun. After some photo ops, we decide to head to the Playboy Club next.



After exiting the elevator, my wife decides she wants to check out the tattoo place there. I tell her, I guarantee they will chage about 3-4 times the amount of some very small ink work she wants done as compared to back home. Sure enough, for two small stars around her ankle with the kids' b-days written in them was quoted to the tune of $350! I tell her, let's go drink on it, and thank the guy in there for his time.

Head across the casino to the other tower. There is alot of activity on the gaming floor but don't really pay too much attention to it. Again, bypass the line and up the tower we go. Now, I don't know about you, but my expectations were set relatively high for this place and the bunnies. We get in and the layout is pretty cool. Counted two bars I think, front and back. The coolest thing about this place was the bathrooms with the wall paper (the flash on the camera does the trick to capture it appropriately) but the bathroom stall doors were priceless. The bathroom attendent was hillarious and great for assisting in picture taking in here. My wife is determined to chat up some of the bunnies and sure enough wants a pic with them. She has a thing for the Kendra show on E! (must be the whole hot bunny gets pregnant and so on mommy deal). That's done. The dealers were descent. I guess I expected more due to the standards held by Mr. Hefner. Watched some table action due to our current sobriety status. I figured any gambling at this point would be a bad idea. We wait for Moon to open and off we go. Upon walking to the Moon entrance, two guys walk in with baseball hats on and basketball jerseys. I'm thinking, ok, where the heck is the dress code enforcer at. I over hear the guy talk to the bouncer, "I'm here now, where do I go?" The only thing that popped into my mind was that this was Kid Cudi and was done performing from Lady GaGa's concert. I couldn't really tell. No biggie. Off to Moon.


Kelly with the bunnies

Once in Moon, we grab some drinks and head again to the balcony for more photos. This place has promise and wish we would've came back after Rain. The layout is pretty cool. I see bottle service tables everyone locked, stocked, and loaded with Kettle One vodka and this new Harlem liqour. Not really sure what it is. Maybe the new yagermeister? Anyone know? In comes a very strange looking group of characters and sit down at a corner booth for bottle service. My wife and I both look at each and determine they have to be associate with Lady GaGa's performers. Cool.

We ping-pong around this place for a while with some more drinks. My wife is about to kick in overdrive. I am amazed at how strong the vodka tonics are so far. This is another omen for the weekend as it was consistent from club to club. We decide to head to Rain around 11:30pm at this point. Head to the elevators, down we go and off to rain. Small line surprisingly, but again we a whisked right through. I am so digging this wristband right now.

We get in and I immediately notice that much of the 2nd level areas are closed off. The bottle service areas around the dance floor are semi-filled as is one area adjacent to the DJ. Not a big deal as my last visit to this place from the bachelor party trip was a scene where you couldn't even move in this place. We hold up shop at a table/platform for the go-go dancers for the night. I open a tab up at the back bar and make friends with the one of the bartenders. Rule of thumb for vegas, treat them right out of the gate and you are set for the night. I was looking forward to hearing the mash-ups from Z-Trip but it must have been his night off. So, we get the pleasure of hearing DJ Fashen. He plays a pretty good mix of house, hip-hop, dance, etc. My wife classifies all non-hip hop music that has a faster beat as techno and isn't a fan of it. Supposedly. Sure enough, I come out of the bathroom and her she is grooving to the beats. I tell her, "I caught you once again dancing to this stuff." She smiles and we are set for a great night. The DJ pulls out "Rise Up" by Yves La Rock, one of my favorite songs from 2009 and I am going nuts at this point. Double fisting vodka tonics at this point. The people watching events from this place were priceless. There is a bacholorette group to the right of us with table service. One of the girls had some serious issues with her dress all night. Quite funny as my wife caught some great photos of the antics from this table.


Severe wardrobe malfunction. Actually got a slip on film.

The night progresses, and my wife starts making friends with the go-go dancer on our table/platform. She has a thing for this (must be related to her dancing related activites from when she was young, dance team in high school, etc.) This dancer is pretty cool and isn't too annoyed by our questions and comments. The crowd is descent but we have a severe issue with this feisty Irishman that won't leave my wife alone. I'm like, "hey guy, she's my wife, see the rings?" This kid was pretty f-d up as his eyes were all glazed over and what not. Whatever. I kept my cool and told the kid to beat it and he disappeared for the night. It's now about 2-2:30am at this point and I can tell my wife is ready for bed. No biggie as I am absolutely exhausted at this point and feeling pretty good at this point. She has been a champ so far due to what little if any sleep we got from the night before. I cash out at the bar and introduce her to the bartender and I say, "Hey Kelly, this is the guy that killed you!" She shakes his hand and thanks him for the great drinks. He says "anytime", and throws her a Fiji water for free. I love this place.

Off we go, catch a cab for the two block trip. I feel so embarassed for actually admitting taking a cab for such short distance compared to the long walks home we made in the snow when in college. Get back to Rio and sure enough this place is alive as can be. We walk over to the hotel shop for some gatorade and snacks, get to the room and call it a night. First day in Vegas is a success by all means.

[rjleslie]

Day 2- The Walk of Death to City Center- "I would sure like to see the business plan for this place..."

It's about 9:30 or 10am and our cell phones start ringing with text messages and picture mail from our parents giving us an update of what the kids are up to. The curtains were left open from the night before so the sun is blazing into the room. I look at my wife in bed and laugh as to what took place last night. Good times. Clothes are scattered everywhere in the room as I try to find some much needed gatorade and pop some aspirin. I've had a pretty good sinus infection the week leading up to this so at this point I want to rip my nose off. Found some nazal decongestants that I packed along with the aspirin and vitamins. Makes for a pretty good combo to start the morning off. I also find a half-eaten power bar from the night before. Thank god. We gather ourselves up and get ready to head out for a breakfast/lunch combo somewhere.

We stop at Starbucks in Rio and had the fullfilment of paying over $8 for two coffees. WTF? Catch the shuttle back to Paris to find something to eat. My body isn't really happy at this point especially my stomach. My wife is doing ok so we decide to check out City Center for something to eat. After exploring Crystals(??) for a while, I find it really hard to believe that Vegas needs 3-4 Louis Vutton stores, etc. within a mile of each other. Not to mention the duplicates of the rest of the high-end stores. Seriously, who buys this stuff when travelling to Vegas. Let alone this store encompassing 3 levels in the mall. Big and gaudy is a good way to describe this place. I guess if CC's point is to bring in the luxury of luxury, they may have acccomplished that. Not sure if its really necessary to try to bring in all of the high rollers and shooters to one spot. The digital maps on the walls are great, but seriously, where are the paper ones you can pick up and look at as you walk around?


Insane!

Don't get me wrong, CC is great to walk around and check out the architecture and decor. We found some cool water displays and other items worthy of taking some pics. Made our way over to Aria. The entrance to this place is pretty cool with the wall of water outside. Walk in and the lobby is huge. Tables were in full swing on the left. All we need is a damn restaurant. I don't care what it is. We walk towards the back and there are a few open that don't have anything really appealing to us. Look down the hall and there is a soon to be open Irish pub. Son of a....

Feeling frustrated and ready to pass out from no food at this point, we decided that we had enough of touring CC at this point and didn't care to tour the other buildings. Maybe next time.

We make our way to NY-NY. I recall an excellent mexican restaurant in this place that we ate at twice from the bachelor party trip. My wife concurs that mexican will work. I also recall that the sports book is right near this place too! I grab a parlay card and we go grab a table in Gonzalez (sp?). The chips and salsa are great as are the chicken enchilladas. I make a few phone calls to some guys at home to see if they want in on some NFL games. One suggest taking the Saints over the Cowboys but then said he didn't like the spread of 7.5 that the Saints were giving. Let's see, home game, Saints can clinche home field, this is a gimme. Right.... I ended up doing a 4-team parlay with 11-1 payout if all four hit. I ended playing the rest with the college bowls with Floriday, Oregon, and Alabama. Finish up lunch, turn in my card and tour around NY-NY for a bit. We make our way across the street from NY-NY and start heading north again and ping-ponging between the different stores and Casinos along the way.

We go through the M&M store. Again, are four levels of this stuff really necessary. Vegas is definitely built on excessiveness, that's for sure. We finally come across an Elvis guy on the strip. Tip him a $1 and my wife gets a pic with him. He wants to sing a song but I just want to know where to pick up a pair of his sunglasses. He points me to the sunglass kiosk down by the Harley Davidson store. Jackpot! We weave around all of the fun-filled entertainment card people and super club pass guy (litterally a business card book filled with club "passes"). We had back into Planet Hollywood after seeing the Pleasure Pit gambling area poster. We say at the same time "we got to see this". Off we go.


Kelly with Elvis

Find the PP gambling tables in the middle of the casino. Quite impressed as it is far better than Playboy was last night. The dealers are very sociable and I finally decide to throw some coin out on roulette. This has become my new game of choice after watching my buddy hit, not once, not twice, but three times on a single number in the same day (once at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino, twice on the boat) during the Bahamas cruise. 35-1 payout would be great. I go up and down for a bit after playing single numbers, odd/even, black/red. Made my donation to PH, got a free drink, we were on our way again.

We trek further north past the next set of entertainment card flicker guys and head into the Flamingo. Got a few pics of the birds, grounds, and coi fish. The goal was to eat and drink at the Sin City Brewery in here but they only served drinks.


So much potential...

It's about 3pm at this point and we figure we just need an appetizer till tide us over for dinner at Tao at 7:45pm. Head into Margaritaville and this place is jumping. We order some margaritas and quick appetizer. During the drinks and eating, my phone brings in a text message from the 702 area code. I had my guest list contacts from JC.com stored from the Palms and Tao' so I had no clue who this was. Apparently, it was guy that worked the lists for Caesar's (Pure) and Tao'. The only way he could have got my info was from the form I filled out on Pure's website for both nights as a backup plan. He tells me that he can get us in free of charge and open bar for my wife from 9:30-11. This is big time if this works out. I tell him I had everything set with Jordan Minor so being on two lists instead of one can't hurt, and with the potential dinner deal working out too at the Tao' restaurant on the horizon. We check out of there and wander through some more of the places within the vicinity and decide to head back to Paris to catch the shuttle. Once again, impeccable timing with the shuttle as its just about to leave. Off we go.

We get back to Rio and the wife wants to check out Vince Neil's tattoo place for a quote. She is pretty determined to get one on this trip. The girls in there must have hated life and likely was not happy with her job. She quotes us that all jobs start at $100. Thank you and off we go. Again, we made note how disappointing it was that the "Show in the Sky" at Rio was closed for the season. Oh well, no biggie. The next trip will include a show. Head to the room to get ready for the next adventure to Tao'.

[rjleslie]

Day 2- Nightlife- Tao' Restaurant and Tao' Nightclub- "Lines, We Don't Need No Stinkin' Lines"

We end up leaving Rio around 6:45PM to catch the 7PM shuttle to Harrah's this time to what looks like is right next door to the Venetian on the map, right? I forgot that it was a bit of walk from the back of Harrahs to the strip to the escalators at the Venetian shops. We make our way up the escalators and remember some posts from here that Tao' is located above the casino escalators in the shops area. Sure enough, there it is. We check in with the hostess and are seated immediately. Nice. First impressions is sweet. The music is bumpin' but is a little loud to hold a normal conversation with the person across the table from you. Our waiter is ok but doesn't really explain the hitches with dinner here. I decide on the sea bass dish and my wife gets some chicken and noodle deal. The waiter seemed pissed off that we didn't order appetizers or additional items to go with the main courses. I told him, "look, I have a long night of drinking ahead and don't want feel worthless after a meal like this." No biggie. Dinner comes out and the sea bass was quite possibly the best fish I've ever had. My wife's dish was huge. She finished like a third of it. We talk to one of the managers about getting stamped and he went and found the girls walking around with the stamper. Every guy working at Tao' seemed to have a BlackBerry. Either working on it or more likely streaming the saints game on the ESPN app as I was. Getting more furious by the minute as I see my parlay bet getting hammered in the first night, I order a few drinks to ease the pain. It was either bet the saints or take Arizona with the 14.5 pt spread over the Lions. Either was I would have lost. Part of the fun I guess.

Dinner goes alot quicker than expected so we leave and walk around the shops for a bit. We find this cool t-shirt store (David and Goliath brand shirts) with some pretty catchy phrases and whatnot, especially for kids. Abercrombie would be impressed from their humor shirts back a few years ago. I grab another beer from some little bar on in the shop area and we decide to wait for Tao' to open at 9:30pm. Keep in mind the guy I was texting earlier said to get in line at 9:30. So, we hang out in the casino for a bit and play some slots. 9:15pm roles around and I am getting impatient. So, we head up the escalators and see a line about 50 people deep. Great. I decide not to bug the doormen right out of the gate and try to figure out which line was for hotel guests, guest list people and GA. We walk into the line on the far right of the three. There is a group of three guys in front of us, one of which has a tight muscle-type t-shirt on. I see the clip board guy walking towards us and tap my wife on the shoulder to tell her to watch this. Sure enough, the clip board guy tells t-shirt guy to go find a collared shirt or he's not getting in. His friends are dumbfounded by this notion, which is hilarious due to their attire also. Clip board guy approaches us and then a group of seven guys with one girl line up behind his. Clip board guy tells us one second and approaches this rather young group of club goers. He politely asks them to step out of line and says "this isn't going to work and I'll explain it to you in a moment." Even more hilarious. He gets back to us and asks if we are on the guest list. I say yes, drop Jordan Minor and the "Cooper" guy from earlier and also show him the wrist stamps from dinner. Apparently, this also us to be "that guy" in my book as clipboard guy opens the rope and flags one of the doormen to place us at the rope at the front of the entrance right by the cashier. We chat with this guy for a bit and joke about what just happened with the group of guys. Way to do your research. Idiots! The guy proceeds to open the rope to Tao' and says, "Welcome, your are the first two people in tonight. Please collect the wristband for your wife." Excellent. So, for two nights, five clubs, cover charges were a total of $60 (palms wrist band only) plus this open bar deal for 1.5 hours.

Back up the stairs to the club and we feel pretty cool at this point. I always hate or rather envy the guys with connections like this and with a little bit of leg work I pulled it off with ease. My wife was rather impressed to say the least. We get in there and open a tab up at the bar on the far right next to the dance floor. I thought there was another level to this place but seem like some of it was closed off for the season. The dance floor was extremely small and didn't look to promising for some fun later. The open bar consisted of well drinks only so my wife orders up a vodka tonic immediately. She takes one sip and says "good god this is strong." Even better now. The wheels in my head get turning that when this place gets packed, I can work the open bar to my advantage.



My wife is a bit amazed at all of the tables they have for bottle service. I tell her, don't worry, they'll fill up. The place is getting packed by 10:30-11pm and you can hardly move about. Score some free drinks between the 2 bars on the left of the entrance. We were amazed/disappointed that the tubs were filled up yet with the rose petal girls but it was still early I guess. We find one spot next to the entrance that has a box/sub-woofer on the follor which has the bed of the lingerie massage girls right next too it. Perfect people watching spot to their amazement at what hits them as they immediately walk in.


What do you put on your resume' for position like this?

I go for some more drinks and have my wife hold up shop next to the massage girls. I get back and she wants to attack the dance floor. We make our way up to the back by the rear bar and the dance floor is utterly packed. There is no way anyone else can fit on there. Disappointed, we admire the bottle service area for a bit. We see a group that we met from Playboy the night before that just got married. They had their parents and some close friends there lined up with 3-4 bottles of Goose with a bottle of Dom delivered shortly there after. Very nice. At this point, my wife is completely sold on doing bottle service on our next trip. Perfect.

It's around 1am or so and fortunately we managed to use the open bar thing till midnight. My tab at this point is minimal. Cash out and find the bathrooms. This is when I witnessed some guys table service bill for $636 with a bottle of Belvedere on the table. I couldn't confirm any other items at the time but was amazed to say the least.



We proceed to exit and noticed they have a coat check right next to the stairs. Now, there is a line up the stairs waiting to get in. I couldn't even imagine what the line was like outside. We hang on the couches in the lounge section to figure out what to do next. She's looking pretty sleeping at this point so I know that Sapphires is pretty much out of the question. I think I missed my opportunity after Rain on Friday. Oh well. More cash for that expenditure for Myrtle Beach in the spring. We decide to catch cab to head back to the Pleasure Pit for some more gambling and check out the scene and see the girls swinging around the poles there. We literally stayed there for about 20 minutes, checked the line at Prive' as we got strapped with wristbands the moment we walked through the door to PH but decided just to head back to the Rio. I think I was still pissed for what seemed like the cabbie taking the long way from the Venetian to PH with some extra back roads. Grab some more Gatorade in the gift shop and call it a night. Way to fast of a weekend.


Buddha!

[rjleslie]

Day 3- The Dreaded Trip Back Home

It's now 5am and someone in the room next door to us thinks its a good idea to fire up her hairdryer. WTF??? Seriously. Unless you have the early flight out come on. Not happy. 30 minutes later cell phone beeps. Not good, but its only a picture message coming though. Uggh. The 5 hour energy drink I had earlier has me up bright eyed and busy tailed. I hate life right now and just want to sleep. Toss and turn for a few hours and figure its a good idea to get up and maybe catch an earlier flight home. My wife agrees. We are out of Rio by 9:30 (so much for booking that 2:30pm flight to allow for sleep...). Hit the airport and pull up our itinerary at the Northwest kiosk. There is one flight with stand by at $50 a person on top of the $20 bag fees now for heading home (nice $5 surcharge). We decide it's not worth it and proceed to catch some breakfast and try to sleep. Now in an airport like this, why don't they make the seats for apt for sleeping? Not happy, I proceed to pull of an old spring break move and make a half ass pillow out of my shoes and northface coat. Still not happy so I pull up ESPN on my phone to see if my parlay would have worked with Arizona. Sure enough, they are up 14 on the Lions. Great. Go back to sleep. Wake up, and the Lions tied the damn game but only lost by 7. So much for sports gambling.

The flight home was descent with the exception of snow flurries when we landed. Drove home. Passed out after 11pm and up at 5am for work. Great trip all in all. Hope you enjoyed the story. Definitely a little tamer than some other ones. We plan on booking again with a bigger group for next time. Bigger groups usually result in better stories!

Lessons Learned (this is a work thing)-

1. Do your research, basically know before you go
2. Buy wristbands when you can
3. Make contact with the guest list people

[AK2Vegas]

Great TR! I'll go with you next time, we can totally blow it up!

[IndyColtsGal]

Yeah I want to hear about Saphires or did you not go?

[Cisco419]

Man!!! What a cliffhanger!!!!!

[aria]

Taking the Aria approach now...

Day 1- Nightlife- GhostBar, Playboy, Moon, Rain

LOL! I did that to keep the posts close to each other for easier reading Glad you liked the idea.

[Cisco419]

LOL! I did that to keep the posts close to each other for easier reading Glad you liked the idea.

I dont even think I caught that! lol

[AK2Vegas]

LOL! I did that to keep the posts close to each other for easier reading Glad you liked the idea.

I dont even think I caught that! lol

Yeah, me neither.

[BritishV]

Keep going....we need more!!!