Finally, I make my return! Mellow trip by Vegas standards but still a good time

[Cirilo Medina]

So I’ve been waiting a LONG time to return to Sin City, as it’s been almost a year and a half! After reading so many good Trip Reports, I felt compelled to at least detail my trip. It wasn’t a total debauchery, balls to the wall “never speak of this again” kind of trip, but we did have fun, and let’s just say it sparked the “Vegas Fever” that I thought I might have outgrown! Scary, I know. This is my first TR, so bear with me.

First I’ll lay out the cast and back stories, names may be altered just a bit.
I (me, myself) am a 39 year old father of 2, happy husband, civil service worker who makes decent money. I won’t detail what or which department I work for, because although I do NOT do drugs or illegal activities, I would still prefer to stay on the safe side! I was a teenage dad (my son is now 20 and going to college). I married my high school sweetheart/baby momma, and we’ve been through hell and back but we’ve come out on top, and much wiser. We also know when each other need to cut loose and enjoy life. She loves Vegas as much as I do, and really, the only shade she gave me was the fact I was going without her!

Scooter is my best friend going on 30 years; our families consider each other’s as family. He was a career Fire Fighter, but took over his dad’s construction business when his (dads) health took a turn for the worse. He’s a father of 2, and happily married but he does like to push the envelope sometimes! Me and this guy had some great times in our younger years, even a 2 night whirlwind Vegas trip about 6 years ago. That’s the last time he’s been there, and he always declined any trip afterwards. But this one was different. This time, he was the one telling me “we’re going” without hesitation! The reason? . . . . .


. . . . . . is Vance. Vance was our good buddy during our last 2 years of high school. We all played football together, worked out, partied, etc. When he first transferred to our school, he was quiet, religious, and never drank or smoked. He wasn’t socially awkward, it’s just who he was. We must have been a real bad influence on him! Right out of high school (1995) he joined the Military, and we’ve seen him maybe twice since. He’s career military, high ranking, and made Florida his home. He has 2 kids (one almost as old as mine), divorced, and was planning a trip to Vegas with a couple of his buddies when; a few months ago he sent an invite. Of course we had to make the trip! Next; Day 1

[Cirilo Medina]

Day 1- Thursday night. I’ve never flown before, but Scooter was adamant that we do. I guess he hates long drives, whatever. I’m still not sold on flying as it doesn’t cost a whole lot, but I prefer to have a car loaded up with beer, liquor, water, supplies! And I don’t think we really saved as much time as you’d figure. Our flight departed at 845pm, so (because our nagging wives said so), we got to the airport at 6pm! Flight was delayed, and we didn’t even board until 930. A few tall 805’s (it’s a Cali thing) and some wings, and we boarded. For my first flight, it was ok. Seats were cramped, plane was stuffy at first, but we were back on the ground under an hour. McCarren airport is HUGE!!! Got ahold of our Uber, and we were checked in and settled at Excalibur at around 1130. Another argument of mine; if we had left by car at 6pm, we’d be arriving to Vegas around midnight. So yeah, I’m not completely sold on flying as being more convenient. We get ahold of Vance, and he’s at Caesars Palace hitting the tables. We head over to the MGM to play the old Sigma Derby horse race machine, and he agrees to meet us there. The fool walked!!! Showed up red and sweaty. We get our drink on, don’t do to well on the ponies, and decide we are hungry at 330am. I get them into a cab; tell the driver “take us to Ellis Island”. Steak and shrimp special, and a couple of tall Hefenwiezen later, and we are some full, satisfied gentlemen! If you ever get the chance to try it, don’t expect much from the actual place. Think smoky local casino. But the food is excellent, the beer is even better, and it’s cheap. We cab it to the Luxor (were Vance was staying) get him to stagger to his room, and then hit our beds hard. Nothing like watching the sun rise from your room to remind you what Vegas is all about.

Up next; Vegas is a marathon, not a sprint. XS; the BEST plan-B ever! And “There’s the Scooter I remember!!!”

[artedm]

great

[LXJEDi]

Your crew sound like solid buds, good start. More please

[AusVIP]

Its refreshing to hear vegas stories of different places.

[Cirilo Medina]

Day 2
Ok, a couple of things I want to add on Day-1. I tried the 20$ trick at the Excalibur. I got upgraded to a “resort king” room (I think?) from their basic room, and it WAS clean, good view, and nicer than what I booked. It was also Right Next to the elevators. But I wanted waived resort fees and it didn’t happen. I also wanted lots of those discount coupon (free drinks, discounts at food court) booklets they give out at check in, but apparently the Excalibur stopped those last year!

Anyways, we wake up Friday morning (9? 10? I don’t remember) and text Vance, and find he’s already hitting the tables on the “Mandalay mile”. We head down and meet up at the casino bar, and make our trek north. We stopped at Diablos Cantina to grab some beer with a taco chaser. The appetizers and chips were pretty good but WAY more expensive than it should be. We discuss nightlife options, as we hadn’t really planned on anything yet and had a more “wherever the night takes us” approach, but the presale Hakkasan deal for 100$ bar card was our top choice. Of course our drunken dumbasses never actually purchased them at this point, but we planned on it! We gamble at every casino until we settle at the Bellagio and do pretty well on the BJ Tables. Actually we do really well, and I stray off to electronic roulette and hit a few more hundred on some random bets. Vance is going up and down at the high-limit tables, so we pull him to the lower limits and sit him in front of a dealer named Gene. Now Gene’s table was probably empty for a reason, as he was the most asshole/condescending yet funny dealers I’ve ever experienced! He took Vance for a ride, and would joke with us and entertain. Scooter gave Vance some sound advice that went along the lines of “why don’t you just pay him 25$ and let him kick you in the balls?” to which Gene replied “that would be too easy, I want to make him squirm!” At least we were getting fast drink service while watching this unfold. Pro Tip: the Jack & Cokes usually taste like coke with a splash of Jack Daniels; so we were ordering double Jack & Cokes and it was much stronger! I’m not sure if other casino waitresses serve it, but the Bellagio does. School of Gene is over; we get some old school Vegas wisdom, stories, and insider knowledge. We pull Vance from the tables and head back towards the Cosmo when we all realize we haven’t ate much of anything since the morning. So I schooled the guys to Secret Pizza, and they are now believers. We sit in the common area with the MDC crowd, take it all in, and devour pizza washed down with some Firestone/Walker 805 beer. Now aimed due south, Vance steps back into Monte Carlo while I cash in a 2-for-1 MyVegas drink comp at Double Barrel saloon.

Sometime during the evening, Hardwell at Hakkasan online presale was closed. So me and Scooter walked over to Hakkasan to inquire for any guest list, bottles, or presale options. Dude offers one bottle for 600$ in the Ling Ling. Not bad, but we gotta get ahold of Vance and decide. So to the bar we go!!! I got another MyVegas comp for 2-for-1 “Tom Sized beer” at Toms Urban (NYNY), so me and Scooter partake, and ate some damn good wings too. The guy bartending looked like a midget “Emo Wolverine” who hated his life and everything else, but he did turn us on to Sam Adams “Nitro White” draft, which may possibly be the best beer I’ve ever tasted in my life! Vance shows up and I text the Hakkasan promoter, who now replies Ling Ling table is 700, main room is $1000. We really weren’t keen on a table because we (at the time) entertained the thought of leaving to a strip club, or afterhours spot, and didn’t want to be tied to one location. I showed my buds the presales for Flosstradamus @ XS, which we really hadn’t discussed but I would rather check out, as I’ve read on these forums it’s a much better option for General Admission. Scooter jumps on his phone and gets his presale ticket, while me and Vance struggle with signal issues, credit card issues, etc until eventually sales are closed! Scooter laughs and says “have fun in line BITCHES!” Damn, guess we gotta head out early and see about getting in so we head back to the rooms to Shit-Shower-Shave. I’m getting ready in the room, when I hear Scooter outside with some loud female voices, so I have to take a look. He’s met a couple of Irish women, and they’re talking soccer and beer! They are legit rowdy, cute, have deep Irish accents, and are ready to party! I didn’t ear-hustle, but Scooter gets their details and agrees to meet up the next morning to watch some soccer matches. Ahhhh, Now THERE’S the Scooter I remember!!!

[Cirilo Medina]

We get to Encore right at 10. The place smells like a million dollars. There are only about 20 people in the GA line, so we step in as Scooter makes small talk with some weird dude, whose sole Vegas goal was to “smoke this blunt inside XS”, whatever dude. The XS line security guys (in purple jackets and who really had a chip on their shoulders) give him and anyone who looks sideways a hard time. So Scooter (and his new buddy) head to the other side for presales. Door price is now $75 for men!! Oh well. Doors open and Vance approaches doorman in a black jacket (a Wynn employee told us to talk to them, NOT the purple jacket guys). He explains how we tried to get presales and our buddy is inside, and asks if they offer discounts for military. The guy says they usually don’t but then he comps us. Sweet! Now, when we walk in the place is JAW DROPPING. I mean stunning! We take it all in, hit the bar for a round of Crown, and meet up with Scooter and his new buddy. Also in their company are 2 nice looking British women, who DO NOT speak “American” well at all, if that makes any sense! The place isn’t packed but filling in nicely, and the opening DJ already has the place warmed up. We ignore blunt boy, but do quiet nice talking with the brits despite a legit language barrier. And just enjoy the view from inside and outside the club. So far this is the BEST Plan-B club choice I’ve ever made! The night is going good and appears to be getting better.

To be continued; Brits want to “drink whiskey like Americans”. And what I do when I’m blackout-drunk is none of my business!

[Cirilo Medina]

Day-2 (or night) continued; so the night is off to a good start, but Vance just seems bewildered and awe-struck by the club itself, so as me and him were at an inside bar he declares “fuck this, WE’RE GETTING A TABLE!!!” He talks to the doorman who comped us, and we’re soon seated on the back wall, about 2 booths to the right of the entrance. It was a great location with a good view of everything. We had a $2000 minimum, so started off with Crown Royal, Belvedere, and some waters and Red Bulls. I text Scooter a pic from my seat, facing the dance floor with the bottles in front of me and captioned “ you REALLY need to join us, and bring the Brits!” They arrive (minus Blunt Boy, whom Scooter shut down without me even having to tell him), drinks are poured, and now a good night has been upgraded to a great one. Drinks are flowing, Scooter and I are doing well with the Brits and Vance is playing a good wingman (along with some random company he pulls). Flosstradamus hits the decks and all but rips XS a new asshole!!! I’ve always liked their music, but now I’m a legit fan. At one point, the Brit I was sitting with says with a goofy grin “this whiskey makes me smile a bit much!” and I say “it does that, but you should be careful” and I try to steer her to the vodka. She pumps her fist in the air and yells “Fuck that, I want to drink whiskey like an AMERICAN!!!” I was both proud to be ‘Murican, yet a little concerned at the same time. Jokes, cheek kisses, hands, and dancing ensue amongst our group. At one point I notice Vance, the guy who made this all happen, is sitting alone at the end of the booth. As a Bro I know what I have to do. I get up to use the men’s room (XS has a TEAM of staffers in there to do all but scrub your hands for you), return, and instead of him getting up for me to take my seat, I push/guide him to scoot over into my old spot. He is now seated next to Whiskey-Girl and takes over right where I left off! With a clear conscious I poor drinks, support their stories, dance with the girls when Bro’s don’t want to, and generally take over the wingman duties. I even excuse myself to the dance floor when it’s appropriate. One point I return and see some “prom night” behavior so I just do a U-Turn back to the dance floor! Now, as the night goes on and Flosstradamus wraps up their (Amazing) set, Vance gets up to drain and I keep the company. She’s quiet inebriated, and I try to give her water and Red Bull but she doesn’t corporate. Her friend and Scooter are M.I.A. and Vance returns and sees the developing problem. She’s now asleep and curled up in the booth, and before we can somehow fix the issue security arrives and gives her the boot. I tell Vance to get her to a taxi, or sit her in the casino somewhere while I wait for her friend. Scooter and friend return, and when she sees Whiskey Girl and Vance are no longer with us she kinda freaks a little until I explain the situation. They leave to find the others, and now I’m just sitting in this booth wondering if they’ll come back or not. The Bro’s return alone (hey, sometimes that’s how the cards play) and we order another bottle Crown to meet the minimum. Now things get blurry for me at this point, but we close out, I think Vance sneaks the last half-bottle of Crown out in his pants (!) and we end up at the Artisan. A little clarity for me, as the Artisan was pretty dead compared to the last times I’ve been there. A few drinks, we leave. More darkness. I wake up to sunshine in the room, and Scooter tells me “dude, you’re a fucking idiot”. Uh-oh, what did I do now?

[Cirilo Medina]

Apparently (according to him) when we left the Artisan we made a command decision to eat steak at Ellis Island. When we were about a block away, as the cab was at a stop light, I tell Scooter “you got this bro?” and exit the cab! As I walk away the cabbie asked him “should we get him” to which Scooter said “he’s a grown-ass man, he’ll find his way home”.
*Backstory; this is his payback, because on our last trip together as we were walking back to our hotel (Motel 6 next to Hooters, yeah really) Scooter sees a group of morning joggers run by, so he joins them! We make no effort to catch him, and to this day he has NO CLUE where he was from 8am to 9am!
So anyways, I’m left to wander the back streets of Vegas, Scooter and Vance (who was passed out in the cab) go to the Excalibur and eat Johnny Rockets instead. They almost get into a fight with a group of guys who were being loud and disrespectful, but security removes the offenders. When Scooter finally returns to our room he said I was passed out on my bed, fully clothed. I made it!!! I’m pretty sure I walked, only because my legs and feet are either in horrible pain or completely locked up from cramps! Oh well, my phone, wallet and cash are still on me, and I show no signs of falling or fighting. It’s still eludes me what Blackout-Me did that night. Day 2 is in the books, just one more day and we have to leave the greatest city in the world.

Up next; Day-3, a low-key day of recovery, and sports bars. And more wings

[LXJEDi]

When Scooter finally returns to our room he said I was passed out on my bed, fully clothed. I made it!!! I’m pretty sure I walked, only because my legs and feet are either in horrible pain or completely locked up from cramps! Oh well, my phone, wallet and cash are still on me, and I show no signs of falling or fighting. It’s still eludes me what Blackout-Me did that night. Day 2 is in the books, just one more day and we have to leave the greatest city in the world.

Up next; Day-3, a low-key day of recovery, and sports bars. And more wings

Well played! Oh yeah, being blackout drunk...many outrageous adventures have occurred in this state, if only they could be remembered!

[Cirilo Medina]

Day-3; after waking up in complete shock and confusion, we compare notes and sleep some more. At around 11am Scooter is waking me up, saying they are gonna do some more gambling. He missed the 9am soccer match with the Irish girls (it seemed like a good idea yesterday). My brain has its own drum solo playing. I’m dizzy and nauseous. I jump in the shower and attempt to meet them downstairs. I force down a Gatorade and protein bar, and do all I can to keep it inside me. Looks like my body has other plans for today! Text the guys to count me out for a few hours, I black-out the room and crank the AC to arctic. About an hour later I wake up feeling somewhat better, and a few texts from the Ol’ Ball & Chain asking why I stopped the Snapchats early in the night. Uh-oh, now what did I do?! Turns out I had been blasting the night on Snapchat, but later in my drunken confusion I began to snap most of her friends and not her. Of course one of them would tell her “girl, he was all over Snapchat” yikes!!! Luckily nothing jeopardizing was shown to them (just some close buds ;-) ) but she was NOT happy that she felt cut-off! Anyways, I head to the casino bar, pop a $20 in the machine and get served some refreshing Dos Equis to get my head right. The guys are at Caesars Palace, and we agree to meet at Planet Hollywood. I figure walking would help me so I begin another trek north, stopping at CVS for a tall can of Dos Equis. The greatest sandwich on earth; Earl of Sandwich along with a cold beer put me right back where I need to be! Hit the roulette for a few hundred more, and the guys show up. We head to Blondie’s Sports Bar so Scooter can catch the USA vs Colombia match. Also we had to take advantage of their 3pm-6pm happy hour which was AYCD domestic drafts or wells for $20!!! We eat more wings, drink draft beer, and enjoy all the huge screens of sports playing. Blondie’s was a fun “fratty” place that offers beer pong and such. Happy hour and soccer is over, so we head back to the ponies at MGM and make some new friends as we yell and curse at plastic mechanical horse races! The Brits text that they will be at Hakkasan, but me and Scooter have to be on a plane at 8am so clubbing is not on our agenda. Jeez, we must be getting older because a few years ago we would’ve been down! Whatever, they probably just wanted us to get bottles for them to drink. Vance also is out, as he is hurting and would rather sit at a blackjack table. We walk past the epic clusterfuck that is the Hakkasan entrance, and reaffirm that our choice to do XS the night before was a good one. Sit at Dicks Last Resort for some beers and food, and get the “Dicks” treatment but the place was hot and stuffy, and the bartenders were boring compared to my last visits. Even “Taco” is just walking around and not doing his usual antics. The food was horrible, we are hung-over and uncomfortable, and it’s approaching midnight so we figure we need to bow out gracefully and say our goodbyes. Me Vance and Scooter agree to make it a yearly thing. Vance heads to Luxor, we hit our pillows.

[Cirilo Medina]

Day-4 conclusion; we wake up at 6am to catch our flight. Uber (which is a GREAT thing) gets us to the airport for $8 and change! Flight is delayed and hour. Also, a Burger King Breakfast meal cost me 16 dollars WTF!!! We land and head home, I do some damage control with the boss and all is good. I’m sure the amount of cash I returned with helped my case! She is already planning my 40th birthday trip to Vegas next May, and Vance is confirmed to meet us there along with about 12-14 other close friends! We are heading back this coming Friday-Wednesday, for my niece’s softball tournament, but it will be more of a family trip. We still may do a club one night, and I’m REALLY leaning towards Nightswim Monday night with Flosstradamus! Whelp, that wraps this up, and like I said, I’ve done some really wild Vegas trips but this was a fun time and a chance to hang out with an old buddy. There was no time lost between us and Vance, as social media has kept us in touch throughout the years. Hope you all enjoyed this!

Aftermath and observations; I used to like staying at Excalibur due to the price, convenience and location, but I wasn’t impressed and will be staying more central strip, like Flamingo and Linq. I will probably do suites at PH or MGM for my birthday trip. The M-Life increase in resort fees and parking charges left a sour taste, too! Then again, I regard a hotel room in Vegas as nothing more than a glorified locker room, and maybe a place to sleep.
When gambling with your buddies it’s much more fun and profitable, compared to gambling with your significant other!
I now look at club choices based on the club itself. Don’t get me wrong, Flosstradamus played an amazing set, but the opener had the place jumping, too. Scooter joked that “DJ Request” (from The Goods) could have been on the decks and XS would still be popping!
What’s good today in Vegas may not be next time; I always liked the Artisan but it just felt “flat” this time around.
Don’t pay too much for a great steak! Vance text me the other day that he had Ruth Chris and was pissed he paid almost $60 for steak, which sucked compared to Ellis Islands 12.99 special!!

[Funkycold]

Awesome TR bro! Almost reminds me of my trip last month