Vegas Baby!!!

The pristine fountains of Caesars Palace.

Note: Security does not find it humorous when you take your shoes off and go “wading for coins”

Yep, it is that time of year again. The time that we make a pilgrimage to the Mecca of sin and debauchery. Just thinking about it is getting me excited. So many things to do, so many things to see. This will be the first time that we have not stayed on the strip. We will be staying in scary downtown, where you can walk around half naked, carrying a yard of pure booze and be considered the, “normal one”. We have visited downtown many times, and always come away with a feeling that it was more, “normal” than the strip - if that is possible in Vegas. The gambling is more laid back, the people are more down to earth, and the bums only ask for pocket change, not a twenty.

This trip I have many things that I would like to see and do that I have not done in years past. The first is to go pay a visit to the Berlin wall at the Main Street Station. As many of you know it is used as a backsplash for the men’s urinals. I could not think of a more fitting place for such a notorious piece of history. While at the MSS I would also like to try some of there microbrews. From what I hear, they are supposed to be quite good - I may have to try them several times just to be sure… I was told that Theodore Roosevelt's Pullman railroad car is on display. I many have to take it for a spin around Vegas. I do believe MSS is right next to some railroad tracks.

Our yearly trip to Mermaids will not be missed this time either. I usually try to schedule it as the last stop of the night due the cocktail waitresses constantly feeling the need to bring us more and more free adult libations. I once stumbled out of there casino, headed across the road to the Freemont, signed up for a players card, and started to play in a slots tournament before I realized that I had forgotten Dianne back at Mermaids. Although she later found me, she did not find it as amusing as I did.

One location that we will not be visiting again will be the Gold Spike. We visited it last year, and Dianne swore that if we ever went there again she would leave me for the rest of the trip (after I had given her an ample supply of gambling money…) Although I really enjoyed the “Spike”, Dianne was of the persuasion that we were well over dressed, and that she felt very much out of place. When I asked why, all she could say was that most of the people in the casino were homeless and asleep on the machines. She went on to say that although they were asleep, they were still clinging to there every precious cigarettes. Dianne was creeped out so much by this place that she refused to order a drink of any kind. So what if it was 8 A.M. Most of the people in there looked like they had been drunk for the past 3 years. I on the other hand was thrilled to death to finally be in a place where a guy playing the 25 cent machines was looked at like a king. So what if the guy next to you throws up on his machine.

I do believe that I will be driving some cars at the test track that the Sahara has just built. Since I live in Alaska and you can’t get anywhere without 4 wheel dive (forget that I have been driving a rear wheel drive mini-van half the winter) I will be testing out some trucks and SUV on there off road course. Well, that and I may need to test drive a Corvette just to make sure we don’t need one up here.

Update!!!! I called the Sahara to find out when the test track opens, and they informed me that it closed down November 19th. Horror of Horrors!!!! What am I going to do? I guess I could just play count the hookers, or some casino war. Everyone likes casino war….