Back from the Strip

Highlights from Vegas:

- Thursday was the best day of the trip. I think. My wife (Martha) went to bed early, so my buddy Steve and I watched/bet on college basketball in the Book at Bill's. Everyone around was sharing these mini-pitchers of beer, nicely pouring each other drinks into these little plastic cups. Steve goes up to the bar, and I’m thinking, “oh he’ll get us a pitcher and two cups and we’ll split it.” No, he comes back with 2 pitchers and we had a contest to see who could finish first. He won, but just barely. Then, we played craps and then blackjack and I drank rum and cokes. I think. At midnight, I returned to the room… or at least tried. I had a difficult time and had to call my wife and ask for help. When she opened the door, she asked the two most important questions: “Do you have your wallet?” and “Is there any money in it?” I was proud to answer yes to both questions!

- Friday I took my foot off the accelerator a bit but still had fun. Martha and I went to the top of the Eiffel tower and took some pictures. Great view – but it was really cold and windy.

- Sat morning we did this goofy bus tour with my fam. It was fun, and a Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator sang Happy Birthday to me Marilyn Monroe style. I owe my sister big time for that one.

- Saw Wayne Newton Sat night. It was good to see a legend in concert. His voice is not what it used to be (he’s been singing for over 60 years, so it’s no doubt) but he put on a good show and laughed a lot. Martha loved it, and I was happy.

- Sunday I was trying to fight off a cold and really wanted to hit it hard Sunday night, so I took a lot of medication. I was able to hang with Steve for a while and we had fun. We went to the Stratosphere (great place to play blackjack and craps) and we made some money. The best part was the two drunk dudes from Australia at the blackjack table with us. At one point, one guy purchased a cigar and proceeded to light it up. The pit boss walked over to him and smiled but didn’t say anything for a minute. Then he finally piped up, “You know you lit the wrong end, don’t you?” Everyone at the table cracked up, including the guy with the cigar. Then his buddy joked, “that’s the way we do it in Australia; it’s gangster style.” Good times.

Viva,

Mike