What happens in Vegas...

...stays in Vegas.

Like that ever happens. Since I haven't written in a week, I'm dedicating this entry for my Super Bowl weekend trip to fabulous Las Vegas.

The weekend began immediately after Kendo practice last Wednesday night. I rushed home to shower and pack. Justin and Steph came by to pick me up on the way to Edgerton. From there, a limo picked us up for a ride to Midway International Airport.

Once in Vegas, we checked into the Rio Hotel Resort and Casino. Josh arrived a few hours later and I met up with him for lunch. After lunch, I went back up to the room for a much needed nap.

Later in the night, we took a cab to the strip so that I could show Josh a bit of the Vegas that I enjoy. At the Bellagio the fountain water show was playing away to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. At the Mirage, the volcano was in eruption mode and a walk inside gave way to a visit by the one of Siegfried & Roy's tigers in the White Tiger Habitat. Making our way to the Imperial Palace we dropped into Tequila Joe's for some karaoke. I sang a song for my good friend Stephanie who was feeling a bit sick and stayed at the hotel. The night came to an end with a late night $2.95 bacon and eggs special at the Barbary Coast.

The next few days were mostly for gambling and getting drunk. At the Golden Nugget, I made a quick $175 on blackjack and roulette. At one point, I was on an up and down streak at the Lady Luck for hours until finally cashing in. In a drunken stupor, I had a good time running up and down Fremont Street at the heart of downtown.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship was taking place this weekend at the Mandalay bay. Tito Ortiz squared off against Vitor Belfort in the octagon. I had missed the fight but I was going to put money on Belfort. Ortiz was the winner.

Back at the Rio, I wandered around for a place to eat. Crossing by the arcade, I ran into a couple of girls, one from Taiwan and the other from Korea, playing away at Exceed (a type of Dance Dance Revolution game). I quickly caught up with the music and kept my own. Jolie, from Seoul, blew me away when she picked a dance in which she knew every beat and step as she did turns without looking at the screen.

One morning, I got up early to a beautiful Las Vegas sunrise. Looking out the window, I decided that I wanted to see such majestic beauty first hand. Catching the early shuttle, I headed for Boulder City to get to Skydive Las Vegas. There, I met a few guys from UConn and together we made preparations for our first tandem jumps from 2 miles up. Needless to say, it was exhilarating during the 60 seconds of free fall and the coast back down to earth was amazing as my instructor let me steer, doing turns in all directions. From that height, the Hoover Dam and the city of Las Vegas seemed like small play-things.

Once I got back to Las Vegas, I received a text from Steph about meeting up at the Las Vegas Hilton for Star Trek the Experience. They have this new ride called the Borg Invasion 4D.

On Super Bowl Sunday, I got up early to place my bets before the late crowd even got up. I bought several off-the-wall proposition bets for a few bucks and some big money on the Eagles for -6.5 points and on the under of 48 points. All of us got together at the Keno Salon to watch the game and play a few games of keno. Sadly for the Philadelphia Eagles they came up short for the big game. Fortunately for me, I won my big money bets as well as a few prop bets for $300 in winnings.

On check-out day, all of us got together again for breakfast and then some gambling before heading to the airport. I watched some plays at the roulette table before I committed a crisp $100 bill on an outside bet. In one quick spin of the wheel, I came out of there with $300 and with that last bit of luck, my trip came to an end.

Trip-O-Meter
Activity: 3 | Energy: 3 | Friends: 2

Las Vegas '05
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