A Very Vegas Vacation - Day 2 - December 18th 2012Blue Moon Over VegasI can"t say that I had the greatest nights sleep but, fortunately, I had ample opportunity to get a nap or two in the morning as, as is usual when I"m in Las Vegas, I"m not planning on leaving the room until noon.
Perhaps it was the delayed sleep after the long flight or the mix of Belgian Beers (the Timmerman Strawberry was very nice) that"s got my sleep clock off a little.
Still the bed is very comfortable.
I did make one discovery this morning, the workdesk does have a power point. It was practically right under my nose but since it was black it was discretely blending into the dark wood panelling surrounding the desk. At least that"s my story.
Noon rolled around and I headed out for something to eat and, of course, to get some cards in the air.
I had a number of reasons for choosing TI as part of my hotel medley, one was the price since I got a pretty good deal (pre-resort fee), the second was the fact that I like checking out hotels I haven"t stayed at before and the final reason was location.
Right opposite the Venetian. That"s right, I can walk out of my room, out of the casino, over the walkway crossing the Strip and be in the Poker room in under 10 minutes. That"s at my walking pace...I reckon anyone else could do it in five.
However, I popped into the big Walgreens store next to the Venetian to buy a bottle of JD Honey for my evening visit (of which more later).
As I said, food was...erm...on the menu, and I wanted to try out Rattlecan, a beer and burger restaurant next door to the poker room at the V.
Heavyish metal / Rock playing over the sound system is my kind of thing especially when it"s not cranked up so high that you can"t hear yourself think. First order of business was a beer though and I have a fondness for Blue Moon...and they have it on draft. Would I like a large one, as a matter of fact, I would. A 20oz iced glass is in front of me in seconds and I"m necking it in no time.
I order their signature burger...hell why not...and that fills a hole...as does another Blue Moon.
Not cheap though, the burger was around $18 and the beers were $11 each. The final toll was over $40 and I left a generous tip for the very attentive (and attractive naturally) girl behind the bar.
Suitably refreshed I got my name down on the list for some 4/8 Omaha 8/b but had to wait for while before a seat opened up.
Lord, I"d forgotten how these players love their poor draws. Even though I won the very first hand by flopping the nut low / nut flush and got paid on every street, I still managed to get out drawn more than a few times in the intervening 4 hours. Backdoor everything seemed to get there, oh, you have a 4 outer to a higher boat than mine...here you go!
Whatever, I dropped about $130 and will chalk it up to first day lessons.
I had made contact with the people at the
Vegas Video Network some time ago regarding the possibility of making a visit while I was in town.
VVN is a small video company specialising in marketing video, podcasts and the like. However, they have two or three weekly podcasts which, if you are interested in the Vegas "scene", as I am, bear watching.
I jumped in a cab about 5.15 and made my way over to their studio facility on Convention Center Drive (a short walk from the Peppermill Lounge) and was finally able to meet the people I had been tweeting with back and forth for some time. I know that conversation was mentioned during the taping (towards the end) but whether it will make it into the final cut I don"t know.
Take it from me, they don"t take themselves seriously...at all. It was a fascinating insight into what goes on behind the scenes in the making of a podcast and I plan to make a visit a regular feature on my future Vegas trips.
My main contact there was Jacob, their Technical Director, and we made tentative plans to get together for a few drinks on Saturday. I think Ger and Don will get a kick out of it too.
I was done and dusted by 8pm and after making my goodbyes made my way back out into the cold Vegas evening.
Of course, being the numpty that I am, I had forgotten to consider how I was going to get back to my hotel which was about a mile away. Did I do the sensible thing and call a taxi from the hotel opposite...of course not, I"m an idiot.
So I walked it. Now, I know that for the most of you this is a trivial thing but I"m old and fat and by the time I"d trudged my way to TI I was in a world of hurt, legs aching, dogs barking and, oddly, with an aching back.
There was only one possible cure. Beef and Beer. The logical place for both was Gilleys but I avoided the bar area (with mechanical bull) and made my way to the front for the restaurant area facing the strip.
Blue Moon again?...Ohhhh, yes please. Plate of meat with that? You bet.
Now the food offering wasn"t anything to write home about (or I would be writing about it) but the Blue Moon didn"t let me down.
Nor did the 4th or 5th. By the time I was finished, most of the aches and pains had subsided but I was also in no state for much of anything else so I chose the sensible option and retired relatively early.
Gotta pace yourself you know.
