Viva Las Vegas Baby

Volcano flames on the water
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We touched down in Las Vegas, NEVADA. A trip that was planned just after Xmas 06 by six guys. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked out of the airport terminal that the first thing I saw was a whole row of slot machines(pokie machines). But as I walked through the terminals the only thing that stood out was the huge banners and the colorful big screens everywhere advertising Cirque du Soliel, Celine Dion, Lance Burton and every other show that was being performed in Vegas. It was Vegas baby.

Birds eye view of the Strip from the plane
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We booked for a four person room at the Stratosphere Hotel but we ended up cramming six guys in the hotel room and hung the Do Not Disturb sign outside for the next few days. Within hours after checking in, we had clothes covering every single walkable space on the floor and our duty free drinks were cracked open. It was our way of making ourselves at home. When you cram six guys in one hotel room for 5 days it wasn’t long before we brewed up a deadly mix of bad B.O and the constant smell of passing gas being discharged through the rear end.

Zoomed in picture of the Pyramid from the plane
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Anyhow the weather on our first day was a perfect 29 degrees so we immediately took a dip in the pool, drank and sunbathed the afternoon away. It was so relaxing and reminded me of home so much, the balmy weather and just lazing around at the beach getting a sun tan everyday. I really miss the summer.

As we were sunbathing, we overheard one of the barmen say “There’s a Pornstar working out in the gym by the pool.” And coincidentally we were lying on the sun chairs right next to the gym and after a few minutes there we saw no one in the gym apart from the one female who just looked like the most stereotypical Pornstar imaginable. So we just assumed it was her. I can’t say I recognized her but I sure was “star struck”. I mean imagine if Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie was standing right in front of your eyes. You wouldn’t take your eyes of them would you? Its Vegas and we were absolutely loving it.

Zoomed in Picture of the Stratosphere from the plane
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That night Cam and I went to the AFI Rock Concert. It was at the Hard Rock Hotel down the strip. The concert was explosive, at one point the Lead Singer Davey Havok was standing on the crowd as they all supported him by holding his feet and legs. It was madness, watching AFI live, their music sounded exactly the same as it was on their Album, and everyone was chanting and screaming and singing along. The atmosphere was unreal.

Once AFI ended we went back to meet with the other guys in the Stratosphere and got our free drinks while we gambled. There was a few times when we didn’t tip and the girl just threw a mental so we each gave her a few dollars to keep the drinks coming. With gambling a few of us won and a few of us loss but either way we were all tipsy and drunk and we went on a stroll down the strip. We walked about 3 kms and made it to Circus Circus Hotel and Casino on our way there we saw a few construction workers and Chris was trying to wrestle the lollipop lady for her stop sign then after that I decided to pop my head in and take a quick happy snap to remember the moment. We had a few more beers at Circus Circus then stumbled back to the Stratosphere drunk, it was about 6am and I crashed the minute I collapsed on the bed while a few of the others soldiered on and went to the pool.

Touch down at the airport
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Over the next couple days we took the Deuce(a bus that goes up and down the strip 24 hours a day which costs $5 for 24 hours) down the strip to check out the major hotels and casinos like New York New York, Mirage, Ceasars Palace, MGM Grand, Luxor, Hooters Hotel, Paris and the Bellagio. The strip is long and the great thing about it is it has everything on it and I can guarantee no matter how drunk and plastered you get you will always know which direction is your hotel. There were a few thing that amazed me in Vegas and that was you can drink on the streets anywhere you go, take your beer out of the club into the casino and out on the streets and even into a takeaway joint and no one will even raise an eyebrow. Then there were stripper cards strapped to every single traffic light pole with an elastic band that says you can get Brittany or Natasha for $39 bucks just call this number. Also there were these boxes which looked like Newspaper boxes where you put a dollar in and lift the handle to get a newspaper except they were magazines advertising call girls and escorts. We called them Porno boxes. But also on the strip each hotel had their own little attraction and we entertained ourselves with some like a fountain show outside the Bellagio and the Volcano that erupts with flames outside the Mirage which was pretty exciting. But the most amazing thing we saw was watching the old Stardust Hotel implode right in front of our eyes as they demolished it. First they set off easily some of the best fireworks I’ve ever seen from the building and then there was a countdown on the building and BOOOM all you could here is one loud explosion and the following seconds the building came down with a huge puff of smoke floating up in the air and rushing towards us. It was like Armageddon as everyone ran for cover into Casinos and hotels. Unlucky for us we were watching the building explode from the other side of our hotel so we had to walk past the concrete dust back to our hotel and by the time I got back to the hotel my hair was fully gray and I looked like an attractive 80 year old.

The Big screens I was talking about
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The following day we decided to take the effort to check out one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The good ole Grand Canyon, we hired a car and drove down, we found out after the first couple of hours after Cam ask the question “Are we going the right way?” that we ended up in California the opposite direction so we did a U Turn and made it the Grand Canyon about 6 hours later. How can I explain the Canyon? It is GINORMOUS! It is the massive, you don’t really grasp the size of it until you stand on the edge and look into the Canyon. It was breathtaking, one of the things I would have like to have done would be the helicopter flight over the Canyon but no one else was too keen on it so I gave it a miss.

Good ole slot machines at the airport
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That night after the Canyon everyone was tired and struggling for rest but we still managed to make it out to the Luxor, we had these huge Margaritas in tubes that look more like a bong then anything else. There were 17 shots in it and it only cost $17.50, by the end of it I can hardly walk, talk and see. But we managed to get into a club called Coyotes Ugly, just like the movie. Once inside the bar chicks were dancing on the bar and free pouring alcohol down peoples throats next to them. There were bras hung up and we even got sprayed with water by the chicks behind the bar. It was exactly like the movie. Viva Las Vegas is awesome, the city never dies. There is so much to do down here but just make sure you come with a group of friends, there are some seedy parts and gangs around.