What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas…Almost

I just got back from a long vacation in Vegas.  I missed all of you....I really did.  When you are gone from something you love to do for a long time you really do begin to miss it.  And I really do love getting up and entertaining all of you.  I was there for 7 days, which is about 2 or 3 days too many.  3 of those days were spent with my wife Tracy and my work wife Kate. I've been to Vegas many times, but there were a lot of firsts on this trip.

This is a picture of my friend who is now working in Las Vegas at a Country station.  My first job in radio was to babysit him for his 6-10 shift on Saturday night, because he was only 11 and couldn't sign the logs.  Kate used to listen to him when he worked at a station in Denver, and he also did live updates from the last 3 Super Bowls for us on Mix 106, so we all had a lot in common.  I hadn't seen him in 15 years.

For the first time I went to a couple of shows.  I saw Penn and Teller, who were amazing, funny and very down to earth.  They even went to the lobby after the show to meet everyone, took pictures and gave autographs.  Easy to see why their show has been there for 13 years.  We also saw a Zumanity.  It was a little underwhelming.  It was an adult show with topless women and sexual themes.  The funny parts were hilarious, but the acrobatics and singing seemed to drag (no Pun intended) for my taste.

Speaking of taste, Las Vegas has become very expensive when it comes to dining out.  It used to be that you could get some very good inexpensive meals without too much trouble, but everything was expensive and none of it was very good.  I took my wives and a radio buddy and his wife who lives and works in Vegas to dinner.  For the first time I paid a check for dinner that came to over $700.  Don't feel bad, the night before I won about that much playing poker, so I could afford it. It was like it was free...hahahaha.  All the meals that I had were pretty much just OK.  We ate at an Italian restaurant in the Rio, that was the cheapest meal I had, but probably the best till I got home.

Kudos to some of the Treasure Valley's restaurants.  We had Prime Rib at Stewart's in Caldwell on Friday night.  Four of us ate for $600 less that it would have cost us in Vegas, and it was yummy.  Then on Saturday, my wife and I celebrated our anniversary at the new Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  It was the best meal we had all week.  Who knew we had to come to Boise to have a great meal.

In case you're curious about my betting activity and luck, I won a poker tournament for $1000 the first day I was there, then promptly gave it all back to the Black Jack table.  I didn't have much luck again til I switched hotels to the Aria.  Wow what a nice hotel.  The drapes all opened, lights turned on and TV turned on automatically when you walked into the room.  But I was there for the poker.  I've never been to Vegas opening weekend of March Madness til this year, and it is madness.  The great thing is that there are a lot of guys there to bet the games and play, or should I say give me their money playing poker.  I never lost again at the poker table while playing at the Aria.  Suffice it to say there were a lot of unskilled players trying to play poker, and if you know poker, it's a skill game, not really gambling, so the longer you play against bad players the better the chance their money will come your way...and that's what happened, so I was able to pay for my trip from my winnings. And as everyone knows if you can come home with money in your  pocket you are a winner.  So I won pretty big....great times with great friends and my wife, saw some shows, ate some food and came home semi-rested....if you can call getting to bed every morning at 5am or later resting...but I didn't get up till after noon either.  Viva Las Vegas!