I'm Just Looking For Some Sweet Action

"I have never seen a woman guzzle a beer the way you are guzzling beer this afternoon."
--said to me by Christopher, a Pit Boss at Paris Casino

Vegas, baby, Vegas


The reason I have not posted in a few days should now be pretty obvious, I went to VEGAS!!!!! (the reason my blogger seems to be stuck on bold is a different story entirely)

Finally having a friend with a gambling problem and a penchant for finding cheap airfare pays off for me in that I was able to fly out to Vegas and stay in a hotel on the strip for less than what it would have cost me to do anything else. Of course this trip ended up costing me more than what it would cost me to go anywhere else because just like a 5-year-old or a 75-year-old woman with a chain-smoking problem, the lights, sounds, and colors of the slot machines proved absolutely irresistible to me.


A full recap with pictures will come very soon--I have to wait to gather pictures from friends because at the eleventh hour, my camera broke (and the full recap will have to come after I turn in my Comment tomorrow which I have been working oh so hard on), but in the mean time, here are a few highlights/lessons learned:

--drinking + losing money= a v. depressed drunk Barbara (there were times when I could not get it together, but I was having fun, really, I was!)
--a giant margarita in a plastic eiffel tower is a good drink in theory, in practice it can put you into some kind of diabetic coma
--"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is the best travel ad campaign ever put together...some popular variations of it were "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, unless you are Barbara and tell everyone you know what happened to you at least 10 times over" or "....unless you are Barbara and you put it on your blog"
--if your "arch-nemesis" is in Vegas, you will run into her, and you will be snubbed, but you will come out looking like the gracious one...thank you to morning drinks
--living life like a Real World Vegas cast member has its advantages, like great views and cheap drinks, but also has its disadvantages like getting sick in ghostbar (the count of people who got sick on this trip: 4 for 6, and yes, I was one of them)
--at the nicer casinos you can get drinks just for watching people play blackjack, especially if you act like some kind of "good luck" charm for them by having the strategy card out and advising them and the rest of the table on tough hands
--failing to cancel your reservation at a nice restaurant leads to a $50/person credit at another nice restaurant and a bill that is over $800
--The Venetian is an amazing casino, but not too lucky of one
--men on bachelor parties are fun, even the ones from Iowa
--the fountain at Bellagio is not overrated and is actually a little moving to watch as the sun is setting
--drunk souvenier shopping leads one to buy socks that have french poodles on them
--the Hard Rock Casino, though off the strip, had the cutest clientele and the cutest craps table staff, EVER
--if you cash out a machine at the Tropicana, I hope you practice your lifting because nickels can be heavy
--Tally: Casinos visited: 17, Casinos playes slots at: 14, favorite slot game: monopoly at The Venetian, most profitable slot game: Egyptian Tomb at Barbary Coast
--five days is a little too long to spend in Vegas, but I was still a little sad to leave!

More on the trip after the Comment and after the massage that I have already scheduled after I turn in the Comment.