I am actually not all that excited to go to Vegas for work. I don’t want to sound like I am complaining but I have been traveling a lot over the last six months and I would have been happy staying at home.

Karen and I aren’t going on vacation until July 4th and I don’t have another seminar until September so I should get a chance to stay at home and catch my breath. The only other trip that may happen is a trip to our offices in Holland to train some Russian biomeds. I am not sure this trip is going to happen but it has been put out there.

I had an exit row seat on the flight to Vegas but Delta changed planes and I was bumped to a middle seat not in an exit row. I talked to the gate agent and was able to get another exit row seat but in row 39. The flight was delayed an hour out of Minneapolis because of mechanical problems so I got into Vegas an hour late. Thank you Delta.

Just a quick rant about Delta. When I had my Silver Elite status with Northwest I could check in first class and use the first-class entrance for the security lines. This saves a huge amount of time if the airport is busy.

My Silver Medallion status with Delta does not allow me to board first class and go through the first-class security line and it is irritating as hell! Minneapolis has a Silver Medallion line which helps but other airports do not have a separate line for Silver Medallion so I have to board with everyone else. Talk about treating your customers like crap. Delta is even worse than Northwest was.

I got my rental car, a Toyota Matrix, and made the short drive to the Hard Rock Hotel. I found the self-park entrance in the parking ramp parked my car and went to check in. Our company has been having training seminars at the Hard Rock for the past six years so I got a free upgrade to a suite in the HRH tower.

What a beautiful large room, The entry had a minibar with two built-in closets and a set of drawers.  The bedroom and living room areas were separated by a small dividing wall that had a large flat-screen TV on each side, one for the living room and one for the bedroom.

The bathroom was separated from the bedroom area by a glass wall and it is huge. The main bathroom area had a vanity and a large soaking tube. The toilet was in its own area separated from the bathroom by a  glass wall. The shower was a walk-in, had black tile and it was huge.

The suite had an IPod dock so you listen to your own music in your suite.

It seems like a weird complaint but the hallways in the all suites tower of the Hard Rock are incredibly long and my room was almost at the end.

The banquet room was large which was good, several people called at the last minute desperate to get entered into the class so I had more people than usual. The first day is usually a long day even though it only takes about three and a half hours to set up the equipment. I left my house at 7 am for a 9 am flight. The flight was delayed so I arrived an hour late.

I checked in, had a late lunch at the sandwich shop near the training room. It took me four hours to set up because I couldn’t find water I had to move some of the tables around. I noticed that my toolbox had been opened and when I laid out the tools I discovered that all of the pliers were gone. I wanted to buy another meter because I did not have a spare and some of the meters are questionable.  

Luckily I noticed a Fryes Electronics on the way from the airport to the Hard Rock so after I finshed setting up I pulled up Fryes on my IPhone GPS and bought some pliers, flashlights and a meter.

I made it back to the hotel about 7:30 pm (9:30 PM central time) so I opted for dinner at the Hard Rock rather than going to The Strip. I ate at Mr Lucky’s. I had chicken Stir fry, it was a plate of stir fried vegetables with a little chicken mixed in, a little greasy, mostly bland.

After I finished class on Tues I drove down to the Miracle Mile shops and parked in their ramp. I walked around The Strip and ended up at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Miracle Mile. I had carnitas, very dry and bland but I had a seat at the rail so I could overlook the craziness on the strip, so that made up for the meal.

After class on Wednesday I used the Hard Rock gym before going out for dinner. It is more a health club than a hotel gym. They have a front desk and a locker room, at least six treadmills, a lot of dumbbells and some decent weight machines.

I went back to the Miracle Mile shops. Tuesday I didn’t eat until 9 PM and I had a hard time finding a restaurant that  I could get in right away so I decided to would eat right away and beat the rush. I had noticed Lombardi’s the previous night and it looked like it could be good and I was right. I had shrimp scampi, excellent. After dinner I wandered over to the PBR Rock Bar and Grill for a beer and to watch people get bucked off the mechanical bull.

There was a bar across from Lombardi’s that is called the Stripper Bar with a huge statue of a stripper at the entrance.  I sat on the fountain between Lombardi’s and the Stripper Bar talking to my wife and watching all of the couples taking pictures of each other clinging to the leg of the giant stripper.

Thursday was Cinco de Mayo so I thought I would try to get into Diablo’s Cantina at the Monte Carlo. Who was I kidding?? I had tried to have dinner or even a quick beer earlier in the week but the bar was full and there was a long wait for dinner. I was not optimistic that I would actually get in and as I thought the place was packed. So I made my way down the strip.

I walked to the Bellagio just in time to catch the fountain show. It was impressive. It is much better to watch it from the Bellagio side rather than the street. You are closer to the action and the Eiffel Tower replica at the Paris is in the background looks terrific.

I entered the Bellagio through the revolving doors, there was a young woman in front of me that was dressed for a night out. Unfortunately the revolving doors had a hiccup as we entered and halted just for a split second but that was long enough for poor woman to walk directly into the door face first. She seemed to be ok but it sounded like she hit the door pretty hard.

Leaving The Strip and entering the Bellagio is like being teleported into another dimension where everything is much better. The first thing you see when you enter is the Chihuly glass flowers hanging from the ceiling.

I wandered around the casino for a while and finally decided to go back to the Monte Carlo for dinner. I had eaten at Dragon Noodle the last time we were in Vegas and it wasn’t great but it was acceptable so I decided to dine there again. It was not as good as I remembered. I had beef and broccoli and it was a little oily and pretty bland. My wife has ruined me since I was last here. She has taught me to like spicy Thai food and I thought with a name like Dragon Noodles the food would be hot (spicy) but there wasn’t any spice at all.

After dinner I looked for some machines so I could throw my money away, you can tell that I expect to lose. I almost never play slots and I have never played penny slots but as I made my way through the casino I saw an Audi A4 sitting amid a circle of slots.

If I hit the jackpot I could win the A4. I like Audis so I sat down and threw a $20 bill into the machine and started punching the play nine button. It took a couple of plays before I noticed it was a penny slot machine, I realized that it could take all night to lose my $20. 

The first time I  hit I must have sat there for five minutes while the machine paid out my winnings dinging to register every penny paid out. I really had planned on paying until I lost all of my money or won the A4 but when I was up $30 I decided that it was time to call it a night and leave while I was ahead. I wonder if I would have kept playing if I would have eventually have won the Audi. I guess that is why Vegas exists, you convince yourself that you can win the big one.

I decided to do a little more gambling when I got back to the Hard Rock. I went directly to the sports gambling room and put down a $20 bet on both the Vikings to win the Super Bowl and Twins to win the World Series. They were both thirty to one odds to win but I figure what the heck, how often do I get a chance to place a sports bet in Vegas.

The pool and casino had been relatively quiet all week but things had picked up on Friday. There were groups of twenty-somethings checking in with coolers in tow. The pool was mostly deserted during the week but was busy by noon on Friday.

I finished class and was packed up by 4 pm on Friday. Unfortunately  I had a Toyota Matrix for a Rental car and it does not have a trunk so I didn’t want to leave my backpack and luggage in plain view when I parked somewhere. I had hoped to go back to the Monte Carlo and try to win the Audi again but I didn’t want to risk having my luggage ripped off so I dropped off my rental car, had dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen at the airport.

When I checked in and got my boarding pass I was pretty sure that I had no chance to be upgraded to first-class but while I was waiting at the gate my name was called over the PA and they gave me my first-class ticket.

I landed in Minneapolis at 12:30 am Saturday morning and it was 1:30 am by the time that I got my luggage and car and drove home. Who says that traveling is exciting and fun?

Recap

Good

The suites at the Hard Rock rock.
The conference room is great.
The people at the hotel are great.  Vegas is all about service and they know how to to do it right. Greg, the banquet manager at the Hard Rock was exceptional.
Lombardi’s at the Miracle Mile Shops was pretty good.

Not So Good

Wabo Wabo Cantina. The food was forgettable but eating on the railing and people watching was almost worth putting up with the food.

I had to take all of the photos on the blog with my IPhone. I apologize for the quality.