The wife and I dropped our 8 year old off at school on Thursday morning and started our drive to Las Vegas around 8 am. Grandma was left in charge for a couple of days so we good enjoy a little time together.

A Dr. Pepper and a couple of Chik-Fil-A chicken mini's started our 5 hour drive from a little south of Phoenix off on the right foot. The excitement of the first day in Las Vegas is answering the question of 'Where are we going to eat?'

We hit town right around 1:30 pm and decided to dock at the Boulder Station for some Cabo Mexican fare. We had a really good experience last summer at Cabo and ate it three times that trip. Just as importantly, the Boulder Station is an easy park, an easy in and out of the parking lot, and a fairly quiet place to stretch out after several hours in the car. The tacos were great and the sopapillas were as good as I remember them. This was a nice start to the trip.

After lunch we made the short drive to Sams Town for a movie. My wife decided on "Side Effects" which wasn't terrible. It had a little girl on girl make-out session with Catherine Zeta Jones and a younger chick I've never seen before. Although I don't hold Catherine Zeta Jones in as high a regard as many men, the scene did a little something for me. This was a good stop.

After the movie it was time for check in. I had three nights comped at 'The D' in downtown. I got a promo in the mail and it had very few blackout dates. In fact, we had to change our dates three different times to accommodate my wife's busy work load. We ended up staying Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights during the opening weekend of March Madness for free. That's definitely a win.

This was our first stay at 'The D' and it was enjoyable. The newly updated room was not fancy but was 2nd only to the Nugget in terms of downtown properties we've stayed at. It had a decent flat screen, high shower head with decent pressure, and a comfortable bed. All the carpet in the room and hallway was clean and obviously not worn to the same level of many hotels we've seen in town.

The two biggest strikes against the property were the parking garage and the room location. The first SEVEN levels of the parking garage are reserved for valet. We had to drive up 8 floors of a very tight parking garage to park our vehicle. I think this parking garage was worse than the Plaza's and very close to the Circus Circus for the worst in town. This is an accident waiting to happen. Reluctantly, I used the valet the rest of the trip because I didn't want to navigate it.

The only other complaint was the general noise level of the room. We had a room facing the side of the 4 Queens which also happens to have a stage for the downtown bands that perform nightly. It wasn't until 2am that the music stopped shaking our room. We usually retire for the evening around 12-1 am when we are in town so we did hear it each night. Actually, I think it may have been a blessing in disguise as it forced my wife to stay up late each night (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

That's enough about 'the D' though. Thursday night was mostly about letting the wife walk, gawk, dance, and consume alcohol. This is best expressed in the following equation. Wife Dancing+Wife Drinking = Husband Smiley face. We generally goofed around under the canopy until around midnight and headed back to the room.

Before heading back to the room I did have one of those quintessential downtown moments. My wife and I were gathered around the stage between Vegas Club and Golden Gate listening to the music and watching the really hot female DJ/Dancer do her thing. My wife was really dancing as I scanned the crowd while doing my best "white man overbite". I saw a 55-60 year old woman in a wheel chair become so overwhelmed with the music that she stood up from her wheel chair and held on to the back of it. She had one hand on the back of the wheel chair, one hand holding her alcohol and her infirmed legs trying to do the "Humpty Hump". I'm not sure the woman rising from her wheel chair in this context would exactly constitute a "miracle" but it was definitely a powerful visual.

We woke up the next morning ready to start our first full day in town. After laying around a little (smiley face) we walked around looking to play some blackjack and Ultimate Texas Hold'em together. We played blackjack at the Vegas Club, Blackjack Switch at the 4 Queens, and Ultimate Texas Hold'em at the 'D' and (don't laugh) the Golden Gate. I won't bog down on the Golden Gate commentary other than to say this place has a nice vibe to it. If you routinely walk past this property stop in and take a look. Hot dancing dealers, up-beat music, and very visible flat screens near the gaming tables. I give it thumbs up.

After several hours of chicanery under the canopy and a typically good lunch buffet at the Main Street Station we were up a little money and decided a change of scenery was in order. I spent enough time in the mosh pit of Fremont Street the night before to last me for the trip.

We headed to Sams Town to watch the Northwestern State University Demons battle the University of Florida in NCAA hoops. My wife and I met at NSU about 21 years ago so this was one of those times to stroll down memory lane. I bet $20 on NSU getting 20 + points. After a competitive first half, NSU got rolled badly in the 2nd half.

During our time in the Sam's Town sports book we saw 'that guy.' You know 'that guy'. The most succinct description of 'that guy' is to imagine Cliff Clavin from Cheers with a real mean streak and an unbelievable potty mouth. Most of us only really NEED food, clothing, and shelter. I think this guy NEEDED to cuss. He was truly an over-cusser.

After about 5 hours watching college and NBA hoops we drove back to the 'D'. I would not usually try to coax the wife into a 5+ hour sports book session but she really enjoys the March Madness. It's the sporting equivalent of a Lifetime movie to her.

We got back to the room about 10:30 and she was very tired. I knew two things at this point: (1) My wife was definitely going to be asleep very soon and (2) I wasn't going to be able to sleep until after the last band stopped playing after 2 am. It seemed like a good time to go to the Nugget and play poker.

As I anticipated, the Nugget was swamped. Literally every table was full. I got on the list for 1-2 NL and put my name on the 2-4 LHE as well. The PA system for the poker room is not working so you literally have to stand by the podium and wait for your name to be called and scratched off of the list. I don't think a "Big Chief" notepad and a #2 pencil to run your poker list sends a great message but what do I know.

The day before the wife and I sat down to start a new game of 2-4 LHE. After about 20 minutes none of the other 6 names on the list showed up. It's at this point I found out about non-working PA system. We left as the game never started.

On this night, however, I was called to the 2-4 LHE game. I won't bore everyone with a hand by hand evaluation of a 2-4 LHE session other than to say it was crazy. Not to get technical but here is my equation for this table. Bad players+alcohol=$.....We had a couple of hands with 8 way action capped before the flop. Here is the only hand I will relay:

8 players x 5 bets a piece before the flop. I have JJ. Obviously I'd love to flop a set or maybe get lucky and dodge the overcards. I knew with 40 small bets in pre-flop I was going to be getting way more than the 22-1 I would need to chase my set if I missed the flop.

As expected the flop came Q high with no J on board. I checked and someone bets in LP. I call the flop bet getting 44-1 odds! The turn is an under card brick and I check in EP. The guy to my left bets and gets 4 more callers before it gets to me. I'm now getting 26-1 odds to chase my 2 outer on the river. I double check the board to make sure my 'outs' are good and that a jack won't put 4 to a straight on the board or anything like that. The outs look clean so I call the $4.

The turn is another brick and I check again. To my astonishment everyone checks behind me and seems reluctant to table their hands. Somehow pocket JJ's wins an 8 handed monster with an overcard on the board. Crazy..I called it a night around 2:30 am and head back to the room and sneak into bed to enjoy the peace and quiet of no band.

Wake up Saturday morning and shower first. The wife is moving slowly so I go play "Sigma Derby" (aka plastic ponies) on the 2nd floor of the 'D' and wait for the wife to meet me down there. She comes along shortly thereafter and we start the 9 am walk down Freemont looking for $5 BJ or Ultimate Texas Hold em.
We landed at the Vegas Club again.

TANGENT ALERT: Success is not an accident. You can't just open your doors and think you're going to have people choose your place of business over your competitors. I sat down at a BJ table with my wife about 9:30 am on Saturday morning. Playing at the Vegas club is like playing in a drafty barn. However, the drafty barn would very likely have far better lighting than the Vegas club. I might also have a chance to watch the NCAA basketball games in a barn because I didn't have a chance to do it at the Vegas Club.
I sat down at 3rd base at the blackjack table facing a projector television they had on the far wall of the casino. It had obviously been left on TBS from the night before when the NCAA tournament games were on television. However, the tournament games were on CBS this morning. Specifically, Michigan and VCU were squaring off in the first 2nd round match-up of the day. However, the Vegas Club patrons were unaware of this fact as the television was tuned to (wait for it)!!!!!!!!!!."Everybody Loves Raymond". Seriously!? I figured this was an oversight and I asked the pit boss to turn the game on the television. "What do you want to watch?." I tell him again and his response is "Huh? Do you know what channel it's on?" After 20 minutes no one was able to either (a) locate the elusive CBS signal or (b) master the complexities of the remote control. We colored up and went across the street to the Golden Gate. We played in comfort for a couple of hours while watching the basketball on a new flat screen positioned right next to our table.

We concluded our daily Fremont buffoonery around noon and opted for a change of scenery. We got the car from the valet and drove to the South Point. Our dining experience at the cafe was pleasant and enjoyable. We then saw another movie. This one was titled "Admission" wasn't good. I like Tina Fey but she was not very good in this role. Thumbs down.

After the movie we played a very poor session of Ultimate Texas Holdem until about 6:30 when it was time to head to the MGM for the Eagles concert.

Initially I toyed with the idea of parking at another property or taking a cab to the concert because I didn't want to deal with the parking garage on Saturday night but I didn't. I was in the middle of the pack with all the other idiot sheep trying to park my car in the MGM parking lot at 7pm on Saturday night. This was a beating of the highest order.

Finally got to the Grand Garden Arena and seated around 7:30 pm. The Eagles took the stage around 8:30 pm and played a couple of hours total counting a couple of encores. Don Hendley, Glenn Frey, and Joe Walsh all played a song or two of their stuff as well as the Eagle's stuff. Here is my quick review: Joe Walsh was great. Don Hendley was still pretty good. Glenn Frey had no voice left.

On the positive, he looks great for a soon to be 65 year old. However, he has really lost his fastball. It was kind of hard to see on a couple of songs. You could see him giving everything he had on a couple of songs but just didn't have the ability any more. It was like watching a favorite athlete who is obviously past his prime. On the one hand you're happy you got to see them and on the other hand it's sad to see them like this.

After the concert we headed back to downtown to sleep. Fell asleep around 12:30 while watching Sportscenter at volume level 40 trying to drown out the band playing under my window.
Woke up this morning and laid around a little (smiley face) before getting some cupcakes from Gigi's at the Plaza for the drive home.

Faced ungodly traffic through Hoover dam and again going through Kingman, AZ. We barely made it to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix in time for my wife to make her business flight this evening. After over 7 hours in the car I pulled into the garage and was immediately met by my 8 year old who jumped up and gave me a hug and told me he loved me and missed me. It was a good end to a nice trip and a long day.