Trip Report 7/8-7/14

[blibblab]

At the airport now and couldn't be happier to get back to normalcy - six nights on The Strip will do that! But overall a good time between partying at the Hard Rock, Roots concert via SpyOnVegas, UFC 100, meeting celebrities at the WSOP, partying with Thiago Alves on Sunday at Drais, and all the clubbing on the other days... I'm tired, though, and the thought of alcohol's making my stomach turn, so I'll fill this in later after I get back!

[Cisco419]

Awesome!!! Can't wait to hear the review!!!

[dnix]

lets do a yager bomb

[Keebler]

Alaskan Trash Can's all around?

[Mike7T7]

It's SHOT TIME!!

[blibblab]

Originally Posted by dnix

lets do a yager bomb

Originally Posted by Keebler

Alaskan Trash Can's all around?

Originally Posted by Mike7T7

It's SHOT TIME!!

[blibblab]

Day One

Flight at 11AM, so got up somewhat early to get any last minute stuff together. Didn't get much sleep the night before, though, so I was already rather exhausted by the time I got to the airport. Was going to sleep on the plane, but thanks to some rather talkative high-pitched voice kids behind me, that plan got nixed. Opted to watch The Pineapple Express on my Zune instead.

Got to the Mirage at 3PM and stalked around the front desk looking for an Asian twenty-something woman working there as the Front Desk tipping reports on fatwallet had her giving out many upgrades. Gave her the $20 sandwich and requested any Tower Deluxe rooms. She waited for a bit until the manager left and gave me the room - view of the pool & Bare as well as the southern Strip. Very nice room overall, though that orange rectangle pillow/furry block was a little weird. Well, I was really tired still, so I figured I would take a nap... Thought about going down to the pool, but feared conking out on the chairs and waking up all burnt, so just tested the bed instead. Woke back up at around 8PM, feeling a bit refreshed.

Went to Planet Hollywood for a quick sandwich at the Earl of Sandwich (Walked over to the Walgreens at the Venetian for a couple gallons of water, always a needed trip to make to save yourself from buying the overpriced water (or other items) in the casino. Then got ready to go to the Hard Rock for Body English. Killed some time over at the center bar area (but didn't order anything) before heading over to BE. Got in, no problem, and they had the open bar until Wednesday, so I loaded up. The DJ that night, though, was so-so or maybe I was still feeling jet lagged, so I left around 2 for an early night.

Day Two

Got up feeling much better, headed down to the pool for a little while before heading out to dinner with my friend who lives in Vegas and his buddy. After dinner, PM'ed Jack Colton to see if the tables were a go at Tao for the night. However, by the time I checked back for the reply, I was in Tao [got there around 10PM thinking that some of the UFC 100'ers would be in town and would make it a longer wait to get in]. Didn't figure that I'd fly through the line, either. So Jack and myself traded texts, but I couldn't find where the table was - next time out, I'll make sure to know that there's a meet-up beforehand. Regardless, had a good time at Tao - first time there and really liked the look and design of the club. Lots of room, plenty of bars so getting a drink is no problem at all. Dance floor's a little small, but really not that bad - about the same as Moon. Met some people in town for the fight on the balcony outside, grooved a bit - all in all a good time. Made a bit of a fashion faux-pas, though - wore black slacks, shirt, red tie & tie clasp... Got asked more than once where the bathroom was as people mistook me for working there. After about 3 or so, left the club and walked back over to the Mirage.

Day Three

Started out back at the pool. Thought about Bare, but really wasn't in the mood to party in the day. Plus I wanted to be alert for the concert at the Hard Rock later anyway. Had a turkey burger at BLT Burger at the Mirage - was very "eh", nothing special. My buddy drove over to the Mirage at around 6PM and we both headed to the Hard Rock. Construction is really bad right now in Vegas, so that - plus regular traffic - delayed us arriving until 6:45PM. When we got there, we saw that the line to get in to the pool area for the Friday Night Live concert was LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG. I'm talking all the way from the entrance of the pool area out back all the way wrapping around the inside of the casino. Saw lots of the SpyonVegas printouts as he winded our way towards the end of the line. We both thought that there was no way we were getting in because it was so long. But we figured we hadn't anything else planned, so we went to the end and waited...

Amazingly, we were in within 30 minutes. So if you all plan to do the Firday Night Live concert series, don't get intimidated by the line - it moves really quickly. First time at the Hard Rock pool and I really liked the design of it all - plenty of people already at the cabanas, people mingling and all. Lot of Philly gear, so that made me feel a little at home (the Roots are from Philly). We located the line for the open bar... and waited... and waited. Seriously, don't even bother with it if you get there as late as we did. Just get your drinks at the regular bar. I don't know even know if they had any beer or drinks left - by the time we got to the end of the line, it was 8:55PM with 5 minutes left for the open bar. We both said screw it and went over to get in a good position for the concert.

Also, definitely wear shorts or even your swimming gear - it was still upper 90's when we got there and I was in my jeans and button up. That pool really looked inviting by the time the concert started! Plus, if you've got your gear on, you can get a really nice sight from the center of the pool in front of the stage - all without getting knocked around by concert goers. I noticed that the cabanas were also a pretty good idea, at least the ones near the stage area, as they had the mist sprays to cool down and you had room.

The concert itself was great - the Roots sounded amazing, not only with their own stuff but also some of the rap & rock covers they did. Really hot crowd for the concert, too - lots of energy. Flavor Flav also made an appearance and did a set with the Roots, which was a surpsied [I didn't know he lived in LV]. The Roots seemed to go on for ever - I think they did two and a half hours. At the end, they signed and threw some things out to the crowd - hats, drum stricks, t-shirts. ?uestlove threw out a frisbee, but it went into the water as four or five guys all dress up jumped into the pool to try to get it back.

After the concert, we went to Mr. Lucky's 24/7 - my buddy hadn't had diner, so he wolfed down their $9.99 prime rib platter special they had with the SpyonVegas printout. I just had some water as I sweated big time during the concert and was feeling a little dehydrated. After my friend finished up, he went back as he had to work the next day. I went over to Wasted Space to check it out.

I had texted Chad Dallas earlier in the day and met him at the door - he'll definitely take care of things for you. He offered a good deal before for a table there, but since I didn't know whether or not my friend was going to stay out, I had to decline. If you do go to Wasted Space after the concert, a table isn't a bad idea as it gets a little packed in there and it's a little on the small side. Otherwise, I'd go for the $25 open bar deal all night you get with the SpyonVegas printout. The club was a nice change of pace from the "regular" hotspots - lower key, nice tempo. Chatted up a couple girls there and danced for a bit until about 2:30AM when we went to Drai's.

First time there and we got there early, but there were already some people going in to get the stamp. Two guys were walking out, looking a little pissed, complaining that no one was down there - I don't think they realized it was an AFTER-hours club. Anyway, the layout of the place is really nice downstairs - you really don't even think this place belongs in Bill's! The drinks can be a little pricey, but the liquor they use is top notch and they mix it all rather well. There's three rooms downstairs - the main room that plays house/techno with tables surrounding it, the side room with extra tables, and the hip-hip room which you need to reserve a table to get into [if you're a guy, that is]. We partied there until some time after 6AM - I had to call it quits cause I was feeling all sorts of dead. Exchanged numbers and then stumbled my way back to the Mirage...

I'll finish up tomorrow for the UFC100 report/Sat at the Palms, Sunday at the Bank/Drai's, and the rest!

[dnix]

Nice. cant wait to see the rest.

[IndianDude]

Damn I'm jealous you got the room upgrade. I tried the $20 sandwich at the Mirage on friday but it didn't work out due to the manager showing at that exact time, so the girl just gave me the $20 back. But she did give me a room with a pool and strip view.

And I know what you mean by the weird rectangular pillow...I was like

[nyc2vegas]

good job and good times looking forward to the rest