Day #2 in Vegas was a bit kinder to me than Day #1. After waking up, drinking about half a gallon of water, blogging and chatting on the phone a bit, I went for a little run. Well, I was thinking it was going to be a little run. I wanted to go check out this thing at the other end of the strip...I couldn't quite tell what it was but I thought it was worth investigating.
After running down the strip for about three minutes, I realized that people were looking at me like I was crazy for running, and going for a run on the Strip is definitely a contact sport. I was amazed again at just the pure scale of things in Vegas. I read in "Bringing Down the House" that The Bellegio cost $1.6 billion to build and The Venetian cost $1.2 billion. I spent some time in both of them and after being there understand that's really not that ridiculous. It's just hard to explain how oversized everything in Vegas is.
The other phenomenon on the Strip is that things that look about a quarter mile away are really like five miles away. You keep going and going and really don't make much progress on getting there. However, you are surrounded by great people watching and amazing buildings, so you just keep on going.
About 30 minutes into the run, I was through all the major attractions on the Strip. Then I passed Circus, Circus, then things kept getting more and more shady, then some wedding chapels (which looked mighty classy, I must say) and then finally about 45 minutes later I hit Stratosphere. I'm not really sure how that place stays in business because it is so far from everything else.
After running for an hour and twenty minutes, showering up and drinking another half gallon of water, I was off to the MGM to begin Day #2 of the Vegas experience. This was at about 1:30 p. The tables were much kinder to me, I learned how to really play blackjack and probably won somewhere between $100 and $200 playing blackjack. And then Chasson (that's his last name) hit it big. He had been on fire so he collected $10 from people to go put down some cash on 00. It hit and his $60 paid out over $1,000 (translation my $10 was now $180). And then that's when I started to see the light...it was really thrilling winning some cash, playing blackjack.
I kept drinking and playing blackjack until about 6:30p, ran over to New York, New York to buy a ticket for Zoomanity, then back to the room to shower, then off to the show. Then we hit up dinner at this Mexican place, then off to The Venetian, then Wynn (for about two more hours of blackjack), then Tryst at Wynn, then more gambling at Wynn, then MGM for breakfast. I was crossing the bridge back to Tropicana at exactly 6:23a. Drinking and gambling since 1:30p in the afternoon. Wow, I didn't think I had it in me, but that's what happens when you get to Vegas. I've heard the casinos pump oxygen into the room so that people can stay awake longer...I wouldn't doubt it.
Overall, quite an experience. I was loving it during the great run of blackjack when I was thinking I should quit my day job and start a blackjack team in San Diego. Then by Sunday afternoon I was so ready to go, I was at the airport more than two hours before my flight (which is a record for me). The mood in the Vegas airport on Sunday night was definitely much different than Friday afternoon when I arrived.
If you haven't been, you should go experience Vegas. Just be prepared to experience a range of emotions and the lows that come with the highs. And be ready to hemmorage money, unless you have a great run at blackjack.
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