Las Vegas – Day 1

origamiunicorn ♦ December 3, 2019 ♦ Leave a comment

I arrived in Las Vegas late Saturday night. Flight delays in Minneapolis. I had every intention of going out for a drink, but by the time I got to my room and unpacked it was 1:30 am (4:30 am EST).  I crashed and then, of course, woke up bright and early at 7 am.

I got a “small” 2 egg breakfast at Hash-a-Go-Go.  When it arrived I felt like I was a small person in a giant’s restaurant.  The plate looked like it was made for someone twice my size.  After breakfast I went to the Venetian to register. Picked up some swag and met up with some friends/coworkers. 

After everyone was registered, I joined them for breakfast (second breakfast for me) at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon restaurant.  I own one of his incredible cookbooks so I had to order something even though I swore I was done for the day after Hash-a-Go-Go. 

Earl Grey tea and butter croissant later, my friends left to go shop and I met up with another group of friends. We camped out in the Yardbird lounge and I got a glass of champagne. Left there an met up with the shopping contingent.  They were busy at Caesar’s Forum shopping center. I window shopped and soaked in the weirdness.  Fake Roman ruins everywhere, a strange backlit ceiling with a blue sky and clouds (it was hard to tell day from night unless you saw a window), high end designer shops having holiday sales that brought the prices down from extremely high end to very high end.  At one point there was music and hubbub and some robotic gods sprung up out of the artificial Roman ruins and acted out a dramatic exchange with video effects and the Cheesecake Factory and Nike logos in the bathroom.  Just… bizarre.

After the shops I took a power nap in my room at The Linq and walked back to the Venetian.  We had dinner at the bar and watched the frustrating Patriots game. Prosecco was flowing… flatbread pizza was yummy. At 9, my friend and I left to get in line for Midnight Madness (start time 10:15).  We were given electronic bracelets that lit up in different colors throughout the evening. The long wait was kinda worth it just to say we did it and get the (very cool) t-shirt, but the event itself was strange.  There was great music playing, cool light show, beer and wine bar.

First entertainment was the UNLV marching band. I’m a sucker for a marching band so I was psyched. Next act was a bunch of roller skaters with 80’s garb skating to “I think we’re alone now” and “Push it”.  Then a group of guys jumping on trampolines and dunking basketballs.  We couldn’t get through the crowds to see that one so we watched on the jumbotrons planted all around the venue. 

There was a scavenger hunt where you had to look for people in the crowds with certain characteristics.  Throughout all this were updates on the chicken wing eating contest going on at the back of the hall. 

Fatigue and the 20000 steps I walked that day started to take over. We decided to bail before the midnight announcements. I walked back to the Linq and crashed.