On my previous two Vegas trips, I have made mistakes. I have had a little too much to drink early in the trip, which has set me back a little. One of the consequences of that action was that I didn’t really get to enjoy a lot of good Vegas food on those trips.
I made up for that this time. I didn’t overdo it on the drinking at all and had some really good meals along the way.
When I travel alone, I generally need pretty simple accommodations. A regular hotel room meets all of my needs.
That’s why I booked the most affordable place I could when I went to Las Vegas earlier this week. Maria and Bridget had other plans, so I took the chance for a solo trip to gamble, eat too much, and sleep too little.
I arrived late Sunday night at the Imperial Palace, ready to check into a room which cost me just over $100 total for three nights. The place is a little old and not very fancy, but it has great rates and a perfect location.
Besides, I didn’t plan on spending a lot of time in my room so I didn’t need the fancy furniture or hot tubs I could find at other hotels. Especially since those things come with a price tag I didn’t want to pay.
Flight delays across the country made the line to check-in pretty long, even at 10:30 p.m. By the time I got to the front, I just wanted to get my key, drop off my things and play some poker.
Little did I know that the woman helping me had a different idea.
Last time I went to Vegas, I didn’t see any shows. I wanted to make sure I at least saw something this time. As I planned my trip, I kept checking the comedy clubs to see if anyone I knew would be in town.
A few days before I left, I hit the jackpot. Bobby Collins, one of my favorites from XM, would start at the Improv at Harrah’s on my last night in town. Perfect timing.
Even though I waited until late in the afternoon on the day of the show, I got a pretty good seat. Tickets only ran 30-some bucks so I thought I made out pretty good.
I discovered one important thing while in Las Vegas earlier this week.
Poker is bad.
I love playing the game, but runs like I had recently really make me question why I bother. I could hardly get any good cards and, when I did, someone else would turn over a hand that would edge me out regardless of what I had.
On my last night, I didn’t have a playable hand for probably close to an hour. All garbage. Down to my last $50 or so, I get Q-10 with only five players playing. No one raises so I get to the flop, finally. Pair of 3s and something else. The turn is a 10 so I have two pair and am feeling good. River card is a 3 so I have a pretty good full house, as long as no one has a pocket pair of face cards.
We’re down to three guys now, both of whom were aggressive usually and kind of weren’t up to the river. I go all in with my whopping $24, and they both call. One guy has a 10 like me, and I could deal with splitting the pot.
The other guy had a 3. Game, set, match.
With the holiday approaching, I know we will spend a lot of time together in the car. I start to have flashbacks when that happens.
As a kid, we did a ton of traveling. We drove pretty much all up and down the East Coast. I think I had visited every coastal state by the time I was 6.
I’ve done my time in the car.
I really don’t know how it all started. I guess we figured that because we were celebrating our first anniversary, we should take a trip.
So we packed up and went to Wilmington, Del., so Maria could indulge herself in some of the DuPont houses in that area. Almost 11 years later, we’re still hitting the road every year by ourselves to celebrate the milestone. The only difference is now Bridget gets a vacation of her own at Granny’s house.
I remember that first trip for a couple of things. First off, I liked the houses a lot more than I thought I would. Secondly, some restaurant near our hotel in Wilmington had an amazing Buffalo chicken breast sandwich that pretty much changed my life.
We took our trip a little early this year and, while the food didn’t move me this time around, we had our usual fantastic time.
In a new tradition, Maria got to pick this year’s destination so we took the trip a little earlier than usual and visited New York to watch the U.S. Open.