Even though Tuesday was another mellow day, there was still fun to be had later in the evening. While I was sitting at my desk marvelling at the wonders of modern technology, Doc and Ross were out wandering the Strip unsupervised. I got a call from Scott, aka 'VegasJones', and he left a message saying that he was in town also and wanted to get together. I tried to call him back, but the game of phone tag was underway in earnest.
Later in the afternoon, I managed to get on the same page with everyone, and we all decided to meet up at Ellis Island for dinner at 5:30. I got to the bar right on time and immediately saw Scott and his buddy Earl, and then just a minute later Doc and Ross showed up. We put our names on the waiting list for the restaurant and they told us it'd be about 45 minutes before we got a table.
They weren't lying.
I've never been *that* big a fan of Ellis Island. I mean, I like the breakfast offerings and their prices can't be beat, but is it worth waiting 45 minutes for? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say "no". But everyone had LVA coupons and some free drink coupons, so I couldn't really argue with that motivation. But it was fun to just hang out in the casino drinking microbrews and bullshittin' with the fellas while we waited for a table.
We were finally seated and ordered a few minutes later. I went with some mozzarella sticks (very good) as an appetizer, and a Frisco Burger for an entree. Three of the guys ordered the nightly Italian special--salad or soup, bacon-wrapped scallops, a choice of three different entrees, tiramasu, and a glass of wine. Doc Al ordered the $5.95 steak special, and out of the clear blue, Ross asked What's that?
Talk about tossing up a softball, he was immediately pummelled with good comebacks like Hey, why don't you ask if the $20 trick works here! or Hey Ross, what should I do with my luggage if I have a late check out? and Ross, how much are the martinis at Commander's Palace? Heh. I love dining with a bunch of smartasses.
Dinner was ok. My burger was pretty bland--tasted like it was made out of a bad meatloaf recipe, but the conversation was fun. And the bill for five of us was only like $60.
After dinner, we had to get Ross to the airport for his imminent deportation to OCanada, well, actually Doc Al did, but I dropped them off at the only Escher-esque structure in Las Vegas, the Imperial Palace parking garage with an agreement that the four of us left standing would meet up at the Parasol Up bar at the Wynn for drinks and cigars.
I pulled into Le Steve just a few minutes later and as soon as I got to the bar, Earl and Scottie were there to greet me. We were directed to a corner of the bar with a good view of the talent parade passing by that offered a long curving couch and a couple of leather wingback chairs. I broke out my oh-so-classy ziplock bag full of cigars, and a statuesque Russian beauty came by to take our drink orders.
Since we had gone upscale in our surroundings, we decided that it was time to change from beer to specialty martinis and the like. Actually, I had a rum-based cocktail and a snifter of Grand Marnier, Scottie had a martini, Earl got some Scotch on the rocks, and when Doc showed up after his airport shuttle he ordered something in a martini glass with a twist.
The conversation was most excellent, and instead of an evening of over-the-top drunken buffoonery as would normally be expected with this group, it was more like a six-hour-long Dockers commercial. Only more interesting and with a lot more laughs. At one point, early in the evening, just after we'd lit up the cigars, Scottie pointed out a guy walking through the casino and said Hey, that looks like Peanut from LV Talk! so I yelled out his real name--Randy--and he turned around and said Damn, when I smelled those cigars I just *knew* it had to be friends of mine!
We invited him to join us, but unfortunately he was off shopping for chocolate-dipped strawberries for the Mrs.
Clearly his evening plans were far more interesting than ours, but he said he'd be back down in about oh, four or five minutes... Heh.
Actually, about an hour later he stolled up with a stash of his own cigars, and another round of cocktails were ordered. The five of us spent the balance of the evening yukking it up, telling stories, and just enjoying the surroundings. It was a great Vegas experience--cigars, cocktails, and relaxing with good friends in the luxurious trappings of the Wynn. You really couldn't beat it.
We attempted a few rounds of Spot the Hooker, but the pickins were kind of slim on a Tuesday night in December, so we gave up and called it a night sometime around 1:00 am. We said our goodbyes, split up, and I headed headed for home.
It was a great evening in a great city.
Mikey
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