Yesterday, after finishing up that epic post about my week's activities, I showered, shaved, got dressed, and headed back down to the Strip. Again. This time I went to the Paris to meet up with Lisa Lisa and her friend Ava. I found them lurking around near the shops back past the buffet, and after a few minutes of chit-chat, we headed over to Mon Ami Gabi for dinner. The plan was to use Lisa's $100 gift card, and I think we pretty well covered it.
It was a beautiful late-spring Vegas day outside, so we thought it might be too hot to sit out on the patio. And we didn't think we'd get a seat out there anyways, being that it was a Friday night and we just showed up without reservations. But they gave us a nice table near the bar, just inside from the patio, where we could still enjoy the breeze once the sun dipped behind the Bellagio, and we could still easily see the fountain show.
Not wanting a full meal, Lisa and I decided to just share appetizers and have drinks, while Ava ordered a grilled trout dish. We started out with their famous baguettes and butter, a bottle or two of Perrier, and a couple of French martinis. For our food, I really love the onion soup, but like I said, the weather wasn't conducive to having hot soup for dinner. So we did crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, and the sea scallops gratinees.
After two quick martinis, it was decided that we needed to move on to wine, and I spied a bottle of Pouilly Fuisse on the by-the-glass cart, so that decision was an easy one. Lisa had something red, but I wasn't paying close enough attention when the waiter poured it.
The meal of course, was excellent, as was the company, and once the sun sank below the shadow of the Bellagio, we enjoyed a perfect evening. We lingered over coffee, espresso martinis, and creme brulee, enjoying the scenery and the conversation.
With all of our martinis and wine, we did some real damage to that gift card. You could say that we went above and beyond, as our tab at the end of the meal came to $235 before tip. But it was worth it--Mon Ami Gabi is still a favorite.
Once dinner was over, we stopped to use the restroom there by the sports book, and since there was a video poker bar there, we sat down. Ava went off to shop and wander some more, while Lisa Lisa put a twenty in a machine and we ordered a round of cocktails. We sat and played two-handed video poker for quite awhile, and she actually was doing quite well, getting four four-of-a-kinds. But the cards turned cold and she cashed out with a much smaller profit about an hour later.
Ava eventually came back, and she suggested that we take a ride to the top of the Eiffel tower. I had never done that before, so I was all for it. So we headed over to the gift shop for tickets (ten bucks each), stood in line for a few minutes, and then got on the elevator for that long ride to the top of the tower.
I was the last one on the elevator, so I was right there in the front. And just then I realized that this was the first time I'd ever ridden a glass elevator where the doors were on the outside. I'm normally not too afraid of heights, but standing right next to the edge on the way up, I felt pretty tense. Of course, so did everyone else in the elevator. Ava had to close her eyes and hold on to the rail for the entire ride.
Once we got to the top, the view, as you can imagine, was awesome. And it was a beautiful clear night with just a slight breeze. And the fountains at Bellagio were going off, too, so it was just an excellent experience. Except for Ava--she freaked out a little, and couldn't let go of the inside rail, and refused to come anywhere near the edge. I don't think she lasted five minutes up there before catching the next elevator back down to the casino. Poor girl--that vertigo just had to ruin it. It's tough to enjoy the view like that...
But Lisa and I stayed up there, shuffling around the top, taking in the views from all sides. And I even managed to get a decent picture with my crappy little beaner digital camera:
I also had what I thought was a nice picture of the Bellagio, and it looked great on the two-inch monitor, but blown up to normal size, it was all blurry.
After about a half-hour at the top, Lisa and I decided to go back down and fetch Ava. They were both still on East Coast time, so in addition to Ava feeling a little woozy, they were both pretty tired. And all the cocktails didn't help, either. So we said goodnight, with plans to meet up tonight (dinner at the Palms). They headed back to Treasure Island, while I made my way over to the Tropicana.
Of course, as soon as I walked in, I couldn't help but giggle a little, as I had to run the hooker gauntlet, just like when CoolPacific was here, to get to the Celebration Lounge. Why was I going there? Because my favorite up-and-coming band, Savannah Jack, is playing there on a three-week engagement.
They were putting on a great show, and the crowd was a lot of fun--much bigger and more into it than the audience at the Sahara. I was having so much fun laughing at the lead singer's impromptu lyric changes that I stayed all the way to the end, which was sometime near 2:00 am. But I was beat by then, and made my way home and collapsed into bed, not waking up until around, oh, 7:30 this morning when the maintenance guys were running the leaf blower right outside my bedroom window.
But I've got no place I have to be for several hours, so I'm just gonna chill here at the house all afternoon. And I've got another night of Vegas-style buffoonery ahead of me.
I'm hoping the landscaping crew takes the day off tomorrow.
Mikey
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