We figured that the 215 would be a parking lot at 5:30 on a Friday night, especially where it crosses I-15 just south of the Strip. It's always a clusterfuck, but it was quite eerie to make it all the way across town without having to tap the brakes. Seriously, where was all the traffic? The economy must be hurtin', because there were just no cars on the road. So we got there in record time.
Sitting down in the dining room, the first order of business was what kind of beer we were going to have this time around. I think we were both on the same wavelength because we both opted for the Downtown Brown. Oh yeah, it was excellent--a dark beer that's not too heavy, and has lots of flavor, including a generous dollop of 'not bitter'. And it goes well with food, we soon found out.
Appetizers consisted of a plate of calamari and a half order of the garlic knots, which we refer to as 'garlic donuts'. Of course, as soon as they hit the table, we dove into them like vultures on a carcass. Luckily, we remembered to take a picture before they disappeared completely.
I don't know what it is about them that makes them so tasty--it's just bread, butter, spices, and cheese, but damn, talk about being better than the sum of it's parts... We decided that it was a perfect example of synergy food.
A few minutes later, the main courses arrived, and again we both had the same thing. No, we skipped the pizza--the rest of the menu is pretty damn good, and this time we both had the baby-back ribs, basted in Downtown Brown BBQ sauce. They were tender and quite good, although they didn't have the slightest hint of smoky flavor to them. But that's not a complaint, just an observation. It certainly didn't keep us from sucking every bit of meat off the bones and making a complete mess of our hands, faces, and shirts.
Since I'd had no veggies in about 24 hours, I had a side salad with my ribs, but Lars stuck to the menu and had the steak fries. And of course I took a ration of shiat for eating the wussie food, just like the time I had pasta when he had steak. At least the waitress and other patrons weren't mocking me this time, I just had to hear it from Lars.
Anyhow, it was a great meal, and for two plates of ribs, four large beers, and two appetizers, the bill came to $74 before tip. After we paid the bill, our plan was to digest for a bit and head over to the separate bar and smoke some cigars for an hour or two. And we were going to order a couple of pizzas to go so that we'd have some good grub for lunch today.
But when we went over to the bar, the waiter totally ignored us for more than ten minutes, spending all of his time at the next table, the one with the three blonde chicks, so we gave up and headed back to Henderson. We decided that it'd be better to slurp some martinis closer to home anyways, but it wasn't until a half hour later that we remembered that we'd forgotten about the pizzas. Damn.
We made our way over to Sunset Station and hung out in the Martini Bar for a couple of hours, smoking our Partagas Black Labels, drinking Bombay Sapphire martinis, and people watching. After a round of gin berries, I decided to change it up and have a chilled Tuaca. Lars took one look and asked exactly what it was. I made him take a sip before telling him that it was Italian Brandy, and he instantly had another new favorite drink. So it didn't take too much peer pressure from the waitress before another glass landed in front of him, and he was suddenly in his new happy place.
We hung out until the cigars got short and the glasses got empty, and then called it a night. I was just *sure* that I'd get called in to work in the middle of the night, so I figured I should get home and go to bed.
I'm glad that Rabbi Vargas was driving, because I had a seriously cool buzz going. Once I got home, I went straight to bed, thinking my phone was going to ring. But it didn't--I went to work at my normal time, but the floorman said he came really close to calling me in at 3:00 am, but couldn't call me because I'd worked a full eight hours the day before. I have no idea what the rules are or how that works, but regardless, I got a full night's sleep.
Works was very slow today, which I thought was odd, since it's a weekend. I played some cards on the clock in the short-handed old codger's game this morning, and broke exactly even after an hour. But then I got punted out at 10:00 am since we had seven dealers scheduled to be there by 11 o'clock. So I've been home ever since, just watching some college football. And so far, my six-team parlay card looks good...
Anyhow, that's the news from here today. I'm supposed to be off tomorrow and Monday, but I told them to put me on call--I'd like to pick up another shift before the rent is due on Tuesday. If I don't work, well, I'm just gonna be hanging around the house, not spending any money for the next couple of days.
Mikey
PS--Here's a recent photo of 'Rabbi Vargas':
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