Las Vegas Forum: Belated Trip Report: Hanging with Royalty…

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Day 1 – Drink, Meet, Greet, Drink, Crash…

If you haven’t read any of my prior TR’s, I’ll begin by telling you that I am not ashamed of my robust beer consumption in the least. I basically go to Vegas to drink beer the entire time I am awake. If that is a turnoff to you, you will be quite turned off throughout this report.

After a day of travel and many, many, many beers to dull the freaky anticipation I radiate on that incredibly long trip, Mrs. Gator and I checked into Aria.

ARIA

This was my third stay here. They’ve converted me. I wanted to hate it. I tried to hate it. I really did. But I do not hate it at all. I love this place. I just really do. I don’t care if you judge me for it.

Look – as long as they are having trouble filling those rooms and the players card offers that my low-rolling [censored] gets continue to be at least $50 less per night than the other top hotels in town, I will drift off to dreamland nuzzled in the cocoon of the supremely cozy Aria beds every chance I get.

The rooms are great – very comfortable. No, not as large as the Wynn or Palazzo, but still leaps and bounds above “average”.

The casino is CLEAN – no stale cigarette smoke, no dirty bathrooms, no sticky video poker machines, etc. It’s the anti-Harrahs. (No offense Jacktar – I still can’t wait to drink with you!)

The service is above average – typical of a nicer Vegas resort where it’s 90% great and 10% mediocre. And since I like to think my own attitude tends to be about 90% great and 10% mediocre, I expect nothing more of a staff of thousands.

The Sports Book is among the nicest in town with some of the best screens I’ve seen anywhere.

Pool – excellent all around.

And the place Smells. Like. Heaven.

Yeah – I Love it.

After dropping our bags, actually unpacking for once, reacquainting ourselves with the beautiful room, getting ready for the evening out, and paying approximately $80 for me to drink both Bud Lights in the mini bar throughout this process, we were ready to hit the town!

More precisely, we were ready to eat and drink (more)!

I had been in touch with Lantana via text and knew she would be with a group of fellow TA Forumites, but I was hungry and on East Coast time and in need of a beer. And hungry beer-deprived Gator can turn into a monster without notice – certainly not a chance to take when trying to make a favorable impression on royalty, so Mrs. Gator and I decided to hit up the happy hour at TE PUB.

TODD ENGLISH PUB – HAPPY HOUR

In a word – AWESOME. Half price pints (bringing them back down into the realm of normal prices), $1 wings and $3 sliders…oh yeah!

We bellied up to the bar, enjoyed all of the above (several times over), enjoyed the great service, enjoyed watching the people next to us succeed at the beer challenge (drink a pint in 7 seconds or less and it’s free), enjoyed watching the Florida Gator basketball game (even though they lost), and most of all enjoyed each other’s company, totally relaxed, back in VEGAS!

Life seldom feels better to me…

Bellies full, nice IPA buzz kicking (I can’t do BL Smooth in a PUB like this), we set off to finally meet my friend Lantana – in person.

Lantana & Co. were at the Pub at Monte Carlo – quite convenient for us actually. I knew from text that they would be sitting in sofas having drinks, so we walked in and started looking for sofas. When we got to the only sofas there I looked at each person sitting there, didn’t see Lantana, and kept just walking on by. Mrs. Gator and I stood about 10 feet from those sofas, surveying the crowd. And while Lantana was not among those at the sofas, I was certain this was her group – I could just tell.

Once I finally had decided to just walk up and start introducing myself to complete strangers, someone was coming at me from the outside. Of course, smoke break for my friend, Lantana (tsk, tsk…)

Big smiles, big hug, and introductions to everyone else who warmly welcomed Mrs. Gator and me into the group…

Lantana was there with her best friend H, who has appeared in past trip reports. Shrek and Mrs. Shrek were there – also TA Forum royalty, and about the nicest people you will ever meet – in your life. Quaffed – a friendly woman who loves to shop and who Mrs. Gator had an opportunity to speak with quite a bit but who I barely did, and then there was funinhounslow, who Lantana described as “drunk” – and he most certainly was. I knew I’d like this guy the minute I saw him struggling to keep his eyes open and head up on those couches! His better half was also with him – just a very kind and fun woman. What a cool, interesting group!

Lantana and I were immediately engaged in conversation. To be honest, I have no idea what we talked about. But I do remember us both remarking that we already felt like we knew each other – quite well. Nothing intimidating, odd or uncomfortable about this meeting – at all (as I suspected).

After a few rounds of drinks, Lantana, H, Shrek & Mrs. Shrek were headed out to check out a Fountain Show at Bellagio. Being major Fountain fans ourselves, Mrs. Gator and I grabbed some drinks to-go and joined them on the tram and through Bellagio. We stayed for two shows – chatting, getting to know the group, and generally having a fun time. These people are really, really, really nice and easy to talk with – I must tell you.

After the two shows, they were off to a late dinner. And while I would have loved the opportunity to talk with them some more, I had been in Vegas for about 6 hours, and had ate and drank and talked plenty. The one thing I had not done, however, was sit down at a video poker bar, and I was STARTING TO TWITCH…

Must Play VP & Drink Bud Light, Must Play VP & Drink Bud Light, Must Play VP & Drink Bud Light….

So we bid our farewells, and ran to the closest VP bar we could find – the Bellagio Sports Book Bar. We love this place…

The next few hours were spent chasing the Royal (unsuccessfully), laughing, me downing BL’s while Mrs. Gator kept pace with champagne, smiling, and completely forgetting about real life. Oh yeah…

We then retreated to Aria where we repeated this series of events at the Aria Sports bar…

By midnight, the effects of the drinks and time change had firmly taken hold of Mrs. Gator, and it was time to walk her up to the room, as I usually do on night one before I sneak back down to the casino for one last rendezvous with my long-time mistress, the bartop video poker machine.

And though on the way into the elevator I firmly believed I would be tempted back down to the casino within 10 minutes, once in the dark and cozy room I found myself instantly asleep – crashed out apparently from the same affliction as Mrs. Gator.

It had been a great day. Safe and trouble-free travel, good food, laughs, a long-anticipated meeting with royalty, meeting other great people, plenty of drinks to make it all even more interesting, some (unsuccessful) video poker, and the love of my life by my side all along. I was happy.

I suppose I just didn’t need more Vegas today…

Ummmmm, finally! :) Finish this bad boy off. You'll have another report to start soon!

Great start!!! Looking forward to more! I have yet to even set foot in Aria, but after reading your descriptions so far, I will definitely make it a point to check it out on my next visit.

Carry on.......

Quaffed sounds like a terrific lady on this forum and Facebook. Your trip is off to a good start.

Yay for another Gator trip report. You last one from your solo trip with Baconator had me cracking up the whole time. From the sounds of it this one will as well. Can't wait to hear more.

Look forward to the rest.

Already off to a great start!

What a fun start to your trip. Can't wait to read the rest.