day 2 in vegas - otherwise known as 'thursday' - was a good one. the trip was only to be a 3 night stay and day 2 became the best one of the trip. after the events of the previous day not too much sleep was needed. up and at 'em by 9ish local time (which is 11ish in northland time). the five of us headed downstairs to the "emperor's buffet" for a little breakfast. as far as emperors go, this buffet was about the equivalent of lord farquard. plenty of bacon and eggs - but a little short on anything special. i guess for a $9.99 vegas center strip buffet, it was about what we really should have expected anyway.

next on the agenda was for casanova and i to show junior the north end of the strip (and to walk off some of the emperor's bacon strips). swinging through casino royale for a 10am $1 margarita on the way up got us moving towards the venetian. as far as the epitome of vegas construction spending, the venetian has to be it. landscaping, porticos, frescos - just ridiculous. not to mention the addition under construction that will be plenty big enough to house the refugees from the next katrina. for a construction guy - it's hard to walk around and be amazed by the sheer volume of massive stuff being built all the time.

we stroll through the venetian on the way to the wynn and junior notes at both places, 'now, this is a casino'. along with the bellagio, that trio of properties is top notch. they are vain to such a point that the wynn apparently would rather put down a field turf type product on their grounds and vacuum it rather than attempt to raise grass in the desert. (note that it took the three of us, who play a fair amount of golf, a couple minutes to decide if it was real grass or not)

crossing over lv blvd and heading back south we passed the mirage and ti on the way to the forum shops. junior was amazed by the sheer size of the indoor market. i was once again amazed that said shops make sales. it seems that each spot is a 10,000 sq.ft shop displaying about 12 to 15 items.....all apparently in either 'skinny' or 'anorexic' sizes. we did no actual shopping of course since i have no interest in the intricacies of a second mortgage at this point in my life.

finally our stroll brought us to the crown jewel of the strip which in my estimation is the bellagio. we headed towards the conservatory to see what type of flora display was up at this point of the year. in any other situation the next sentence might seem odd, but not so much here. the first thing i spotted was a set of flying reindeer constructed out of 600# of whole pecans in the shell. those along with the 50 ft christmas tree and thousands of poinsettias were quite the sight.

the walk combined with the bacon's intestinal progress pretty much made it nap-30 by the time we got back to the room. afterwords it was getting to be dinnerish time. big show suggested (at the advice of his parents) we eat at the stratosphere's top of the world restaurant. gambler called up (at 5:00) for an 8:00 reservation with casanova's phone under junior's name and with his own cc number as collateral that'd we'd show. apparently, house rule #1 is no cancellations within 4 hours of a reservation or $10/per person will be charged to the card. i decided to check out the review for the restaurant online and the first sentence found was, "this is one of the most expensive restaurants in las vegas...." and that's saying something.

so, instead of shelling out all our cash on a single meal, gambler dials them back up and attempts to cancel - but the alternative lifestyle employee reminds us of house rule #1. gambler plays by the rules and moves the reservation back to 9:00.....then asks if we may cancel - the clerk whiningly agrees we now meet rule #1 without the penalty....

with still no firm decision on dining location, we all get dressed up and partake in some high class pregame sipping and photo shots. finally - outback steakhouse is decided on. fun and exciting choice - not really. good beef and potatoes place - you betcha. plus, hard to beat $4 22ouncers on the strip (that's beer not beef at that price). casanova, big show and gambler stayed traditional with the steaks while junior and i went with a prime rib that still had a faint heartbeat. during beverage number 2, junior thought it good to shroud himself in napkins and ended up with a solid 90% coverage - and thus the ability to eat as if he were from alabama.

after dinner - we moved on to the casino where gambler and casanova tried their hands at some blackjack switch (playing two hands at once and being allowed to switch cards between them). the rules make it sound like an advantage is had - but the house busts on 23+ and pushes on 22 - so the advantage is reined right back in - surprise, surprise.

moving on to the bellagio for the initial installment of my vegas tradition. the self-imposed rules were simple: $100 in a $5 slot. 20 pulls. cash out whatever remained. simple enough - but i had to cheat. i broke rule #2 after going up $440 after my 13th pull. i cashed it all out right there and didn't gamble a nickel past that point. (final trip cost including all expenses - $75 - gotta love that)

after a few more drinks (well, for some of us, quite a few more drinks) in the room - we headed back to see the blonde piano twins. only half of the pair was working, but with the amount we'd had, that was ok with us. after a short while, we were all sitting front row and having a heck of a time as they played all the classics - piano man, bon jovi, journey, etc.

during the show - casanova was partaking moreso than the rest and accordingly had to visit the restroom a few times. first time back he had found some 'urinal chips' - about $25 worth (perfectly sanitary i'm sure) next trip he turned that into about $75 at the tables. third time back he was up to $375. after a $25 request for tiny dancer (NOT an appropriate theme song for the rest of the night) - "it's like free money" he said - he still had $350 in his pocket and a little blood left in the alcohol stream....and what happens in vegas stays in vegas.

after the pianos went silent for the night - casanova and i went to cash in his remaining chips. i jokingly suggest he put it all on red for a thrill. i wouldn't have let him do it, but he did drop $50 of it at the blackjack table on the way towards the cashier. down to $300. the lack of open cashier's windows and the line that resulted didn't sit well with the impatient casanova. he gave me 1 of his black chips to cash out - i talked him into giving me another - while he went back to the table and donated the 3rd back. down to $200 - finally in cash form. finally heading back to the room - a $5 slot machine was spotted. "just give me 5 pulls and i'll cash out" down to $175. (looking back at this - i feel somewhat responsible - well, not that much i guess)

all in all, a very good day. to sum it up....

emperor's breakfast buffet...........$9.99
2 beers and steak at outback.......$35
5 beers + tip at the piano bar.......$35
a little drunk gambling..................$175
tap on shoulder and a dance......priceless

the ride began on wednesday. big show arrived to pick up gambler, casanova, junior and myself to head to the airport. after arriving, and while waiting in the check in line, junior decided it better to toss his tube of chapstick rather than deal with the wrath of the TSA. at that point, i sure felt safer - with only the threat of other passenger's dry lips to concern myself with.

an uneventful flight passed with a mid-afternoon vegas arrival. thanks to a somali cabbie who seemed to know less about the area geographically than i, our ride to the center strip took about twice as long as it should have. irregardless, junior and i checked in (being on a bit of a budget, only one room was reserved - thus two beds, but that's an issue to touch on later). after a bit of miscommunication as to the room number - casanova and the others met up and that's how the five for two deal was done.

after a couple of warmup cocktails in the room - it was time for some dinner. in hopes of viewing some pink birds with our dinner, we headed towards the hilton's buffet line. the price scared us across the hall to the sit down cafe (with no flamingo view). after a pretty standard meal - including casanova's elaine-esque order of a big salad - about 80% of us were ready to look for a spot to donate a few bucks back to keep the lights on in town. nothing special to say about the gambling from day 1 other than gambler (who was a vegas rookie) did pretty good - and i remember thinking that wasn't going to be good for him later.

on to the fountains. with our usual center pool sidewalk spot taken up by the techies that run the bellagio's main attraction, we were forced to stand off to the side by at least 10 feet (really that's not such a bad deal - but considering this has been my mecca for the past few years, it just wasn't the same). after a couple shows from the ground, junior, gambler and big show decided to check it out from a spot i haven't tried yet - the top of the effiel tower. casanova and myself toughed out a couple more shows in the chilly january desert night - at least it was calm out so the big guns could be fired was up in the air. satisfying enough to see the best show in vegas, but i've never experienced such cold weather on the strip.

on the way back to the hotel, shortcutting through harrah's brought us to the best dueling pianos show i've ever seen. casanova told us of a set of blonde identical twins who could tickle the ivories with the best of them after his last trip out west - and he was not exagurating. we stopped for a few songs and decided that we'd be back the next night in shall we say better shape to enjoy the show to it's fullest.

met back up with the others at the room by about 2am local time (or 4am home time) that meant i'd been up for pushing 22 hours with only a short nap on the plane to help out. i was tired enough to volunteer to rest my head on the floor while the others shared the two beds. generous of me? yes. smart of me? no. comfortable? um.....no, but i'm sure it was good for my back.

needless to say - we made it safe and sound, day 1 was over with day 2 to bring much, much more that even we couldn't have foreseen......

So what did I do for my Labor Day weekend?

Friday afternoon I snuck out of work early with Juice to head up about 200 miles north of Duluth.  I'll keep the location a relative secret, but some of you might just know where we were.  I'll say this much, after crossing the Canadian border, we go another hour on paved roads before taking a gravel road even another 45 minutes further.  That brought us to the boat landing (at about 9:30pm) where after about another 15 minutes by boat we pulled up to the cabin.

The crowd for the weekend was larger than usual.  In addition to Juice and I were three Bob's, three mom's and and three son's.  Ages ranged from 11 months to about 80 times that.  It was a good crowd with some old friends and also some new faces.

Saturday morning brought the first of three big breakfasts for the weekend....pancakes, sausage, juice, tea, etc.  Then fishing.  The plan was to split the group up and Juice and I decided to take the portage/canoeing option.  For those of you who need lessons in how to gracefully turn around in a canoe seat, do not ask us....to make the story short, we had to use our backup shoes, socks, pants and shirts while we let the others dry out.  At least it happened in only a foot or two of water next to shore.  (I'm sure later on we were in over 50 feet of water with plenty of gear with us).  The fishing you ask?  Excellent.  An 18" smallmouth along with a few others in the 16"+ range.  Probably a total of 3 dozen or more in about 3 hours.  Then a paddle back to the cabin for a late lunch/dinner.  The other crew caught some lake trout for dinner.....so the cooking began.

A great way to prep trout....it sounds odd, but it is excellent....is to boil bite sized pieces of it in 7up.  Add some seasoning salt and it is like candy.

The remaining trout was grilled with lemon and onions and along with some simple salad and a lasagna, dinner was served.

After dinner at a cabin with no electricity, the sun dictates when the day is over.  Coleman lanterns were lit, the loon calls were heard for a little while and all were asleep by about 10:00.  It was a good day.

To be continued....

What was the best way to spend $8 last night?  Well, other than on a winning powerball ticket and a bottle of cheap champagne to celebrate with (and I'm pretty sure I didn't buy my ticket in Nebraska) - I'd have to say that Dueling Pianos at the Tap Room was the way to go.

Unbelievable stuff....I've seen a dueling pianos show in a little bar in Paris (not that Paris....I'm talking about the hotel in Vegas) and last night at the Tap Room blew that one away.  Not to mention the at least $5 difference in drink prices between Duluth and Vegas....

If you're a Dueling Pianos virgin then I'm not gonna ruin any of it for ya, but I'll just say that you need to check it out.....as long as your musical tastes are not solely polka or classical, you'll leave at the end of the night looking for a schedule to see when the next time the guys come to town.

And if you're wondering....they're back at the Tap Room on March 25th -- I'll be there

A small part of my Friday night....ok, who am I kidding....a large part of my Friday night was spent at the usual spot, Jon and Juice's apartment, watching whatever we could find on cable to avoid the Olympic "sports" of ice dancing, skeleton and so on.

So while avoiding the men's ski jumping qualifiying runs, I picked up the brand new SI swimsuit issue (to read the articles of course).  Juice, who at the time was reading the other current issue of SI, decides he wants to trade magazines....so, he then says:

"Toss it to me like a football"

So, I fling it across the room to him....well, like a football.  Then, what does the Polock say....

"No, not like a football.....like an egg."

Ahh yes.....cause it is very easy to confuse those two items.  Little does he know that I would probably 'toss' an egg at him in the same way I 'tossed' the swimsuit issue at him.

Entertainment for all?  Well no, but for us (Jon and I)....damn hilarious.