My Birthday in Vegas

My birthday was on the 18th, so I decided to hang out in Vegas after WebmasterWorld and invite a couple of friends to town. I stayed at the Monte Carlo, which is actually one of the best deals on the Strip. I think the only other name brand hotel in the area for less money was Bally’s, Luxor and Excalibur. Those places are getting a bit dated and worn, but the Monte Carlo still feels relatively new.

The show pretty much ended on Thursday, so I spent Friday working from my hotel room. Andy came out so we hung out a bit. On Friday night my friends Phil and Chris flew into town and met with us at Caesars. We hung out at Shadow, the bar with the cool shadow of the dancer. Then we had diner at Nero’s. Nero’s was good, but more of the traditional Las Vegas style dinner. I had the prime rib.

We then made our way over to the Dane Cook Tourgasm show, which was really good. That lasted until about 1:30, so we headed back to the hotel. But, we decided we needed to hit a couple more bars, so we went to Coyote Ugly at the New York, New York and then to the Houdini lounge at Monte Carlo.

The next day we got up at around 11am and headed over the Art of Shaving for a shave. That is always fantastic. I get to feel my face like it hasn’t felt since I was 12. And I can never get out of there without buying a lot of stuff to take home. If you’re a guy not using Art of Shaving, you need to try it. Their products are unreal. They seem expensive, but I bought a set 3 months ago for $100, and I’m not even half way done with it. So you figure it’s about $200 per year to shave with the best products you can get for shaving.

We then headed back to the hotel to watch the Iowa State and Michigan game. I went to my room and took care of some emails. We then hooked up and headed out to lunch at the Chinese/Japanese place in the Monte Carlo. Their sushi kind of sucks, but their General Tso Chicken is pretty good.

After lunch we headed over to the Palms to hang out and look around. It was nice, and it appears they must just give free rooms to hot girls, because the place is packed with them. I have been amazed with their marketing for the Palms. From the Real World deal, to the Girls Next Door show, they have really gotten themselves known for being the cool hotel in Vegas for young people. Now they have their fantasy suites, which I thought about getting, but the price was about 3 times what I imagined†¦and I imagined a lot. I would guess that they are kind of like box seats at a Bulls game. They are all companies or extremely wealthy people.

After hanging out a bit, we made our way up to Alize for dinner. This was truly the best restaurant I have ever been to in Vegas, and one of the top 5 in the country. I had the lobster bisque for starters, then on to roasted duck wrapped in apple flavored bacon with walnuts. It was outstanding! But then I ordered the coconut soufflà ©. I have had soufflà © before, but I am now convinced that they didn’t do it right, because this tasted like nothing I had ever had before. It was amazing. If you go to Vegas, you must check this out.

We then headed up to Ghost Bar. There was a line, but we had VIP passes, so we got to mock the riff-raff as we headed straight up. It was about 10:30, so it wasn’t too crowded yet, but within an hour it was packed. It’s expensive to be cool at Ghost Bar. First, if you’re not a VIP, plan on waiting in line like a schmuck for a while. Then when you do get upstairs, if you don’t plan on buying a bottle for a minimum of $325, plan on not being able to site down and being forced to walk around like a schmuck. So unless you’re willing to spent over $600 for a couple hours at a bar (like the idiot I am), plan on looking like a schmuck.

After all that, I really didn’t feel like Ghost Bar was the place for me. Chris and I wanted to head out, but Phil insisted that we get a bottle and stay for a few hours while he got hammered. Now on thing I can point out is if you buy a bottle, hot girls will talk to you. They will talk to you for the full time it takes to pour themselves a free drink at your table.

I finally left Phil to his drinking at around 2:00 am and headed downstairs where I could actually hear myself think. Phil finally stumbled down with Chris and we headed home in a cab. I had to be up in the morning to head to the airport.

All in all, it wasn’t a great birthday. I would like to have squeezed more into the evening than site around and watch Phil drink himself into a stupider state than usual. But when you invite friends out, your evening turns into a democracy driven event. I think next year I may leave Phil at home.

This year I’m buying a new house. The Medford real estate market is interesting, but not as attractive as Ashland.
[tags]las vegas, palms, alize, ghost bar, monte carlo, webmaster world, caesers, neros, dane cook, tourgasm, art of shaving [/tags]