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Las Vegas 2002 - Friday February 22 On Friday, we met at the suite and took these pictures before heading out for lunch- everyone was starving.
Above, Paul is laughing about having to pick bugers off his jacket.
The pictures I took of them standing in front of the window were not turning out (to much backlight) so I had them stand here instead.
As you can see, Frank caught a case of weird-eye, probably from the plane flight.
Todd being his usual grabby self. He was just dying to throw someone into the pool.
Shown here busting a move on Paul and Frank.
Coming through the woods, from the pool area.
You can rent a cabana tent, something we never got around to doing. I just can't see going to a place as exciting as Las Vegas and spending it just lying around in the sun. You can do that almost anywhere.
"Nothing like a good smoke...." Paul likes to have something to do with his hands, so he smokes. Nose picking would be a better habit. Preferably his own.
The weather was perfect while we were there. It wasn't to hot or cold.
A picture of our hotel, taken from the pool area.
"Farmer Frank! Don't do it! You have to much to live for! Just kidding! But throw that hat in the water!"
The Mirage Volcano, dormant during daylight hours.
This is a good picture of Paul and Frank. Why do people from the south wear baseball caps everywhere? I can always tell how close I am to Louisiana just by counting hats.
Paul and Frank, watching butterflies. Or something. Close up of the hats.
Grounds of the Mirage. I was hoping to get drunk enough to sleep out here at least one night, but it never happened.
"Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream..." Taken in front of the Mirage.
Looking past the Mirage volcano toward the Treasure Island.
Who put this naked man in front of Caesars Palace? There were about 30-40 old ladies standing behind me as I took this picture, all gawking and making rude comments. What I want to know is- are we really supposed to believe that Caesar ruled his country like this? Yeah, like this is him making a speech to the masses "Someday, all my subjects shall have clothes!"
This is Frank, who as you can tell really enjoyed hanging out at the Caesar statue. He didn't want to leave.
I don't know what Paul was looking at that made him so happy, but I can guess.
Inside Ceasars Palace, where there are many more stone people scantily clad.
The Trojan Horse. Todd verified for us all that it was not, repeat not, anatomically correct.
Frank, studying the directions to the remote control.
Todd, drilling Frank on the various Blackjack situations. I thought Todd was going to start slapping Frank around when he couldn't keep up.
Paul, "...but Lefty is the only one who quit using his cell phone while working at the Machine Shop..."
Frank, shown here with one of Paul's ciggs. I asked him to pose for this shot for his wife Teresa, who gave him instructions that he was not to drink, gamble, smoke, or get laid. But this is Las Vegas baby! Really though Frank did manage to keep all his promises, only having an occasional drink. None of us got drunk the entire trip, which was good because LV is not a place you want to be when you're feeling hung over and rotten.
"You know what's gross? When your granddaddy goes to kiss you good night and he sticks his tongue down your throat."
Why does the Bar at the Benihana at the Las Vegas Hilton use different glasses for the 2nd round of Mai Tias? It's evil. Some things are just not right. After all, we've come a long way.
Just our luck- we're seated at a table of 13 year old girls. We had as much in common to talk about as a turnip does to a wart. Maybe less even.
Frank, wasted on the effects of dark rum, fell down and burned his ear on the hot plate right after this picture was taken. I grabbed his head by the short hairs and pulled him off before he got any blisters.
After Benihana we went to Harrahs and saw SkinTight, a play for senior citizens who are considering facelifts.
Frank wasn't full after Benihana so we went to the all night cafe at Treasure Island where he ate again. Dang! That boy can eat like a starving horse. ****** OK! So there might have been a few lies told above. Here is what really happened this day: At 12:30 everyone shows up. Teresa calls less than 15 seconds of Frank walking in and keeps him on the phone for 20 minutes. At the same time, Paul jumps on his cell phone and starts talking to Sharon. It's like they came all this way just to talk to their wives. I forgot to break out the Champagne, got bored and started watching TV. Man! I wanted to make a toast or speech or something and instead everyone jumps on the phone with their spouses like they haven't seen or heard from them in 3 weeks. We went to the Mirage buffet, ate and then walked around the Mirage Casino, then the Pool, then Ceasars Palace, which was huge and confusing beyond belief. It’s like walking into one long dead end. You reach a certain point deep, deep in the belly of the casino where you realize the only option is backtracking 100% to get out. Found the shop that sells the $90 Ceasars Palace robes. I declined, thought they would look a little cooler. We managed to break free somehow, and found ourselves in a huge service alley that ran parallel to a service road. It was like we stepped off a busy movie set into the back lot and found ourselves on Mars. Came back to the Mirage so Todd could take a nap in Paul and Todd’s room. Paul came back up to my room but left after about an hour. I had told Todd I would call him by 8:30 P.M. so that we could head over to the Las Vegas Hilton for our Benihana reservation at the Benihana Village. Todd never did get to sleep, but he did try. There was just to much excitement in the air. We took a taxi over to the Las Vegas Hilton. Todd asked the driver all sorts of bizarre questions like he was Barbara Walters conducting a 20/20 special: "What is the college drug of choice in Las Vegas for
college-age kids with GPAs over 3.0?" The Benihana Village looks like a small collection of restaurants in the Las Vegas Hilton. We were interested in the Teppanaki Style of Dining, where the chef prepares your meal in front of you. There was a nice bar with lounge, a regular "sit down" type of restaurant, and and upstairs area where you'll find the traditional Benihana restaurant. It has a stream with foliage in the center, common area. We drank at the Benihana bar for an hour and then ate with 3 other girls, 2 of which looked about 13. It was good, but not as good as the Benihana Schaumburg or the Benihana Chicago. The Mai Tias even tasted a little different. Then we took a taxi to Harrah’s, and got our Skintight tickets, and went to the dancer show. I left a couple of times to get another drink. The show was OK, but didn't really hold my attention even though we had first row tickets (I made the reservations far in advance). The show should be priced a little lower- the theater was nowhere near capacity. At one point I felt my eyes getting really heavy and I looked over to my right and Paul looks like he is sleeping, and I look at Frank to my left and his eyes are all squinted and he looks like he half asleep also. I thought, this is great, these girls are 5 feet in front of us, busting their ass and we're nodding off right in front of them. We probably would have enjoyed the show a little more if we were not short on sleep, with tummies full of good Japanese food and potent Mia Tias. Even so, I should have stuck with my original idea of seeing the Midnight Fantasy at the Luxor because it was probably better. In spite of being tired, we went to Treasure Island and played slots for a little while, which sort of woke us up. The temperature outside was perfect. It got really late and we decided to grab a bite right there at the TI cafe. We went back to the Mirage where Todd went to his room to go to bed (he looked very tired) and Frank and Paul and I sat on the suite bed and talked until Frank said he had to get to sleep. He said he has been awake for over 23 hours. So he went into the bedroom, shut the door, and promptly crashed. Paul and I sat in front of the glass window in the dining room at the top of the Mirage and talked for an hour or so, until he got tired and went back to his room. I slept on the couch that night. Found out the next morning though that Paul (that wild man) didn't go back to his room, he went downstairs and out of the resort and onto the strip where he headed North to the Frontier, where he went in and played slots and actually made a bit of money. Paul amazed us all with his energy- it's like the pulse of the city became alive in him every night.
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