Vegas, baby. Vegas.

Ahhh, who can forget those immortal words of Trent in Swingers as he and Mike drive away in the desert oasis that is Las Vegas? I think that the thoughts and feelings implied by this line encapsulate a good portion of Generations X and Y’s perceptions of Vegas. We all see the movies with high rollers risking thousands on a single roll at the craps table or doubling down on a five figure bet. In reality the vast majority of us are like Mike in the movie. As much as we’d like to be at that high minimum table, we can only afford to lose $300 and that doesn’t last very long when you have to double down on 11.

Such was the case for Megan and I and our friends Sarah and Brandon when we journeyed to Vegas last weekend for a short vacation and break from the kids. If we had to identify a common theme from the trip, it was probably the constant search for gambling that gave us a good “vibe”. One would think it wouldn’t be hard to find this, given that there’s a casino on every corner more than willing to take our money. However, when you’re just learning craps, do you really want to put $10 on the Pass Line with more laying on the odds or come bets? Not really for us.

And some people swear by Blackjack dealt from a shoe and abhor the auto-shufflers. Ask these people if they’ve ever gone through a shoe and a half of hands with the dealer getting 90% face cards or 10s on their visible cards and see if they agree. Or try playing roulette without being willing to put five or six times the minimum bet out for each spin. Not much chance you’re going to hit anything at all there my friend.

Even the couldn’t miss bet of the weekend fell through. Sidney Ponson was scheduled to start for the Royals for the first time in about three weeks. He was facing a hot Angels pitcher, which didn’t really matter because it’s the Royals. We all put money against the home team (we ought to get something for our misery). What do we end up with? A rainout and no chance to place a bet the next day because we were leaving.

Such was our luck with the gambling portion of the trip. No big winners, though there were some good hot streaks that negated some of the overall bad luck.

Luckily, our restaurant choices panned out much better for all involved than did our gambling. Enoteca San Marco and Bouchon at the Venetian, Nero’s at Caesar’s Palace (according to Brandon and Sarah), and In-n-Out Burger were the highlights as were the microbrews at Ellis Island Brewery/BBQ/Casino (how cool is that combination?)

San Marco and Bouchon had excellent though not inexpensive wine lists. Bouchon had the best French fries Megan and I had ever eaten and San Marco had some great appetizers. Nero’s had a great deal on a set menu that Brandon and Sarah enjoyed. In-n-Out was In-n-Out. If you’ve never been go. If you have been you know what I mean.

There was also the normal randomness that you encounter in Vegas: walking into Caesar’s one evening just as the contestants for the Mrs. USA pageant arrived, getting rained on walking back from Ellis Island, eating flourless chocolate cake for breakfast…

Despite the bad gambling luck it was a really nice trip. Traveling with friends was good since it’s something we’ve rarely been able to do. We missed Danny, but not so much that we couldn’t enjoy ourselves. And I got to get my Vegas fix. Megan thinks that should last me for a few years. I’m not so sure about that.