The Tournament of Boogie...

To say Saturday was a busy day for me would be like saying hippies kind of liked drugs. (Sorry if I offend any hippies out there. Not my intent... (but you have to admit I get my message across here...))

Anyway... The day started off in outstanding fashion when GF and I had breakfast around 11am at Hash House a Go Go. I know I say a lot of places are like my fav restaurants, but this is definitely on the short list. The atmosphere is groovy, prices reasonable, and the food OUTSTANDING! I look forward to introducing some friends to this place later in the month of August. After only making a dent in a flapjack the size of my tire, it was off to the Fantastik Indoor Swap Meet (warning... annoying music if you follow that link). We shopped... we laughed... We purchased stuff you can't find at the mall... at least not at these prices. After making a full lap of the place a nap was in order. It was going to be a late night and no sleep would make things difficult.

Well... I didn't get to sleep... but at least one of us did. I had a couple of errands that needed to be run and unfortunately they could not wait. Red Bull would have to give me wings. The Vodka and Jager would serve to clip them I was sure.

Before we knew it, the time had come for us to depart. With a truck full of GF, Mel, Aaron, and myself we headed to the Excalibur to see the Tournament of Kings. This is one of those shows that I knew would be incredibly cheesy, but I would never forgive myself if I moved away from Vegas without seeing it. I am not sure if it was the company... or the booze before hand... but we all really enjoyed the show. We walked away with our voices a little hoarse from cheering our guy (we were in the "Spain" section) and our stomachs full of some reasonably good food. I wouldn't write home about the food, but it was decent. If you have kids, this is a great family friendly show to check out.

With that show under our belt, it was time to head to Mandalay for destination number two for the evening. And before you ask... no. We didn't drive. We took the tram that conveniently runs between casinos. Our travel time turned out to be a little shorter than anticipated so we got to the fish bar (I call it the "fish bar"... Have no idea what the real name is) before the rest of our party. Hm... what to do... what to do... Oh yeah. Buy a round of drinks and nearly spit them out when the bartender tells us how much we owe. I know I should be used to it by now, but damn; drinks are expensive on the strip!

Over the next hour or so, the rest of our party arrived and we headed over to the House of Blues for Boogie Knights. If you know me... you know I have been to this show too many times to count, but most of the rest of our group had not seen them. Luke was the only person who really embraced the experience though I have to say. He got into character and wore a just horrible polyester green shirt and a peace sign around his neck. It takes guts to wear that out in public. Haha... Sorry Luke... Had to say it. :-) You actually pulled it off. Really...

While waiting in line to pay our cover, a HOB worker approached us and talked us into buying bottle service. If you are unfamiliar with the term "bottle service", here is an explanation.

Helpful Tip: What does the term "Bottle Service" mentioned below mean? A
euphemism for a relatively new Las Vegas phenomena adopted from Europe and New York. In general it means, do not expect a table or couch seat unless you and up to 4 of your friends forks over a few hundred dollars for VIP entry and a bottle
of your favorite liquor served tableside by a host. A few bar seats are
sometimes available as first-come-first-served.

This was a first for me to actually buy, and it was a little pricey; but having a table where we could all sit and hang out was worth it I think. The bottle of Sky vodka was $200 (with unlimited mixers), and honestly... drinks could have easily ended up costing that much.

This is the point in the blog where I will stop with the details... I will say this... Everybody seemed to have a really good time and there are a few stories that I am sure will live on for years when this group gets together again. Not all involved will be able to listen with head held high though. Haha... And no. I was good for a change. 0:-) It was a good time though and I once again got my fill of Disco music with a modern beat for at least two weeks.

The evening finally wound down and we all parted ways somewhere in the late morning. Headed home, took a shower, and settled into bed about the time the sun was starting to peek over the horizon. You just haven't lived (in Vegas) until you see the sun come up on either a Saturday or Sunday morning.

And just for the record, I was fully functional on Sunday... even if breakfast happened sometime around 3 in the afternoon. :-)

--C

**Additional Note: It has been pointed out to me that I did indeed get a nap early in the afternoon while we were at GF's apartment. So sorry for that omission.