May 2nd...
We woke up and we were still in Las Vegas! Whoo hoo. Erich isn't fond of Las Vegas. I like it--but only if someone is with me. (And to think I was actually contemplating going on this trip alone... That would have been such a bummer.) Anyway, we headed out and had a quick breakfast at Starbuck's in the mall next to the hotel (between the Aria and the Cosmopolitan).
Following that, I'm not sure how it was decided, but we were planning on going up and down the strip so I could gamble. Erich thought for sure I was going to be lucky and win big like I had in New Orleans. I just wasn't feeling the mojo, but went anyway. Somehow our first stop was NEW YORK, NEW YORK (how did we skip the casinos in between? I don't even remember now...).
Inside New York, New York, I found a couple of different Wonka machines. I won some more money--whoo hoo!
But, like I said, I just wasn't "feeling it"... Undeterred, Erich led us on to EXCALIBUR...
Nothing.
So we headed over to the LUXOR...
And...NOTHING again.
We made our way back along the strip, heading for the MGM GRAND...
I didn't even stop to try my luck there. It was HOT and we were tired from all of the walking already. But we pushed on...
Erich wanted to take a nap and so I decided to Lyft over to meet someone who is on the Movie Poster website I frequent named Rich. Rich has a ton of posters and has auctions frequently. It was nice to meet him. We chatted about an hour, he showed me around, gave me posters I had won in an auction a while back and showed me some of the good stuff in his personal collection.
I didn't want to stay away too long. Erich only naps for a half hour or so...so even though I considered Lyft-ing over to Frankie's tiki bar for a drink, I decided I'd wait for Erich to go with me and thought I'd better get back. When I got back to the room, Erich was watching reruns of "Family Ties" or something. Huh? He still hadn't taken his nap. UGH! Okay then, I'd go off and entertain myself while he sat in the hotel room with his reruns... Blah!
I went looking for the Taco Bell we had heard about and talked about at work. It had recently opened on the strip and you could get married there (!?) for $600. Zowie! I saw the Taco Bell sign, but not the Taco Bell. Hmm. I thought it must be located somewhere within the Miracle Mile Shops attached to the Planet Hollywood casino---where the Taco Bell sign was hanging. So I went in and looked and looked and looked. I also saw the Fat Tuesday daiquiri bar, with the alcoholic Slurpee-like cocktails, just like in New Orleans. So I stopped and got one to drink while I walked...
No sign of Taco Bell. So, I ventured into the Planet Hollywood casino and wasted some time playing games...
No luck...but I really hadn't expected there to be.
I decided to retrace my steps outside and try to find that dang Taco Bell. I finally found it.
I didn't see anything anywhere about weddings being available there...but aside from that, the place looked nothing like a Taco Bell. It was also selling merchandise (t-shirts, towels, etc.) and served alcohol! WHAT!? Yep, there were beer taps and more of the daiquiri machines. So, of course, I had to have an alcoholic beverage from Taco Bell while I checked the whole place out. Despite having an upstairs portion and a patio, it was NOT that big. Where the heck would you even have a wedding if you wanted to get married there?
Still no word from Erich...and I had nothing to do. I should have gone to Frankie's or found something touristy to do...but I expected Erich to call at any time. So I wandered some more...venturing into PARIS.
There was a camera crew outside of PARIS. No idea what they would be filming.
There was a woman at the slots in a bridal veil. Alone. My guess is that her groom-to-be gave her a big stack of quarters and left her there, saying he'd be right back...but that was 40 years ago or so and she is still waiting (maybe hoping for a Taco Bell wedding?). I do love the beer sitting next to her. Nice touch.
Erich finally called. We planned to meet for dinner. I had spotted a restaurant I thought looked good (but it turned out that it wasn't) back at the Miracle Mile Shops. So he said he'd meet me there.
This is the place where we ate. We dined on the "patio" (which is inside the mall--it just looks outside). It was not great...just okay. Oh well.
I think I had, at one point, $500 in my wallet that I had won. After buying dinner both nights and wasting my afternoon aimlessly playing games, I had pretty much lost it all. But that's okay. I more or less broke even. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel...
The next day we'd be leaving Las Vegas...and taking a ride to literally the top secret gates of...(But you'll have to wait and see).
Stay Tuned! (Or jump to the next section HERE.)
CHEERS!
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