Well, let me start off by saying that after thinking it over, my parents and I have come to the determination that spending Christmas in Las Vegas was not one of our better ideas.
The flight out to Vegas was full, and I had never before felt more like I was in a cattle car. The seats were uncomfortable, and I couldn’t sleep worth a damn. The hotel was nice to start with, as they put us in the south tower instead of the east tower that we normally stay in. Mom and Dad were rather miffed, though, as their room didn’t have any easy chairs in it, while mine had two. (In retrospect, we should have carried one from mine to theirs.) Also, the elevators were rather wonky; I swear that only one of the three was working the entire time.
Our evenings were actually rather boring after the first night. We figure the reason is that seeing as we’re not hardcore gamblers, we usually entertain ourselves by going to a couple of shows while we’re in Vegas. This time, though, we only went to one: Wayne Newton’s holiday show. I actually found it rather entertaining, and wouldn’t mind going to see his regular show. When my mom bought the tickets, she didn’t realize until after she booked them that the seats we got included a meet and greet with Newton after the show. That’s definitely one thing I’ll give Newton: he cares about his fans, and it’s obvious during the show and afterwards. The other two nights, we didn’t do much of anything, other than go to Fremont Street on Sunday night. We weren’t entirely impressed, though.
As far as gambling goes, I only hit the slots a couple of times, and that was just to kill time waiting on Mom and Dad. Even then, they were only penny slots. The rest of the time, I was playing a table game called Texas Hold Em Bonus, which I found to be rather enjoyable. I can’t say I was entirely lucky at it, but it was worth the cost of several hours of entertainment. I’ll definitely play it again. :-) Fortunately, I hear the casinos up in Edmonton have it, so if I get a chance to go I’ll give it a try.
On Sunday morning, Mom and Dad gave me gifts! I didn’t have a gift for Dad (though Mom had gotten him the one thing he DID want, which was Serenity on DVD), and I had bought pics of Mom with Wayne Newton as her gift. The gifts I got were both DVDs: Doctor Who – City of Death and Dracula – The Legacy Collection. However, when I got the latter one, my reaction was literally, “Cool! Thanks! … wait, why is Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster on the cover?” It turned out that while the sleeve was for the Dracula collection, the box inside was for the Frankenstein collection. We figure it got mispackaged. Mom’s already sent it back to Amazon for a replacement.
The sad thing is that, really, it didn’t really feel like Christmas. It just felt like another Las Vegas vacation. Not to mention that with only one show, it didn’t seem as fun. *shrug* It was an idea, and while I had some fun, we wouldn’t do this for Christmas again.
Actually, to be honest… Dad had the best idea: next time we want to go somewhere where we can just gamble, we’ll pile into the minivan and drive to Harrah’s in Lake Charles. It’ll cost less, not take as long to get there, and will be far more comfortable. :-)
Too bad you didn’t have more fun. But Wayne Newton! I’m jealous. I wanted what your dad did too – and got it! I had to buy it myself though. In fact, that was how we spent Christmas, watching Serenity on DVD. If you don’t have plans tomorrow, you can come join our celebrations at my house. Sean & Jinny are coming, so they can give you details. :)
Much as I would like to, I’m already committed to going to a NYE party some of my college friends are throwing. Maybe next time! :-)