Day Three....

I had contemplated setting a wake up call the night before since today I was going to be checking out of Cosmopolitan, and shacking up with Cory downtown. It wouldn't have mattered. I couldn't sleep much past 8:00 anyway.

I get up and spend a good amount of time gathering my things and getting cleaned up. I had the concierge make a 10:30 reservation at Tableau at Wynn as I've heard good things regarding their brunch selections. It was between them and Bouchon at Venetian. In the end, I opted to try something new.

Once the room's put together, I taxi over to Wynn. I have my bags checked, and find the restaurant with no problem. I'm seated on time and start to scan over the menu. It doesn't take long for me to find my selection. I settled on the lobster eggs benedict. Sounds like a winner to me. To kick things off I opt for a watermelon juice.

Always a nice way to walk into Wynn.

Or to walk out if you're leaving.

Menu.

Tablescape.

Appetizers.

Entrees.

Signature items, sides, and drinks.

Watermelon juice.

The view to my left.

Straight ahead.

Out by the pool area.

To the right.

Now we're talking.

More lobstery goodness.

GONE.

The watermelon juice was fine, but it reminded me of when you bite too close to the rind of the fruit and you get that slightly bitter taste. It had a hint of that in there, which I was a little sad by. But it was still refreshing despite that flaw.

Now the lobster eggs benedict. Can you not see the pictures up there? Yeah, as you can probably guess, it was fantastic. Perfectly poached eggs and the biscuit had a nice amount of chive in them, so it was a very filling and nice meal. The service was a little bit slower than I'd expect, but not painfully so. In the end, I think it was close to another $50 breakfast when tax and tip were taken into account.

I leave and get my bags, and have a cab hailed. The attendant asks me if I'm heading to the airport. I say "No, instead I'm heading to the crown jewel of Las Vegas, the El Cortez." He laughs and we chat for a split second about the re-done rooms. In short order, I'm back at El Co, and have Cory take me up to his room where I begin to unpack for the night. Rob was lucky enough for me to bring down his Patron bottle instead of leaving it at Cosmopolitan. I snap a few pics of the room, mix up a round, and we're on our way downstairs.

I have a magic trick....you see these cups....first they're empty.....

My bed for the evening.

"is he looking at me?"

"Huh? Me?"

Who wants to marry a hundredaire?!

All of our crap.

Sink and safe.

The view. It's no Bellagio fountains, but it's got style....I think.

...and now they're full!

We meet up with Theodore in the lobby, and wander outside. Cory and I decide it's time to show him the Western. "The who?" he says. This is where I start to (intentionally) try to freak Rob out a little bit. We each take our regular money, and leave about 95% of it in a secured pocket, and take the other 5% in an easily accessible pocket. Basically that's our "Western" cash. If you lose, that's it. No more digging around for your "real" money. I continue on by telling him it's probably best to take off his wedding ring, and watch. "Oh, and don't use your blackberry. If people see you using a blackberry, they'll think you have money." By now he tells us he's a little nervous, and I say "well, that's probably a good sign." It was all in fun, but he didn't know it was at his expense.

It was decided to play a little blackjack so we all buy in. Cory and Theodore buy in for $20, while me (being the big spender that I am) buy in for $40. It's a $2 minimum table. If you're betting $5 or more, then blackjacks pay at 6:5, anything less and they're even money. I chuckled at myself for playing such a stupid game.

But in any case, we let the cards fly. You would think by our play we had no concept of basic strategy. Okay, when I say "we" I really mean myself. My $2 bets quickly became boring, so I started playing two hands at $4 a piece. I know! The pit boss was saying "Look out for this fucking guy!" At least in her head. It didn't take too long before I was dealt a blackjack. Since it was even money anyway, I opted to double down. (first time ever!) The dealer ended up busting, and I was very proud of my win. A few hands later I was dealt two twenties. The dealer was showing a 6 up. Now was my chance. I split both hands, and ended up with more hands to split. I figured "why not, I've come this far." In the end all of my hands were in the 16-19 range. And as luck would have it the dealer busted. We erupted in laughter. Now I can say I've doubled on a blackjack (and won) and split tens (and won). I think I turned my $40 into $85 and we left in short order.

Rob wanted to take a picture of us walking out of the Western, but being the smooth mother fucker that he is, dropped his camera on the concrete. It made an almost sexy sound when bouncing. CLINK CLANK! The camera still worked....but the lens just wouldn't retract. Whoops.

We make our way back to Fremont street, and Cory and I wonder if Joe would be working at Binions. We're in the mood for a beer anyway, so we decide to check.

Now, I'm not sure how we manage to always attract some odd ball attention (I think Cory's shaved head summons it) but we soon ran into the dude you see on the left.

His name is Too Tall. And the sonofabitch was pretty tall. Taller than I, and I'm easily 6'3". We chat for a moment, and I comment on how nicely ironed his matching pants and shirt are. (he looked better than me, damn it)

He's giving us the run down of "hey, you know what you guys need to do while in Vegas? You gotta get yo' dick wet!" At this point all three of us married guys are like "uhhhhh......heh....yeah.........man...." He proceeds with "what you do....is go to the bathroom, and spill some water on it from a bottle.... Then you can go home and tell all yo' buddies how you got yo' dick wet in Vegas! Bwahahahaha!"

We let out a chuckle, but not a genuine laugh. He cracked some other jokes, and then came the approach. Asking if we had a few dollars to spare so he could buy some breakfast. I thought a picture with the dude would be worth that alone. So, I turn my back, count out a few singles, then turn around and ask if it'd be cool to take a picture with him. He was all over it. I'm not sure if you notice, but as Rob snaps the picture, my right hand is actually covering my right pocket, where I happen to have most of my money at the time. You can never be too sure. We say our good byes and continue to Binions.

We settle into the Bullpen up at the bar. Mark was working, but we asked if Joe was on the shift today. Turns out he was just on break, so we'd get to see the bartender with all the stories in a few moments.

The first round to be purchased was.....was.......ah, hell, I don't remember. It was one of their specialty beers on tap. We dick around for a little while, and then Joe comes out. Cory and I figured he wouldn't remember us right away, but we tell him "we're the guys that were playing the alphabet drinking game in May of 2009. He says "oh yeah, you guys were sitting down here" pointing to the section in front of him. Well, I'll be damned......

Theodore / Rob asks him "So Joe, tell me a cool story." Joe proceeds to give us the story of how when he had just started, he was 23 years old, and about to be married....what seemed to be a wealthy heavier set lady comes into the bar and seems to take a liking to Joe. He says he would guess her to be around her mid forties. As the night progresses, she lets him know where she's staying and what room number, and to meet her at her place after he gets off work. Well, what's a young 23 year old man supposed to do when a wealthy restaurant owner wearing a huge diamond from Florida throws herself at him? I'll tell ya what he does!

.......................Ya know what.....no, I won't tell ya..... If you want the rest of the story, you'll have to talk to Joe at Binions. Tell him the ugly guys from Omaha who were playing the alphabet drinking game sent ya. He'll probably remember us then.... A little cliff hanger for you. ;)

Our beers.

Crystal skull vodka from Dan Akroyd.

Rob thinking "how do I fix my god damn camera?"

Cory hits a flush holding one card.

Rumor has it I made a few sports bets....

The boys decide to make a bet on the Kentucky Derby, as well as the Pacquiao vs Mosley fight. We had no damn idea what we were doing. I think I picked the ten horse to win, place or show at $6 a piece. For the fight, I went with Pacquiao winning the fight from round 5 through 12. The straight up odds were horrible. It was something like "bet $50 to win $54." Instead, I went for the prop bets. $5 bet each round 5 through 12. If he won by knockout, tko, or DQ in any of those rounds, I'd make a small profit. If he won in the earlier rounds I bet, my margin would be larger. Like I said, we have no idea what we're doing.....

Around this time, Pebbles and T (from vegasjonesing.com) were texting Cory, and were in the area. They joined us for some drinks, and it didn't take too long until we were all starting to have a good time.

T had asked me if I turned in my room key from Cosmopolitan, or if he could have it to gain access to the pool. I thought I had it in my pocket but it turns out I didn't. I apologized for not bringing it with me, but he said not to worry.

After a few more minutes (and maybe another drink) I thought to myself that the room key I had surely was in my room at the El Cortez..... I tell everyone that I'm going to go check for it, and I'd be right back. I start to make the trip back to the room.

I see "Too Tall" standing with his hands behind his back in front of one of the convenience shops along the way.... Still talking to people, and still looking pretty jovial. Since I'm holding a tall ass glass in one hand, I was going to give him a douchey fist pump as I pass. I hold out my fist, but he doesn't return the favor. Then he flashes the nice new pair of silver bracelets he has, which are preventing him from moving his hands in front of him. I say "Too Tall, what'd you do?" That's when I glance to my left and I see two of Las Vegas' finest walking towards us, and looking right at me. That was my queue to get the hell out of town and left it at that. Judging by the store the cops were walking into, my best guess would be that he was shoplifting there, and wasn't too good about it. Come on man....I gave you four bucks! That's enough to buy a snickers and a sandwich!

We're gonna get shirts made that read "Free Too Tall!" Hit me up if you want to split the cost. :)

I get back to the room, and luckily the card worked on the lock. I managed to get in, and as luck would have it, I found my room key that I neglected to turn in. Score. I mix myself a little cocktail (as you see below) and started my adventure back to Binions.

While on the walk back, I was seriously considering taking the Zipline for it would cut my journey back to Binions considerably. But since I'm 90% sure they wouldn't let me take my drink with me, and I'd have to walk up a few flights of stairs to get to it, I declined. I just kept walking along.

I eventually do make it back to Binions, and T thanks me for the card. I know he enjoys the pool at Cosmopolitan (I did, and I burn in florescent light!) so it was a small gift I could give to him at no cost to anyone. I hope he's using it as I type up this report.

The rest of the stay at Binions was spent with great conversation and cigar smoking by the boys. I brought some cigars from a small shop in Omaha, and we meant to smoke them on my terrace at Cosmopolitan, but never got around to it. I suppose a cigar bar is a good a place as any to light up a decent stick. I know we got 'em for around $10 a piece in Omaha. Maybe my buddy Mr. Scotch can tell me if that's a decent deal or not by the label.

The boys lighting up cigars. "Now that's class."

Me getting goofy with Pebbles and T.

God damn photobombers......

Cory getting in on the picture action.

Cigar....and manly drink next to it.

R, any thoughts? Ever have these?

Apparently this is downtown's largest hotodog condiment cart.

I'd try a Binion Bulldog.

Mmmmm...bacon....(even if in bits).

Been there, done that.

And the rest.

I felt it was a really decent picture of all of us, and it deserved it's own little section.

Yes, that puts us all in the same league as the thieving "Too Tall" above but you get my drift. I can't really attest for Pebbles and T, but I know the boys and I had a really great time chatting them up again.

We covered topics from sports bets, health, gym routines, to drinks, gambling and shows.

Where else in the world can you find all sorts of people, with all sorts of different interests, that can at least find something in common to talk about in the great city of Las Vegas.

Thanks again guys, we had a great time seeing you, and hope you're reading this while in the wonderful city we all enjoy together, Las Vegas.

We part ways from our European friends and quickly use our phones to realize there's a tournament starting shortly at Fitzgeralds. We wander that way and I manage to take a few pictures along the way. The three of us sign up for the freeze-out tournament. The manager basically let us pick where we'd like to be seated since it's likely only going to be a two table tournament. We have time for one drink on the Vue bar, and we shuffle up and deal.

Elvis and I walking the red carpet.

Ed Hardy.....douche bag.

Rums all around out on the patio.

$7k in starting chips. Let the games begin.

The tournament wasn't anything spectacular for any of us. So, I'll spare most of the details there. I did move all in with an A-10 (grrr) and was called down by a hippy Santa with an A-Q. I apologized for the bad beat he was about to take, only to actually spike a ten on the river. I felt bad about that - but only for a moment. My end came when I went all in on the flop trying to hit a flush - which ultimately failed to show. Theodore or Cory didn't make it into the money either.

We all bought into a no limit cash game that was going on, to try to recoup our losses. There were some friendly players at the table, but there was this one bald dickhead with a goatee, that went all in before the flop. I told said dickhead that I'm thinking about calling him without even looking at my cards..... In the end I couldn't pull the trigger, so I looked and I had pocket aces.....NOW I called, and the sonofabitch from Omaha happened to hit a ten on the flop which went nicely with the pocket tens he was holding. I think I remember his name but I'm not going to do him the courtesy of posting it here. He knows who he is. (Screw you, Cory!)

As we get up to leave, I order a round of double kamikaze drinks. The bartender says "If you take care of me, I'll take care of you." And in hindsight, I think that's total bullshit. He made three drinks at about $5 a piece. Were they stronger than anything else we drank that night? Um, no. Was it worth the tip I left him? Certainly not. One more loss for me this trip.

The stomachs start rumbling again, and we're in search of food. We scan over Mermaids for some deep fried goodness, but the line was too long for our liking. Instead we settle at Binions, and order up. Cory and I opt for some cheeseburgers, while Rob (Theodore) goes for the cheesesteak.

Shots that I over paid for.....

Typical downtown Elivs impersonator.

More of the same.

A huge crossdresser I saw. Maybe they were on their way from Cosmo.....Oooooooh! Zing!

Binions Jalapeno poppers.....

The burger Cory and I got.

Theodore's food.....

Theodore wanted an action shot....

Cory says "Time to EAT!"

I believe that's my burger.....

And that's my burger drenched in pepper and Tabasco....

The food came out after what seemed like an eternity. The jalapeno "poppers" were actually rather good. It was a nice way to clear the sinuses and to wake up the palette. The cheeseburger was a perfect "drunk food" and I put toppings on it I don't normally touch. My whole thing of onions went on there, along with a healthy dousing of tabasco with pepper. (pepper speeds up the metabolism!) Cory was just glad to have something in his mouth that once went "moo" other than Theodore.

Once we finished with our three thousand calorie meals, Cory was cool enough to take care of the bill. Thank you again, fine sir.

At this point we wander back to the El Cortez and hang out in Cory's room for a bit. We couldn't really decide on what to do, so Rob ventures downstairs. Cory and I were more than happy to just relax for a moment. We weren't in the mood to get plastered, gambling had kicked us all in the nuts, we just ate....and I CERTAINLY wasn't going back to the Glitter Gulch to see semi naked women. I half considered going to a premium club for that, but in the end, I really didn't want to leave my room. In my mind, my vacation was done..... I'm spent...... Cory and I snuggle for a little bit ("Those aren't pillows!") and call it a night.