georoc01's blog: "Vegas"

Hopped down to Vegas to see Coldplay last night. A great show and worth the trip. First of all, even with all the talk of a recession, I certainly didn't see any slowdown in Vegas. There may be some good deals to get in hotel rates these days, but don't expect it to be slow. The whole town was hopping this weekend, starting with the oversold flights. Once we got there, I was staying at the Monte Carlo where they had no open rooms till 3pm. No space at the pool area, I ended up having lunch in the brew pub. The food was good as usual. Tables were all packed, with $10 minimums for those that wanted to gamble. For Dinner, we ate over at the Chinese Wok at the MGM Grand. At 6pm, there was a 45 minute wait for a table. We had time, so we had a drink at the bar and watched a little UFC before eating. The Sushi and chinese were both good. Not at the top of my favorites, but certainly not bad either. Then it was off to the concert. They had two opening acts. The first was a keyboardist who played as a one man band. He had a video show running, but given that we were to the side of the stage, not directly in front of it, we couldn't see it. Next up was Shearwater, who reminded me of an early U2. Clearly of irish descent, there was a celtic rock sound to their music. Sounded good enough that I will probably need to check it out on Itunes. Coldplay was excellent. It was the first time I had seen them and they didn't dissapoint. The opened with the initial songs on their new album the instrumental then to their new hit. From there, they played 'Clocks' and then the hit parade started. They ended the show with Yellow, followed by a couple of lesser known encores. Coldplay reminds me of the music I grew up on in the 80's. Complex rythmns, pleasing melodic tones based upon some simple chord structures. Words are secondary to the sound. Based upon what I have heard and seen of their first three albums, I am looking forward to number four when they get back to recording again. Flight home was hellish. When its so hot in both Vegas and Denver, coupled with Monsoonal winds, the weather can make the trip pretty rough, and today it was. I couldn't wait to get home. It was a good weekend. Looking forward to the next one!

Yesterday we had four football games, and being in Vegas, the place to watch them in the sports books. The screens are huge and you have people from all over the country rooting for their favorite team. I watched the Packers/Lions game at Cesears, the Cowboys/Jets game at Ballys and the Colts/Falcons and USC/Arizona St game at the Excalibur and Mandalay Bay. I like Cesears the best, but all of them are very similar. Large rooms with lots of big screens and comfy chairs. As far the foodie in me. Mesa Grill at Cesaers is still one of my favorite places to eat in this town. Had lunch there yesterday and dinner last night at the Border Grill at Mandalay Bay. Another place we ate at this trip was a sandwich shop between Ballys and Paris. Its getting to be time to catch the flight back home. It was a great trip and I'm sure I'll be back next year. But its back to reality..

Today I gambled a bit, did some shopping and caught a show over at the Rio. Gambling continued with Three Card poker and video poker. Both went well today. Shopping came from hitting up the Rio for some 1/2 price World Series of Poker Merchandies. Some good deals there. The other is Fry's Electronics, a store that West Coasters know but doesn't exist up in Colorado. Tonight we went to the Rio. Had dinner at Antonelli's resturaunt (Southern Italian) and then went to see Penn & Teller. Penn & Teller put on a consistently good show. They do vary the show a little but the finale is always the Magic Bullet trick. They throw out some of the rants you would find on their showtime show BS, but they tone it down as they consider their show a family show. Having stayed at the Rio, its still one of my favorite places to go to. Last year Prince turned it into his private nightclub. Currently the Seafood Buffet is under renovation and a new BBQ places is coming as well. While not on the strip, its still a good option for those looking for a nice place to stay.

Well, I flew into Vegas for Thanksgiving. My sister and I find this to be a convenient place to meet for the holiday given that we both live out west. Rates are cheap. I think my rate for teh 3 nights at Ballys was $50. Of course, traveling this time of year can really suck. I escaped Colorado just before the snow hit, and still had a 30 minute delay in getting in First thing was that the place where I normally check in at the airport is gone. MGM still has theirs, but Harrahs check in has checked out. Then rental cars have moved to a central location off site on Warm Springs. I did eventually get my car though and made it over to my hotel. After a quick discussion with my sis, she headed to bed and I off to gamble. Had a great night playing 3 card poker. A simple game where you get 3 cards and make your best poker hand with it. I hit trips tonight. Good start to my trip.