We arrived to Las Vegas shortly before midnight on Friday the 16th of July. I was staying at the Tropicana while the two turtledoves, Jeffrey Vaughan and Sandeep Ravindran, were staying at the Sahara. The Sahara, for those of you unfamiliar with the Vegas landscape, lies on the uninhabited extreme northern side of the strip. In fact, the only thing the Sahara has going for it is that Elvis stayed there three decades ago. According to Jeff, Sandeep (who picked the Sahara) would lay awake at nights praying for the return of "the King" We all went together to the Tropicana that night and it turns out I had a room that "permitted" (I use the word loosely) exit onto the roof. While certainly not a roof intended for socializing, we enjoyed the view of our adult playground.
The next day we began our exploration at the Venetian. Probably the most amazing feat of architectural wastefulness, the inside has been constructed to imitate that famous Italian city. As is alluded to in the first picture in this paragraph, they have even built a gondola that extends into the building. The most amazing thing, however, is that there is even a gondola on the second floor! God Bless America!
The same Saturday we visited and/or admired Caesar's Palace, Treasure Island, The Mirage, Monte Carlo, Paris, NYNY and many others. We also encountered a thunderstorm - I'm not sure how often there are thunderstorms in the middle of Nevada, but I would venture to guess they are rather infrequent. At any rate, Jeff and Sandeep claim that in this picture they are enjoying the fact that Nevada has no law against public drinking. I, however, suspect they were celebrating other aspects of Nevada law. Then again, as the two ended the evening admiring the show in front of the Bellagio alone, perhaps they did not get that far.
Jeff claims to have been blind-sighted by a cooler at the MGM Grand, but I fail to see how a frail Asian woman trying her best to raise several children could be responsible for his loosing $200 in the span of an hour. I have a hunch it has more to do with Jeff's gambling axioms, brought to light during our trip (and these are actual quotations from the charming Mr. Vaughan!):
Sunday was departure day for both Jeff and Sandeep. Jeff and I enjoyed the roller-coaster around NYNY (a truly surreal experience) before I bid him farewell.
We spent the majority of our time playing black-jack, however, which inspired the following
great exchange:
Jeff: the expected value of the next card in blackjack is..
Sandeep: 7.34
Jeff: 7.3...
Sandeep: I just pulled that one out of my ass..
Jeff: Wow, your ass is awesome!
One fact has somewhat diminished the magic of Las Vegas in my mind. It turns out that the majority of the strip is owned by three multi-billion dollar corporations traded on the NY stock exchange. Part of the appeal of Vegas, in my humble opinion, is the belief that it is run by vicious criminals recently arrived from Sicily who will maim your brother Sonny unless you agree to distribute their cocaine. Alas the glory days of Vegas have passed, and while the amusement park left in its place is certainly entertaining, it lacks the pizzazz of a casino run by Fredo.
We invite you all to join us on our next pilgrimage to the holy land, at which time Sandeep has promised to wager an entire quarter's worth of his Stanford stipend - that alone should make it worth the price of admission! Also, as we were unable to do our 007-imression and play baccarat on this trip, excelling at that game will be the primary objective for the next one.
Until our next adventure...
