Surviving Vegas

We just “survived” yet another weekend in Las Vegas and guess what??  We lived to tell about it.  Yep, despite the excessive drinking, gambling, and eating, we all made it out alive.   Now the “WE” that I am referring to consisted of 7 friends from Chicago and California that decided it would be a good idea to meet in Vegas for March Madness. Our original group consisted of 9, but some last minute circumstances prevented two of them from coming.  Boo hoo.

Since we like these friends so much, we were not about to let this stop them from enjoying Vegas with us (sort of).  So we did what any normal people would do…we drew a picture of them and toted them around all weekend!  Actually only one of them got toted around, her name is Karen.  For some reason Eric was left upstairs in the room and didn’t get to come out to play.  Sorry Eric!

Meet Karen!

Karen accompanied us to the sports book, she hung out in the diamond lounge, and even came to dinner and a show!  One morning, I sat down at the bar and the bartender asked me where Karen was!   Apparently she made an impact on him.   

Karen being social

Yikes...Karen got kissed

The original “Karen” got lost by day two, so we improvised and made a mini napkin version for the remainder of the journey.  Normal behavior huh? 

Karen came to dinner

Shes at the head of the table

uh oh... we lost karen.  Heres her replacement

 

The journey began early each morning with booze….lots of it.  The one thing you can be sure of in a casino full of adults drinking lots of booze is that they are going to eventually act like idiots.  We were no exception.  What do you expect?  When a bunch of idiots get together they meet more idiots.  Suddenly all the idiots are making bad decisions and taking pictures of each other.  That’s what they do. 

random stranger with Slice

Hey Boys

Without sharing too much, our weekend included a bull ride, rock climbing a casino wall,  falling asleep in a show, steak dinner in a private room (some of us may or may not remember this one), and many hugs to Javier.   Don’t ask…  Oh, did I mention the gambling?  There was plenty of that as well!

another random girl in a shoe

posing with a passed out guy!





rock climbing and spanking a complete stranger

So that is basically Vegas in a nutshell: Drunk idiots hugging other drunk idiots while losing money gambling on anything.  Good times huh?  Actually it is!  Trust me…we will be back with another group to repeat the performance!!

Javier with Josh

Three things I learned in Vegas (on this trip):

1.    Extra olives in bloody marys = breakfast

2.   Earl of Sandwich is the best sandwich ever

3.   When in doubt, pose for a pic with a stranger

Stay tuned because I think the next stop is Montreal!!

"Chalk" Walk...in NYC

       

           

     Okay people, normally when we go on vacation, we make plans.  Dinner plans, show tickets, some sort of reservation or tour... right?  For some reason or another this past weekend I found myself in NYC with no plans.  Now I know there is tons of stuff to do there, I have been before.  Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the Broadway shows…blah blah blah.   Been there, Done that.  I was feeling frisky and looking for something different.

           It all started Saturday morning…we looked at a map, jumped on the subway, and ended up on the lower east side.  Yep, we simply got out and aimlessly walked around.  You know what?  No monsters attacked us and we didnt get mugged!  We were survivors!  The more we walked, the more we noticed the chalkboard signs.  You see, a bunch of stores, restaurants, and bars placed signs out front advertising current deals.  Most the signs were hilarious and geared toward the hungover brunch crowd. I liked their sense of humor on the lower east side already. 

            We chose to have brunch at one place where the chalkboard said “$20 bottomless mimosas”- ummm... that means “welcome”to me.  We were pleasantly surprised by the food, drinks, service, and the live band that starts “whenever the band wakes up” at this brunch place. 

            A few hours later, we stumbled out of the suddenly packed restaurant and decided that instead of taking the subway back, we would just walk (3 miles) towards the hotel.  Since all great ideas start after mimosas, it’s no surprise that it was there and and then that we invented the “chalk walk”.  The one rule to the “chalk walk” was: we could only stop at bars with chalk board signs out front (you have to keep the rules simple while drinking).



crab cake brunch at Sons of Essex!



            This ultimately led us on an adventurous day through New York City.  We had no place to go and no plans that day so we just kept walking.  We walked.  And walked.  And walked.

     We saw the famous “Katz’s Deli (When Harry Met Sally Diner), the Brooklyn bridge, and who knows how many pizza places, flower shops, and interesting characters along the way.  At each bar we talked to the bartenders, learned about the neighborhoods and drank whatever booze they were selling. 



Katz's Deli



The gorgeous flowers along the way



The 3 mile walk took us all day...Literally all day.  I gotta tell you the signs got funnier and the drinks got better.  We saw beer pong, bloody mary specials, and one bar even advertised the Soup Du Jour as Whiskey!  All of this we saw simply by walking down the streets and reading the chalkboards.  Who knew??

So you get the point right? We bar hopped our way through Manhattan and we had a great time doing it!  Maybe next time you are feeling frisky...You will do the same thing!

Three things I learned about NYC:

1. The better the chalkboard.... the better the bar!!  True Fact.

2. I dont remember

3. I dont remember

Next stop:  Las Vegas!!!!!

Jill Hepokoski