BigHoss

My first Vegas trip was in May 1993 when I came to town to see the Grateful Dead play three shows out at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl. Sting opened, which was good but as weird as the rest of the week. We'd roll out Tropicana close to noon every day to get ready for Sting's afternoon set. The Dead would wind down around sunset and most of those Deadheads would wind up back on the Strip. I saw my first Cirque du Soleil performance at the then-new Mirage on one of those nights. Let's just say it was strange. Anyway, one of the guys I went with got a bunch of half-price room coupons from his sister. So we wound up in an odd progression of three hotels during our five-night trip. Our first two nights were at the fresh-faced and non-smoky Excalibur. It was so new it was clean. And the renaissance fair vibe was in full swing. All I really remember about it was that we sat in our room for about an hour and watched workers install glass panels on Luxor, which only had glass up to the level of our Excalibur room at the time. Then we spent one night at Circus-Circus. I remember playing nickel slots, drinking lots of draft beer and fully realizing my clown-o-phobia there. I have never gone back, probably never will. The final nights were spent at the Las Vegas Hilton, which at that time was duking it out with Caesars and Mirage for the title of the nicest place in town. I was in awe of the gigantic screens in the sports book, the Elvis apparel hanging in the lobby and the cocktail waitresses at the pool. On more than one occasion, I wondered, "Why didn't we stay here the whole time?" We went home and I pretty much never thought about Vegas again. Fast forward thirteen years. My wife and I decided it would be fun to travel somewhere with friends to celebrate my 40th birthday. A couple of good friends always raved about the great fun they had in Vegas. We stayed a week at Treasure Island right after the de-piratization. It was great, all of the things we love: good food, relaxing by the pool, free booze. My wife took to the slots and I timidly approached the rail of the craps table. The next year, our vacation choice of Vegas was a given and it has been ever since. We have made trips at least annually and have stayed at MGM Grand, Mirage and Wynn. We thought Mirage was "our place" until we stayed at Wynn. Since then, we have stayed at Encore, Main Street Station, M Resort, the new new Tropicana, Planet Hollywood and Aria. Every time, there is something new to love.

You are a lunatic.

*fap fap fap*

It's always fun to hear what Hoss has to say on the boards. Wouldn't be the same community without him.

Not sure, but we're pals now!

Hello!!

Big Hoss... It's always fun, reading your posts. Thanks for the wit and wisdom.

Thanks, Brother Hoss, and CONGRATS!!!!

Thanks, BigHoss. My sloth knows no boundaries. I like, Kevin Spacey-tie-me-to-a-bed-and-wait-for-Morgan Freeman-and-Brad Pitt-to-find-me kinda lazy.

You are too kind! Thank you!

His handle is BigHoss, which around here means "Biggest Hoss."