"Baby, we're gonna be up five hundy by midnight!" A quality line from a quality flick. A word to the wise though: if you're ever looking for a picture of the Swingers movie poster, don't just type in "Swingers" on Google's image search. Yikes.
So I'm going to Vegas this weekend with two (possibly three) friends. I'm very much looking forward to it, mainly because I don't see these guys as often as I'd like to and it's a chance for us to spend hours and hours being stupid together. Our trips have evolved over the years (as I'll explain), but they're always comprised of three basic elements: drinking, gambling, and ridiculous conversations. Sounds great to me.
From age 21 to 25 or so, our group of guys would go to Vegas two to four times a year. Those trips would be planned a couple of weeks in advance, and we'd get one room regardless of how many of us were going. Sometimes we'd fly, sometimes we'd drive. We'd eat only the least expensive food (when we remembered to eat). I'd drink a lot of Bud Light. I'd fro out my hair, wear "cool" sunglasses and beads, and turn to complete strangers to ask if they could "dig it."
My first two or three trips were mainly spent at nickel or (if I felt bold) quarter video poker machines, and I vaguely recall my face hitting one of them when my blood alcohol level defeated the part of my brain in charge of muscle control.
I gradually worked my confidence up to playing five dollar blackjack when we could find it and a lot of Let it Ride, which really wasn't my fault. You see, the first time I played it, I won about $750 on two hands within 15 minutes. Then on a cruise ship with my wife, I won over $800 within about 10 minutes. I was obviously hooked, and even though I've only lost at that game for the past three or four years, it still calls to me.
Our recent trips have been about once a year, and sometimes prompted only because one of us is getting married. Bill Simmons of espn.com talks about how great it is to see an email from a friend with the subject "Vegas?" I couldn't agree more. Someone will start that email, and then we'll have a reservation months later. As we now have actual lives, a lot of times aren't good for us and it takes that long to find a date to build around. It's always worth it though. We drive every time, and if there are more than five people, we may even get a second room. We play blackjack at $10 or $15 tables. When really crowded, I've been known to sit at a $25 for a little while. We play poker often, and our inside jokes bug other tablemates enough that we've been threatened. I make some sports wagers, including a couple parlays from time to time, and even sit and watch the games sometimes instead of only being at the tables.
I still get my drink on, but it's rare to get to the point where I feel like I'm floating to the bathroom instead of walking. I'll still have some Bud Lights, but more often it's a Captain Morgan and Coke or a Bailey's and coffee. We try to have one nice meal per trip, preferably some big steaks and big glasses of red wine. We answer work emails on our phones and (gasp) actuall try to get some sleep sometimes. Basically, our trips have grown up a little as we have. People probably refer to us as "those weird drunk guys" instead of "those stupid drunk kids," and I think that's an important distinction.
Regardless of the changes from early 20s to late 20s and beyond (Dusty), I love these trips. I still have some of that 21 year-old in me, and while he's dormant most of the year, it's great to get reacquainted from time to time. I know that once we start having kids and getting even older, Vegas will happen less and less frequently. So when I got that "Vegas?" email months ago from Dusty, I knew it might be the last of its kind for a while. Wish me luck today and tomorrow getting work done, because I have hours of stupid conversation waiting for me.
1 comment:
Vegas, baby. Vegas.
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