You Are Not Alone
Our purpose is to help people of all ages navigate life. As a mother and son team, Debbie and Greg come together to talk about the realities and struggles all of us face in today’s world. They cover a wide array of topics from mental health to current events to teaching on topics that help us do life. As Christians, they know there is one thing that brings peace, hope, and encouragement to anything life throws at us, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Come along on the ride to learn what this means and how to get it. Your heart and life will be changed forever!
You Are Not Alone
Celebrating Greg's 21st in Las Vegas: Tips for the Vegas experience!
Ever wondered if the glowing tales of Las Vegas live up to the hype? Strap in as we take you through our neon-soaked celebration of Greg's 21st birthday on the Strip and the hazy hilarity of Fremont Street's non-stop revelry. Our latest episode spills the secrets on navigating the casino scene with finesse, scoring those sought-after complimentary drinks, and why sometimes the best slice of Vegas life is found off the beaten path. We'll even reveal Greg's blackjack strategy that had us cheering at the tables!
Staying in Vegas spells luxury, but it doesn't have to mean emptying your wallet—trust us, we've found the hacks and we're generous sharers. Hear about the contrasting charms of sleeping amidst the Strip's buzz versus the old-school cool of downtown digs. From the Palms' panoramic views to Binion's sizzling steaks, our anecdotes highlight the quirkiest perks of Vegas accommodations. Plus, we've got the lowdown on where to find surprisingly great eats that defy casino prices, including the Taco Bell that's redefining fast food with a twist and where to stock up on drinks to beat those minibar blues.
Ending on a high note, we reminisce about the legendary Vegas nights that stretch into mornings, the pizza order that almost slipped our minds, and why embracing the unexpected is the true spirit of Sin City. Our podcast may have some new bells and whistles on the way, but this episode is all about celebrating those classic, unforgettable moments. So join us, relive the laughter, and maybe you'll be inspired to roll the dice on your own Vegas story.
Hello and welcome to another episode of the you Are Not Alone podcast. My name is Debbie Gold and I'm here with my co-host and son, greg, and we are so glad that you're here with us. Each week on this show, we will talk about informative issues, issues that will make you think and help you grow. It is our wish that you will find hope, encouragement and a little bit of Jesus in every episode.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the you Were Not Alone show. It's been a little break since we've been here on the last episode, but good reason for that.
Speaker 1:We've had a lot going on, yeah you've been busy as a bee.
Speaker 2:And well, we had a trip for my 21st birthday and we went to the beautiful state of Nevada and we went to Las Vegas right on yeah, and it was an amazing trip. I will tell you that. I mean, how would you describe it?
Speaker 1:uh well, it was non-stop pretty much yeah and three nights, four days of non Action go, go go. And let me just ask this, so I don't remember what I did for my well when I was younger. Drinking age was 18.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you told me that today In Wisconsin, and not all states were that way, but Wisconsin was yeah.
Speaker 1:Probably because there's like a bar on every corner. Yeah, Every town that you go to, on every corner in every town that you go to and um, so I don't remember what I did on my 18th birthday. I certainly don't remember what I did on my 21st, cause it probably wasn't that big of a deal.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So would? Um, this is my question for you Would you do the Las Vegas trip over again for your 21st birthday? Would you recommend it?
Speaker 2:absolutely, yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely. I mean I'd recommend. I mean I know you guys are like no, you know, three or four days is enough, but I'd recommend like four to five days, six or seven would be a little too much yeah just because there's so much stuff to do in the city, like, yeah, the strip is awesome and all that, but there's fremont street, there's downtown, there's Fremont Street, there's downtown, there's restaurants, you know, 10 minutes away, that are amazing.
Speaker 1:But then the.
Speaker 2:Strip. There's just, I mean it's a 30-minute walk on one side and then if you switch on to the other it's an hour walk. I mean, with these just shops and people to see and people, street performers, it's just go, go, go, like you were saying, okay.
Speaker 1:So you would totally do that again you would just do it a little different maybe longer, longer, longer. Yeah, well, um, yeah, the longer you stay, the more expensive it gets. And this is why we want to do this show too to tell about the fun stuff that's there to do, but to also share with you some ways that you can save some money.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And and there definitely are ways to do that in Vegas, and I think we figured that out after we got home, probably. But anyway, it's okay. Yeah, and Greg did win.
Speaker 2:Yay, yeah, I know the casino was actually pretty good to me, so I did well yeah.
Speaker 1:I remember I left.
Speaker 2:I have a photo of the chips that I took, or the chips that I got.
Speaker 1:The chips you stole.
Speaker 2:The chips that I had after leaving a blackjack table and it was like I don't know if I have it, but it was like four $25 chips and then like a ton of different one dollar chips or whatever and it was like $140 and I was, I was like that was from blackjack and I was like no way you didn't get a blackjack. I did yeah now?
Speaker 1:well, let's start by talking about gaming. What are the great things you can do?
Speaker 2:25, 50, 75, 100, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40.
Speaker 1:So 140 right there, mm-hmm, I was like sweet. Do you know what you put in to start?
Speaker 2:It was a 20. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 1:And so let's talk about so Blackjack. You had a great idea of downloading an app for Blackjack. Yeah, and you really got to know the game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause, like I was thinking, me and my buddy, nathaniel, who, you know, we we've done everything together. He came with us, by the way. Yeah, he came with us. I brought him to Vegas and he had a blast too. And he, nathaniel, he's been at LSU and and him and his buddies, they play poker and stuff, or Texas Hold'em and stuff, but I was like, if I'm going to Vegas, I don't know how to play poker.
Speaker 2:I kind of know roulette. I mean that's simple. Slots is like a no-brainer, but I've got to know a table game, at least to you know. Sit down and.
Speaker 1:Strategy, strategy, yeah, know some strategy.
Speaker 2:So it was like blackjack, but you know 21. That sounds pretty simple and I downloaded an app on my phone and for months, like you were saying, I started just playing it and practicing. And I mean we even did some mimic blackjack at the table down here with quarters and stuff.
Speaker 1:That was super fun too. We did that, yeah, practicing at home.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it paid off for sure, because that was fun.
Speaker 1:but you get, you get comfortable. It's like you get that practice. Like you know, we all need that. I remember when I first got on a blackjack table when I was young and I used to play, our family played poker and they played where you got to pick the game and there were all these different games like blackjack and, um, no peak, and seven card draw and five card draw and, uh, I don't know.
Speaker 1:There were just like probably 20 different games, but the dealer got to choose the game he wanted to play. He or she wanted to play and I would play blackjack like that. But it's very different when you're sitting on a table with a dealer and you're worried about, you're thinking about money and your chips and how much to bet and when to double down and when to split and do all that.
Speaker 2:It's very different do you remember our first blackjack dealer that I ever sat down at? It was a. It was either it was either an asian woman or uh oh, was that at the paris? It was at the paris it was a short-haired, I don't know asian yeah something like that lady asian lady and she had a mask on and her voice was so muffled and she didn't really speak, but she was super quick. I mean she'd draw cards boom boom, boom, boom, boom. Flip her cards.
Speaker 2:Okay, draw, hit, draw, hit, draw, hit yeah, you know super fast I don't like when they go so fast this is my first time sitting down at an actual table and it was just me and mom at the time. And then, mom, I lose all my money. Whatever, nathaniel, my buddy sits down and then my mom puts in another $20,000 or something, or no. She put in like you put in like $100,000 or something and you made like $175,000 or something off that, and then these two other guys came up when you were about to.
Speaker 1:You know say I'm done. Oh, I know that was in Old Town, vegas. Okay, was that at Fremont? Yes, yeah, fremont.
Speaker 2:Street. Oh, was that at Binion's? Yes, yeah, it was at Binion's.
Speaker 1:It was Binion's. Binion's Steakhouse.
Speaker 2:And Casino. And she puts she's like okay, I'm all done, I'm going to cash out. And the lady goes how about that? It sounded like, how about that through the mask? And we were like me and mom, give me and we're like what? And I was thinking, maybe, like mom, give her your chips or something. She has to count them, or something yeah and then these two guys sit down and she was like help me understand what this is.
Speaker 1:What am I doing here? Why?
Speaker 2:am I getting yelled at? And then these guys are like I think she wants you to give her chips so she can break it up into bigger bigger, give you bigger chips so you don't walk around with like a ton of like one dollar chips.
Speaker 1:Yeah, walk around with two fifties so that's what they like to do at the table, and then you go to the the booth or the what's the cage?
Speaker 2:called the casino cage register.
Speaker 1:I don't know, yeah, the what's it called the casino cage?
Speaker 2:um, uh, and that'll come back to me. Yeah, well, that's what you cashed out, that's it. Yeah, casino cage, what? And that's what people say, what's?
Speaker 1:they. They tell you go to casino cage. That's it, yeah, casino cage, and that's what people say. They tell you, go to the casino cage and we're like what's a casino cage?
Speaker 2:Well, it's where all the money is.
Speaker 1:That's where you can take all your chips and get your cash back, your bills back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, give them your ID. Put your chips on the counter. They count your chips, they spread them out. They take out some money, count it up kind of in front of you. Here you go. Yep, Bring me some more.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's like sweet Right. And so one thing about blackjack that we learned I know there's always a thing about you don't want to get a dealer that has too many decks, because you, if you want to count cards, like if you want to count aces, you know aces are important in blackjack right, yeah, yeah so if you have a three-deck deal, like they go through three decks before they shuffle and go over again, then you know there's going to be 12 aces total Exactly, and if you're counting those aces as they come up and go away each round, you know that's really important.
Speaker 1:There was one place that we went to that had an automatic shuffler.
Speaker 2:So you never saw the dealer shuffle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we played on that for a while, and then I later learned that those are not good to plan.
Speaker 2:I saw a video on those automatic shufflers.
Speaker 1:And there's a machine inside that.
Speaker 2:So, like the automatic shuffler, is this big white box right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Inside the machine is a bunch of cards of 52 cards.
Speaker 1:Well, it's going to be like six decks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 52 cards. Well, it's going to be like six decks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, six decks, so a bunch of cards, so 52 cards in a deck.
Speaker 2:But then there's this thing inside that picks up the cards, picks up a group of cards and then flushes them. Each time a dealer pulls out a card, so it automatically switches them inside the machine.
Speaker 1:So there's no way to count.
Speaker 2:No way to count, no way to count nothing.
Speaker 1:So this one lady told me that what you should do is go to a table. She pointed to some tables and said they do three decks at that table or those tables over there, and the dealer actually shuffles them herself and she'll give you that little yellow plastic card that you cut the deck the whole deck, yeah, slice it. Yeah, and then that's where it's going to end.
Speaker 2:And then she'll have to shuffle over again, shuffle again, yeah.
Speaker 1:So anyway, much better strategy.
Speaker 2:Just a little tip for all of you that are planning to head to Vegas in the near future. Also, if you guys ever want to play slots, play White Buffalo, you will get rich. My buddy, nathaniel, he put a 10 in and then he lost $8. And then he was like, okay, one more spin. He did a dollar spin. He had nine dollars out and needed one dollar credit. He's like, all right, I'm gonna put it all on one dollar because it was 50 cents a spin. So it's like, all right, two spins, let's go. One dollar, all or nothing. He hits it. I have a video of this jackpot. He gets a, he gets a feature. It hits two features. It goes ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. You win jackpot.
Speaker 2:He goes 20, 40, 60, 70, 85. And he goes $1 into $85 off of White Buffalo. And then he cashed out, walked away, gave me the receipt, cashed out boom, and that's the other trick with walking away. You got to move. With video games.
Speaker 1:So say you put in 20 bucks to start, and then all of a sudden you're coming down and then you're back up. If you're back up, say you get up to 50 or 60, you're ahead. Cash out, cash out, get your ticket.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you take that to the cage Cash out, but you trick the machine by thinking that you don't have any money in there.
Speaker 2:But you trick the machine by thinking that you don't have any money in there. What I was doing to just stay positive the entire time I'd put a 20 in right. If that 20 went to 10, I'd cash out. I'd leave the machine. I'd go to a different machine. That machine's not hot. If that 20 turned into a 40, I'd take that 40. I'd cash out. I'd go to the register, make 40 bucks. Sorry, my buddy's calling me, he's Googling me. Anyways, yeah, I'd turn the $20 to a $40, and then I'd cash out at the $40, and then I'd keep my $40. And then, if I wanted to go play later, I'd put a $20 in and then repeat, re-rent, repeat what Repeat, and re-rent, repeat, re-rent, repeat.
Speaker 2:Okay. So, there's gambling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's gambling.
Speaker 2:And then the hotels, the hotels, holy cow, the Paris was beautiful.
Speaker 1:We stayed at the Paris Tell them about the Paris.
Speaker 2:It was beautiful, it was beautiful it's set up.
Speaker 1:There's an Eiffel Tower, a big, huge, tall Eiffel Tower, out by the swimming pool. Everything inside is very it feels like you're on the streets of Paris, although I have to say it was very dark inside the Eiffel Tower, though that is that is gorgeous that pool was really nice, although the drinks are what? How much for a double, like a mixed drink, like a cocktail, I almost want to say it was like $37.
Speaker 2:It was 18.
Speaker 1:I thought something like that. Well, there was one that was 18, and then it was.
Speaker 2:One was 37. Yeah, one was 37.
Speaker 1:I think that was like a double.
Speaker 2:That made me almost sick.
Speaker 1:But then you could go over to the other little place and get a beer. For what $12?
Speaker 2:$5. I don't know, the prices were weird there. One bar was like $37 for a simple mixed drink. The other place next door was $3 for a beer. It's like what the heck.
Speaker 1:But now, if you're gambling, you're actually actively gambling.
Speaker 2:You've got to sit down.
Speaker 1:You get free drinks Now tell your story about that, how you guys would kind of shuffle around a little bit.
Speaker 2:So we figured out, after two days of, you know, messing around at the strip and then at night, we'd actually, you know, hit the casino and, you know, play some slots and have fun there. And well, we figured out these, uh, these drink ladies. We'd ask them, hey, can you get me a vodka, martini or martini or whatever, a simple drink. And they'd be like, no, I can't come over here because that's the other bartender, that's the other drink ladies territory. I'd be like, okay, well then, let me go to this slot machine. I'll put some money in, I'll play over here. Can you give me a long l and i's tea? She'd be okay. Yes, can I see your id? Yes, ma'am, here you go, boom, like that. She's like okay, you want that nathaniel gets his drink, whiskey and coke or whatever? Um, she goes over there and then the drink ladies usually take 20 to 30 minutes.
Speaker 1:I'm not. No, not that long. No, no, 20 to 30 minutes. I'm not, no, no, no, 20 to 30 minutes.
Speaker 2:I'm not even lying, so you gotta put in 20 bucks penny slots. Put in penny bets that way you're there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that way you're there for a long time just playing. But what we figured out, these girls have territories, right. So you go to the one side, you get your drink. Then you go to the next one. You see the other drink lady that has the other territory. You go, excuse me, miss, could I get a long island iced tea? Okay, yeah, sure, and they come back at different times because they're not going to come out at the same time. They're serving the entire casino. So well, you get your first drink, you drink that, and then all of a sudden, the second drink comes around and then you say keep in common.
Speaker 1:So it's yeah, bring around the rosy with drinks, right, but yeah, it's yeah, running around the Rosie with drinks. Right.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it's pretty fun.
Speaker 1:So we were talking about hotels, so here's my thing. So we stayed on the Strip because I wanted Greg and Nathaniel to experience their first time to Vegas to be right on the Strip the. Las Vegas Strip and that's where, like the Cosmopolitan, is Planet Hollywood, caesar's Palace.
Speaker 2:Caesar's Palace, bellagio.
Speaker 1:Bellagio, there's all the big ones.
Speaker 2:Mandalay Bay, trump Tower.
Speaker 1:I mean everything so anyway, and it's just kind of cool to be on the Strip, because at night it gets kind of crazy.
Speaker 2:The lights are beautiful. The lights are beautiful. You see all kinds of fun stuff going on. People watching is fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's never boring. I mean, there's so much stuff to do.
Speaker 1:So, but anyway, yeah, it's probably more expensive to stay on the Strip.
Speaker 2:A little bit.
Speaker 1:So I have to say we went off the Strip a couple times Once to go to the Palms and resort that was awesome we did that on sunday night, great night, and yes, I did not want to leave that place yeah we were actually I was doing great on the machines there, yeah, you're like I won a little bit and you had like five hundred dollars.
Speaker 2:I was like what a little bit. I was like let's go.
Speaker 1:I launched the next day on there at the airport. Yeah, dick, what you want yeah um, but no, I had. I really enjoyed it there. I really wanted to stay there because someone where I work told me about it.
Speaker 2:The Palms.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's not on the strip and I wanted you guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wanted you guys. They have suites, they have suites. I know the casino was great hotel rooms, but they also have suites. So if you want to have like a little refrigerator and a little kitchenette.
Speaker 1:Wasn't that on fremont? No, it was off.
Speaker 2:It was off the main strip, the big strip yeah, yeah, I know that, yeah, but it wasn't no fremont's more.
Speaker 1:We can talk about that.
Speaker 2:But no, this was off.
Speaker 1:It was about. It's a mile off the strip and you can take shuttles. They have shuttles that will take you to the main strip but stay, stay there easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the casino was so great, it was huge, and I mean the area walking around was pretty great too, yeah it didn't feel old and stuffy or anything? No, not at all, it just felt alive yeah.
Speaker 1:So that would be one thing Now, if you want. I heard the.
Speaker 2:Rio has some decent prices too.
Speaker 1:And they're on the strip. I I think they're on the strip somewhere, but I heard they have like pretty decent room prices too. So, yeah, you want to save some money, well, but also um going to the old downtown, where vegas that was the original las vegas yeah, the og vegas. So there's binions, there's the golden nugget, there's san francisco, there's um what else? Are some of those down there.
Speaker 2:Binion's was amazing.
Speaker 1:But anyway that if you want to stay there, those are a little bit less expensive. I would say. But I mean, I don't think you can go wrong. This is what I think I stressed out over where we should stay and I probably paid more than I probably should have. But I really don't think you can go wrong. Whether you stay downtown on Fremont Street and then just you can take a cab or an uber, go to go to the strip one night. Honestly, I think that's probably what I would do yeah, binion's was amazing.
Speaker 2:I gotta say Binion's was amazing. And that steak that we had to the steakhouse the first night, oh my goodness, I have not had a steak that good yeah, and even the state.
Speaker 1:So if you go to a steakhouse on the strip, it's like 200 for yeah, this was more like 70, 60 to 70, 80, 90, depending on the cut amazing and it felt like a 300 restaurant like it was very nice.
Speaker 2:Everyone had very nice clothes right servers were like very fancy and proper.
Speaker 1:I was like it's on the 22nd floor of the casino. Yeah, I was like I'm going to dress up nice for this. I was like wow. And you didn't have to be nice. I mean, you couldn't wear cutoffs. You could go casual it's pretty cool or tank tops, but other than that you could wear anything.
Speaker 2:Pretty cool.
Speaker 1:So I think if I were to pick, I would pick the Palms, or I would stay down on Fremont Street. The next time the old Vegas area. I mean, if I don't know I'd stay if the strip is or no, if the Palms is closer than the strip, then I'd stay at the Palms yeah definitely difference in price for sure. So you know, if you want to stay the extra few nights, maybe old fremont area?
Speaker 2:for breakfast. I never talked about that with you because me and nathana we woke up like 10 o'clock, nine o'clock, every single morning and we always wanted to get breakfast, but you always got breakfast. So how was it?
Speaker 1:well, I would just usually go down and get a six dollar cup of coffee six bucks and I actually the first morning, because dad got in at four and he was sleeping they have like eggs, so I got up. I got up at, like you know, seven or eight and I I just went walking around to explore and find out what there all was around us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, get, get a, get a feel for it, get a feel for it yeah so, um, yeah, that was, that was a good thing to do.
Speaker 1:But one morning dad and I you guys were, I think took off or did something. Dad and I had found this restaurant which was actually in our hotel, but the outside was on the strip, so like if you were just walking by you could see the restaurant, but if you were in our hotel and you could walk into the restaurant, and go it was set up weird. But it was called. What's that called? Alexis? Alexis A-L-E-X-X-A-S. The atmosphere was really good.
Speaker 2:Now it was probably $60 breakfast A little on the pricey side, well, $20 a person figure.
Speaker 1:But the atmosphere was amazing. They have all these different kind of little rooms and sitting areas. They had music. They started playing these different kind of little rooms and sitting areas. They had music too. They had music. They started playing jazz music.
Speaker 1:Dad and I actually sat at the bar and ate, because the tables there was a long wait. They said if there's a place at the bar you can go get a place there. And we served our full breakfast right there. Nice, and we had a drink, nice, and yeah, it was just really cool. And um, yeah, it was just, it was just really cool and and you know that was like americana, you know american restaurant, and it was like a two dollar compared you know like two or three. You know you can have one, two or three or four, so it was sort of minute mid, you know a little less than mid.
Speaker 2:It was binions too, and then guy fieri's restaurant. That was one of the best meals I've ever had in my life and it was like I don't know if it was one I think it was I've ever had in my life and it was like I don't know if it was one of the. I think it was a meal, I don't know if it was an appetizer but I think we just did appetizers.
Speaker 2:You did it was these pizza rolls that were stuffed with cheese that had pepperoni top with a bunch of stuff on it I don't know what was on it and then it had like shredded Parmesan on top of it. Then it had like some marinara sauce and it had some white sauce, and every single bite had so much flavor. Sometimes you know you eat a huge dish and it's just super bland after eating it halfway, you know, and you just get full of it and sick of it. Not that I could have ate two servings of that, just back to back. Yeah, every bite was just so good.
Speaker 1:It was tasty Quality. Yeah, every bite was just so good. It was tasty Quality.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what did you get?
Speaker 1:Dad and I had a salad because I had not eaten anything green in like three days.
Speaker 2:Nathaniel had these taquitos. Yeah, and they came out in this like what was it? It was just a fancy, like cone bowl, and he was like I've had a lot of taquitos, but those were the best ones I've ever had in my life and I was like, yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah. And then the waiter. We asked the waiter about Gordon Ramsay and like does he come? Very often he goes, absolutely he comes and he will. The first thing he did, he walked straight into the kitchen unannounced.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he, he, you know he just inspects everything. Yeah, he just deep in the kitchen. Has this been claimed? What's happening?
Speaker 1:Not Gordon Ramsay we're talking about. Oh, Guy, Fieri Guy. I'm sorry I got off on a tangent there.
Speaker 2:Gordon Ramsay probably does the same thing. Though let's be real. Yeah, I know right.
Speaker 1:But there is a Gordon Ramsay, and it was at the Planet Hollywood, which was right next to us. They were advertising his burgers, have burgers and they were big. Yeah, it was a big talk, but I went into the planet hollywood and I saw the restaurant and they were like all these, like lots of families with kids, but they're they're priced really on the lower end really, yeah, surprisingly.
Speaker 2:Wow, I did not expect that um another play.
Speaker 1:Oh where we were. There was a lot of fast food on the strip.
Speaker 2:Surprisingly, there was a mcdonald's taco bell chick-fil-a panda there wasn't just any taco bell though me and nathan we walked in because we wanted. Yeah, that's right, we got like 12 tacos for me you got the taco box or something we got more than 12. We got like 18. I think nathan will grab somebody's order on accident. I'm not oh, because that seemed like a lot of tacos yeah, he grabbed two bags and I was like I thought it was just one.
Speaker 1:I was like I'm not asking questions. More food for us, so um we walked in some of the next morning.
Speaker 2:There's like techno music playing, you know, and the cooks are like dancing as they're making food and there's like lime green lights and it has like taco bell with like the crazy logo and there were these big old fountain drinks on the back of the wall and it has like the huge slushy swirlers, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:And I was like wait, are there's daiquiri machines? He's like yeah. It was like these are the mountain dew baja blast like the taco bowl flavored ones. He's like no, I was like what even is this? We were like this is a taco that's serving alcohol and it's playing. You know dance, music. The cooks are actually having fun cooking and dancing and stuff. Exactly it was just ridiculous, so I've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And then for other. I know we talked about, like, cheap food. Let's talk about cheap drinks. C-v-s.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's where we went.
Speaker 2:Holy cow.
Speaker 1:This is where we stocked our rooms with beer and boozeze. I was on the airplane with mama.
Speaker 2:Like do you think? Cbs has liquor or, you know, alcohol and you were like I don't know. I don't know probably they might have slot machines, but I don't know. Liquor we walked into cbs.
Speaker 1:They have a whole aisle for every type of booze walgreens that too, that too no I didn't go to cv, we went to walgreens, we went to walgreens was on our end, but we passed. They CVS, they had a rum section.
Speaker 2:They had a tequila section, a vodka section, a whiskey section, a wine section a cognac section, a brand section, a beer cooler you could walk into. A whole beer cooler with every single beer. You can imagine. I was like is this a liquor store or a Walgreens?
Speaker 1:So that's where to get all your stuff for your room get your snacks, get a bottle of vodka rum, for whatever, for get your mixes prices.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah not overpriced, because I looked at the prices, um, in the paris hotel, for a bottle of booze, for a bottle of new amsterdam vodka, that was 16. At walgreens it was 30. Yeah, yeah, almost double, yeah, double, no, literally double. So don't, don't buy there.
Speaker 1:Also, what else was there? Oh, so someone told me to go to Hash House, a Go Go, and this is like a great especially breakfast place, but I think they do lunch too, and they might no, they might even do dinner. I don't really know. We never made it there, and there's two or three locations in Vegas. We never made it to so many places, so Hash House A Go Go, but their plates are so big, their servings are so big.
Speaker 2:You could share it with two to three people. Only 15 bucks, yeah, wow.
Speaker 1:So that would be something to check out if you're looking for budget.
Speaker 2:We should have done that the first day, and then we should have gotten to-go boxes. Oh, also, try to smuggle a microwave. We could not find a single microwave in the entire hotel that we stayed at, because I mean me and Nathaniel we ordered pizza two out of the three nights and then we had a bunch of leftover food from the steakhouse and Guy Fieri's.
Speaker 1:That was a bummer about our room. We had no microwaves in our rooms and we did have a little refrigerator and that was it.
Speaker 2:We ate the pizza cold, and that was still good.
Speaker 1:And no coffee pots either.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I don, and that was still good, but like and no coffee pots either.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I don't know if that's normal or if that was just the paris, but that was a disappointment so if you're in vegas, try to source a microwave, because we couldn't find one in the entire city yeah it was pretty hard, it was weird um, what else am I thinking?
Speaker 1:oh, so also, when you're walking down the strip, you'll see these places that have they sell these frozen daiquiris and they're called yard dogs, yard dogs, and they're $15 and you can get like an extra shot of booze for like one or $2, but they're really tall. Do you remember seeing those? They're about two feet tall.
Speaker 2:Oh, they're everywhere yeah.
Speaker 1:And they're like these kind of slender cups.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was just skeptical because I didn't know if the alcohol was actual alcohol. I know, you know I didn't know if the alcohol was actual alcohol. I know, you know I don't want to be serving sugar water Right and waste 15 bucks, but apparently it's true. I guess so and it's real.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that's a good way to make 15 bucks go for a long way, I guess, yeah.
Speaker 2:Give me three shots and I'll make it last.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And then getting around. I mean, walking is pretty cool because you want to see the views, but eventually your legs are going to get tired.
Speaker 1:Well, the strip is like four miles long the whole.
Speaker 2:Thing.
Speaker 1:So it's easily walkable.
Speaker 2:But we were thinking before we went to Vegas yeah, we're either going to walk or we're going to Uber everywhere. The first Uber driver we got from the airport, he was cool. I guess he didn't really talk too much, he was kind of quiet. Then the second Uber we got not a peep or something, otherwise, then he was coughing or sneezing.
Speaker 1:but not a peep really, and he was just, I don't know, silent and awkward right, and then we were like, but where we got John, we're so where we stayed at the Paris, the Uber drivers had to go way back to the garage parking lot, and so, then, you had to walk all the way through this long area to get to your hotel, the actual hotel where you can get to the elevator, to get to your room, and the taxis would come up front.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they would come right up front with all the livos and all that. And so we decided to take a taxi.
Speaker 2:And the taxi guys were super cool.
Speaker 1:They gave us tips.
Speaker 2:They gave us tips, they gave us, you know their update on their life living in vegas. Yeah, to do what? To see what not to do, what not to see right?
Speaker 1:their life stories. They were super cool and earth and they were actually a little bit cheaper than ubers. So I'm just saying I would totally go the taxi route, and even getting back to the to the um airport was cheaper than when we took an Uber from the airport into the city.
Speaker 2:Yeah, damn it. Yeah, we waited. What 35 minutes for that guy.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that was a big long line there.
Speaker 2:Also yeah, so if you're flying to Vegas and you're going to take an Uber into the city which don't take a cab, take a cab but also book. Book the cab Like as soon as you get off the flight, right before you get your luggage. Book it there so the guy has time to get there. So when you're actually walking out to the big old parking garage.
Speaker 1:He's waiting.
Speaker 2:He's waiting and he's pulling up. Yeah, so you don't have to wait 35 minutes and cigarette smoke and you know commotion, because that's what we were doing. We were exhausted, jet lagged, trying to get to our hotel room. And we were like're like, okay, let's go, yeah, so.
Speaker 1:So anyway, I would vote taxi over that and then walk and then, um, there is some kind of a bus thing. If you want to do the strip, that's the thing you can do.
Speaker 2:That's easy jump on, jump off whatever go see yourself, do what you want to do yeah, make it happen, make it your vacation make it yours yeah and then I wanted to see the sphere too, that was let's talk about sites, things to do there.
Speaker 1:So the sphere, talk about that.
Speaker 2:They have a two hour show that's offered, so you have to reserve tickets. It's $90 for a two hour show. You have to book the tickets in advance online, but you can go up to it and just look at it and it's on the outside, it's a site. Okay, it's worth it because you think it's pretty big. And then you're like, eh, it's probably not that big. And then you actually go up to it. You look like an ant.
Speaker 2:You do yeah With the pictures it's moving, it's warping and stuff and it's showing, you know, animatronics and it's just a super cool view.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so we didn't. And then when we walked up to just go see it from the outside, they were telling us about oh, we have a show and it doesn't start till 2, and it was already 1 o'clock and we were going to head down to Fremont Street again on Sunday.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we didn't want to wait and then it was going to be like a two-hour deal and so we just kind of blew it off. But I would definitely book that ahead or make time in your schedule for that for sure Sounds amazing on the inside. Let's see, there's the.
Speaker 2:Bellagio Fountain Show. That's actually free. So if you want a good show, you can go see that for free.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they do it during the day, but then at night they do it as well, but then it's all lit up and all the fountains are blowing up into the, you know, up into the sky, and it's just beautiful.
Speaker 2:Go into the Bellagio. It has a beautiful garden scenery view, a beautiful, just ambience to it. Caesar's Palace is really cool too, the Tower Hotel.
Speaker 1:Oh, trump Tower, Trump Tower. Yeah, you guys, you and Nathaniel went there, we went there, but we didn't go in no, we did go in. You did yeah.
Speaker 2:It was beautiful.
Speaker 1:It's all gold on the outside. It's over the top, it's over the top, it's.
Speaker 2:Trump yeah, it's just golden. Apparently, like on one floor all the toilet seats are actual 24 carat gold.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 1:There's also the Shelby museum If you're into cars.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we wanted to see that. Go check that out.
Speaker 1:We didn't make it that far, and then Fremont Street.
Speaker 2:Friday night there's always live music from at least three different bands.
Speaker 1:They have like big stages.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's like country music, there's like reggae music and there's like jazz music.
Speaker 1:So it's really cool.
Speaker 2:And it's just wild down there on Fridays.
Speaker 1:Then you can go to the Welcome to the Las Vegas sign too, which we passed.
Speaker 2:We passed right by it. Yeah, we didn't even think about it. I mean, I got a Las Vegas, a welcome to Las Vegas sign, but that was at the airport. Yeah, but it's kind of like it you know there, you go there it is yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So not like the real deal, but it's you know.
Speaker 2:It's the same thing. Makes a point, yeah. Makes a point, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think those are some fun things to do and just have fun and just get out. And I mean there's clubs. You guys never did any clubs. Go to the pools, there's lots of shows and things.
Speaker 2:Oh, the Bellagio. Oh wait, I have to tell the Bellagio had a heated pool. We didn't have a heated pool, we should have gone to the Bellagio cold yeah and you can.
Speaker 1:You can go to other hotels typically and go to their pools.
Speaker 2:I know, I was like I didn't even know that they had a heated, because that's like we walked and we got in the pool and we were like we're kind of cold because the wind was hitting us too. Oh yeah, it was windy, we were just shivering, right, yeah, but if it was a heated pool, oh man, that would have been great well, you would have got out and still got cold yeah, but still I would have stayed in.
Speaker 1:Anyway, so, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:That's where the drinks were expensive. It was $37 for two drinks at the pool. That was it. It was $40 for two drinks at the pool.
Speaker 1:Where At the.
Speaker 2:Paris. No, it was for one, that's right, yeah, it was, yeah, even worse.
Speaker 1:I said how much are drinks she? Goes $37, she goes 37 and I go 37 she goes well, that's a double, and I went get me out of here run. Really I'm gonna go buy a bottle of liquor.
Speaker 2:I didn't win that much last night. Yeah, like that's insane. But anyway, totally awesome, um make it your vacation, right, you can listen to our. I mean, I recommend you listen to our advice because we've been there, done that, yeah, but also don't copy everything we did. Go explore and have fun.
Speaker 1:I mean there's so much to do there you'll never find yourself bored.
Speaker 2:I recommend you listen to our advice because we've been there, done that, yeah, but also don't copy everything we did. Go explore and have fun. I mean, there's so much to do there, you'll never find yourself bored, right? And the people there you can meet some pretty crazy cool people there too, some random people.
Speaker 1:People are friendly. We had fun.
Speaker 2:People are very friendly, yeah, because everyone's in a great mood, everyone, yeah.
Speaker 1:Vegas baby.
Speaker 2:Viva La Vegas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, so Dad and I we went to go see.
Speaker 2:The Scorpions, the.
Speaker 1:Scorpions.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Which, yeah, I don't know how many of our listeners know who they are, but old, old band and amazing. They were at Planet Hollywood Seats about 7,000 people, Amazing show. These guys are like in their 70s right now and they had more energy than I've seen some current concert goers.
Speaker 2:They're like 76. And you've recorded this video of a drum solo. That actually blew my mind. I was like that's a 75-year-old or whatever doing that, and she was like yeah, I was like oh.
Speaker 1:It went on, for I had it recorded for four minutes and I didn't catch the beginning and I turned it off because I couldn't even take it anymore yeah, I was like oh, my gosh like oh, this guy's amazing. These guys had so much energy and they gave their all to this show.
Speaker 2:It was crazy yeah talk about passion yeah, I thought it was gonna be like you know, ozzy osbourne, where it's kind of like it's it's pretty great, but he's he's taking some abuse, nothing like that these guys went crazy yeah, so you got your money's worth and more.
Speaker 1:They were in it. So, In it. Yes, to win it for sure yeah. Yep.
Speaker 2:But man, Vegas was awesome.
Speaker 1:It was a great trip, so yeah, I could talk about this for another hour. I know. Anyway, I think it's time to wind down. I think so.
Speaker 2:We actually saw. Elvis there, alvis there too, everyone goes. Where's alvis? Oh yeah, it's a lookalike. Yeah, so he's getting tickets.
Speaker 1:That's right, yeah, so anyway. Well, it was fun to reminisce greg yeah, I was, that was great it was just a trip of a lifetime and it will be in my memories forever yeah, I want to go back.
Speaker 2:Nathaniel says he wants to go back, so I was like all right, let's do it, you can definitely do it again and do different for sure, absolutely absolutely, we're gonna do that there was a time that you couldn't do it. It's changed a lot. We'll make it a bachelor party, something like that there you go, relive it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was that movie? Uh hangover, the hangover, yeah you've seen that.
Speaker 2:Yes, there's like more than one two. Yeah, I think I saw the first one, yeah, yeah, it was in vegas uh, matthew mcconaughey, isn't he in there? He's one of them, I believe uh, for a little trivia.
Speaker 1:For those of you that don't know, matthew mcconaughey lives in austin. That's a place here.
Speaker 2:So I don't know if it was matthew mcconaughey. I know it's one guy named alan maybe that's another movie I'm thinking of.
Speaker 1:Anyway, well, there you go yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So when we were in Vegas, Nathaniel was like dude, you've got to see the hangover, You've seen it right and I was like no, I haven't.
Speaker 1:He's like you haven't seen the hangover.
Speaker 2:He's like dude. It's exactly what we're doing almost right now. I was like no way.
Speaker 1:You guys were up late and then that one night you didn't even go to bed.
Speaker 2:No, we were like scene at like four in the morning or like lost 20 bucks.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I'm gonna order pizza and one night you guys order pizza and you forgot about them, fell asleep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, didn't even get it passed out before.
Speaker 1:Oh, it was in the lobby, yeah, but yeah, well, you're not gonna find them the next day, no, knuckleheads, we felt bad about that stupid I put I gave him like 10 bucks for that pizza yeah yeah what happens?
Speaker 2:What happens, what happens when Vegas stays in Vegas. That's right, that's the saying, yeah.
Speaker 1:Anyway, all right, my friends, I hope you enjoyed our little diversion here and yeah, enjoy this podcast, because this was a fun one for us. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:We love reminiscing.
Speaker 1:Right, all right. So next round we're going to get back on to some stuff and we're working on a website right now. We've got some new fun things coming down the pike. We've been a little lax lately because my schedule's been nuts and I'm getting that relieved and so we're clearing it up. Yeah, anyway, all right. Well, we are glad that you are listening and we appreciate you guys so much. Share with your friends, start thinking about a Vegas trip that can be your takeaway from this episode.
Speaker 1:Thank you, guys, for listening, remember you are not alone.