Las Vegas Birthday Celebrations
Todd Swank's Diary Entry for July 25, 2021
We went to Sin City last week. We were ready to have some fun!
Technically, this trip was supposed to happen last year. Luke And Avery turned 21 and I turned 50 all in the same week. But then that whole Covid thing caused us to cancel the trip, so we went this year to celebrate their 22nd birthdays and my 51st instead.
Miss Sheri's birthday isn't until August, but we thought it might be kind of fun to bring her as well.
Krazy Kory and Young Ben also like to celebrate birthdays, so they joined us for the party.
Kory & Ben stayed at the Venetian while our family stayed across the street at the Mirage. Both are nice casinos right in the middle of the strip so it's easy to get around to see things. We like to get around.
It was really hot while we were there. The temperature reached a high of 108 degrees 2 of the 3 days and 106 on the other. Needless to say, the pool felt pretty good when we wanted to cool down.
We experimented with a variety of restaurants like the Rockhouse.
When Kory and Ben arrived, the place started living up to it's name.
We did a fair amount of gambling, but none of it very successfully.
Covid has made Blackjack even more expensive than normal. You can't find a table with less than a $15 per hand minimum and all the casinos have switched to paying out 6 to 5 on Blackjack instead of 3 to 2 which is a real bummer. Not like they didn't have enough of an advantage already. We found ourselves playing video blackjack more than we normally would because at least you could get in for $5 a hand. Not that it made winning any easier. I'm starting to think the casinos don't want us to make any money for some reason.
We also played some Roulette. For some reason they get a little fussy about taking pictures at the tables so we were lectured by the dealer right after taking this shot. I almost think they may have something to hide. Otherwise why would he be wearing a mask like that?
We spent some time in the Sports Book. I debated a lot whether I should gamble our life savings on the Minnesota Vikings winning the Super Bowl this year. In the end, I decided against it. It just feels too obvious that is going to happen and I would have felt guilty taking the money from the casino.
We were excited to see that Cirque Du Soleil was performing again and went to see Mystere at Treasure Island Casino. Such an amazing show. I actually had seen it once before about 20 years ago, but was just as blown away by it again this time.
I think I have a new favorite tree.
We did a lot of walking. More than 12 miles on Saturday alone. We thought we'd take a break by taking the tram from one end of the strip to the other. We're smart like that.
We ended up down at The Luxor which has always been one of my favorites. I think the Pyramid is a very cool building and I really like walking through the Sphincter of the Sphinx.
Vegas was a place I was excited to take the boys to see, but now that we've done it, I'm not sure we'll be planning any more family vacations here any time soon. It was bad enough when I only had to account for my personal gambling losses.
We did have a lot of fun, but next time we'll have to bring some more girls with us so Miss Sheri isn't quite so outnumbered.
Bye, Vegas. Next time we're cleaning you out!