TL;DR - Interesting events of Saturday night/Sunday morning come in the next post. Friday night will seem quite tame by comparison.
We start at Montecristo cigar bar and get stogies + a couple rounds while we watch the early NBA slate. Cigar and drinks were good but the room poorly ventilated. I’d prefer somewhere with a patio or open air when smoking in the future. Someone loses $1100 on an NBA first quarter bet and we’re off.
Went back to the rooms to shower and change for dinner. Got a sweet table on the balcony at Ocean Prime overlooking Las Vegas Boulevard, but a few boys got a bit cold.
It was windy and maybe 50ish? Soft for a group primarily from Boston/Philly/NYC and they were roasted appropriately. One of the waiters must have overheard the jokes. After the first round of drinks, a manager - Melissa(?) - came over, offering us to move us to a private dining room inside. She also comped a shot for the bachelor and two desserts for the table. An excellent hospitality flair, she started our night properly. We loved the rest of our meal, with the seafood particularly standing out. As a steak snob, I found the smaller cuts (individual NY, bone-in filet) underseared but the tomahawk looked great.
We took a limo thereafter to Skyfall Lounge at Mandalay. The wind prevented us from sitting outside, but we got a long table in front of the window and the manager brought us outside for a photo op.
It closed surprisingly early (12ish?) so we hit the Foundation Room after. The patio was open here and I loved it, although the bartenders are noticeably less purposeful and the vibe a bit less bougie than Skyfall. This too, closed around 2:30 but did its job getting us pretty drunk.
Some suggest the craps table, others want to keep drinking. We split into two groups and I opt for the latter - I’ve had too many vegas trips decelerated from a wasted loss on Friday night. Every pit is ice cold for me between like 7pm Friday and me waking up Saturday. I digress - we have one at the downstairs Mandalay bar before the uber arrives to take us to Golden Tiki. Even as a longtime Vegas resident, I’d never been. Someone started buying us rum shots, we bought them Henny back, and I really only remember the strawberry creamy drink after that. At some point a loud misting sound and thunder bounced around the room, a bit like the produce watering at old school grocery stores.
After what felt like 30 minutes but was actually 2 hours, the group of dice players caught up to us. The guy who lost the NBA first quarter bet won a couple thousand on roulette and relit the energy. Another round at Golden Tiki. At this point, some guys in the first group have faded and they uber home (including the bachelor). Two walk over to pho kim long. I enjoy the banter with the boys and I stay.
We’re down to 6, then 4, before we too call it around 5am. We head back to the Flamingo and they go to bed. I give the HL video poker machine (9/6 10 line triple double) $500 before I call it quits too. I have to close the blinds to blackout the dawn.
Last edited by apricotjello; 03-13-2024 at 09:55 PM.