Coastline Vegas Trip 1999
A Trip To Las Vegas?
Coastline.com took its employees to
Vegas on the weekend of December 10th to 12th, 1999. There were six of us
total. This is a chronicle of what transpired.
Quick Jump
The Participants |
Photos |
The Expedition There |
Vegas Friday Night
Vegas Saturday |
Brush With Fame |
Vegas Sunday |
Honorable Mention
Common Phrases
| Name | Vegas Name |
| John Dickson | Jack Daniels |
| Preston Marx | Skid Wassabi Marx (a.k.a. Pee Pee) |
| Juli Land | Jaculi |
| Jeff Lamb | Hot Tub Jeffrey Valure |
| Hiroko Takanashi | Gabba Gabba Hey |
| Anthony J. Garot | A. J. Cool Tone |
The Expedition There
The trip started at 1:30pm when JD and I were picked up in an eight-seater
black stretch limousine. The chauffeur's name was John. There was a wet
bar in the limo with bottles labeled Rum, Vodka, and Bourbon. The Rum
was empty when we started. The Bourbon was finished by the time we
left the limo.
The limo then picked up Jeff and Hiroko. Hiroko was not told that she
would be picked up in a limo. She was simply informed that it would be
a surprise. She was indeed surprised.
The next stop was Port Hueneme to pick up Preston and Jules. We hung
out there for about 1/2 hour draining our bladders and chatting until
John the chauffeur said that he had an agenda. Fortunately, we were
able to add a small bottle of Kahlua and
milk for Tone's favorite drink... White Russians. Jules also brought some
wine, some spiced rum, and some Remy Martin.
The rest of the trip to the airport in Burbank
was filled with a lot of laughs, I assure you.
Finally at the airport, we were waiting in line to get our baggage
checked. I know I was feeling the effects of the alcohol, and
apparently Jeff was too because the cop started harassing him.
Jeff was amazing as he totally switched gears and answered the
cop without skipping a beat that there was no problem.
The flight to Vegas was about 50 minutes. Nothing eventful happened
on the flight. Well, almost nothing. Turns out that Jeff was a little
airsick. You know those white bags that they have in the pouch
of the seat in front of you? Well, Jeff opted to use his backpack
instead. I recall seeing the guy in front of me pass his white
puke-bag towards Jeff, but by then it was too late. If a woman
wears your puke, is it love?
We took another limo... white this time... from the airport to
the Mirage. We made it!
Vegas Friday Night
We stayed on the fifth floor of the Mirage. We unloaded our baggage
then cleaned up for dinner. I was famished by that time. Friday
night was "Dressed To Kill" night. We all looked pretty sharp.
Honorable mention to Juli's dress-o-cleavage.
We went to a Sushi place called Hamada of Japan.
The Sushi was pretty good. Hiroko explained to us that
her family lineage had something to do with
Kikkoman soy sauce.
I quickly pointed out "No way! Kikoman is made in Wisconsin."
Well, she said they had a plant in that area. Ok, cool.
After dinner there was some mix-up with my camera. Unfortunately,
we will never get that roll of film developed.
We headed to the Luxor and did a bit of gambling. Funny how
quickly you can lose $50 playing the quarter slots. Actually, it
is uncanny.
I lost the rest of the group and headed back to the Mirage. They
went to Bellagio for a bit, but
I saw them soon thereafter at the hotel.
Vegas Saturday
Saturday morning we were feeling a bit hungry. JD had heard that
the Mirage buffet was really good, so we decided to give it a try.
JD heard wrong. Still, there is nowhere but Vegas where you can
be eating breakfast, then go up for round two and eat lunch.
We then went to a few of the Casinos. In Caesar's Palace we
waited at the center area for the automated robot show. There
was Apollo strumming on a lyre and Bacchus whining about something
or another and some fat guy with a cup saying "... I tip my cup
to you and buy some stuff in the Forum Shops." Great.
I think Paris was next. Interesting inside. JD won some cash.
The Hilton was next to see the Star Trek show. We stopped at
Quark's for a piņa colada. They put whipped cream on the top
and a cherry. That was a bit daunting, but it was actually sort
of tasty. We then did the Star Trek show. You have to see
this... trust me.
After this we went to the Stratosphere to try the rides. They
have this roller coaster at 1,000 plus feet above Las Vegas.
They also have a ride called the "Big Shot." Skip the roller
coaster, but do the "Big Shot." It was the most gut-wrenching
unnatural feeling I think I have ever undergone.
We headed back to the Mirage at my suggestion to laze about
in the hot tub. Unfortunately, it was closed. Dammit! We
cleaned up for dinner.
Brush With Fame
The restaurant was at the Venetian.
It was called Zeffirino
and the Executive Chef was Gr. Uff. Gian Paolo Belloni. Mr. Belloni was
very gracious. He came around to our table and shook our hands. When
they say that this restaurant is five star, believe them. The
food was excellent. We drank three bottles of wine and had a
few appetizers. The bill was nearly half a grand, but you won't
hear me complaining about that. The food was that good.
The restaurant had an interesting feature in that it had windows
that faced out into the interior of the Venetian. It always
looked as though the time was just before sunset. When I
looked at my watch I was stunned to see that it was 12:00am.
This illusion really helped to stave off the fatigue.
Turns out that there was a private party being thrown by the
Venetian in the back room. First we saw Steven Segal. He
chatted with one of the chefs in Italian. Then we saw
Celine Dion and her husband. We toasted Celine and Hiroko
said "Salude" to Celine, and Celine returned the greeting.
We had a lot of fun at dinner.
Vegas Sunday
Sunday morning we headed back to the airport. We ditched
Jules because she wasn't ready or something. She ended up
beating us to the gate because she had Preston bring her
luggage to Cincinnati (he had a business trip right after
Vegas).
The flight back was fairly uneventful.
The baggage was all checked as "LATE", so we thought none
of it would be there. I didn't mind so much. They don't
call me "carry on" Tone for nothing. Turns out that the
luggage WAS there, which was a bit of a relief.
We headed back from Burbank to Santa Barbara in different
limo, but John was still the chauffeur. We stopped for
lunch at Karl's Jr. Finally, we made it back.