Viva Las Vegas and Long Live the Gambling

After 12 years, you'd think I would learn to keep my passing thoughts and ideas to myself. I mentioned to Dustin that, since we hadn't gotten to celebrate our anniversary together on September 1st (or at all), that we should try to get away for a weekend when my mom came down to visit in November. I thought maybe a short visit to Santa Barbara or a night out in down town San Diego. He took the idea a few hundred dollars further and booked us two nights at the Luxor in LAS FREAKIN' VEGAS. And plane tickets. And show tickets. And excellent meals. And gambling. 

Neither of us had ever been to Las Vegas. I was unsure I would get the point since I am a frugal/tightwad/penny pincher. The idea of gambling scared me because Dustin has a flare for all things carnival and blinking and shiny. He ALWAYS wins at those claw games in pizza parlors with the incredibly poor quality stuff animals. I worried that I would hold him back and that I may lose him to Sin City. 

After losing $40 in less than sixty seconds on our first machine, we got in a mini-tiff and sat down to eat and come up with a game plan. We agreed on a number that we were comfortable "playing" with  and potentially losing and then proceeded with caution.

As it turns out, I, too, have a gift for all things carnival, blinking, and shiny. I found some HOT machines that not only treated me kindly but treated me like royalty. Dustin and I drew a bit of a crowd for a while there. We won some. We lost some. We won some more. Dustin almost lost ME to Sin City. We stayed up until about 6 a.m. gambling, dancing, and sight seeing.

On the second day, we did more of the above and cabbed to the old strip. That is where we discovered that Dustin's carney skills extend further to the roulette table and that I could play bingo unsupervised and in an old school hall. 

We split up for a little bit to divide and conquer. I won $40 which made up for the initial loss on the floor. Dustin won a lot more and was Googling every tip on roulette on the cab right back to the hotel.

We met Bumble and promptly sent the photo to Alden in San Diego. His mind was blown.

The only photo allowed in the Cirque du Soleil show O. It was awe inspiring. I was simultaneously creeped out a little and floored a lot more. SO COOL. 

That night, Dustin opted to stay up all night at the roulette table while I got a little shut eye before we had to check out. I made sure he was getting potty breaks and eating but he was dedicated to making it big. It worked. Vegas totally worked. I loved it. We miss it.