Know who your traveling with!
Now this happend quite a few years ago, it was my second trip to Las Vegas and my wifes first. I had met one of my wifes co-workers and we enjoyed playing poker with them and doing things with them. Pool parties, picnics, shopping, having a few cocktails and such.
Well, this is a sad story, on how Las Vegas, ruined a friendship, and we all should have known better.......
I beleive it all started, at a friendly poker game in thier kitchen. They had honeymooned at Caesars Palace about 5 years back, and it was a long time since I've been there and as stated earlier, my wife Sue up to this point never seen Las Vegas. A couple of beers & hours later.... we all wern't playing cards anymore, but mapping out a vacation to LV.
We agreed, each couple would look for the best prices for airlines, hotels, limo to the airport, then we'd get togeather next week and see who we thought would be handling our travel plans.
Next week rolled around soon enough, Dealing with a new travel agent, we agreed on TWA, Flamingo Hilton, 5th Ave. Limo. 4 nights, first week in May. But there was problems ..... seems I got all the better rates, and there was a bit of compatition, that we never seen before in our friends.
Well we book the flight and make all the nesasary arrangments, but 2 weeks before we are to leave, they are talking about how maybe we should go without them, and that they where a little strapped for cash right now. Well, in the end they end up going and, by the time the plane lands in LV, (after sitting with them for over 6 hrs) I've heard enough of thier voices for the day. (if you know what I mean) You see, Sue & I have always traveled, and the other couple didn't do much traveling at all. It was like sitting aside of a kid waiting for christmas. Flamingo room is all messed up, we have tower reservations....but they put us in the old motel buildings. Both rooms asigned are not made up (we find this out after we have a room key and view our room!). The one room smells bad, real bad (thier room) sort of like if you leave a mexican doggie bag of food in your car for a week in the hot desert sun, bad, if you know what I mean. Seems there was some sort of strike going on at the Flamingo, or a work slow-down of somekind as I remember. I vow to never to return to the Flamingo again! LOL(It's now our hotel of choice)
Anyway our friends feel it's thier duty to lead us around Las vegas. By the 3rd night, They go over the edge. She tells my wife (which is dressed very fine, for the Sig/Roy show at the Frontier later that evening) that she looks like a "working girl". The exact words have been edited because of TV's guidlines. I thought my wife was gonna kill her right there on the spot, but no. She handled it with grace. She smiled at her, looked at me (as thought to say...hold me back) and then smiled at our traveling companions. From that point we where in crash & burn mode. We went to the show, I was going to handle the tipping at the door, but the other couple wanted to do it. I gave them $25, and we got the worst possible seats in the house. I later questioned them, and she handed me $20 back.....she took it opon herself to only tip $5 for the 4 of us. I think if we would have gotten better seats, she would have kept the 20 for themselves.
The next morning, Sue & I had a plan! We met them and explained we'd like to be alone for the last full day. We arranged to meet them later for dinner, my choice. They went one way and we ran the other........
We choose to "walk to downtown" honest, it looks so close on those cheapo maps in the magazines and doesn't show what was in between either! Sue & I managed to have a heck of a good time dispite the hot weather and the offers to sell us drugs and one even was willing to trade my camera, for drugs...wasn't that sweet! Yes that's right, I walked downtown with a new Minolta 35mm self focusing camera, with multi zoom lenses. I still marvel how we managed to make that walk. Downtown, we had the time of our lives, we returned to the Flamingo to celibrate our salvation of a bad trip with what we thought where good friends. We order a bottle of Champane to our room and before dinner invite our travel companions to a toast with us. They are now convinced we hit big and won't tell them. They are almost snotty about it. If I win big....everyone will know...trust me!
Now I'm fumming. Where to eat dinner....ahh..the lobster house on the strip by the Sands (the one with those big lobsters) anyway, they see the prices, and think I'm buying because "we must have hit big" you should have seen the faces when I put my half on the table for the bill! LOL
So to wrap up this story, we fly home, I request a seat change, because at this point I explain to the check-in girl, it's the only way there won't be a murder on this flight. She smiles and moves us. Oh...thier seats? The ones in the very back, that don't recline!
We collected the luggage and where driven home, and never where friends again.
Sad but true. Know who your traveling with! We've gone to LV with Louise (an older lady we met on a cruise) our neighbor, with my sister, and my daughter and husband. While each person sort of changes our style of travel, all are flexible enough to allow us to have a good time, while sharing time with people we care about. Yes traveling with others can be great fun, but as seen above it can get ugly too. So beware!
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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com
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