After reading the most recent trip reports from the Senator and Lee, it got me thinking about how we sleep - or not - while we're in Las Vegas.

I always have a hard time sleeping while visiting Las Vegas. I think it's from all the excitement that the place has and that there always seems to be a royal or two that I'm chasing.

I also have thing "complex" about not being able to sleep when the sun comes up. Regardless of how dark the shades make it in the room, once I know the sun is up, I'm wide awake and can't sleep anymore. So I try my best to get to bed at a decent hour - I usually have to pull myself away from the machines around midnight because I know I'll be wide awake around 6:00AM.

And I also try to take a nap for at least an hour in the late afternoon. I'm not always successful, but it does me good to at least get away from the casinos for an hour or so, and re-energize myself for my evening activities.

I've only done a few "all nighters" while in Vegas and I found myself dragging for the next 2 days. I always say I'm too old for that anymore!

I pulled on 'all-nighter' on both my last two trips. I think it's the adrenaline that keeps me going.

I try to stay on a schedule close to my home time zone but it rarely works.

I can't remember ever having the trouble sleeping that I did this trip. I don't know what was going on.

It's not unusual for me to nap in Vegas either.

Mike,
Normally I would rather not do an all nighter in Vegas. It does screw up my sleep clock for a couple of days. But we normally fly into Vegas in the Evening and when you finally get settled into your hotel at 12 midnight, what are you going to do.....you say lets go down for a little while, and see what happens. What happens is, someone is usually winning and awake and the adrenaline gets going and next thing you know the sun is up.
I kinda like the casino when it's 4am and not much going on. Cocktail service is usually quicker (your the only one left) and I can relax, I have space at my machines, not some creep playing aside of me. It's also a kick to see the casino come alive again in the morning too.
But truth is, I never really plan on staying up. We just let the mood take us. I'm on the clock every day I work, on some kind of schedule. In vegas, it's nice to be free of time for just awhile.
M2C

I actually like the casino at 6AM when I get up! It's quiet and there is no one around. At NYNY, the Il Forneo Cafe opens at 6 - I get a coffee and settle in at a VP machine for the next hour or so. There's usually some good music playing in the casino and I find it very relaxing. When I'm with friends, they usually surface between 8 and 9AM and know exactly where to find me. Then we head for breakfast!

I still remember the last all-nighter I did in Vegas like it was yesterday. It was several years ago.

I was staying out at the Hyatt in Lake Las Vegas for a business meeting. For the first few days, we worked day and night and hardly got out at all. On the final night, a colleague invited some of us up to the Foundation Room at the top of Mandalay Bay for dinner.

After dinner, we went casino hopping. One of my colleagues was a REAL craps player - she loves the game and usually has chips all over the table. She even knows terms I've never even heard of - the dealers love her. We started playing at Mandalay Bay but lost horribly. She wanted to go elsewhere so I suggested Bellagio. We got there and played craps for a while but lost again. Then we headed over to Bally's and got on a really hot craps table. I bought in with $100 and had all red chips. As I kept winning and the red chips started piling up, the dealer started paying me with green chips. I put the green chips in my pocket, knowing that once I had 4 of them in my pocket, everything in front of me was profit. But the green chips just kept coming and coming. We must have played for several hours and when I looked at my watch, it was 2:00AM - I couldn't believe it. I had a car coming for me at 4:30AM because I had a 6:30AM flight and still had to pack! I said to my collegue, "We have to go!" and she's like "No - we're winning - we can't leave." So we agreed that we'd leave after 2 more 7-out's. That took another 30 minutes. I ended up with about $800 in chips and she had about the same. We finally got in a cab and I wasn't paying attention but the cab driver was taking us in the wrong direction. He hardly spoke English and had no idea where he was going. We finally got back to the hotel at 4:00AM, I ran up and packed and then headed to the airport. Of course, I can't sleep on airplanes and finally crashed in my bed at home around 2:00PM Chicago time. But I was really dragging my A around for the next 2 days. It was a lot of fun but I really paid for it!

Isn't that what Vegas is about? "It was a lot of fun but I really paid for it!"

Truer words were never spoken (or written) Jeff!

Up until this last trip, my arrival usually meant leaving ROchester at some ridiculously early hour, getting to Vegas late morning, taking a mid afternoon nap - and then really, really making the effort to stay up late that first night. If I could make it past midnight or 1 am Vegas time, then I was okay with the time change for the rest of the trip.

But for me Vegas time also means staying up late every night - I like the 2 am casino vibe, as the place starts to thin out. And if I'm at the IP the band is playing outside my window until 2 or 3 am, so no use going to bed before then!

If Bippy is with me, its an earlier bed time. He is a breakfast person, so gotta get to bed so we can wake up for a decent breakfast.

Would you believe I saw an analogy in an investment magazine that made a comparison between Las Vegas gambling and retirement living? It really wasn't that crazy - said the idea of both was to have a great time but make sure your money lasted for the trip<g>.

Anyway, back to sleep<g> ... I'm with Bippy; I love breakfast. I can eat breakfast 24 hours a day, and I think it's time Kes clued him in that they serve breakfast 24 hours a day in Las Vegas!

It's rare for me to pull an all-nighter, and there is usually an alcoholic booster to that adrenaline rush<g>. The only time I have trouble sleeping anywhere is on a firm mattress.

I can't believe you can't sleep on airplanes, Mike. That has to be a real bummer on a trip to Japan! Flight time is prime nap time for me.

Daisy - Unfortunately, I'm a very light sleeper. If I can get one hour on one of those long trips to Japan, I'm happy. Otherwise, I pray for decent movies!

No sleep on flights to Japan, Mike? That's why they invented drugs.
You have heard of drugs, right?

Daisy I love breakfast too - just not when I wake up. I like it late at night, or maybe at brunch. I am just not ready to eat a whole big meal within the first 2 hours of waking up. Bippy does not fully wake up until he's had that breakfast.

My only problem sleeping in Vegas is if there are people partying in the room next door. I don;'t mind the music and sounds from outside the building, but if its on the other side of the wall... take the party downstairs!

Most of my trips were overnighters or 2 day trips. I got very little sleep except on the planes.

When I moved here, I was not much of a breakfast fan. I can cook eggs to order at home if that's what I want. I usually go for pinhead or steel cut oats, which you can't get at most restaurants. Ever since I did research in checking for good breakfast places, I have become a breakfast fan, as a morning meal. The competition is outstanding and I think The Maple Tree is one of the highest quality breakfast joints in town.

mmmm - steel cut oats! I wonder if some of the fancier places, like the country club at the Wynn, offer that? Of course its probably for $24 a bowl...

You have to look long and hard to find them, but they are out there and it's not usually pricey.

or buy them at trader joes

Kes - yes, I've heard of drugs but they leave me with a hangover! I will tell you that one time I was traveling to Singapore. Had to change planes in Japan and when I got on the plane to Singapore, I was looking at the map wondering how long this flight was. I said to myself, 'it can't be more than 3 hours.' Then the pilot comes on and says, "Our flying time will be 6 hours and 45 minutes." AAAHHHH!!!! But the good news is that they put on this really bad movie and it knocked me out - I slept for about 3 hours and I was extremely grateful! (It was some bad movie with Bette Midler and Woody Allen - don't remember the title but it was BAD!)

JMT - I agree with you about The Maple Tree but you also turned me on to The Egg Works and I loved that place the last time I went. I'm looking forward to returning there!

Just so you know, Mike - I was only talking about something like Tylenol pm.

And a half dose at that.

Its enough to take the edge off for me on that 14 hour plus flight. Perhaps I don't actually sleep, but I doze.

And flying to/fromVegas? Nope, no sleep there.