We bought some discounted tickets from TicketXpress for the BurlesqueX show at the Flamingo and set out to kickstart Tanya's extended long weekend. There was a bit of a parking snafu when we tried to find parking at the packed lots of the Flamingo, but ended up finding a pretty damn'd good spot at Bills' Gamblin' Saloon. Apparently, Bill's parking lot is a bit of a town secret, so lesson learned. It takes us 20mins or so to get to the Strip, then about 35 minutes to find our way around to park.
We had a lot of time to kill before the show so we decided to get some beers at the corner store and wander the strip til we found a place to eat. I LOVE the fact that you can just buy a cornerstore beer and wander down the street with it. Such freedom! It brings out the maritimer in me. The most notable street-freak of the night was a character dressed as Homer Simpson in his underwear... a very drunk looking Homer, with a satchel over his shoulder, a bottle in his hand and his other arm slung over the fence to hold himself up. They'll do anything for money.
After wandering a bit we decided to eat at '
Carlos'n Charlies', a pretty wild ride at this place. The energy of the bar hit us in the face immediately so we decided to stay, the DJ was kickin' out the tunes and the staff were given to spontaneous outbursts of dancing, getting the patrons up out of their seats to join them. Everyone was pretty happy to be there, and a couple long tables of parties kept the babble at a constant level above the music. It was a great party atmosphere and great service. The meal was moderately priced and quite good, but the liquor was expensive. The food on the bill cost us $26, and the liquor on the tab for 2 drinks was $42! I ordered a Dos Equis Amber, large of course, and Tanya ordered a Long Island Iced Tea, large, and they came out in these huge freakin' bowls of booze!! It was more than we expected, especially at $15 and $26 respectively, but not unwelcomed by any means. We were OK with having a good primer to see the hot dancin' girls of BurlesqueX. Happy Friday to us!
We made it to the show just in time to get seated before the lights went down. BurlesqueX is one of the shows I have wanted to see, and one of the cheaper shows you can see in Vegas. This was Tanya's first experience at a 'strip' show, and I'll add the disclaimer for her benefit that we don't really do the stripclub scene, nor was this a strip show as the name burlesque implies. This was a dance show with nearly naked women, set to kickass contemporary tunes that rocked the small theatre. The hard edged music selection and the incredible sound in the room really drove home the show for me. But I never really got the sense of 'the tease' like you would in a regular strip show. They didn't strip, or tease, really. They were pretty much nearly naked the entire time, and the girls danced choreographed numbers set to the tunes. So the burlesqueness of the show was lost in this Vegassed-up rendition of burlesque and their time-honed recipe for success – dancing hotties to great music for mass-appeal. It works every time.
There were only 6 performers and they were AMAZING women! I think everyone can appreciate the pleasing nature of the finer creatures of this world, and you couldn't help but be moved by these fine ladies. The theatre was small and intimate, maybe 200 people in attendance and a mixed crowd of young and old, male and female, which added up to be an absolutely toothless crowd! I rocked in my seat to the music, I wanted to scream out to the dancers to let them know how amazing they were, but that would have been way out of line for this audience. Nobody said much beyond polite clapping at the end of each number. Most sat stone-faced on their hands or with their arms crossed, looking like they had gone to the wrong show, or uncomfortably not knowing what to do with themselves having nearly-naked women performing so close. There was even a bachelor party there that sat still and quiet the whole time. What the...!? So it was a good, wholesome, nearly-naked dance show with a very respectable crowd. For $30, it was a good night out with Tan to see some of Vegas' finest, and we both got a great charge out of it.
After the show we decided to spend some money on the machines. 'Research', as Tanya calls it. She builds and designs the games for the video lottery machines and it is part of her job to know what is out there so she has to play and experience them. I have gained a better appreciation for what Tanya does in doing her game research with her. Its a game all on its own to design something appealing to the masses on a casino floor of hundreds of other options for a gambler to spend their money on. Why would they choose YOUR game? Its a combo of all things, the artwork and presentation, the math and physics of the game, the sounds and lights, and the slight trickery that makes the player 'think' they have a leg up on the game that make it appealing. It also helps to have a recognized brand such as Spielo's 'Deal-or-No Deal' game with Howie Mandel as your spokesman. The games are getting better and I can appreciate that much more now that I've spent some quality 'research' time with Tanya. We lost some and won some and came out pretty much even on the evening. And in the case of these VLT machines, if you come out even, then you've won.
We wandered the strip some more and ended up just sitting and watching the people. Its still surreal for us to be here, to look down Las Vegas Blvd at all those lights, and the thousands of people still walking around after midnight. Its a beautiful city at night, and it never sleeps. The party continues 24-7 in every casino around the city. Time does not exist in the casinos. Its incredible to be here and have the time to sit and enjoy this time in our lives, with Tanya leaned in against my shoulder and the warm desert night all around us. Its pretty cool that this is our new reality.
Thanks for reading.
TRJ
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