Memorial Day 2006 Vegas Trip
Published on 3 Aug 2006 at 1:02 pm.
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Filed under Adventures, Introductions.
Vegas[n]:Â Abbreviation for Las Vegas. A city in southern Nevada well known for casinos, hotels, and a growing entertainment presence.
VEGAS![v]: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… unless you’re on CubanJon.com
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After a pleasant afternoon visiting with Mom, Dad, and many of the siblings (the wording is correct, but that’s a different story) Cuban Jon gets a text message from Kangmage, a college friend and current buddy. I had just missed his birthday and he mentioned the idea of going to Vegas… It didn’t take long for me to be convinced. You see, Cuban Jon has been working a little more than usual and has dropped off the radar. I needed to get out of town, and this was the most irresponsible, exciting, spur of the moment, and yet quite reasonable option available. Let’s forget that we didn’t have a room, much cash, or a clue about what was about to happen.Â
Kangmage mentioned that his friends, one of them an acquaintance of mine who’s path has crossed mine more often than he will ever know, were going to be at Krave (The New & ONLY gay nightclub on The Strip.) So, having no plans, I prepared myself to be bled dry for an outrageous cover charge and over-priced watered down drinks. Thankfully, Kangmage paid my cover and bought a round of drinks as we walked in the door.
It was then that I realized this place was hosting the after-party for the Madonna concert that had just let out minutes before… Packed wall to wall with the biggest group of gay stereotypes I’ve ever has the displeasure of having to share sardine-like accommodations with in a nightclub. This is not to say that Cuban Jon isn’t known for queening out on occasion or that I don’t enjoy listening to Madonna myself, but I’m never going to pay crazy amounts of $$$$ to attend one of her concerts and you’ll probably never find a Madonna CD in my collection…. Moving on. We ran into Kangmage’s friends and they mentioned that they had an extra room. Thanks to that, Kangmage could now drink and play to his heart’s content and Cuban Jon only had to make sure to get him to the room in time to worship the porcelain god and pass out in bed. The partying began…
Sometime around 3:30am, Cuban Jon and Kangmage realized that they couldn’t much handle more dancing and drinking… Thankfully Cuban Jon only had two drinks shortly after arrival and by this point was very much with it. In exchange for the generous room offering I offered to drive Kangmage’s friends to the Treasure Island where they were staying, then head off to the Riviera where their extra room. I didn’t ask questions and immediately parked the car by the Valet when I could tell 2 of my 3 passengers were about to vomit in Brian Reginald Green!!! OOOOHHHH NOOOO!!!!
They all ran into the lobby of the Treasure Island and went directly into the nearest restroom. Stalls were left unlocked and everyone else in the restroom was either amused or disgusted as the sounds and smells permeated the room. Cuban Jon, of course, sat himself down at a nickel slot machine to play while he watched the boys repeatedly enter and exit the restroom. YUK!
After settling some stomachs and parting ways with Kangmage’s friends, we made our way to the hotel with the extra room… Upon arrival we could remember all the numbers in the room number, but not the actual number itself. Cuban Jon dragged poor Kangmage (who was still very broken) around to several floors trying each permutation of the numbers. At one point Cuban Jon tried almost every door on a floor just in case. NO LUCK! Having much luck in the past with either gender in the past, Cuban Jon decides to go down and sweet talk the front desk clerk and find out which room Kangmage’s friends left for us.
It didn’t take long to find out that Kangmage’s buddies were too drunk to remember that they already checked out of their extra room before going out to Krave. THIS WAS BAD BAD BAD! Memorial Day Weekend, all rooms sold out everywhere we looked. Cuban Jon enlisted the assistance of his Boston-based Evil Twin and his handy dandy Blackberry 7100t to find a last-minute place to crash before Kangmage passed out completely. After a few more emergency trips to the bathrooms by Kangmage, a room was found and booked at a motel across the street from Krave where this fiasco began. We made our way there, only having to stop once for an emergency evacuation of the stomach.
When we arrived at the motel around 6:00am, we were told that our room would be available at 3pm and not immediately as Cuban Jon was assured on the phone just minutes before AND that if we did not want the room we would not receive a refund. After much discussion Cuban Jon received the refund and remembered that his family has a house in Las Vegas… BIG DUH MOMENT!!
By this point Kangmage was barely hanging in. Cuban Jon drove like the wind to the house, practically carried Kangmage in, deposited him in the lush master bedroom, went outside to make phone calls to thank everyone who assisted the previous night, and finally passed out on the bed next to Kangmage. Now keep in mind that this particular house is quite nice and decorated very simply. With all the blinds drawn in the master bedroom, you can’t tell if you’re in a beautiful house on a golf course or a luxury suite at Caesar’s Palace… Kangmage awoke not remembering where we were or how we got there… He was shocked at the extravagant room that Cuban Jon had obviously rented for the night. Cuban Jon, exhausted, was out cold and could not correct the assumption until later.
Finally awake, Cuban Jon and Kangmage make their way back to good ol’ California with smiles and an interesting story. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kangmage!
