It all started with an e-mail from the best man at my wedding.  OK Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to the year 1992. Queen had just released "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Billy Ray Cyrus (sans Miley) was sporting a mullet and singing about his "Acky Breaky Heart".  We come upon three sailors assigned to the fast attack nuclear submarine, the USS Tunny (SSN 682) who...wait, what's a Tunny, you ask? Its a tuna. Anyway where was I...right three sailors, blah, blah, blah.  I am due to get married and my brothers in the Silent Service are going to be in my wedding party, specifically Taras (best man) and Chad (usher).   The great thing about the Navy is that you make friends from all across the US with whom you share once in a lifetime experiences and visit places many people only see on TV.  The problem is that the "job" that brought you together in 3-5 years will seperate you.  You may keep in touch electronically or via the telephone, but it is rare to see these brothers of the deep ever again.  So it was with great surprise that the three of us agreed to get together 16 years later to catch up during Super Bowl Weekend.  Needless to say that I am very excited to see those two guys again and to see how kind time has been to all of us.  

In this blog I am going to document the pre-planning, some of my thoughts and then what happened when we were there and finally my closing thoughts on the whole thing.  So, getting things started...

November 2008

After agreeing to this event and asking our significant others if we could go (actually just me and Chad, Taras is still playing the bachelor)  we agreed on staying at the Palazzo for a few reasons:  (1)  We wanted to keep our lodging expenses to about 100-125 a night, and (2) we wanted to be on the Strip.  At first we thought of PH but because of SB Weekend we were looking at 150-200 a night for each of us.  If we shared a suite with a sleeper it would be cheaper and we would probably have a lot more fun.  The Palazzo worked out to be 800 for 3 nights spluit between the three of us.

December 2008

I was making a list of the things I need to do before the trip. They are in no particular order...

(1)  Buy some new clothes:  Whenever I go on vacation (espcially Vegas), I always buy some new clothes to wear.  It's how I keep my wardrobe fresh. 

(2)  Team jersey:  Hopefully my beloved Carolina Panthers will be in the big game, but if they are not, I will need a team jersey to support a team during the game.  Have to wait until later in January on that item.

(3) Practice VP:  I got Bob Dancer's VP for Winners software and I'm putting in a few hours a day on it to raise the accuracy of my play (currently at 91%)

(4) Ipod Playlists:  I think I will need at least an Arriving in Vegas Playlist.  Everybody needs a soundtrack even for the mundane things but especially for arriving in Vegas.  Some quick ideas include:  Viva Las Vegas - EP (natch), Lets Get It Started - Black Eye Peas, Cradle of Love - Billi Idol, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead - Bon Jovi, Paradise City - GNR, Pretty Vegas - INXS, and finally Luck Be A Lady - Brian Setzer (I know but I like the beat of this one vice the Sinatra versions)

Well that's all for now, Ill post again later in January 2009 before I leave. 

Tags: Trip Report Super Bowl Football Ipod

Bookmark: