The Plan, My 50th Fucking Birthday Trip.

Whelp, 3 months, 3 Vegas trips.

I went from coming back from the December trip not knowing if there was going to BE a trip in 2019 to now I'm at least going to be doing 4 and maybe more. Could be a record year if I can squeeze one more trip in in the summer somewhere. That may depend on the situation at the new job but I imagine it could be a thing.

So! The plan for this trip, and there is a (small) plan. 4 nights, 3 full days and a bitch of an early morning fly out day (as of now) but eh, it is what it are. This is, as I've made clear ad nauseum, the 50th birthday trip, so there will be some serious lack of moderation going on. I will be fooding, drunking, and ass-grabbing to excess for every waking moment I'm there.

STEP 1:
Foodz. I will be having at least 2 great steaks while in town. On the 24th, the day before the birthday, I will be at Delmonico in Venetian. Their filet knocked my socks clean off on the February trip and I can think of no better pre-show meal than that, especially as it's 50 yards away from the theatre for the Dan. Then on the birthday it will be the supposedly great steakhouse at Park MGM, Bavette's. I've been hearing good things and have been meaning to try it so no time like my 50th. Also since I'm staying at Hard Rock I want to try the pan roast at the seafood joint in there, something tells me it will be stellar.

STEP 2:
The Dan. I will be seeing them on the 24th and am well and truly looking forward to it. No Walter but the musicianship should still be stellar and as a bonus it's happening in one of my spirit animals in Vegas, the Venetian/Palazzo. Plenty to do/see/drink before and after the show. Hopefully will catch a break on conventions since V/P can get overrun that way - as it stands now nothing big on the convention calendar there.

STEP 3:
Lay it all out there. There's no bigger milestone in a middle-aged guy's life than the big 5-0. It's the mythical halfway point, the reward for getting there, and the hope that there will be 50 healthy more. I intend to shorten that life span considerably by my actions on this trip. Aside from the 2 steak reservations and the Dan show I'm leaving the proverbial calendar open. Surely there will be the strip greatest hits, but since I'm venturing off-strip for the birthday suite I can branch out a bit too. Check out some places I've not tried and go back to the Double Down which is literal walking distance from Hard Rock.

So the breakdown.

Tuesday, fly in night, late flight in, assuming all is on time I should be on the ground by 10p and with any luck in the room and ready to roll out by 10:30 or so. Going to play night one by ear, if I'm feeling spent (have to work most of the day and will be waking up at the usual early time) I might just hang at the HRH rather than try to get down to the strip. Double Down maybe? We'll see. May not be a super late night.

Wednesday, will try to get a good night's in and get right with the sleep gods. No plan for the early part of the day, probably get down to the strip and get some food, then low key gamble/drink much of the day. Don't want to get too wrecked as I have plans for the evening. Play it by ear on whether to go back to the room for a little nap/freshen up or just stay on the strip to head down to V/P for the steak and the show. After the Dan the gloves come off and I will be in cocktail time. Probably do the Sam Ross rounds since I'm in the resort. Could be a late night.

Thursday, it's my birthday, bitch. Hopefully some good sleep and no rush to get out to the strip, again likely some lunch/VP/drinks during the day, then it's over to Park MGM in the late afternoon for the splurge meal at Bavette's. From there after it's just celebration time, try to make my rounds and soak up the birthday vibe while it lasts.

Friday, bit of an early wake up call as I'm down to Town Square at 10a for the Avengers in IMAX. 3 hour movie so it'll be after 1p when I'm out of there, either Uber or cab down to Mandalay Bay I imagine for some lunch, maybe Ri Ra or Slice. Then I may do either Foundation Room or Skyfall since I'm there, and then over to the Ex for the last steak of the trip at Camelot. After that I Am Cowboy. Can tell by the hotel rates and sold out dates that it's going to be a busy weekend this coming weekend in Vegas. Might want to limit my strip-wandering time on Fri-Sat to maintain sanity.

Saturday, last day in town and the only day I don't have some sort of plan. Would like to sleep in this morning if possible as I have an early wake up call Sunday morning. Should have a nice bankroll left so I will no doubt be playing VP pretty liberally and looking to get a nice lunch somewhere. The rest of the day is open, probably will skip steaks this night as I've already had 3 thus far but a good meal will be in order, then probably just make the rounds after that. It wouldn't suck to get into bed at something like a decent hour since I have to be at the airport by 7a-ish but I'm not going to worry about it. If I only get 4 hours sleep I can hit my own bed when I get home to catch up.

Sunday I'm back in the hobbit hole by 11:30a or so if all goes well on the flight. Back to work on Monday. Whew.

So that;s it. The money will be a full $1K per day for sure. I don't want to be scrimping on this trip of all trips. $500 for the 1st short night and $1K per day makes $4500 total bank. And I intend to spend every penny of it.

So let's get this thing done. Year 50 here I come.