Breakfast at seven. Scott Hamilton was the keynote speaker. Despite the fact that his speech had little to do with the conference, he was engaging. Talked about beating cancer, about finding a brain tumor and overcoming other adversity in his life. He played the crowd well. His overarching them was you can accomplish anything you can set your mind to (sort of a "Find Your Grail" theme if you will.)

Fast forward to the end of the business day. 3:15 pm
I had a "definitely a man in drag" experience. But when she walked by, I got a closer look. Nope, that was a chick.

One of the presenters lost power to her laptop in the last five slides of her presentation. For a minute or two, she held it together, but the longer the presentation went, the more hysterical she became. What happened was she was plugged into the podium but there was no power feeding the podium, so her laptop drained during the presentation. But it was five slides and she was essentially ready to take questions before it became an issue. She seemed to think she couldn't prove her points in technological darkness, but I thought she did a pretty damn good job anyhow.

Tonight's activity is the fastest trip to Paris and Venice and out again. We ogged the legs of the Eiffel Tower, stopped to play Paris's version of Big Six. (Okay the game is a total sucker's bet and we still haven't had a dealer who would smile. The closest we got to playful was this guy spun the wheel in both directions.) We looped the casino and charged back to the car as if they had set the dogs on us. We spent longer in the Venetian. The ceilings in the Venetian are replica paintings. The Sistine Chapel is reproduced at the mall entrance. (I know, it sounds tacky but it's one of my favorite "theme" casinos.) The front desk has an intricate fountain and other ceiling "classics." We went outside and looked at the gondolas and the exterior of the casino always makes me think of cake. There's a lot of construction on the north side. It was a gorgeous evening though. And then we charged away again.

Dinner at In-N-Out. It's fast food, but high quality, served and cooked fresh. Their menu is just burger, cheeseburger, fries and shake and you mix and match for your meal. Everyone raised on McDonald's needs to try In-N-Out just once. They are only in California and Nevada and Arizona, but if you find yourself there... Finally, to cap the night, we headed out to Red Rocks Casino which is another station casino. It's simply a stunning casino. High-back leather seats at every slot machine. Rows and rows of penny slots. Clean, well lit, and spacious. We played until bed time. One of my recent favorite casinos, but damn far from the city. It's a testament that casinos don't have to be tacky, smoky, or dingy (see Orleans, the.)

The next day.

Breakfast at seven. The first presenter recruited a peanut gallery to laugh at his jokes. You could tell they were planted though because no one else in the room found him particularly funny. The rest of the sessions passed in harmony and wisdom. The gals convinced me to go to dinner and I proposed the Mirage Buffet, Cravings. High end buffets tend to have about a 2-year shelf life before they lose what makes them spectacular (see Bellagio Buffet, the.) Fortunately, Mirage's new buffet hasn't hit its 2-year decline yet. The offerings were stylish and the cuisine ranged from Asian to desserts to prime rib, salads, sushi, fish. Buffet is one of those things you have to try in Vegas to get the full tourist experience but it's a very hit or miss affair no matter where you go. Something about mass producing food. The curious thing about buffets is that they don't really ever expect you to finish a single plate of anything. It's a sampler affair, even if you don't take samples but full-fledged meal-sized portions. But the waitress will whisk it away without a second glance even if you still have a chicken leg, two pieces of California roll and a puddle of chocolate pudding left on your plate. Typically, buffets are losing propositions for casinos, purely existing to draw you into the establishment to gamble or spend dollars elseways.

Tonight was the first of many trips to the airport. The incoming flight was late, which meant we were early. But we dutifully parked and waited and then because it was our last night, we decided to finally got out for drinks. The Excalibur sells pina coladas and margaritas in souvenir glasses which the four of us rudely unloaded on Phoebe (sorry, Phoebe!) I can get through about 1/3 of the pina colada before I'm wasted. It's that potent and I'm that weak.

Rocky sleep and finally at 5am, with a 7am wake up call, I could take it no more. I rose from bed with souvenir guilt for dumping my Excalibur glass with Phoebe as casually as a pregnant teenager dumps her newborn on the steps of the library. But alas, we didn't see Phoebe again before her flight, so there was no way to assuage my feelings.