Oh, the Tourists We Know...

I'm in the middle of a barrage of visitors right now.  A few weeks ago I had my friend in town for a conference, and last weekend I had someone who hadn't ever had a "Vegas Weekend" before, and tomorrow my family comes in for an early Thanksgiving.

The one who had never had a "Vegas Weekend" before was the one who got the most lost in the bright lights of Vegas, even before she left the airport.  Her luggage was the last one out, and then she promptly walked the wrong way to passenger drop off instead of passenger pick up.  I had circled passenger pick up about 5 times by the time she realized this, so the 6th trip around I finally got her.  Of course, it was about 11pm by then, and she was hungry. 

Because it was close, we headed to Town Square and were ignored by all the staff at Cadillac Ranch, even though the guy in front insisted they were still serving food and we could sit anywhere.  After 20 minutes we left, and by that time the only place I could think of that would still be open was Peppermill.  We got great service there, then headed home.

I drove her to Excalibur to join the rest of "her girls" to start her weekend.  I invited her via text to a couple of things I had already planned, but they had their own plans to attend to.

Sunday morning comes around, and just before 8 AM my phone starts to vibrate until I check who is calling, and it's her.

The connection is bad (I blame Excalibur) but she seems to be in some sort of panic.  Turns out her friend slept in and missed her flight.

RULE No. 1 of Vegas: Never, EVER make yourself leave in the morning, because you will be hungover and you will miss your flight.  This, to us locals, is just common sense.

I tell my friend, call the 800 customer service number of her airline and get another flight, no problem.  Then she asks me if I can come down there and drive them.  Remember, I'm still wiping the sleep from my eyes at this point; because no one should be up that early on a Sunday unless they are worshipping.

RULE No. 2 of Vegas: 24/7, there are cabs waiting right out front of any hotel on the strip.  They are waiting for you.  They want to take you anywhere you want to go, including the airport.

This is what I told her, then waited about an hour for her response.  She was obviously still a little drunk, which is understandable in a Vegas weekend.

But I'm still thinking I'm going to forget to tell people I live here from now on.