Party not free

I was in danger of having my first trip without a Royal so I got up early and went down to play a little video poker. Hunnybear soon joined me and despite ferocious play on both our parts we continued to have suck results. Hunnybear did hit a dealt quad on the five-play machine and I got a Straight Flush, but no Royals were in sight.

Chris and Gretchen came down and watched us bleed for a while then we went to Studio Café for a final brunch. I wasn’t hungry so I just had a shrimp cocktail and drooled over the chocolate milkshake Gretchen ordered. Chris had a Lion Burger, hold the bun, while Gretchen had a good-looking Southwestern Burger and Hunnybear had her traditional mushroom-cheese omelet. We tried several avenues to get Chris some heavy cream for his coffee but there was none to be found, just wimpy half-and-half. When we were done we set up a limo for the Gnomes and bid them adieu before spending the rest of the afternoon in a futile attempt to recover from the disastrous trip. The free New Year’s Eve party ended up costing me dearly.

I tried once again to get the Star Trek ride comped but it was not possible because the policy so I resigned myself to actually paying for something in Vegas and went upstairs to pack. The limo took us to the National check-in counter where the driver tried to do his skycap friends a favor by taking our bags directly to them without being asked. I told him we didn’t want skycap service but gave him a generous tip anyway. There was no line at the National counter despite all the flights being sold out. We checked our whales and went up to the National Club where the good host/agent/bartender was pleased to see that we had the right fare for club admission this time.

I had a Manhattan and Hunnybear had a coconut rum and Diet Coke as we used the phone and Internet until flight time. The flight was on schedule and we boarded, turned left, and took our seats in 4D and F of one of National’s all-757 fleet. Preflight drinks were limited to orange juice, champagne, and bottled water but once underway we got the good Strip view on takeoff and the good snack service with the expensive cheese and Carr’s crackers. No hot towel this time but we landed early and got towed into the gate. The luggage came out after a short delay and we stood in a fast-moving cab line to get our ride back home to Marina del Rey in the warm Southern California air.

The end.


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