Posted on Wednesday, 5 October 2016

It's Stevo's stag do and his friend Tommy wants him to enjoy the neon delights of Las Vegas to the fullest. But Stevo has other ideas...

Stevo really thought he could do it: he thought he could get all the kudos from doing Las Vegas for his stag, without actually doing it. At first, his three Vegas companions, including me, acquiesced to his assertion that this would be a 'civilised' stag do…

…a civilised stag do in Sin City!

In Stevo's eyes, this would be a visit to Red Rock Canyon, a night at Cirque de Soleil, a few beers and a pull on a one-armed bandit.

But we had other plans.

MGM Grand & Red Rock Canyon

It all started off sedate enough, despite the dazzling energy and noise of Las Vegas.

After checking in to the MGM Grand (as vast and glitzy as the write-ups suggested), we embarked on a one-day hike in Red Rock Canyon. The drive down to Red Rock through the cactus-strewn Nevada Desert was spectacular enough – but nothing compared to Red Rock itself.

Indeed, hiking around this vast 65 million-year-old canyon was so wonderful that we almost lost track of the fact it was Stevo's stag do. It presented such a startling contrast to the flashing neon of Las Vegas.

But After a fulfilling day, back to the flashing neon we returned, fully intending to explore the city's legendary nightlife. Unfortunately the day's hiking – coupled with the flight from London – had exhausted us.

Thankfully we had four more nights...

Cirque de Soleil's - The Beatles Love

Most people go to Las Vegas for a spin of the roulette wheel or a game of blackjack. Not Stevo. He was focussed on the Beatles. He'd loved the band since has a boy, and was hugely excited by the prospect of Cirque de Soleil's The Beatles Love.

While I can't say I'm a huge Beatles fan, I must admit it was a visually incredible sight: All the big hits on a huge stage, with Beatles lookalikes popping out here and flying across there.

After two nights of relatively good behaviour, it was time for some partying.

Three-Foot Tall Strawberry Daiquiri

To our surprise, Stevo developed a swift and surprising fixation on the one-arm bandits which were found in their hundreds all over town. At one point we had to pull him away so we could enjoy some of the city's bars. And we were glad we did – in one we're pretty sure we saw Floyd Mayweather – although that could have been the three-foot tall neon strawberry Daiquiri talking (yes, it really was three foot tall).

After another binge on the bandits – and after Stevo lost $30 of nickels – we made our way over to the New York, New York Hotel and its famous roller coaster of the same name.

New York, New York Roller Coaster

It was a long, slow climb to the top of the first drop, but it gave us spectacular views over Sin City – a flattened galaxy of lights stretching out towards dark desert mountains. Stevo was quite vocal when we finally dropped. We managed to keep the daiquiri down.

It was quite surreal way to spend a few minutes: a huge Statue of Liberty would come into view periodically as we dipped and rose, as well as our own glowing green MGM Grand.

One-Arm Bandits

Once back on the ground, a little wobbly (the ride had shaken up the daiquiri), Stevo said he wanted to get straight back on the one-arm bandits.

I told him he would never win on those – they were a complete rip-off.

Even so we headed over to the huge Monte Carlo Hotel. And while Stevo set about pouring his money into the one arm bandits, the rest of us headed over to the roulette and blackjack tables.

After two hours, the three of us had lost our evening's spending money and needed to find an ATM.

However, first we had to find the groom.

Soon enough we located him, a little the worse for wear. He donned a necklace made of huge yellow plastic flowers and on his arm was an attractive blond cocktail waitress, whose name tag read Misty. In one hand he held a drink, the other a bucket.

"What's in the Bucket?"

Peering inside we saw a gargantuan heap of shiny nickels. He'd won big on a one-arm bandit and the management had given him a plastic bucket to carry away his loot.

We couldn't quite work out where Misty fit in.

We politely explained to her that Stevo was getting married in a week. Eventually she left – but not until we'd enjoyed another three-foot neon strawberry daiquiri together – and given her the bucket of nickels.

Get a Quote