Thinking out loud after a fun and frenzied weekend in “Sin City”:

Las Vegas is best experienced in a max of a 3-day stay. It’s so otherworldly and timeless (and, yes, outrageously expensive, at least if you want to live it up like a Goodboy) that by the end of your third day you need to leave as badly as you looked forward to getting there in the first place.

…and as soon as you’re home you’re already thinking about how and when you can go back.

You can’t beat the steak and eggs at the Peppermill for late-night dining fare.

…And the waitresses at their renowned Fireside Lounge are still jaw-dropping beautiful in those long black cocktail gowns.

A brief stop at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville was the same pleasurable experience it has always been. Sad to see, however, that they’ve dropped the “Bubba’s Big Bamboo” (”A big, stiff drink. Banana Rum, Myers’s Dark Rum, Nassau Royale and Triple Sec shaken with orange juice and coconut cream”) from the drink menu. When I bemoaned that fact to Chris the bartender, he replied sadly, “that seems to happen to all the good drinks”.

Our experience staying at the Wynn was top-notch. Many businesses could take a lesson from the friendliness, hospitality, and the willingness to please and go the distance for their guests that everyone there displayed.

…I think I still like The Mirage’s Spa and Salon better, however.

Glad I channeled the inner Rob within me and resisted the idea of dropping money on the Colts. I predicted a 31-14 win by the Colts and figured Peyton Manning would pick apart the Saints defense, but I never felt strong enough about that prospect to lay $ down on it.

Watched the game in The Mirage’s Revolution Lounge, but the real show of the day was Angela the bartender. Adorable beyond belief (let’s leave it at that!), friendly, down to earth, and extremely good at what she does. Whoever hired that girl has a good eye for talent.

President Obama made a big mistake doing that interview with Katie Couric during the Super Bowl pre-game. Let’s leave alone the fact that no day seems to go by when he’s not giving another lecture speech or sitting for a puff-piece interview, can’t the guy take a day off and just allow the common folk to enjoy their football?

…I can tell you from sitting at The Mirage’s Kokomo’s Bar that people were not amused. Or interested. In fact, at one point the crowd got hostile and started yelling at the bartenders to change the channel; then, when some some woman sitting at the bar tried to defend the Prez, the crowd shouted her down.

Watching that interview I could only think of one thing: whatever Couric is getting paid, it’s way too much. She may be perky, photogenic, and ambitious, but she’s just another talking head who’s clearly as dumb as a stone.

Let’s see, Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and now the Indianapolis Colts. A big winner in 2008, President Obama is quickly garnering a reputation in 2010 for backing losers.

Lasting memories of this weekend: First, talking to a girl named Olga at a not-to-be-revealed location. Now, I’m a sucker for Russian accents, especially when delivered by a lovely and captivating young blonde. We’re sorta running out of conversation, so I asked her to keep talking:

Olga: What should I say?

Me: I dunno, how about reciting “War And Peace”?

Olga: “War and Peace”, what’s that?

Me: What kind of a Russian are you, anyways?

Second, it’s late Sunday night and I’m sitting at the B Bar at the Wynn, next to a bunch of loud Mexicans with rolls of $100 bills. The guy next to me orders a double Grey Goose on the rocks:

Bartender: That will be $30.

Hombre: $30! That’s expletive deleted!

Bartender: You ordered a double Grey Goose, right?

Hombre: But it’s all in one glass!

Ahhh… Vegas. It never gets old, and I can’t wait to go back.