Celebrating Wes' Birthday

To celebrate Wes' birthday, we decided to go to Las Vegas last weekend. We were supposed to leave Friday night after work and return Sunday evening, allowing us two nights of debauchery and two days of sightseeing. Unfortunately, a freak storm hit Vegas Friday night (we later learned that Vegas is in year eight of a long drought) and planes were prevented from landing in Vegas.

Thus, Richard, Wes, Arnon and I were stuck at the San Jose airport until 11:30 at night, at which point our flight got canceled due to the curfew. Andy and Yesenia were leaving out of SFO, so despite being delayed until after midnight, their flight did take off. As for us, we had to wait for the first flight the next morning.

Unfortunately, that flight was also delayed because of a mechanical problem. I have to admit that I was nervous to be on a plane with mechanical issues, but we did eventually make it to Vegas.

Once in Vegas, we were determined to stay active, despite not having slept in over 24 hours.

In honor of Wes, we had planned a gay-themed weekend over two nights, but had to cram everything into a single night. So we started with a nice dinner with an amazing view of the city at Top of the World Restaurant in the Stratosphere, then went to see "Mamma Mia", featuring songs by ABBA, at the Mandalay Bay. After that, we switched to casual attire to hit the gay clubs.

We started at Gipsy's, but it was lesbian night and whereas Yesenia and I had no trouble getting in, the guys got stuck at the door. So we headed to Krave, which was a lot of fun.

When I used to party in Vegas in my twenties, the clubs stayed open until seven in the morning. I was disappointed to discover that they now close at 4:30 a.m. What happened? One simply can't be expected to cram two nights of partying into one when the clubs close so early.

By the time we returned home, we were exhausted but content. Most importantly, Wes had a memorable birthday weekend.

Here are some photos:

I forgot to mention that we had the most amazing Sunday brunch at the Wynn. It was all you can eat of the most scrumptious food for only $29! I was in heaven.

It was also great to hang out all weekend with Jason, who is a fantastic guy. He moved to Vegas in late summer but he's moving back to San Francisco soon. Yay!