DC VEGAS XIII: A Birthday Escape in the Desert

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

What does the word "escape" mean? Its dictionary definitions are many, like breaking free from control or confinement as in escaping from prison, or that key on the very top left corner of any computer keyboard. A better meaning of it as far as nouns are concerned reads, "a form of temporary distraction from reality or routine," and there is one place that can lay claim to being the most ideal place of escape that there is in the entire world. And as this latest DCBLOG deep-dive takes place, the events depicted in this post had its date set for the week after what happened in our nation, but also the one week that I look forward every year... but this was one that was a bit unusual than normal for one very special reason.

All Photos Taken by the Blogger

In the midst of this past summer's heat and me enjoying what is my most binge-worthy TV miniseries -slash- sports event, while I was watching the Paris Olympics my mom booked plane tickets and a hotel room for the one event that I look forward to doing most every year for almost the last two decades -- a fall classic that stretches its lineage further back to 1994. Almost a hundred days after my #1 supporter and our family bedrock made those reservations, I was on the ground for this year's edition of DC VEGAS... and for only the second time in my 41-year-old life I was celebrating a birthday not in my Silicon Valley neck of the woods, but instead in that happy place in the desert that has grown from humble beginnings into the one place on earth that I love traveling to every year.

Every Vegas trip I've made in the last thirty years have had their own special character or meaning to it: the first one saw a then young 10-year-old get separated from family in a crowded casino, which is why I had to wait over a decade for the second. That return in 2007 marked the start of both my grown adult phase of sorts as a 23-year-old then, and of these regular trips when my newlywed sister & brother-in-law decided to tag me along for the ride. So many of these glorious trips and its assorted memories have followed as these journeys have since become a near-annual tradition, just as I would grow a big love affair with Sin City that's joined music, sports and reality TV as my biggest passions... all while using this place to help burgeon my skills as a content creator beyond this blog and into YouTube.

Although my actual one was three years ago with my 2001 grad class, every Vegas trip feels like an annual high school reunion with this metropolis of 2 million being that long-lost friend. And whenever the last digit in any annual tradition reaches 5 or 0, it's more than worthy of a celebration or special commemoration of a milestone. So it was only appropriate for the thirtieth anniversary of that very first trip I made to this desert oasis that this escape to this happy place for DC Vegas XIII just might be the best one of the thirteen times I've been to this city, which might just double as my second home. For this instance, the number thirteen isn't just the date of my birthday, but also this number is lucky indeed.

Having a November 13th birthday like I do (that also applies to Jimmy Kimmel, Whoppi Goldberg and reality star Paulie Califiore), sometimes you would have the enigma of having it fall on Friday the 13th every few years... that was the case for that first Vegas birthday in 2009. This year, it had the unenviable task of having to fall eight days after that thing, and during that week I took a week's break from the former Twitter to protect my mental health... and watched the previous weekend's short track speed skating meet from Montreal, Canada as I shut out all distractions from everything else going on. That's why this one adopted the slogan "The Escape You Deserve" during the pandemic and at times since.

   But in anticipation of what I consider my very own Super Bowl, as is tradition I began planning out this year's Vegas trip almost immediately after it was set in stone. If you're me, you get a jump on that Black Friday shopping a few months early: I bought new gadgets and clothes, spent oodles on music piecemeal instead of streaming to save the data bill, and even loaded money into new debit cards for their first usage in Vegas as cashless options. But what matters most is the experience... and as one who doesn't really gamble all that much despite bringing $2000 to this trip (not nearly all of those were spent, but it's always there in case of any emergency), I come to these trips getting myself in that mood of just enjoying the city and letting loose like a young kid walking into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

   I waited both only 380 days from the most recent trip in October of last year, and a long 98 days from when mommy booked those reservations while I was busy following Day 13 of the Paris Olympics on August 7th. And I literally had to wait through late summer, early- and mid-autumn and everything else to get to Veteran's Day of Monday, November 11th... with a birthday coming two days later. But as I wrote in last year's trip review, if you're one who loves Vegas as much as this one does then you just love that arrival into the city: whether it's on I-15 after a 10-hour drive or a short 90-minute flight from the Bay Area, one grand tradition just never gets old of coming into the city with the Strip skyline in sight, the sound of ZZ Top's cover of "Viva Las Vegas" in my earplugs just after touchdown, and the long journey from the plane through baggage claim at Reid International and the taxi ride to our hotel... which I fantasize as being akin to the tunnel walk from the locker room to the Super Bowl field.

   Along the way, this was also the second straight Las Vegas vacation that I have gone on without having the company of my late dad. As I wrote here last year, Mariano loved going to both casinos and Vegas while he was alive... and with us sharing a November birthday it was only appropriate that the last big trip he ever took was to Sin City, just eight months before cancer prematurely took him away from my mom and our close-knit family circle. One of the shirts I bought for this year's trip was a pink polo shirt -- but do not mind any of the negative connotations that come with a man wearing that color: he wore pink-colored shirts a lot, and I made sure to pay tribute to him by wearing my pink shirt underneath my other layers to bring Mar in spirit with me and mom on this trip to the last destination he ever went to.

With respect to safety, security and suspense, it's my policy not to publicly reveal the identity of the hotel I'm staying in until just before we check out and head on home. Seven different Strip resorts and a few other places off of that three-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard have hosted me and my traveling parties on my trips here over the years. They range from where I got lost at Circus Circus and two other themed resorts in Excalibur and New York New York, to just staying for free at timeshares off of the Strip rented out by my aunt and her son when they come here instead of spending up on the luxury.

   But this year for this anniversary trip, history was made as The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas became the first of these hotels to become a three-time host to me. It's no wonder why Cosmo holds a great deal of meaning to my family in our Vegas experiences: I first walked in back in 2013 when my bro-in-law spent his July birthday during NBA Summer League week there, and three years later I was sleeping in their bed for the first time. It also frequently hosts live streams to my parents' favorite slot players in The Big Jackpot and NG Slot, and has been subject to a bevy of vlogs from other Vegas YouTubers for whom I now aspire to become in this next phase of my life.

   From when it opened in late 2010 during the recession as the last big resort to open during the boom years up until earlier this year, The Cosmo was one of the few remaining independent Vegas hotels: one not owned by a major conglomerate like MGM, Caesars or others. The former took over control of it last year, but the state's largest private employers were wise to not make a total mess at the outset of what made Cosmo different: they kept most of it in tact -- from that late night joint for some pregame pie in Secret Pizza, to the vibes of Marquee Nightclub and the Chandelier Bar, and its many shops and speakeasies. The only big changes there were transitioning to MGM Rewards from Identity for their players program, and rebranding the sportsbook under the Bet MGM banner.

   What made us get attached to Cosmo are not only those things or the charm of being in such an amazing resort that has everything we aspire any good Vegas property can be, but also there are the rooms themselves. Just glance at all of that artwork on the walls, the decor and everything else that adorn each of the property's 3,033 rooms, both large and small... and it's why the hotel has remained at the very top of the Vegas totem pole in its levels of luxury and luxurious -- which made it a no-brainer getting to stay there for a third time. The rooms were so well put-together that there was little change... and the only improvements was of improving the in-room entertainment and technology (which we didn't use that TV at all this trip). But then, there was the biggest improvement over the 2018 stay.

   There's one thing that can make or break anyone's Vegas experience: it's of what the view would be like once one checks into their hotel room for the first time. Last year, the 50-year-old neighbor the entire Cosmo complex was built around, The Jockey Club, gave us a window view of just the wall of Cosmo -- but that didn't matter to us as we'd take having a place to stay over the importance of trying to have a good view (and it was a home-like condominium). Before that in '21, Encore gave me what I thought was the best view I've ever had: North Strip facing the Southern part despite being somewhat far away from the heart of the Strip on the center portion of LV Boulevard.

   But nobody could tell me then that it would be overtaken by a wide margin by having a 46th floor view of the Bellagio fountains, Paris, the Sphere, Horseshoe and everything else surrounding it... that was the view that we were gifted for this year's trip. And when I entered that room and checked out that view, I almost broke down... it was as if our guardian angel and the folks above must have given me and my mom this dream location and view.

The goal going into this year's Vegas trip was to expand upon something that began in 2019: spread our wings beyond the Strip. That year, we stayed at a non-Strip hotel-casino for the first time at the locals-focused Gold Coast across from both Rio and the Palms, followed two years later by our first Fremont Street visit. My parents' reliance on the slots hindered our ability to check out more of this region beyond those famous three miles, but this year really saw us expand our reach beyond those city limits.

   There's a reason for the growth of Vegas as the largest city founded in the 20th century: less than an hour away is the development of a crucial component to the region that has long been a vital source to the rest of the western United States. The Hoover Dam brought thousands of workers to the desert during the Great Depression and was constructed over five years in the '30s to tame the mighty Colorado River, while also creating an enormously large man-made lake to provide vital water service to Nevada, Arizona, California and Mexico. In sacrificing casino time, my mom wanted to check off this item in getting to visit a place in the Valley outside city limits for the first time... but in the usual DC Vegas fashion, there's a story to all this.

   Day 2 (Tuesday, Nov. 12) saw the earliest start to a normal, non-travel Vegas day for me: for one who usually sleeps late, my mom & I had to wake up at 6:00AM for a walk from Cosmo to the Aria complex next door for a bus ride that would take us to the Dam. But despite us taking a test walk the previous night there was a misunderstanding of sorts in trying to figure out where to go to get to our tour bus... and mommy made several calls to the operator as to where we should go to take that bus. After where we thought was the pickup spot located at the Uber location next to Aria's nightclub Jewel, two hours had passed before we finally figured out that the bus left us. Only after she contacted the operator again that we had to take a taxi to their first stop on the tour... and it's another place that we didn't visit before.

When one visits this sprawling city, there are many landmarks that anyone who comes to Vegas must visit at least once in their lives on their escapades here. But it was only this year that, not only do we get to visit the Dam, but also take a visit to the ubiquitous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign at the starting point of the Strip. This year marks sixty-five years since it was first erected at 5100 Las Vegas Boulevard South just across from the airport... and though it was 9AM in the morning and in broad daylight when we got there it felt surreal to be at that place that so many love to go to when the sun sets on this town every night. Understandably, there's a line that forms in front of the sign for those who just want to take their picture in front of it... but that hardly is ever the case given that anyone who just wants to take that pic can just go ahead and do so without waiting -- that's what I did there.

   When we finally boarded the bus to the Dam, we drove east towards not only towards that landmark but the town that surrounds that body of water: Boulder City has just under 15,000 who live within the city limits just 26 miles southeast of town. Unlike the rest of Nevada, casinos are nowhere to be found in this oasis other than the Hoover Dam Lodge on the outskirts of town... and is hometown of Desi Arnez, Jr., Lucille Ball's son. And the town itself is so much different from the big city to its west: it's hardly ethnically diverse at all, only allowed alcohol in the late '60s, and fairly recently in 2018 did it get connected to the rest of the region by way of the expansion of Nevada Highway 11. There were also U.S. flags all over town as well -- after all, this was also Veteran's Day weekend... not to mention there were rams roaming one of their many playgrounds.

   But once we arrived at our destination, we can only marvel at one of the wonders of the modern world: one can only imagine how miraculous something like this big Dam was built when Americans were just lucky to earn at least a penny or so in that dark time of the '30s, the same way the Golden Gate Bridge was at the same time. Just seeing the Colorado River sparkle in the shining sun and the large new bridge above made me fortunate to finally branch out of the Strip for a moment... but we came to appreciate this landmark when we took an elevator ride down many stories to the power plant that makes this all possible, with a number of turbines and other things too complicated to explain here. There, we saw how such a large undertaking in this big underground factory has helped make Southern Nevada an amazing place to live thanks to the water and power it generates, as millions have moved to the desert over the past few decades and bring more to this region than just the glitz and the glamour.

   Then, there's the result of the Dam: Lake Mead is the largest man-made lake in this country, and one of the biggest reservoirs you will find anywhere. As the world has changed and climate change has become a very real thing, its effects can be felt there: just see the photos of the lake from above, and you can see how it is a much different lake than it was when I was born -- in 1983, it was last at full capacity of 532 feet deep, 112 miles long and over 28 million acre feet of water. The white marks that mark its coastline that anyone sees in those photos can notice how the drought (only 4 inches of annual rainfall) and increased water demand that affected this wonder of the modern world. But even with that -- and there is no need to elaborate more on the water levels or anything else, it was just an amazing sight to see Mead for the first time with my own eyes.

While on that tenth Vegas trip that came a half-year before the city shut down, someone from my 2020's future must've walked into my Gold Coast hotel room one night and told me in my dreams, "You have such great talents doing this video and photo work and the blogs, this should be your eventual job." Well, here we are five years later... and now this is something I get to pursue more often of creating content and fulfilling that goal of doing something related to it as my nominal job around being the family man in our family's still surreal new reality being a person short from that 2019 traveling party.

   These Vegas trips of late have not just been a time of pleasure for me to enjoy this city -- they have also doubled as the lone big work assignments for one who just leisurely enjoys doing these blogs at his own pace for eleven years here. Though I have relaxed a bit from this gig and almost a year from posting YouTube videos, I still bring my passion for this audio/visual medium to my biggest trip: I brought six cameras to this year's rendezvous including a GoPro, a gimbal, and the same Sony vlog camera I've had since transitioning my vlogs to the HD age in 2016. And the premise is the same as putting together these blogs: put together your best work... and as I write this post, the remaining videos of the 2023 trip have been deemed "in the can" as I now begin work on the 2024 series for its Christmas premiere.

   It's no secret that YouTube has been a prime reason for Vegas joining my other biggest passions... and it was the site that gave me a highlight of last year's trip. Actually, it is three of them in one: at the end of night 1 as I returned to my hotel, I ran into YouTubers Norma Geli and Jaycation that was seen live on their live stream... and the next night on Fremont Street I met fellow vloggers The Other Me and Sin City Angel. Considering how I get to spend my days getting to watch vlogs, live shows and the like with them and the rest of the Vegas YouTube community, I was on a mission to help further deepen my vlogging skills by getting to document just about every moment of my stay on this trip.

   After we rested up following our day at the Dam, on night 2 mom and I walked across the street to Planet Hollywood... and as usual she gambled away playing the slots. But there was that side of me that just wanted to branch out and not gamble much myself, and I walked all by myself around the monorail side of the central Strip that is actually controlled by Caesars Entertainment. After walking around the Miracle Mile Shops, I walked by myself to Paris... and considering my memories were still fresh from that Olympic fortnight, I had to indulge in that Parisian flavor if only for a moment. I even brought myself a mini replica of the Eiffel Tower to give me another reminder of that magical summer where I sacrificed an overage on my mom's internet bill just so I can stream the Games on Peacock.

   And as I walked back from Paris, history repeated itself: I was watching a live stream from the aforementioned Angel while I was at the hotel, and as I walked back down to the PH I made sure to say what's up once again. The only difference between that and this second encounter with the son of my favorite nightcap to my night in the Sin City Family duo of Manny & Julie: take a selfie without having my mask on, just as did taking pics with them and the other YouTubers thirteen months earlier. One of the few downsides to these past two trips: me not getting to run into his mom and dad, Julie & Manny.

When we walked back across to Cosmo, her being up since before sunrise was just enough for mommy to retire for the night -- she is old reaching 75, after all. But knowing my parents' history of their all-nighters on night 1 in this town, this one here decided that being up since 6AM on the night before my birthday just wasn't enough for this special experience that happens only once a year -- even when you have been going on a few hours of sleep the previous two nights.

   After indulging in that comfort food of having a late night dinner of a slice from that aforementioned pizza parlor that only became public because of YouTube, I decided to take in that moment all by myself of getting to mark that first hour of turning 41 in Vegas. We can all thank MGM for constructing that indoor walkway that connects Cosmo to Aria and Bellagio for making things easy on us, as I made my to the ladder and through that long road to the lobby and the casino floor. Mom and I walked there the previous night as the conservatory was being changed over from its autumn decor into that of the winter, and we saw the Christmas tree being erected for the first time. But for this return walk to Bellagio, there was one place that I wanted to go to mark a belated midnight moment just after 12AM.

   As much as I enjoy the vibrant energy of this city that never sleeps, just seeing the Strip late at night is somewhat risky but yet it just feels so peaceful in this oasis. So getting to walk from where all the taxis drop off guests in front of the Bellagio and walking to that hangout spot dead center in front of the lake was a surreal experience for me. Being there at around 12:30AM in the morning with it being almost silent, and the last fountain show having wrapped with no music playing in the background, I just wanted to soak in this special feeling... and I chose that moment to make it the very first live stream I've ever done on YouTube -- if only it lasted just all of one minute-plus. I felt like I was in heaven getting to solidify this love affair with a town I had difficulty navigating that first time around as a kid, but as an adult I would fall in love with which has lasted for the better part of three decades.

   But as it was last year, one who visits this town this time of year would have to make mention in some sort of the elephant in the room... but it's something I am more interested in maybe more than others considering how this one just loves his Wide World of Sports. For the second straight year, Formula 1 has put stress on locals and people alike in making the Strip part of the circuit through town. And as much as so many will groan and moan about it, this is only part of Vegas' sports boom over the last decade -- this year's Super Bowl, NHL and WNBA champions, the incoming arrival of the A's to join the Raiders here and beyond all being made possible by sports betting being made law of the land while letting Vegas shed its adults only image. And as I walked down from Bellagio to the Strip, I just became awed by the Strip being lit up as late night preparations for this year's Grand Prix took place... and I became one of those who supported such an endeavor coming here. And having watched F1 here and there, you can't beat the sight of 200mph open wheelers speeding down the Strip... and just walking all by myself was just the start to what would become a nice #DCBDay in Vegas.

In my last working gig, I worked as a volunteer with mentally-disabled people at a local outreach center, and helped teach them how to use cameras and electronic equipment that led me to launching a YouTube and retiring to this full-time creator's gig. I was also a chaperone for when we went out and about in a pre-pandemic local Silicon Valley community: from a new Apple Campus that was under construction then in Cupertino, to walking through a virtual dead mall in San Jose, and occasional visits to local museums that reminded me of going on those school field trips when I was growing up.

   In those four years I visited Alcatraz, the nearby California Museum of Science there in San Francisco, a Stanford art museum and a San Jose history park that can easily be misinterpreted as a Universal Studios backlot. Almost exactly five years between my last museum hop would come my first-ever visit to any museum outside the Bay Area... and if it's Vegas, then it simply just can't be doing a small walk staring at all those paintings like it was at the San Jose Museum of Art in downtown with my friend -- it had to be uniquely and totally different than any of those.

   Las Vegas is best known as the Entertainment Capital of the World, but given those frugal budgets I've yet to have a chance to pay my way into seeing a major live show, a big event or dance the night away at the nightclub. But the city does have plenty of attractions that go beyond just the casinos and live shows, including those that can bring families to this place just as the city tried to do during the '90s when themed resorts were the thing. There's the totally twisted world of Area 15 just across the highway from the north Strip, the High Roller observation wheel, and three Strip golf attractions with driving ranges and a just-opened miniature course inside Mandalay Bay. And there's the shopping malls, which I have gone to all three of them on the Strip at Miracle Mile, Forum Shops and Fashion Show.

   One of the most memorable moments in my Vegas history was meeting 'NSYNC's Joey Fatone after my party got to "come on down" on The Price is Right Live at the old Bally's (Horseshoe) in 2010... and it has been twenty years since the night I met Linkin Park in San Francisco. So, it felt rather appropriate that the first ticketed Vegas attraction I've visited in thirty years would be a wax museum: Madame Tussauds is the most well-known of these places that offer visitors ample opportunity to hang with well-polished lifelike replicas of celebrities, athletes and other famous figures well before our phones became equipped with cameras to take those selfies. We had an idea a few years back of wanting to go to live out that celeb fantasy... but it wasn't until this year that it became reality.

   There are over seventy figures that are currently on display at Madame's location in Vegas (their place at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco recently closed last summer), and I took selfies with each and every single one of them spanning Vegas legends, sports stars and of what's now. Tussauds always stays current with those who are popular and of the moment: Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, The Rock, Snoop Dogg, Brad Pitt, Celine Dion, Jamie Foxx, Katy Perry, the list goes on. Others are those that mommy has absolutely no idea who they are: Post Malone, Zendaya, Jack Harlow, Megan Thee Stallion, Bad Bunny, Lizzo, Steve Aoki and Tiffany Haddish. And when this one took a picture with Drake, in the back of my head I figured that I will not be well-liked after what has happened to him in that beef with Kendrick Lamar.

   For the capper to Birthday at Madame's came something I last did a few weeks prior to lockdown: sit down in a movie theater. The last act in one's visit to Tussauds Vegas is a special 4D film short featuring the Marvel Cinematic Universe... and I was actually the only person who sat in that cineplex when it came time to grab that popcorn. Conceivably, I would have done just about anything that would be frowned upon on a Friday night at my hometown theater at the mall, but just seeing Spider-Man, Captain America and the other characters take over Vegas while having those 3D glasses on with seat effects and me getting wet a few times just made me miss the movie going experience four years after I last watched a film in person. And as a reward for that: I bought myself my very own Oscar.

Madame Tussauds is only part of the twenty-first resort I've stepped foot in on the Strip in these thirty years: it would've been last year that The Venetian would be on that list... but us walking to the Sphere delayed that moment by thirteen months. But when I finally did get to cross off that item off this year, it has left me with sister property Palazzo and fellow northern neighbors Sahara and The Strat among the 30+ total hotels that presently grace the three miles of Las Vegas Boulevard South that I've not visited as of yet.

   The Venetian/Palazzo duopoly stands as the spiritual successor to its legendary predecessor The Sands, and it feels so huge that it's the largest resort complex of its kind in the Western Hemisphere with 7,100 rooms, 200,000 sq. ft. of casino space and a large convention center on its premises that is second only in the amount of space to the Las Vegas Convention Center. It also makes me wonder how great it would've been if I had traveled with my parents on their many trips to Europe and the world instead of staying back home and babysit during those summer vacation years. Just getting to spend my birthday afternoon in this replica of Venice that they once visited many years back took some of the sting off of not having that chance to fly abroad and experiencing just how big our world is.

   Along with those two humungous casinos, the incredible architecture that is all around the place and so many, The Venetian is also home to a big shopping mall in the Grand Canal Shoppes. I found a pizza place to indulge in for my big day's lunch, and if mommy feels that same nerve as I do of returning next year for trip #14, she will know exactly where to go to on the Strip for a Filipino Halo Halo drink. But the main attraction of the Shoppes is not necessarily the many stores there or the replica of one of Venice's many plazas, but of the gondola rides that bring that feeling of riding along the Grand Canal around town. While we were there, those rides only took place indoors; the outdoor portion was closed to construction of one of the many large F1 viewing decks that lined the circuit.

   Venetian also serves as host hotel to what is, undoubtedly, the star of the Strip in the last few years: Sphere opened last year to enormous buzz as the latest in the line of major event venues in the valley, and where you can hardly meet anyone who hasn't heard or seen the many and varied faces of the huge exterior ball of the 600,000 square feet of LED lights that adorn the outside of the 18,000 seat theater. And while it has had its share of growing pains when it comes to the economic side of the operation, few can argue that it's become the must-play venue for big artists: U2, The Grateful Dead, The Eagles have been the major residencies with more to come. And after we saw it from a distance last year from the pedestrian bridge connecting Palazzo to Wynn, this time mom and I walked all the way through the many who came for a major convention there to see it up close: it felt just as good getting THIS close to the Sphere as it was seeing it from a far. Now, let me hope that I get to go to a show there next year.

After The Venetian became #21, it was followed shortly after by #22: it was only in this third decade of the 21st century that two properties in the northern third of the Vegas Strip that began construction in the 2000's would finally open their doors after so much time in limbo. Three years ago, Resorts World opened almost an eternity after it was first conceived as the failed Echelon Place on the former Stardust site, and where the latest conclusion to a DC Vegas day took place on night 2 in fall 2021 when we walked out of there before 5AM after almost spending eight hours in those new digs.

   December of last year came the fifth new hotel-casino to open in the valley in this short half-decade (RW, Circa, Virgin, Durango) when The Fontainebleau Las Vegas opened its doors at long last, coming eighteen years after it was first conceived and whose construction was halted during the recession when its original owners declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It has the tallest hotel tower in Nevada at over sixty-seven stories high, but for over a decade the building was left vacant and unfinished though a number of ownership changes as construction restarted, stopped and then began all over again. When opening night finally came, it became Vegas' second most expensive resort behind only their other fellow journeymen across the street with a $3.7 billion price tag.

   Fontainebleau, like Resorts World, went through a lot to finally get to that finish line... and while I was at my sister's for my winter break last year I tuned to all my favorite Vegas YouTubers for an opening night that almost no one expected would ever come. And eleven months later, it would be me myself who walked through the doors of the west coast sister property of the much well-known hotel of the same name on Miami's South Beach. Just as I did a few years back, I stopped and stared at everything inside the new property: the decorations, the casino, the shops, the restaurants... you name it -- everyone must have been lucky that they finally got to open the place. Now if only they can add a few more hotels -- as there's reported to be rumors of that, then the Strip will be all complete once again with Circus Circus, Sahara and The Strat getting more neighbors to join the new kids on the north side.

   And there's some things that just never change on these trips: I prefer not to go all-in when it comes to gambling or anything expensive (though that will change a bit when I next go to town, and whenever the chance comes about that I have to travel by myself). That explains why this one & his mom actually walked down the street from the Strip's newest addition to enjoy a dinner not at a fancy place at Wynn, but instead at the hometown Denny's dinner... just as it would be on any given birthday when we would go eat out to a local restaurant to mark that one day of the year that I look forward to most. As I had my meal, I came to appreciate how much my #1 fan is to me: mom made this all happen in paying for our airfare to go along with the comped Cosmo room, but it would have only been better had papa still been around for this... Mariano would've enjoyed this opportunity once again.

This year, I once again had the pleasure of experiencing the many highs of going to this amazing oasis for yet another enjoyable and exciting Las Vegas rendezvous and even as I officially grew one year older while I was in town, that feeling just never gets old with time. And while my mom had the enigma of having to lose money a bit (as she always does on these), the one biggest low for me personally is the moment that we have to leave on that Thursday midday. By the time I walked onto that plane back home, that feeling always gets to me of almost having a tear in my eye seeing the Strip one more time, and then of having that feeling of longing to get that next chance to return to this happy place.

   Had things panned out the way they did, then this would not have been the only trip I've made to Vegas this year: my family and my sister's family would've taken a summer bus ride around the western U.S. that went through Yellowstone Park and Salt Lake City among others with the last stop being in Vegas. It didn't turn out that way, maybe because the ladder didn't want to spend wisely those vacation days (they eventually did so just after Halloween two weeks before I did -- and it was the first time in eight years that they came to Vegas)... or perhaps it's that one thing that makes DC VEGAS that special to me: the very fact that it's just like the Super Bowl, Coachella or any other annual event -- a once a year thing. But because I love this town so much, it's inevitable that taking multiple Vegas trips in one year will ultimately happen... and if you're one of those in our inner circle who's reading this blog -- you got my number... you know how much Vegas means to me, and I'll be able to pay up to join you on the next one.

   But as for this year -- just as the twelfth one was more than twelve months earlier, DC VEGAS XIII was everything that I wanted in a perfect vacation: getting to enjoy the time of my life in this place, getting to do new things for the first time, getting to progress my work as a full-time content creator, and getting to have mom by my side as I turned 41 years old as the lead man in my family as we continue without our patriarch and her late husband who would've also celebrated an early birthday there as well. And since I'm just too busy with things going on in my world that's not really anything of your business (other than giving you something to giggle in my daily Instagram stories), I got to again fall in love head over heels with a town that encapsulates so many emotions but always brings about the best of myself. And this year, you just can't beat the combination of birthday and Las Vegas in the same sentence.

🎰  🎰  🎰  🎰  🎰

The trip may long have been done and dusted, but this blog review is only part of this holiday serving of DC VEGAS XIII.

- For the main event of our Vegas offerings and starting back on Friday, DC YouTube is premiering the DC VEGAS XIII vlog series to provide some entertainment for your Christmas break festivities. The Day 1 vlogs are now playing on YouTube.com/dc408dxtr, with Day 2 coming on New Year's week.

- Today for this Christmas, DC Instagram will present a rerun of stories from both last and this year's trips originally posted on DC SnapChat to come during this winter break on Instagram.com/dc408dxtr, on @DC408Dxtr1 on Snap and on @DC408Dxtr on TikTok.

- And as promised, DC Facebook will feature new pictures from both this year's trip and past ones at Facebook.com/dc408dxtr... and a full listing of social offerings are at DC LinkTree @dc408dxtr.

And below, a first peek at the #DCVegas XIII vlogs. Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to you.

- I AM DC

@DC408DXTR

#DCVegas