Since Jeffy had handled feeding us by his unique and exceptional resourcing skills the night before, I arranged for breakfast room service so we could leave to get to the Thomas & Mack Center for the final round of the PBR World Finals. We had thought about taking the hotel shuttle as it was reputed to be very quick, however we wanted to be able to leave the Center and go to Fremont Street afterwards, We hopped in the rental car and arrived at the facility to get good parking -- and this too was a "meant to be" affair. Jeffy is the MAN at this stuff.
At 10am, the Thomas & Mack Center was "packed." Every known configuration of cowboy hat, boots and belt buckles made it's way into that Center, including our own and Jeffy's new Dan Post stingray boots he acquired at an unbelievably low price (yep, another "meant to be" from Boot Barn the day before.) We'd been to the PBR event in Baltimore and thought that was a "show" earlier in the year, but the PBR World Finals had to be seen to be believed. Non-stop extravaganza, music, lights, video, souvenir money falling from the rafters - just incredible!
Flint Rassmussen, the PBR clown, made an interesting statement early on before the round started. He believes that all this talk about the bad economy is bull (sorry for the pun), since some thousands of PBR fans were already sitting in the stands to see a bunch of cowboys ride bulls at 10:45 in the morning on a Sunday. We had to agree with him -- it was a full house for the entire event, even though Guilherme Marchi had already won season when the last round started. I got to see my favorite bull, Copperhead Slinger, and 2 bulls and 2 riders retired. The funniest part of the show was during the short go intermission, when "smooch cams" scanned the crowd for couples who had to kiss on the big screen. We don't think anyone there had a bad time. :-)
At the end of the event, I stayed and waited for Jeffy while he tried to get Marchi (a "not meant to be" this time) to sign his hat. As people left, riders started sitting in the stands, and directly behind me sat Kolt Donaldson, who I didn't even notice as I was checking my iPhone for Jeffy's sports book bet (he bet on the Kansas City Chiefs - another "meant to be", because he won!) Kolt leaned over to me and asked to see the scores and then asked me if I wanted his autograph. In true teenager fashion, he lamented sarcastically that everyone wanted Marchi's autograph and not his. :-)
After leaving the PBR - no traffic tie up to get out, we made our way to Fremont Street. What we noticed about Fremont Street compared to the other casinos we'd been in is that it was "happy" - these people playing slots or craps or blackjack were actually yelling in support of each other and very animated. They were having FUN! That place, as a party zone, really appears to have the Strip kicked in that regard: every casino we went in patrons were boisterous, cheerful and it really felt like people were having a great time. We finally ended up at Tony Roma's in the Fremont Hotel for dinner. Our waitress, Maggie, was outstanding - when she heard we'd gotten married, she brought a complimentary bottle of champagne to our table, among other things she did that made us feel special and important to her. Needless to say, her tip was HUGE. Great food, terrifict Ketelone dirty martinis, and exceptional service.
We left Fremont Street after the lights came on, and went back to the Gold Coast - we had gambled very little there. So, we started playing slots, and I kept loosing 20 bucks a pop. Jeffy, in his man fashion, decided to give me a hundred bucks, which I would never do myself, to play the slots with so I could get money back. (Bless him) To my credit, I gave that hundred back to him with an additional 30 bucks. To his ultimate credit, he out-classed me by playing the sports book and winning, and also winning slots.
During this time, we kept hearing that Korean band we had seen briefly on our first night. So, we went over to see them and were shocked - many people, mostly Asian, were in real ballroom dance attire, on the dance floor dancing to covers of 60's and 70"s music, Motown, blues and the like all lead by 3 very pretty Asian singers. We were reminded of a kind of cruise ship feel to what the band was playing and doing, that is, until they took a break. Then the music played was salsa and merengue, and what we figured out what one of the Asian gentleman was a dance instructor and they held ballroom dancing sessions there. Many of the Asians, mostly Korean, knew each other very well. When the band came back, they proceed to sing Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Shakira ballads in Spanish flawlessly.
Since we had to get up to gather our things in the morning, we watched as one guy hooked up with one girl (they had been flirting all night) and once that seemed in order, we made our way to our room to rest.
