mmm, buffet!

Continuing on the annual BJAMN (I just made that up, but I like it. It's like Mad Gab for Blogger. Be Jammin ... you know?) trips, Vegas 08!! We added a couple players, Terri & Joe. I can't change the name of the trip(s) though, because T & J don't add a whole lot to the BJAMN name I've previously devised.

So we're staying in a hotel off the strip, in a time-share that Mia's mom lovingly let us borrow for the week. The hotel offers a free shuttle to Harrah's, where the monorail runs. The monorail is genius. Those hotels all look close together, but believe me, it's a hike to even get through one hotel. We learned our lesson the hard way. We took the monorail to the Hilton, where we were going to see (and hopefully participate in) the $250,000 Game Show Spectacular ... a game show experience combining the Newlywed Game, Name that Tune, the Dating Game, and a variety of other game shows. The plan was to get to the Hilton early, buy tickets, grab some lunch, and then wait in line for the show, where we'd inevitably be chosen to participate and win thousands of dollars. It didn't go exactly as planned.


We arrive at the Hilton, walk inside, and find a listing of all the restaurants. We decide we're going to go to some little cafe there, but when we ask for a table they inform us that their restaurant is having a water problem, so they can't seat us. Walking to the other end of the hotel, we're told by the buffet people that they, too, are having a water problem and cannot seat us either. It would have been nice of the cafe people to tell us that BEFORE we walked through the entire hotel twice, but whatever, right?

So we have about 1 hour before we want to get in line at the Game Show Spectacular. And we're ALL hungry. So we decide to go to the closest hotel for food. And that happens to be the Sahara. Joe decides it'd be faster to walk, as the monorail only comes every 10 minutes or so. And SURELY we can get to the Sahara faster than waiting for the monorail. So we start walking. 25 minutes later we finally get to the Sahara. (have I mentioned that i don't mind walking ... in comfortable shoes, cool weather, with plenty of time to spare? well i had none of those, so I wasn't happy to be walking).


The only thing that even seems edible at the Sahara is the buffet, which we run to, since we have approximately 15 minutes to eat if we're going to get back in time. We run in, pay for our buffet, and get down to business filling our plates with food that now seems less than appetizing. However, we're hungry and it's going to be a while before we get another chance to eat. Plus, we just paid $15 to get in the door. That's about a dollar a minute. Worth it? You decide.

The buffets in Vegas are big. Lots of different places to go for food. We all split up (speed walking) to different parts of the buffet and meet back at a round table to eat. I have seriously never seen 5 people eat so quickly. We had each grabbed 2 plates or so (saving time by not having to go back up for more) and brought them to the table. With no time for conversation, the only thing I can hear is the food review:

Aaron: I got a little of everything, anyone want to try this?
Terri: MMM, this Kraft Singles cheese sandwich on white bread with ketchup is delicious.
Mia: Everything I got is gross. I'm going to get some of what Nat has.
Joe: Mia, don't waste that food, I can't stand to see anyone throwing food away!

OK, so maybe that wasn't it exactly, but it was close. Within 10 minutes we had each made a few trips to the buffet, tried a little of everything (salads, entrees, bread, soup, desserts ... you name it), refilled drinks a couple times to wash everything down, and were walking back out the door.

My favorite part? All 5 of us were drinking on the way out of the buffet, leaving our half-full cups on the last table before we left. I wish I had a video of it.