Fireside Tales...

Wednesday. Started the day with the milk run …this involves peering round the door, furtively looking up and down the corridor, grabbing a jug from the nearest discarded tray … and nipping back to my room sharpish.

Kettle on. Tea. Cigarette. Contemplate the day ahead.

It’s a big one – our 3rd and largest Meet n Greet at the Peppermill’s Fireside Lounge.

Although I am feeling a bit more adjusted to the LV time zone,
bizarrely I’ve woken up with my Vegas rash again.

I was plagued by it last year – and, like last year, it’s under one arm only….it looks like I’ve been branded in some strange Vegas ritual…

Realisation dawns.

I sleep curled up on one side, the duvet tucked up under my armpit. …
I must be allergic to whatever they wash the sheets in……
Great.

Ring E and arrange to meet in the lift lobby.

On the way down, a very smooth Bostonian gets chatty…I’ve never been chatted up in a lift before, but think that if he saw my rash it would hardly be conducive to Love in an Elevator.

Meet E and moan about my affliction. He regards me as if I am leper

He’s still disgruntled about his bathroom so I figure we are equal in the moaning stakes.
‘Well, this is the Mirage’, I say …’what you see …is not what you get!’
(Except a rash)

At the breakfast buffet we embark on the Tea Ritual. For some reason all our numerous tea bag dunking and dipping and squeezing is a source of fascination to our fellow diners...and we feel a bit like a Siegfried and Roy exhibit.

Forget the tigers, come see the Brits playing with their teabags!

Breakfast done, it’s still nice and early and the casino is quiet …Time for a vodka and orange juice….E joins me, figuring that when in Vegas …….

I introduce him to Dean Martin’s Wild Party ….not big on partying wildly , nevertheless he loves it and, as Dino croons, he promptly wins $85. He definitely has The Midas Touch this trip.

We’ve decided to split up today and do our own thing until Peppermill Time…so for me it’s time to go shopping ! I hit the Forum shops, have a good old browse and emerge some time later laden with goodies - cosmetics and toiletries from Victoria’s Secret. We don’t have Vic’s Secret in the UK so I am shopping early for Christmas pressies …

On the way back I spot an old ‘friend’ in the Mirage casino …The Milk Race.

In 2005, my friend 'S' and I had come to regard this slot as our personal ATM and had renamed it the ‘Cash Cow’…3 years later it’s still fertile, and before you know it, I’ve milked it of $85 …(very apt for a proficient milk jug stealer)

Time to get ready for the Peppermill and our 3rd, and the biggest, of our Meet n Greets …

Frocked up, and sparkly belted so people can spot me, I meet up with E again. He’s spent the afternoon exploring the Rio and The Palms and was quite taken with both.

We head out to walk to The Peppermill in the sweltering heat. (He’s still not got a hat on or shades or sun cream – but if he’s not worried, who am I to point this out? I do anyway.)

With no clue at all from the outside, The Peppermill Fireside Lounge turns out to be fabulous and we can see why it’s such a Vegas forum favourite. It feels abit rat packy …all dark and moody mirrors and shadows, electric blue and purple neon lighting, and low level plush velvet nooks and crannies that you can sink into and lose yourself.

In the middle –true to it’s name, a fake fire is blazing –it seems incongruous when its 100 degrees outside but it adds to the whole cosy secret feel.

E and I settle at the bar to wait ….I tell him he’s looking a bit lounge lizardy – it’s that kinda place.

First to arrive –familiar faces… the Funinhounslows ….We are dying to tell Fun about E’s win to trump his $800. He is suitably impressed but won’t be out-trumped , pointing out that they ,after all, are staying at The Wynn on a ‘Steve’ special deal…
( Forget out-trumped – he definitely had us outwynned…) ..

And …he’d won the Great Guess E’s Name Competition that I'd run on the forum..…. so I honoured my promise of a drink and presented him with his prize …a magnificently large Bloody Mary. (It was his second …and it was followed by a 2- strawed Scorpion …and, you know, he didn’t seem to turn a hair. My turn to be impressed.)

Next comes Bonsmom, closely followed by Ironicisme …both as sharp and sassy as New York can be. Both forum stalwarts, both seasoned Vegasites – both a great source of Vegas stories, then -and now, which we eagerly lapped up. Thank you ladies!

They’re followed by our personal slot queen Malv, and, rounding off the party, 2 more fellow Brits. The youngest of us all, but already Vegas veterans, 1976cac and her other half, M, -both hailing from the same neck of the woods as E, right down to the same few UK square miles …

What can I tell you…to echo FuninH, The Peppermill is a great find. You have to go there. It feels like a special secret place all of your own- even though I know it’s a famous Vegas haunt. And it’s a great place for an M&G.

After a couple of convivial hours some us had to go and some of us stayed ..and Malv, the Hounslows and E and I moved into the restaurant. (Plenty of variety,– excellent value).

The M&G had been wonderful fun, and very easy …there had been lots to talk about and we’d all got on famously …and we raised a glass to TA to mark the occasion…

1976cac had taken a liking to my sparkly M&G belt and as it suited her better than me it seemed right and fitting that she should have it….. Cas, if we meet again in Vegas promise me you’ll wear it!

Ironic …I want to hear why your life is ‘ironic’! And Bonsmom …– thank you too for your wonderful New York stories …as well as your Vegas ones
FuninH and B …I wish I’d ordered a Scorpion! Next time! ( Perhaps in London!)
It was great to meet you all....

By the way …that night Malv confirmed my growing suspicions that our hotel was living up to its name. (Let me explain).

Malv had tried to call me at the Mirage to confirm our meeting time for the M&G.
She had my full name but not my room number.

The Mirage denied I existed, saying there was no registered guest with my name in the hotel.

So now I was beginning to think it was me…. who was a mirage …….