Las Vegas/EVO2k10 Day 1
Morning
Upon arrival, the Vegas airport seems more like a mall than an airport. We meet a few guys on vacation from San Francisco and get to talking about the economy in the bay area and in Miami. We get on the shuttle with them. We keep talking. As they leave the shuttle we bid them farewell and wish them a good vacation. A moment that shocks me: a man stands in the middle of a busy road. Cars stop for him. No one honks, no one revs their engines. They wait politely for him to move aside. If this happened in Miami, the man would likely be dead. We get to the hotel and meet a very friendly receptionist. The three of us chat over traveling (she reccomends us places in Vegas, we reccomend her places in south Florida). We get to the room. Easily the best hotel room I've ever seen. The bathroom has a jacuzzi. There is an HDTV on the wall. A walk in closet as well and a DVD player hooked up. We did not expect this at all for what we paid.
Noon
We head out to find Ceaser's Palace and register for EVO. We get kind of lost, but we eventually reach our destination. It's hot here, but it's not humid. I didn't start sweating until 30 minutes into the walk. We see some big names in the SFIV community. Chris Sosa calls me. I'd love to hang out with him in the time I'm here. We go to meet my cousin's friends from the SFIV scene. They're really cool guys. We go to their room and chat about numerous things. Then we grab a bite at a small burger place outside. I try fried Reese's cups. They're awesome. Burger wasn't awful either. Let it be said, people from Las Vegas are extremely friendly. The only rude people I've run into are other tourists.
Afternoon
We go inside of the casino at Harrah's. I don't play any games, but we just stand around talking about anything and watch my cousin's friends play blackjack. This girl is going around the casino offering massages on the spot. I get a 5 minute massage for $10 and I loved it. We all got a massage from her actually. 5 minutes felt like 10. My back felt fantastic the rest of the day. We find out Lebron James is going to the heat. We're generally quite happy. My cousin sticks around with his friends to play some casual matches at Ceasar's, but I head back to the hotel. I meet some guys from Miami wearing Heat jerseys who are happy about the Lebron signing. We chat about the Heat and our hometown. Real cool guys. Along the way I took the scenic route, passing by the Vegas Gameworks, and a really nice mall on the way to the hotel. I take pictures of two Michael Jackson impersonators on the street, a Hello Kitty, and a Fatburger. I reach the hotel. Time to sleep. I've been up since 4:00 AM EST.
End of day 1.