Seeking An Extraordinary Life - A Travel Journal

Another day around the house and another yoga session, but it's the evening I'm looking forward to. My other surrogate big sister, Tonya, is coming into town with her friend Michelle to run the Las Vegas Half-Marathon. For those who haven't read or don't remember my earlier exploits, I met Tonya at Santacon 2006, and she put me up and showed me an amazing time in Houston, as well as taking me to the Austin City Limits music festival. I met Michelle when she got me and Tonya into the Johnson Space Centre for an amazing and exclusive tour.

As the Houston entries will clearly show, there are few things more important to Tonya and her friends, Michelle included, than good beer. So naturally after they get through at the airport and check in to their hotel, Deidre and I meet the girls at the Monte Carlo Casino's own brewpub. The brewpub actually turns out to be a complete lie, since they stopped brewing their own beer about two years previously. Nonetheless I'm joyfully reunited with two of my favourite people, I get to introduce my big sisters to each other for the first time, and we're well occupied for some time swapping stories and catching up over a pint of very reasonable draft. (The picture opposite is courtesy of Tonya Barnett).

The girls still demand local beer, so we head out in search of the Sin City Brewpub - Deidre has work in the morning and has to turn back at this point. The brewpub is located in the ridiculously overblown Planet Hollywood mall, adjoined to the PH casino. It's a huge interior space of marble and plaster, with a photorealistic sky and clouds painted on the ceiling in some sections. There's not a cheap shop in the place - everything is top branded from Versace to Chanel to Dior.

The Sin City Brewpub turns out to be basically a kiosk on one side of a huge mall corridor, mostly full of merchandise with a small L-shaped bar, and also about to close. We quickly order our pints in to-go cups, the girl at the bar displaying amazing barstaff-radar and managing to guess what all three of us will order before we open our mouths. I try the stout and am very much impressed - it's creamy and mellow, a far cry from the pasteurized and long-distance-shipped Guinness I've become used to.

We wander the mall for a while with our plastic cups, then head back out into the dazzling lights and insanity of the Strip. We're all getting hungry, and make a detour for my first Fatburger, which while it doesn't live up to In 'n Out Burger's standard is a really good burger with a thick meaty patty still pink in the middle and great trimmings.

We wander on down the Strip, and discover New York New York's shopping area and specifically their wonderful beer bar. I get to try my beloved Arrogant Bastard on tap for the first time (a new high), while Tonya and Michelle sample some of the more exotic brews. Finally, weighed down by good beer and beef, we crash out in the girls' hotel room at the Tropicana.