Well, day one of 2006 RTDA show went well. The flight out (Chad, Ron and I flew out on 4CD) went quite well despite the reduced visibility due to not only moisture in the air but a high amount of smoke in the air from the big brush fire burning north and west of Palm Springs.
We ended up taking the shuttle from North Las Vegas airport (VGT) and including the wait for the shuttle to leave and the amount of time it took us to get to the Sands Convention Center, it almost took us as much time to get shuttled across town as it did for us to fly all the way from the Pacific Ocean! But don't get me started on that... I should be just happy that they have a one way shuttle at all...
Well, we spent the remainder of the time from 1 until 6 pm setting up the booth. I think initially it seemed a little disjointed but things came together and we got everything done on time to head over to the Venetian Hotel to get to the opening kick-off event. This cocktail hour, with LOTS of great food (and open bar of course) was pretty darn crowded. I guess this show is really bigger than I imagined it would be. However, the food was great and the (limited) bars were open so a grand time was had by all.
From there we checked into our rooms (well, ok, 1 room as the other wasn't ready yet... again, don't get me started on this either) and killed some times before beating a hasty retreat to the Palms Casino where General Cigar was hosting the kick-off party for their newsest cigars: the Partagas 160. This was held at the Rain nightclub, a location of ill repute if you listen to the tabloids; many a celebrity has gotten themselves into quite a bit of trouble at this hotspot.
Arriving via shuttle bus shortly before the appointed hour of the event, we proceeded directly to the event thinking it would be a similarly low-key, minimal security event much like the one we just left. Such was not the case. As we cruised past Huntington and Hart, the tattoo parlor in the Palms that has a A&E reality show about it called Inked, it soon became apparent that we had entered a whole new level of "Vegas Chic". There were numerous bouncers-types in all black with earbuds jammed deep into one ear as well as rather attractive young ladies, again all simply dressed in "Their Little Black Dresses" at the head of a line that snaked around almost as long as some of the monsterously long lines you find waiting to get into the Big Smoke events that Cigar Afficianado magazine puts on around the country. While this one was no where near as long as the latter, nor as packed with guys, it truly can be said that you can't get anywhere in Vegas that has any "value" without waiting in a line somewhere. It is almost like a line grants instant status to a venue.
I can definitely state that General Cigar went over the top with this party though. After walking through Rain's "Space Mountain" type entryway, we walked into the main entry area. From here we could see people already packing the floor space as well as all of the available railing space on the upper levels. The well-stocked bars were open during the full 3 hours of the event and attendees were treated to the musical stylings of a Grammy-award winning latin band. Unfortunately, the sound system was doing its job with such volume I never really caught their name. There were dancers on elevated pedestals as well as male and female salsa dancers on the floor all night engaging the crowd encouraging them to move with the music. Occassionally, the ligting system would descend down over the crowd, speweing flames over the writhing masses. It was quite a show!
Of course, since this was a cigar event, there were cigar girls (you know the ones in old 40's movies that pranced around saying "Cigars, Cigarettes, Cigarillos") moving through the crowd with tray laden down with some of General's better cigars, as well as Partagas-labled lighters and cutters and matches. The free sticks that just seemed to keep on coming were Punches, Macanudos, Hoyo de Monterey Excaliburs, Partagas reds and Don Tomas maduros. Nice to be able to snag a few and certainly not feel bad about it. You almost wanted to help the girls lighten their load through out the night.
Since this was the coming out party for the new 160, General didn't disappoint there. On leaving the party, those who stuck it out until the bitter end were awarded with an elegant swag bag that include a Partagas 160 terracotta-style ashtray, a burlap bag with brick of rich honduran gourmet coffee, a swell hat, a badge holder (just what I was looking for really) a lighter, cutter and a single 160 stick; safely encased in its own little cedar box. They even threw in an unknown wooden object on a key chain. If anyone can figure out what this thing is, please let me know via the comment system below.
Well, as you see below, a great time was had by all but not it is into the fraw as Day 2 dawns over the Las Vegas valley. After crawling in at 1:30, a 6 am wakeup call with a cheery voice saying "and it's only 96 degrees outside right now" is a great way to start the day.