Last week, my wife and I went to Las Vegas to celebrate her niece’s 21st birthday. Vegas is a town I’ve spent a lot of time in over the years, mostly to attend trade shows like Comdex and CES. But I’ve also done my share of partying there, too.

Papa Smurf

Walking the strip, there was a ton of people, including those dressed up in various costumes. We saw Batman, Woody and Buzz Lightyear, Michael Jackson and this awesome Papa Smurf.

Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip

Of course, a visit to the Hard Rock is always in order. I don’t hold a candle to Dave2 from Blogography for number of visits, but I still consider each location an important stop in my travels.

Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino

One of the newer hotel/casinos on the Strip is the Cosmopolitan. I was very impressed with this place. So elegant inside. Definitely a place I would like to stay at for a few days.

I hit the jackpot

Of course it helped that I won a jackpot on one of their slot machines. It’s wasn’t huge, but for $103 on a 75 cents bet, I was happy that I won for a change. [not to mention major buzzed from lots of drinks]

Blue Martini

After walking the strip, we met up with others for dinner at a local mexican eatery. Then all of us headed to the Blue Martini to REALLY celebrate Tonia turning 21.

The official Blue Martini

The signature martini was blue and glowing. It was a bit sweet, even for this liquor maven. I switched to dirty martinis after just one of these.

Jaide, Tonia’s sister, smiling with drink in hand

This bar was large and actually very spread out. It is located in the Town Square shopping area just off the west end of the Strip. The cover band that played was a bit loud, but we made up for it with our own good time of drinking and chatting together.

My wife and I at Blue Martini

After a few half priced happy hour drinks, we were buzzed and happy.

Tonia doing birthday shot with waitress

Tonia did a birthday shot with the waitress and manager [they actually bought her shot AND did a shot with her... unheard of in Utah] – the shot was a Washington Apple, which is Crown Royal and cranberry juice – Yummy!

Excalibur Hotel and Casino

After drinking, we got a ride back to the Excalibur. This was Tonia’s first time gambling, which was so much fun watching someone play the slots for the first time. My wife, who is an expert at the slot machines, taught her niece how to play.

Tonia putting money into the machine

Being slot instructed by Reba

Pressing the button, placing her bet

“Did I win or lose?”

After a fun night in Vegas, we got up the next morning to head into California to visit LEGOLand. Stay tuned for the next post, which covers my first visit to this LEGO-themed theme park.

LAYER ONE:

Name: Marty
Birthdate: August 6, 1963
Birthplace: Garden Grove, CA
Current location: Salt Lake City, UT
Eye color: Brown
Hair color: Brown
Height: 5’9″
Righty or lefty: righty
Zodiac sign: Leo

LAYER TWO:

Your heritage: Italian
The shoes you wore today: Power skater shoes [they slip on and off easily]
Your weakness: gummy worms and someone asking for help
Your fears: heights…. even the roof of a house.
Your perfect pizza: New York style
Goal you’d like to achieve: to become a publisher author

LAYER THREE:

Your most overused phrase on AIM: what’s up
Your first waking thoughts: the bed feels too nice
Your best physical feature: my calves
Your most missed memory: fun childhood times with my mom

LAYER FOUR:

Pepsi or Coke: Coke Classic
McDonald’s or Burger King: Burger King
Single or group dates: Single
Adidas or Nike: Adidas
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Lipton
Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla
Cappuccino or coffee: vanilla latte

LAYER FIVE:

Smoke: used to [almost 6 years quit]
Cuss: Mother fucking yes, cocksucker
Sing: At times, nothing that I want to try in public while sober
Take a shower everyday: yes, but less than 10 mins each shower
Do you think you’ve been in love: many times
Want to go to college: I already did
Liked high school: for the most part, yes
Want to get married: On my second time around [and last]
Believe in yourself: Yes, pretty much
Get motion sickness: at times
Think you’re attractive: for the most part, yes, with some minor issues
Think you’re a health freak: I try to be healthy, but not a freak
Get along with your parent(s): My mom and I patched things up a few years before she passed
Like thunderstorms: Yes!
Play an instrument: I used to play piano and in high school, I played the trumpet

LAYER SIX: In the past month…

Drank alcohol: Yep… a few times
Smoked: Nope… nothing.
Done a drug: a few OTC for a cold and some Advil
Made out: A few times
Gone on a date: if dinner counts, then yes
Gone to the mall: yes
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: Nope
Eaten sushi: not this month
Been on stage: nope
Been dumped: Nope
Gone skating: Nope
Made homemade cookies: Nope
Gone skinny dipping: Nope
Dyed your hair: Nope
Stolen Anything: Nope

LAYER SEVEN: Ever…

Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yes.
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes.
Been caught “doing something”: Maybe
Been called a tease: No.
Gotten beaten up: No.
Shoplifted: Yes
Changed who you were to fit in: Yes

LAYER EIGHT:

Age you hope to be married: already married… twice
Numbers and names of children: 1, Tiffany
Describe your dream wedding: Had it… Lake Tahoe in June.
How do you want to die: quick and painless
Where you want to go to college: already went
What do you want to be when you grow up: a famed novelist
What country would you most like to visit: Europe

LAYER NINE:

Number of drugs taken illegally: at least 10
Number of people I could trust with my life: very few people
Number of CDs that I own: 400
Number of piercings: None
Number of tattoos: one, of ChillyWilly on my upper right bicep
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: at least 20
Number of scars on my body: two, from previous surgeries
Number of things in my past that I regret: there’s a few things, mostly material things I didn’t do.

I’ve lived in Utah for 20 years now. Previous to that, I lived in California, specifically Garden Grove. In that state, liquor has always been sold at the local grocery stores, corner markets and superstores. Some of those superstores sell only alcohol. Others have multiple aisles with every known liquor brand you can think of.

 
Welcome To Utah

“What you say, LeVar… is this considered a main alcohol or a flavoring?”

Contrast that with Utah, where any distilled spirits (rum, vodka, gin, etc) are sold at State-owned and operated outlets. These outlets are only open 6 days a week, closed on every Sunday, holiday, election day and any other day they can muster up an excuse to shut their doors. Selections and brands that are stocked are at the discretion of a sole person that works at the Utah DABC. There may be others that offer up suggestions, but a single person is employed to order hard liquor for the entire state.

The laws are drawn up by mostly teetotalers non-drinkers that sit on a board, then sent to the elected teetotalers Utah Legislature where most attend the dominant religion (Mormon), which discourages alcohol consumption (amongst other “bad for you” products). So just to sum that up, the laws discourage alcohol consumption because those that don’t drink don’t want others to drink. Got it? Ok… let’s move on.

 
Recent Changes

Up until the first of May, bars, clubs and taverns (also known as private clubs) that serve hard alcohol could only serve a metered 1oz of the main alcohol in mixed drinks. So if you went to the bar and ordered a gin and tonic in a 6oz glass, you got 1oz of gin, ice filled to the top and the rest tonic water. On May 1st, bars are now allowed to serve 1.5oz (metered) of the main alcohol in each mixed drink.

This makes a common mixed drink a bit stronger, but bars can choose to continue to pour 1oz in each drink, which is another way of saying “we didn’t raise the prices of the drinks we serve.” The 1.5oz is just the main alcohol. Other spirits can be added via free pour (straight from the bottle with no meter attached) so long as they are labeled as “FLAVORING”. Such types deemed as flavoring are: schnapps, triple sec, flavored rums, vodkas and gins and amaretto, just to name a few.

 
What about grocery stores?

Going to a bar or the state store for your booze is not your only option to imbibe. You can get beer and wine coolers at the local Albertson’s, Smith’s and 7-Eleven. But there’s a catch. All beer and flavored beer (as they like to call wine coolers) cannot contain more than 3.2% alcohol, per volume. What this means is that you must purchase and consume a lot more alcohol to get that buzz, increasing the revenue for the state (yes, the state moderates all alcohol sold anywhere) and the size of your waistline (a 30 pack of Bud Light can be filling).

But, what the state giveth [in the form another another 1/2 oz of booze in your mixed drink], the state taketh away. Starting October 1st, it will be illegal for grocery stores to sell any 3.2% alcohol that is deemed an “Alcopop” [yes, that's an actual term], or wine cooler/flavored beer, due to the fact that less than 1% of underage kids tried to purchase these at grocery and corner stores. Also, “The Church” and various elected officials have called Alcopops “…a gateway drug.” Never fear, alcopop lovers. The state store will be stocking the higher alcoholic content versions (read: a lot more than the 3.2% sold now) of Bacardi Silver, Smirnoff Ice and Tilt for purchase and consumption.

 
The End Result

With an effort to further prevent drinking, the state of Utah have passed laws and legislation that have:

• increased the amount of alcohol that you can have in a mixed drink

 
and

• increased the amount of alcohol in a wine cooler/flavored beer/alcopop you will be able to soon purchase at the State Store [albeit, not as convenient as visiting your local supermarket]

So there you have it. Today’s lesson on alcohol in the state of Utah. I hope you enjoyed our discussion today.

NOTE: To those reading that are Utah residents that do not consume alcohol and belong to the dominant religion, do not worry. All flavors of ice cream and Diet Coke are not affected by the new laws and are still available for purchase at your local grocery stores.

So how liberal or archaic are the alcohol laws in your locale? Worse? Better? The same? Comment away.

Once we got back, I made a run for food and stopped off at the Smith’s grocery store. In my perusal of the alcohol selections, I found a new flavored beer called Tilt. I had seen Tilt in the stores in Utah, but it was only 3.2% alcohol.  This one was 8%.  And the can was green.

I bought a couple of them, took them back to the room, cracked one open and drank it down.  It was much better than I was expecting, with a citrus taste. Now I must tell you, I am not much of a beer drinker.  I mean, I’ll have a single Bud Light or a microbrew here and there, but only if nothing else is available.  But this Tilt I liked.

So before leaving town, I went back to the store and cleaned them out.  In July 2007, we spent a week in Las Vegas, where I proceeded to visit  the Lucky supermarket and clean them out of Tilt 8%.  And what I didn’t drink, we took home.

Now in Las Vegas again this week, I have visited several stores and can’t find any Tilt 8%.  I am finding the 6.6% version, which instead of being citrus-flavored and bright green, it’s bright orange and berry-flavored.  It’s ok, but I’m hooked on the 8%.  And before leaving for home tomorrow, we will find a store in Vegas or Mesquite and buy however many they have left.