Nick’s Second Post- All Work and No Play...Urban Cowboy? What??

I must say that I am very impressed with all of you who have still managed to get your “Duck Wear” despite our lack of presence in the malls this holiday season. Our sales have been quite phenomenal. “Duck Wear” merchandise is even being shipped to buyers in places such as New Jersey and Arizona. You still have time to order your last minute Christmas gifts if you haven’t done so already. Looking for some help? Please call me at the office (608-246-4277) and I will personally take your order and mail the items! We also have a great ticket special running right now as well. Receive six (6) pint glasses and six (6) tickets (3 for Sun-Wed and 3 for Thu-Sat) in a handcrafted (Thanks Mike) six-pack holder for only $30! Woooooooooooo!!!!!!

So while all of you were digging out of the 6.5 inches of snow we received last week Monday and Tuesday, Vern, Mike and I were working feverishly at the baseball Winter Meetings being held in Las Vegas. We did have a little fun while in the “Sin City” but for the most part we were very focused on the tasks at-hand of planning for next season.

While there we did attend the Minor League Baseball Trade Show, which had hundreds of vendors with all types of products from promotional items, equipment, clothing, amusement rides, and much, much more. I think a few of our favorite ideas we saw were hats by a company named "Twins 47," an amusement ride (something similar you would see at a fair) for the ballpark, a new inflatable game, information regarding pyrotechnic shows, and a heat press to make customized t-shirts at the park. Much like the rest of Vegas there was so much to take in and not enough time in the day to look at everything.

We did manage to squeeze in some time to enjoy ourselves as well. The first night there we were mesmerized by the glowing lights and noises coming from the hotel casino. I told myself going into Vegas that I did not want to spend any money gambling. I fared well the first night and did not spend anything. I cannot say the same for Mike. Ask him sometime about his losses on the first day! We also had to check out one of the places Vern had looked up on-line. If you know Vern at all he has a little "hippy" in him, so naturally I kind of knew what to expect. We ended up visiting a dive bar off the Strip called Double Down. The place was very dark and had a punk motif to boot and also offered a drink called “A*# Juice”, which I was told is a mixture of all sorts of alcohol that did not taste the best. Unfortunately (or better yet, fortunately) I was not brave enough to try one.

Before heading to the meetings on the second day I gave in to my temptations and went down to the casino while Mike and Vern got ready. Needless to say I didn’t fare well on the slots and got down about $40 pretty quick. Next we headed down to the Strip and hit up most of the casinos just as any other tourist would do. As I mentioned before, there is just so much to look at and too much to take in.

During the trip Vern had mentioned he wanted to get a cowboy hat. Well it just so happened the rodeo was in town for their 50^th Anniversary. Let me tell you I have never seen so many cowboys in my entire life! Everywhere you turned all you would see is hats and boots, hats and boots. The hat Vern was looking for was a washed out tattered hat with strings on it. After a few stops in hat shops he couldn’t find anything. I asked him if he was trying to be some type of urban cowboy and why he wanted a hat so badly. I don’t think he took to that very well.

Mike and Vern both saw an ad for an event called “Cowboy Christmas,” which was a huge convention for cowboys to buy everything from hats, boots, jeans, saddles, trailers, lassos and anything else you can stereotype a cowboy to have. Before entering I told Vern it was going to be bad and he wasn’t going to find anything. We walked around in the convention center for all of about 15 minutes and Vern left disappointed (weird!!!) but we did have plenty of laughs.

Later that evening we met up with Curt Carstensen, who works in the Northwoods League office and he drove us around town in his rented car, a “big white Magnum”. We made a few stops at the Rio and another bar outside of town called the Blue Martini. For the most part we took it pretty easy.

So all in all it was a pretty decent trip. And we managed to get a “decent” amount of work done. Here are a few of my likes and dislikes of Vegas.

Likes: Lions at the MGM Grand; Water show at the Bellagio; monorail that takes you up and down the strip; Hard Rock Casino Bar; the fact you can walk up and down the strip with drinks; my amazement that everything is seriously open 24/7.

Dislikes: Seafood buffet at the Rio (way overrated for the price); Coyote Ugly bar in the New York, New York (nothing like the movie); and all the cowboys.

That pretty much sums it up from me. I recommend that everyone go there at least once in their life and spend more than two days because there is just way too much happening!

Have a safe and happy holidays!