las vegas

After neglecting you for weeks, I've decided to play catch up all in the same day. Last weekend, Drew and I went to Las Vegas. It was the annual meeting of the American Sociology Association and Drew was presenting a paper. Even though half my committee is composed of sociologists, and I've been told many times that I'm practically one myself (by the aforementioned half of my committee as well as many others), and I get mistaken for being one all the time, I was simply along for the ride. It was fabulous. I have some friends in the sociology department, and this was a great time to see those who I haven't seen in a while as well as those who have just graduated and are getting ready to move away.

The entire weekend was nice and relaxing, at least for me. I hung out with friends, Drew was busy with some conference stuff, we ate, and drank $2 margaritas. We went to Max Brenner, this restaurant known for its chocolate and desserts. It was fantastic.

I accidentally coerced Drew into eating Chinese food, a little over one week since he'd been back from China. After dealing with long waits at 2 different restaurants one night, we decided to try out Beijing Noodle No.9 for scallion pancakes, sizzling tofu with black bean sauce, and hand pulled noodles with tomato and egg.

The black bean sauce was so good I started scooping it out and eating it with a spoon. That's right, I'm not ashamed to admit that. If you'd forked over $18 for it like I did, you'd make the most of it too.

I ate this noodle dish only once when I was in Beijing last summer, right before we hiked the Great Wall. I loved it, and I will always have fond memories of it. Drew said he ate this nearly every week while he was in Beijing. I nearly fell out of my chair when he said it cost barely $1 in Beijing. In Las Vegas, it was $12. Sigh.

It was a good weekend. On the way back home, we stopped off in Primm (about 30 miles from Vegas) at the Mad Greek Cafe for dinner. We had some bad luck on the drive home though. There had been an accident involving a fuel truck in the southbound lanes about 60 miles from Vegas. Fortunately nobdoy was injured, but the freeway was closed and traffic was diverted. Traffic was stop and go about 10 miles from the site, and I kid you not, it took us about 3 hours to drive 10 miles.

This is the 2nd time Drew and I have been to Vegas together, and so far, on the drive home we are 0-2. Both times, what should be about a 5 hour trip turns into 7 or 8. When I drove out here from Minnesota, I drove through Vegas but didn't hit any traffic. I'm pretty sure that if I had, I would have strongly considered turning around and driving back to Minnesota. Maybe.