Tales of the Flowers: Rick's Restoration (American Restoration) and UFC 156

After visiting Gold and Silver Pawn, our next stop was at another site that also has a show on the History Channel, Rick's Restoration.

Out front they have a few classic cars and trucks. Here's Jonathan in front of Rick's truck.

We weren't expecting to see anyone we would recognize, but as we were walking in Rick's brother Ron Dale was walking out. Too quick to get a picture, but this is him.

Inside we went on a guided tour seeing all the different stops that a piece goes through once it hits the shop. No photos were allowed unfortunately, but if you've seen the show, you've seen it all anyway.
These gas globes were pretty cool. And only $350. Seems cheap to me.

Here's one of the items we saw on the show. It's an xray machine from the 1930s designed for shoe stores to get a better look at a customer's feet.

We bought a Coke in a glass bottle and posed next to a restored Coca-Cola vending machine. Drinking from a glass bottle is the best way to enjoy a Coke!

There was also a camera set up here that would email a picture to you.

The boneyard was closed off, but we can still look through the cracks.

Seems like this horse gets a shot on every episode.

In the boneyard, they've got plenty of items ready to be restored. On the tour, they told us that if we wanted we can pick something and commission them to restore it. They can made any old pop machine you could want.

They're also got a few items I seem to remember from the show. That Pep Boys fiberglass statue had an episode on it where it was restored and sent to Pep Boys headquarters. This must be a different one.

An old school bus that must be here to get fixed up. In the background you can see the golf cart they fixed up for the Pawn Stars guys for the Old Man.

Lacey's getting ready for the big UFC fight tonight. Jonathan took an elbow to the face right before this shot.

We went back to the hotel to chill for a little bit. We walked along the canals of the Venetian and stopped at a place that Lacey's been wanting to go since we got here. The Godiva Chocolatier!

This is what the girls both got. Chocolate covered strawberries.

All day long, we've been getting ready for this. Since we're in Vegas, both Theresa and Jonathan were going to put money on the fights. Theresa spent the morning figuring out who she liked and when we got back to the hotel, we stopped at the sports betting counter and placed some bets.
The only thing we had to figure out was where we were going to watch it. Buying tickets would have cost over $300 a person, and those were the nosebleed seats. At the Palazzo of course they recommended watching it in their Lagasse Sports Stadium. Only a $100 per person minimum spend for food and drinks. Hmm, what else do we have...

We made some phone calls and the Buffalo Wild Wings just 15 minutes out of town is showing the fight. No cover or anything. We showed up at 4:45pm and got seated immediately. The pre-fights started at 5pm.

By 6:30, there was a big line at the door waiting for a table. Glad we got here early. Some of the other Buffalo Wild Wings we called had lines out the door before 5pm.

There were lots of great fights and quite a few upsets. It was really fun to watch it with a full house of fans who cheered at every landed punch and kick. Like I said, it was a big night for upsets, but Theresa didn't always go with the odds, and ended up winning her money back plus $5. Remember, we're not big gamblers. Jonathan only bet on the two main events and bet on the underdogs in both cases. Good thing Rashad Evans lost to a 5-1 underdog. Jonathan walked away with a cool $120.

We had a great time at BW3s snacking on wings and other tasty foods. I think we were there for close to four hours. We had a fantastic server and we left her a great big tip. Thanks Vanessa!

The evening wasn't quite over, so we headed to Old Vegas. The huge LED screen over Fremont street was awesome! This was quite a different experience than the strip. There was loud music blaring, lots of street performers, and maybe it was just because it was Saturday night, but the place was packed.

We went into the Binion's, the casino that started the World Series of Poker. It's so different than the casinos on the strip. The main thing I noticed was that the ceiling was so much lower than what we're used to. It probably only a 12 foot ceiling. With such low ceilings there were cameras every 5 feet to keep an eye on things. Yikes!