You’ve Won A Trip…

...to the magnificent Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada! Yup, those are pretty much the words I heard in my head when Keryn uncovered that magical palm tree on that lucky scratch ticket.

Full disclosure: I never win anything. Ever.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. I won Red Sox tickets in a raffle two years ago. And I have had pretty decent luck at the poker table over the years. But other than that, I don’t win. In my clutches, winning tickets mysteriously transform themselves into losers. Good thing I was driving and Keryn had the penny between her fingers…

You might be wondering, as I wondered for the long two days between when we won and when we were able to get through to the Maine State Lottery folks -- how does winning a trip work, exactly?

The answer is that there’s some company in Georgia, and apparently this is what they do.

Let’s say you run a company and you want to give away a vacation as the grand prize in your annual sweepstakes. You name your price and these guys will tell you what it gets you. A trip to Vegas, the Virgin Islands, Paris, Alaska, Delaware -- you name it, and they'll assemble a voyage.

In this case, here’s what we’re getting:

• Roundtrip tix (on America Worst, which happens to be one of the only direct flights from Boston, so we scored there)
• Three nights “deluxe” accommodations at Mandalay Bay (I’m eagerly looking forward to learning what exactly “deluxe” means—I’m guessing it doesn’t mean squat).
• Tickets to Mamma Mia (featuring the music of ABBA, which is all I have to say about that)
• Cab vouchers to/from McCarran
• Enough gambling money to last me a solid five minutes at the craps tables… (shh… don’t tell Keryn)
• And, of course, a liability on my taxes...

All in all, a pretty sweet package (excepting that last part).

I can’t wait until we arrive in Vegas and slide a crisp one dollar bill into the very first slot machine that greets us as we deplane.

Back tomorrow with more details on our planning…

- Normal Guy (aka Jason Shaffner)