i've always wanted to see las vegas. i have never had the chance to go, and it was on my list of places to visit. but when it came time to plan a vacation, i never really wanted to go! it didn't exactly seem like my idea of a fabulous vacation. but don't listen to me. we spent two summers ago running from bears and a giant bull moose in the tetons. obviously, i'm not meant to be a travel planner. anyway, chase decided to go to a conference in las vegas last week. i figured that was the perfect opportunity for me to tag along and knock this city off of my list.
let's just say that las vegas is quite an interesting place. the layout of the actual casinos didn't match what i had envisioned. i figured that there would be some sort of separation between hotel rooms, restaurants, shops, and the actual casino. but, nope. you get straight off of your elevator from your room and walk right out into the casino. into the cigarette smoke. into the cocktail waitresses wearing tight, black shirts for dresses. with platform heels. and every place is designed to completely confuse you. the layouts are chaos, and the lighting and ceilings are painted so that you couldn't figure out what time of day it was if you tried. i guess that's all part of their plan. confuse you so you'll just stay there, sit down, and start spending money!!
anyway, we arrived late the first night. by the time we checked in (at the lobby in the smoke filled casino) and found our room, we were starving. we made our way downstairs to find something to eat and ended up at an asian place. it looked ok, so we walked in and sat down. we were starving, remember. it was almost midnight in mississippi, so it was a ways past supper! the guy brought us the menu. y'all, it was in chinese. or japanese. or some sort of language where they use little symbols for letters. it was too late to go find another place, and at that point we probably would have eaten the napkin and chopsticks for a meal. so we seriously just asked the waiter what he recommended. not that we even understood what we were getting, but we said ok. he brought us back some sort of noodle dish with shrimp and a sizzling platter of beef in a peppery sauce to put over rice. at least i think it was beef. could have been anything. it was fabulous. maybe i just need to tell the waiter to pick me out something everywhere we go!
on the way back, we checked out the lobby in the wynn.
and we also passed by this part of the casino and both fell out laughing. (first read the sign. then look in the background.) grandmaw and grandpaw like to the spend the dollah dollah bills, y'all!
the next morning, we started at the end of the strip and worked our way down checking out the different hotels and shops. not before chase went down and got some coffee, though. he asked the concierge where he could go drink it and get some fresh air (the smoke....have i mentioned the smoke?). i promise i'm not lying when the guy answered, "oh. we don't have that here." no fresh air. dude wasn't lying either.
so as i said, we walked along and checked out the different spots. each place has a "theme" and maybe some sort of attraction.
(and it was short sleeve weather. nice break from the 7 degree weather here!!)
the venetian was by far (far, far, far) the best one out there. they had the best layout, and the gondolas were cool. and the ceiling painted like the sky. doesn't take much to impress this mississippi girl.
not to mention these fun, little espressos at a gelato place off the water.
they made you completely jittery after about 30 minutes. add that to my red eyes from all the smoke, and i just fit right in! well, i would have if i had taken off a layer or two of clothes.
let's be honest. all these casinos sort of started to run together. but, there were a few cool things that stood out! new york, new york had the brooklyn bridge, the statue of liberty, the empire state building and a roller coaster.
the bellagio had a chinese money tree, some cool gardens, and a ceiling to floor chocolate fountain in their patisserie. yum.
you may have spotted that yellow m&m bag in chase's hand. they had an m&m store. i'm not one for shopping, but i can handle an m&m store! walls of m&ms. every color you can think of. and all kinds of flavors you've never heard of. perfection!
afterwards, we headed to lunch at a very cool mediterranean place. estiatoria milos. in case you ever go, you should look this place up. they gave you a 3 course meal, and it was all soooooo good. of course, i was the only person in the joint with a t-shirt on, and chase looked a little out of place in his golf shirt since every other dude in there had on a jacket. but hey....it was lunchtime. and they still took our money!!
one thing i should mention about las vegas is the sidewalks. you'd think a sidewalk would go straight beside the road. but you'd be wrong. these sidewalks make all kinds of curves and swerves. i was so aggravated by the end of the week because i could have gotten to where i was going 20 minutes ago if they would just let me walk in a straight line!!! also, people are just weird. we got behind these guys for a stretch.
power rangers? transformers? no idea. people just dress up in costumes and ask to take pictures with you. for money. there were creepy looking costumes everywhere. mickey mouse, bert, ernie, elmo, sexy little bo peep. i kid you not. and there were also the card flickers. people stood all along the sidewalks and at every intersection slapping cards together and handing them out. at first i was giving them a polite "no thank you," but it got so annoying that you just had to completely ignore them. it's hard for a southern person to just walk by somebody and pretend like they don't exist, but i got pretty good at it after a while! we also decided that the card flickers needed some marketing help. if you are handing out cards to your strip club on the street in a t-shirt that says "girls, girls, girls," it might be a little better if it was a pretty girl instead of an old guy with a pot belly. uhhhh....gag.
we saw the fountains at the bellagio one night. it was a cool little show.
we had planned on seeing a cirque du soleil show at our place, but they called us about 3 hours beforehand and said that it had been canceled. so, plan b. there was no plan b. we had to figure something out for that night. and quickly. we walked by the box office at the venetian and asked them what they had going on for that night. i picked up a little sheet about "rock of ages" and started to read the list of songs that was in the production. i was sold. seriously. google it. you would be sold too. of course this is coming from someone who remembers every single word to every single song she's ever heard. anyhow, chase is not a last minute decision maker. i somehow talked him into buying tickets to a broadway show (that we had not the slightest clue about) based on nothing but the soundtrack! and let me tell you....it was AWESOME!! we bought tickets in the nosebleeds, and as we walked in to sit down an usher grabbed us and said, "hey, you want to sit down front?" so we ended up on the 9th row in the middle. now the content was very much in the adult category, along with some of the language, but the music....the music was fabulous! and the actors were all great!
we also saw the beatles cirque show at the mirage while we were there. again we walked in, and an usher said, "hey, you want to move down closer?" chase was petrified that they were going to drag him up on the stage or something, but we moved down to the 4th row despite him! now this production was not quite like the other show! i didn't really "get" it. my artistic interpretation skills are sorely lacking. they did some really cool things with some trampolines and roller skates with ramps, and there was a stupid, crazy man doing flips on a death trap/see-saw thing several hundred feet in the air. and let's not forget all the insane people hanging from ropes and doing flips above us without safety harnesses. i wonder how many broken necks have occurred amongst these people. at one point, a man came dropping from the ceiling dressed as a giant blackbird. he then proceeded to fly out over the audience RIGHT AT ME. i hit the floor. the whole audience, and it flies at me. stupid birds. i can't get away from them!! it was a good show to see, and i'm glad that i saw it, but i might not have to ever watch another one!
i came home a few days before chase, and as i walked off of the elevator (into the smoke) at 545am to get to the airport, there were still people living it up. drinking. playing slots. trying to get that roulette wheel to land on their number. i was baffled. just go to bed, people!!
i think it was made quite clear to me on this trip that i'm not really the las vegas type! there were some great shows and some great food. it's always fun to get away with your husband on a kidless trip. and, i'm very thankful that i had the opportunity to go! but if i could turn this picture into a scratch and sniff for you...
go ahead and take a whiff.....
ahhhhh....
cigarette smoke.
been there. done that. very grateful. but it won't hurt my feelings if i don't ever go back!!! :)
