Summary of Vegas

It has been a while since I have taken to my blog and for good reason, or should I say reasons. The 2 biggest reasons are work and vacation. I was working my @$$ off so I could meet my deadlines at work in order to thoroughly enjoy my vacation to Vegas. I usually poke fun at people that say they don’t have time for stuff. In this case, I just didn’t make the time. Once I got off of work, I was running, lifting, cooking, cleaning, etc. So, I did not take the time to blog. (See the difference here…I recognize that I had the time, I just didn’t used it to blog!) Aaaanyway, I am back now to talk about some stuff and things.

The biggest happenings this past week was the trip to Vegas. It was our 2nd time to go. The first time was pretty overwhelming since it was our first time. There was so much to see and do that it was difficult to know where to start. The first time to Vegas also taught LaBrett and me some valuable lessons. #1: wear flat shoes, everywhere, unless you don’t mind enduring the pain from wearing heels all night long. #2: if you can rent a car, do it. The sense of freedom is amazing. #3: Don’t get into a confrontation with fellow patrons regarding the wait time for coffee (Wait, that was a lesson learned from this trip…I digress). Lesson #4, which is the most important lesson of all, take your vacation to Vegas with your most amazing friends and you will be guaranteed to have the most amazing time. True statement!

Our 2nd trip to Vegas included a night of clubbing, a night of lounging in a private lounge area above all the people at Planet Hollywood, a little bit of gambling that did not work in our favor (shocker), a night of bowling, a couple of days of shopping, walking the strip to see what kind of trouble we could find or could find us. It also included site seeing at the Hoover Dam, which was amazing, the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio, which was whimsical and amazing, walking through the New York Hotel and Casino which was Vegas cheesy and fricken awesome. We checked out the Garden of the God’s with all the wannabe’s and tryin’ hard to be’s. LaBrett and I debated daily on getting another tattoo. It seemed like every corner we turned, every hotel we walked into, there was a tattoo parlor. Oh and how could I forget, one afternoon was spent doing some laundry at a lovely (insert sarcasm here) establishment. When you need clean clothes, you do what you gotta do!

Our trip also consisted of many flavors of restaurants. Buffet style one night, sit down to an expensive meal another night, walk in and pick one of only 3 items on the menu kind of night, traditional T.G.I.F. type of night, Subway kind of night, etc. etc. etc. The food list goes on and on. In fact, when we got home, I proclaimed to Hunter that I was tired of eating! Good thing we did as much walking as we did…otherwise, all that work since this past Christmas would have been for nothing!

The other mentionable is the hotel. We stayed off the strip at The Orleans and I was pleasantly surprised. I would recommend this hotel to anyone. Yes, anyone. The hotel staff was friendly, the rooms were clean and comfortable, the selection of restaurants was plenty, the activities at the hotel made it possible to stay there for a night and thoroughly enjoy yourself, the pool was a nice size, the gym was FREE (but a little small), the spa area was elegant and quiet, the security was very visible, the valet parking attendants were quick with getting your car (9 times out of 10!), the décor was mardi gras over the top fun and colorful. Overall, I was very pleased with our stay and would definitely stay there again if the time ever came for us to go back.

It is difficult to summarize the trip and I know I am leaving a lot of stuff out. I hope that the slide show of pictures will help to bring it all together.

Flickr.com would only allow me to upload about 100 photos, for free. I guess free is better than nothing. The pics that you will not see yet are from the Bellagio Botanical Garden, which was very beautiful. I hope to get those posted soon.