Las Vegas is really quite sinful, isn't it... I mean, it is of course possible to survive Vegas on a diet of garden salads, purified water and no gambling, but that really isn't the point is it. We have Utah for that!
But, once again, more on that later.
B and I happily endured Sin City on a diet of chicken wings at Hooters (yes, Hooters - B insisted they had the best wings in town, hmmm), Gin and Tonics, and lots of Blackjack.
Did I mention I love to party on occasion? Ok, that's a bald-faced lie, I always like to party and am usually the last one to want to go home but, since I know that's really not a good long-term life strategy, I do behave most times. Ok sometimes.
But not this time.
B and I agreed there were no rules in Las Vegas, so we turned 21 the moment we turned onto the strip and decided to stay that age for the next 48 hours.
Here's the highlights (again, in no order, as I am very disorderly at the best of times):
1. The Cirque du Soleil Beatles Love show. Oh did I say this list wasn't in order? Because this is undoubtedly, unmistakably and unquestionably the best thing we did in Vegas. I'm a massive Beatles nut (a McCartney girl) and I booked excellent seats for this show nearly 12 months ago (the very day we decided to go to Vegas). When the show opened with the circus performers dancing in to 'Get Back' I swear I nearly went into joy-induced cardiac arrest.
2. Staying at a casino on the strip. Not as obvious as it sounds - there are squillions of regular hotels that aren't part of the major strip casinos. But we stayed at the modestly-priced Luxor where we slept inside a giant pyramid, only to rise mid-afternoon and wander downstairs where there was no indication of day or night. Yes!
3. The Strip itself. The lights! The music! The decadence! It was like living in that movie with Vince Vaughn.
4. B's reply to our hotel concierge, who asked us if we were married. B looked at me and said, "no, but hopefully we will be soon." He may have been joking about the whole Vegas Elvis chapel thing, but it still sent a tingle up my spine as his pretty eyes locked with mine.
5. Gambling. I usually don't enjoy gambling all that much; I'm certainly not a lover of 'the pokies' and often get bored in casinos and wander off to find the bar after say, three minutes? But in Vegas, gambling was more or less mandatory and, after reading B's blackjack book from cover to cover, it became scarily addictive.
Oh and we lost most of our dough by the way, until B took all our remaining chips and bet them on the red colour at the roulette wheel. I was feeling black and everyone else had piles of chips on black (there was nothing on red at all). This is classic B - move against the crowd - so he piled all our chips on red and smiled at me cheekily as I covered my face with my hands. And guess what came up? Red! That's my boy - he doubled all our money in one brave move.
6. A chance to lie by the pool for a few hours. The Luxor has a pretty smokin' hot pool - although we didn't arrive at it until after 3pm, thanks to our late night partying. But even a few hours to pretend we were in Thailand went a long way.
7. Convincing B to dance inside a Bellagio nightclub. This sounds worse than it is - he does often dance and very well too. But B usually only ever dances in pubs with live bands playing his favourite 1980s rock music. At all other times it's like he's chained to the wall and not even an industrial-strength chainsaw could get him to move onto the dance floor.
As we wandered inside a nightclub with pumping pop music, I ordered, "we are in Vegas... one dance here!" B made some lame excuse about being "physically unable to dance this this sort of music." So I asked if he would dance if that Black Eyed Peas song 'I Got a Feeling' came on (he likes that one). And guess what came on next?? So we danced to it before he raced off the dance floor like it was on fire.
8. We then went to a bar that somewhat resembled a strip club. Why is that a highlight? Because Vegas is all about trying new things and having no rules. While a true strip club was pretty much out of the question we did end up at the 'Shadows' club at the Bellagio - tasteful and full of women. It was very tame - undressed women simply danced as silhouettes behind a screen. But the guys loved it.
9. The Bellagio fountain. If you have seen it you will know. It's truly gorgeous and a must-see on the strip.
n.b. I was too wowed by the fountain to snap with my dodgy disposable camera so google gave me this photo - thanks google.
10. Our GPS not getting stolen. We had our car parked at the beginning of our stay and left it there until the moment we left for Utah, forgetting that we had left the portable GPS front-and-centre like a sitting duck the entire time. B realised at the eleventh hour and went into a bit of a cold sweat until we picked up the car and - whaddya know - it was still there. It looks like there was one less sin committed in Sin City.
n.b. You don't really want to see a photo of our GPS system, do you?
Posts
