What I Learned in Vegas...

Las Vegas, known to some as Sin City, has a lot to offer.  The hotels are enormous, the Strip is packed, the lights are as glitterful as a bedazzled jean jacket on crack, and the experiences are one in a lifetime.  This is what I learned in Vegas:

1. Nothing is as close as it looks: If a hotel, casino, or restaurant looks like it is 1 block away, think again!  It will be a good 20 minute walk in 100 degree heat and probably further than just a block (take the bus!).

2. Escort services do not care that he is married: You can walk hand in hand with your hubby and they will still snap their cards and HAND him one. But, if you look them in the eye, wave your finger in their faces and with your sweet-southern drawl say "No, no" and they will ignore your husband. :)

3. SheMales: Trannies look the same in Vegas as they do anywhere else in the world, and regardless of how many times I see one, I will always stare. Sorry!

4. Time change: Las Vegas is 3 hours behind NC. If you travel with Barrett, it does not matter what time of day it is in Las Vegas, he will inform you of the NC time also. For instance if you say, "I'm so hungry and it's only 9 o'clock, let's go get breakfast." He will respond, "Well, it's actually noon in North Carolina, so let's just get lunch." - I'm sorry but ordering a Philly Cheesesteak at 9 am is not okay regardless of where you are and what time zone you are from!

5. When you are playing Roulette, put money down before going to the bathroom: We played Roulette throughout our whole trip - one big winner's advice was to pick a number and play that everytime (this guy had stacks of chips, if I'm going to listen to anyone, it's him). So, I pick my favorite driver's number, Kasey Kahne number 9. I spend well over $75 picking this number over several hours and when does it finally pay off? When I go to the bathroom and don't have any chips sitting on that number, go figure.

6. Finish your drink: Before you try to get on one of the transit buses, be sure to finish that $4 bottle of water that you just bought, because you will not be allowed to bring it on the bus. Needless to say, we continued to make this mistake until the last day.

7. You don't "lose" money in Vegas:  Even though you put money down and may lose a game here and there it does pay off.  No, I don't mean that you will win big!  I mean, count the number of top shelf drinks you had (if you can still count that high at the end of the night), figure up the total, and you probably spent less in the Casino...Ca-Ching!   Which makes me wonder: Drinks are free when you're gambling, so WHY would you order a Bud Light when you can have a Crown and coke?  People never cease to amaze me :)

Vegas Baby!

Our Vegas Experience, in a nutshell:

Monday - Arrive at Charlotte-Douglass Airport at 2pm. Flight is delayed 2 hours due to thunderstorms in Atlanta (our connector flight). We're both thinking, "No worries, if planes can't go in, planes can't go out." This makes sense right? We leave close to 5 and arrive in Atlanta at 5:35; our next flight is scheduled for departure at 5:30, again we don't have to worry because of thunderstorms, right? Wrong. We are running through the airport and as we arrive at our gate I watch as our plane pulls out and sets off for Las Vegas. "You mean you couldn't hold the plane for the passengers who were held up in Charlotte?" the NYFD guy asks. "Half of our flight was connecting here for Las Vegas, this is so f'ed up." Needless to say he was angry for all of us! Our next scheduled departure, 9:45pm. My thoughts, "Hey look on the bright side, we can walk 10 feet to the bar and enjoy ourselves for the next four hours, that should make for an interesting flight!" Plane leaves on time.

Monday Night - Flying into or out of Las Vegas at night is something everyone should witness, it is beautiful! We catch a cab and arrive at the Stratosphere around 11:30pm (which is 2:30am EST, and I know this because my husband reminds me of the EST whenever I ask for the current LV time). Needless to say, because it is so late EST he thinks it's bedtime and crawls onto the king sized mattress - "No no," I say, "you don't come to Vegas to sleep, you can do that at home. Get up, we are going to the casino." Five hours later we stumble back into our hotel room.

Tuesday - After four hours of sleep, we get up, get dressed, and head out onto the strip for lunch and sightseeing. We hit he obvious hotel/casino/resorts - Palazzo, Venetian, Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, and Casino Royale - this takes about 3 1/2 hours and we head back to Stratosphere to see the view from 1,100 feet up, hang out by the pool, and then get ready for dinner. Dinner is at Trevi at Caesar's Palace and I must say, I do not recommend it. The price is outrageous and the portions are tiny, in addition to the marinara sauce tasting like it came straight out of a Ragu bottle, yuk! We gamble a little in Caesar's and Bellagio but head back to Stratosphere where the minimums are much lower.

Wednesday - We head back to the strip, this time the southern part and walk to the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign which was several miles further than we thought. "Should've gotten that water at McDonald's before we headed this way," but it was totally worth the heat exhaustion to get our picture with the sign. After we get back to the strip, we hit up Planet Hollywood - Barrett's idea - so we could search for Holly Madison in hopes of getting a photo-op with her (she's one of my favs!!!) No luck, oh well. We head up the strip a little further and stop in Bill's Gambling Hall and I win big at the Roulette table! Woohoo! We cash that and head back to the hotel to hang out by the pool for a little bit.

Wednesday Night - We go to the top of the Stratosphere again for some night views and pictures, before heading over to Freemont Street. Freemont Street is the second most famous street in Las Vegas, it is also known as the Freemont Experience, and the street itself is actually "Freemont Experience Street". This is what comes to mind when I think of Vegas-all the lights, the casinos, the live music, and the delicious food all in SHORT walking distance! Red Sushi is our restaurant choice and it is delicious with amazing service, I highly recommend going here! We experienced much of everything on Freemont and at the end of the night, Barrett gave his favorite belt to a Marine Veteran because his pants were falling down :)

Thursday - Recovery day from Freemont. We basically spend the day in the casino (hellooooo, air conditioning) and a little bit of time on the roof-top pool. Our day is cut a little short, because our show, KA by Cirque du Soleil, starts at 7. If ever in Vegas, one MUST see a Cirque du Soleil show; it was incredible! The colossal, 360-degree rotating stage just adds to the outstanding stunts put on by the acrobats. After the show, we head back to our hotel and change and pack so we can go to the casino one last time before leaving for NC.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip! I can honestly say we will be going back to see more of the strip, shows, restaurants, and casinos!

Next blog: What I learned in Vegas!

Love!

Spring Break - Part 1

Growing up spring break has always been a time to get rowdy with friends, go shopping, and take a break from massive school projects, tests, quizzes, etc. Not much has changed since my high school and college years, the only difference is that I enjoy Spring Break so much more. It is a much deserved break from nagging students, grading papers, and cleaning house. Although, I am in grad school (graduating in May) and still completing projects and my graduation portfolio during my break, I greatly enjoy sleeping in late, working out with my parents, drinking on the beach, playing tennis, and reading for pleasure. The first half of my spring break was spent at my parents house on one of the golf courses in Sea Trail. Nothing beats sitting on a screened in porch, drinking a beer, and watching golfers go by in the evening after spending all day on the beach. This first half was pretty tame, with the exception of some drunk college kids on the beach...too funny of a story not to tell. So here it is:
Mom and I arrive on Sunset Beach a little after 1. It is extremely crowded, so we mosey down the beach a little ways to find a less occupied area. We are enjoying conversation, people-watching, and mojitos and margaritas when a large group of kids (late teens and early twenties) come walking up and set up camp behind us. We begin deciding if these kids are old enough to drink and come to the conclusion that they must range from 18-22 and be in college. Mom glances over a little bit later and says, "What are those kids doing?!? They've poked a HOLE in their beer and are drinking it from the side??" I inform her that this is called Shotgunning a Beer, something all the the young kids are doing these days, and rednecks have been doing for years at the racetrack. One of the youngins must be new to the drinking craze or is just so skinny he can't handle all that he has consumed. The entire crowd on the beach watches and roars with laughter as this young man stumbles with his skim board to the shore. We all continue to watch and laugh as he tries without success to throw his skim board and land on it. He busts his rump about 4 times before deciding to quit and stumble back to his group of friends, but not before he throws his skim board on the sand and tries, without success, to land on it again. When he comes upon his group, he is congratulated for the success he didn't have and continues to struggle with gravity. He falls another 5 times, onto the sand, into the umbrella, onto the sand again, onto the cooler then the sand, and onto a girl who he spits-up on. Needless to say, a father of three calls the police who do not arrive before another family informs the group that cops are on the way and they need to disperse. It was a fun time had for all at the expense of a young college kid trying out alcohol, for what I would guess, the first time!

Welcome to Atlanta Where the Playa's Play

Shannon and I decide, "Let's go to Atlanta and surprise Megan. It will be so much fun! What will she say, how will she react, do you think she'll be surprised?" We get a date set, call Byron and begin the planning. We leave work early this Friday and begin our journey to Atlanta, GA. We cross into South Carolina and I need Starbucks, BAD. We stop at the next exit and it takes about fifteen minutes to get off of the exit and onto the main road. I have a lot of suggestions for the SCDOT!! We arrive at Starbucks, but have no idea where we are. Pelham?? When we enter the Starbucks Shannon is on the phone with Steve and he is asking where we are. So Shannon asks an older gentlemen about our location; he informs us that we are in Greenville. "Is that closer to North Carolina or Georgia?" As this conversation is taking place, I am in line ordering my Starbucks fix, Caramel White Mocha!! It is the best coffee drink after Caramel Brulee (which is only served in December, and Yes, I do have issues with that!). As we are leaving, I turn to Shannon and offer her, "Would you like to sample crack?" She agrees that the Caramel White Mocha is very much addicting and orders it later in our trip!
"Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play/And we ride on them things like everyday/Big Beats, hit streets, see gangstas roamin'/And parties don't stop til eight in the mornin'" actually comes on the radio as we are leaving South Carolina and entering Georgia....coincidence? I think not, Atlanta knew what was up!! When we arrive at Arena Tavern we inform the hostess that we are surprising a friend and I detail how this will go down. Since I am a hosting connoisseur (thanks Outback) I feel that I have the right to tell her how this will go down effectively. We grab our table and wait for Megan and Byron to arrive. Megan tells the hostess that she has a party of two and the waitress informs her they are on a wait; however, when Megan gives her her last name, the waitress "sees" that there is a table available. She walks Megan over, who thinks, "Why is she seating me at a table with other people?" and then quickly recognizes us. Her reaction is priceless, "What are yall doing here? When did you get here? I didn't even recognize you." Byron comes in and joins us, and she begins the conversation with "But, where are your parents going to sleep?" "These are my parents," is his reply. She is bewildered, "How did you ever keep me from figuring this out? I always figure out surprises!!" We have dinner, reminisce, and start making plans for the weekend. When we get back to the house, we call it an early night, afterall, we have some serious shopping to do tomorrow.
Mall of Georgia is our first choice to being our shopping adventure. Before we can begin any shopping though ,we must prepare for the endeavor by feasting with Iraq soldiers at PF Changs. After filling our bellies, we headed to H&M first and began the shopping spree. After hitting all of the hot spots at the mall, we headed out and on to Discovery Mills. Let me say, from ny experience working in a mall I do believe it should be required that all employees know where other stores are located, or at least that they are IN the mall. We need to find BCBG Final Cut, so I begin asking an associate at a kiosk. Me: Can you tell us where BCBG is located? Associate: B-C-B-G??? Do you mean Burlington Coat Factory? Me: No, not BCF, BCBG. Ass: (confused -obviously) "B-C-B-G??" Me: Yes, as in the designer!! Ass: I don't think we have one. Me: Obviously. Frustrated, we detour through the food court and see Forever 21. Browsing through we see another associate, who looks to be dressed like Peter Freakin' Pan. He has on an adult onesie (or romper), fake eyelashes, makeup, and high heels. Undoubtedly, he will know where BCBG is located. To our surprise, he has no idea what we are talking about and thus steers us in the direction of the directory; you can imagine, he sends us the wrong way. C'mon, you dress like that, work at Forever 21 and YOU don't know what BCBG is?? We finally find our store, shop around, and leave the mall. It's time for dinner, and we're all starving. Bahama Breeze is our choice for this evening. We eat dinner, have some drinks, and begin planning our next reunion and our 30th birthday parties. We are planners at heart and this planning keeps us out at Bahama Breeze until they close and send us home. After 13 hours of shopping, eating, and planning, we are pooped and go straight to bed.
After lunch, Shannon and I head back home to NC. Our trip up 85 is smooth and we make good enough time to stop and shop in Gaffney at the outlet mall there. Traveling back, we hear on the radio that Greenville, the city we passed through 3o minutes earlier, is on a Tornado watch and people in their cars should get out and seek shelter. Thank goodness we left early. We make it back to Concord, have dinner waiting on us, and these blogs have offcially begun

What have I learned: 1. Surprising your best friend is a wonderful gift. 2. Starbucks coffee can be referred to as crack, because it is addiciting. and 3. Not all gay men know where designer stores are located in a mall.