I spent the weekend in Vegas.
The first night I spent alone. The first thing I saw from the plane was the pyramid Luxor, beaming a spotlight straight into the sky. I got out a hundred bucks at the ATM and was surprised to see a hundred dollar bill come out of the dispenser. Welcome to Vegas, where the hundreds flow freely. I got ready in my two-queen-beds hotel room on the 26th floor of the Monte Carlo, spreading my luggage all over the abundance of beds. The view was incomparable – I tried to snap it through the window. The slots were banging and glittering downstairs, and I prowled the casino floor in as cute an outfit as I could muster up with a twenty dollar bill in the back pocket – the outfit for the courage and the twenty for the gambling. I left a dollar up, feeling quite pleased (less with the winnings than with my ability to master the bewildering noisy variations of slots without totally giving myself away as an amateur).
Next morning I decided to go to the pool whlie waiting for friends to arrive, and took my self, sarong and HR books (aren’t I so good) to the pool just a few minutes before it opened. I was bewildered by the huge crowd but figured it out when we were admitted and a somewhat terrifying race-for-the-best-seat commenced. I took my life in my hands by leaping head first into a deck chair by the pool, just about the only way you were gonna get one in the sun. After one hour, one pina colada, and one little nap, I checked out, grabbed a cab, and headed to my second hotel – Harrah’s. The bachelorette whose party I was crashing had arrived there, and she and her friends met me in the lobby. We walked about, I don’t know, seven hundred miles to the place we’d picked for lunch, a Mexican restaurant in a hotel called "Tuscany." The owners needed a lesson in geography, but not cooking – the food was fabulous, fresh, and there was plenty of it. A stop at the seedy liquor store on the way back yielded a nicely priced pair of bottles and we had drinks of fruity rum that afternoon, while we napped and watched the Preakness during the hottest part of the day.
We prowled the strip for a few hours, ordered Papa John’s at the hotel for dinner, and then showered and got dressed for the big event of the evening – The Thunder from Down Under. It was a night of Australia’s best and brightest pounding their muscled chests and (disappointingly) keeping most of their clothes on. We wore tiaras hoping for special attention, but instead of pulling us bachelorettes up to the stage, they brought up a woman celebrating her 70th birthday. She also wore a jewelled tiara – and a sparkly purple skirt – and when the Aussie gave her a lapdance she blushed and squealed and her granddaughters and grandson (the only male in the audience) roared. After that, we went to Hooters. We figured – eh, there won’t be many girls there, certainly not any bachelorettes! We’ll get all the attention! We were right. My fellow bachelorette and I ended up "shaking our moneymakers" on a stage in the Hooters dance club. We downed shots donated by some generous men who saw the moneymaker-shaking must have deduced that we hadn’t drunk enough to be entertaining. Most of the other girls weren’t interested in their shots, so the other bachelorette and I made ourselves infinitely sicker in the morning by downing theirs, too.
Back to the hotel for some cold pizza and some water, and then down to the casino for some drunken fumbly gambling at the slots. I think I lost the dollar I’d won at the Monte Carlo. My fellow bachelorette, happy and carefree in her pickled state, blinked at the machine without comprehension, tried to put her dollar in the ticket printing slot, and laid her head down on it, grinning all the time. I’m sure I was similarly amusing from her point of view – we were quite they happy pair. She and I decided it was best we go to bed, and our friends accompanied us up the stairs.
Some night time trips to the bathroom for water and some Advil in the morning cured most of our ills, and we spent that day trolling the strip (well, the latter half of the day – the former half was spent passed out). We topped off the early evening watching the fountain show at the Bellagio, which was absolutely beautiful, even if it was accompanied by "My Heart Will Go On." I got on the plane, the red-eye to Raleigh, and arrived at home at 6:45 am, and was at work within two hours.
Ahhh, Vegas. You were like a dream that ended too quickly. I will return to you one day, now that I can gamble, drink, and flag down a cab with style. And next time . . . next time . . . I’ll win big.
wow, gill! oh how envious i am of you and your adventure! there is no way i would have ventured to vegas as a rooky, much less hit the pool and the slots solo. i wish i had 1 oz. of the bravery you posess!it sounds like you had a fantastic time. strip clubs, hooters, rum, gambling…what more could a bachelorette ask for? i\’m glad you gave her a memorable time! and, when your time comes along, you\’ll have to spill every, last detail as well! got it!?
I too am jealous of your Vegas trip. And I saw Megan in the bunch…do you know how I could get her email? Does she have a blog?
HA! I love it!!! I am so jealous that you\’ve made it to Vegas before I have this year. I can\’t say that I\’ve ever been into Hooters or had the pleasure of being at the Thunder From Down Under show. However, you\’ve painted an excellent picture and now I see I must go there. NOW. 🙂 The red eye sucks. I\’ve taken that flight from Vegas before and in my experience most people are drunk or are trying to sleep it off. It is a rough day when you have to go to work right after. I am sure you are recovered now, but the memories will last a lifetime!
I am still not sure about the whole bachelorette party thing. I think if I do it, I will have to let Michael have one too. Not so sure about that part of it!!
Hope all is going well!! I\’ve gotten a great majority of my planning done, so now I am just having fun trying to plan our honeymoon! Woo hoo!
Amanda 🙂
Thanks for the sweet comment! I know I shouldn\’t settle, but I can\’t help but feel like I need to be making money and have insurance!! 🙂
I have another interview this afternoon, so hopefully it will be the one I want.
How is your wedding planning going? I hope it is moving along smoothly. Have you chosen invitations yet or anything else big and exciting? I would love to hear about it!!
Amanda 🙂
Well I just stopped by to see how you were doing. I am suprised I
didn\’t comment on this entry before. Maybe MSN ate it.
I want to go back to Vegas I felt like a hick in the city. (Just
wait until I make it to New York.) Ohhhing and Ahhing.
Sounds like you had a great time. I am jealous as a mommy bound
to home these days, but the hugs, kisses and giggles are great perks
too.
Nora