I know, the saying is, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But, really, where is the fun in that? And, if it was really something that I didn't want you to know - I wouldn't tell you. So, we'll talk about it anyway.
I went with an awesome friend, my Princess Sara. Luckily, her little mini-me came along and spent some time with us, too.... Princess Kellie. Princess Kellie spent
the first couple of days with her grandparents in Henderson (they are not nearly as fun as I am!!).
So first off, let's talk about the hotel. We stayed at the Hooter's Hotel. It was quite the fun little hotel. The casino is really, really small. AND, their food sucks the big one. Their drinks at the pool weren't too great, either. However, I'm not complaining mind you, because I was drinking a daquiri and a rum punch by the pool while at home people were freezing to death in temperatures somewhere in the thirties. So, I'm not complaining. I will take my crappy food from the Mad Onion and I will take my not so tasty $8 drinks by the pool and I will be very happy hanging out with a Princess or two in the 80 degree temps. The Hooter's Hotel is across the street from the ultra-swanky MGM with live lions and a host of other big and impressive and expensive things.
Second off, let's talk about going to Margaritaville. My beautiful daughter, Crystal and her handsome husband, Brandon had taken advantage of Zachary's spring break and sent the kids to stay with the "other" grandma in Milford. This freed them up to go on a little bit of a honeymoon to Las Vegas and take advantage of a free room. They were staying at Bally's. Since our little trips overlapped a bit, we decided to meet up and have lunch together at the aforementioned Margaritaville. It was quite a bit of fun - and probably our best meal (and our first) for several. It was a bit of fun hanging out - Sara and me in our skirts (talk about that later) and the Wild Berry Margarita was quite tasty. Now, our little Brandon, he just had water. He was getting over his one drink the night before; unfortunately he said "yeah, give me strong". The mantra for the rest of our trip was, "don't get strong". We didn't want to spend the night with our heads in the potty like Brandon had to.
Third off, let's talk about the conference. The conference was being held at the Paris Hotel. Now, the fire dispatchers (who apparently have much more money), got to stay there (their price $149 a night, our price a more frugal $35 a night). However, the guy that works at the Airport dispatch has even more money, because he was staying at Caesar's Palace with the jetted tub (wish I knew how much that cost a night!!!) Now, with our more frugal price, though, was our nice little jaunt to get to The Paris. The first night was the opening gala. Without knowing what the dress code was for the gala, we decided to wear skirts. Since we didn't know how long we would be hanging out with Crystal and Brandon, we wore our skirts. So, we were in our skirts for quite a long time (though they were rather comfy, they weren't very Vegas-ie, but we survived). We learned rather quickly how much we really didn't want to be there when we went to use our free drink coupons. You could use them on beer or wine (neither of which Sara or I wanted), but, if you wanted a cocktail it was $9, if you wanted a soda it was $5, if you wanted a bottle of water it was $5. Who in the hell buys a bottle of water for FIVE BUCKS???? We didn't spend much time at the opening gala. We headed over to our hotel and ordered really crappy room service and watched The Biggest Loser (honestly, I think it was the better option).
Fourth off, let's talk about what it took to get to The Paris, which we couldn't afford. To get to the monorail, we had to go across the street to the MGM hotel. Now, going across the street doesn't sound bad. But, if you have ever been Vegas, you know that crossing the street is not safe unless you do it at the crosswalk. To get to the crosswalk, we had to walk almost a block.
Then we crossed the street. Then we hiked up to the hotel. Then we had to make our way through the hotel to the walkthrough, which was kind of cool, cuz it was filled with stores and such, to the monorail. In all, the walk to the monorail was about twenty minutes from our hotel. But, we did it, cuz we were in Vegas and we had things to do!!
Fifth off, let's talk about the opening keynote speaker. We got up early the next morning, got our little selves ready and headed our little behinds on our walk to the monorail and over to The Paris. The opening speaker was Richard Picciotto. This man, this hero, was the highest ranking fire officer inside one of the towers to survive the September 11 attacks. All I can say is: AMAZING, BONE CHILLING, AWESOME, TERRIFYING!!! Listening to this man speak of his experience was an honor. He was on the sixth floor of the second tower when it went down. He had been around the 26th floor when the first tower collapsed. It was he that realized what had happened and it was he who was getting everyone who was in the second tower to evacuate. Because of him, a lot of people got out before the collapse. He and thirteen other survivors spent hours under the debris, in the blackest of black, until he found a way to climb out and let rescuers know where they were. He has written a book, "Last Man Down", if you are ever looking for a read. I plan on getting it.
Sixth off, let's talk about BITE. Princess Sara and I decided we wanted to go to a show. She had done some research and we decided on Bite. It was at the Stratosphere. So after hearing the most profound speech, we decided we needed to go get our tickets. We got on the monorail and got off at the Sahara and started for another twenty minute jaunt to the Stratosphere. When it was time to go to the show, we had done alot of twenty minute jaunts and I was butt sick of twenty minute jaunts. Anyway, show time!! It was lots of fun.
I think I enjoyed it much more than the princess did. It's a dance show, with topless female dancers. They dance to rock music with a vampire theme. I thought it was rather fun - however, I would say one thing - they need more than one cocktail waitress to serve an entire theatre. Nuff said. So, being butt sick of jaunts, we decided to take a cab back to Hooters - it was worth EVERY PENNY!!!
Seventh off, let's talk about Rio. Princess Kellie had joined us and we had a chauffer show up (Sara's BFF Tony and his son Brandon) to take us to wherever we wanted to go - and we wanted Vegas buffet!!! We had not had much luck in food so far, so we figured if we went buffet, we could at least find something that tasted good - we were tired of bad food juju. We had an awesome feast. After that, Princess Kellie wanted to be part of the Masquerade show. This show consists of a floor dance show then these awesome sky floats come out and the dancers toss beads. For a small fee of about $12.95, you can pay to ride on these floats that float high above the crowd. So, Princess Kellie and Princess Sara were the Grand Marshall's of the float and made sure that the dancers threw their beads to me!! I also got my picture taken with a very scantily clad female dancer (it was my special treat to Theodore).
Eighth off, closing thoughts. Sara is lots of fun to play with. We got along great (she may disagree). Kellie is lots of fun (she likes me). Hooters is a great, cheap place to stay, but don't expect the drinks at the pool to be really yummy (but, they will do, especially the Rum Punch on an empty tummy - went straight to my head). Sara is the quietest sleeper I have ever been around; she rolls over and you never hear a sound. That is unless she is sleeping with Kellie, who apparently thinks that the entire bed is hers and she feels the need to sleep on top of her mother. Pepsi apparently owns Vegas, I didn't find a Diet Coke until the last morning for breakfast. A caramel apple will cost you $10 (scary that you can get it cheaper in Disneyland!!). It's not easy to find a 7-11 in Vegas. Don't get strong!! Don't wear flip flops that give you a blister before you even make it to Margaritaville if you have to jaunt. It may appear that I am complaining and whining, but I had a great time. AND I love that my boss felt said that I work hard and deserved to go. I wouldn't have missed it for anything!! AND, finally, though it was almost ten years ago, 9-11 can still rip you to your core.
I went with an awesome friend, my Princess Sara. Luckily, her little mini-me came along and spent some time with us, too.... Princess Kellie. Princess Kellie spent
the first couple of days with her grandparents in Henderson (they are not nearly as fun as I am!!).
So first off, let's talk about the hotel. We stayed at the Hooter's Hotel. It was quite the fun little hotel. The casino is really, really small. AND, their food sucks the big one. Their drinks at the pool weren't too great, either. However, I'm not complaining mind you, because I was drinking a daquiri and a rum punch by the pool while at home people were freezing to death in temperatures somewhere in the thirties. So, I'm not complaining. I will take my crappy food from the Mad Onion and I will take my not so tasty $8 drinks by the pool and I will be very happy hanging out with a Princess or two in the 80 degree temps. The Hooter's Hotel is across the street from the ultra-swanky MGM with live lions and a host of other big and impressive and expensive things.
Second off, let's talk about going to Margaritaville. My beautiful daughter, Crystal and her handsome husband, Brandon had taken advantage of Zachary's spring break and sent the kids to stay with the "other" grandma in Milford. This freed them up to go on a little bit of a honeymoon to Las Vegas and take advantage of a free room. They were staying at Bally's. Since our little trips overlapped a bit, we decided to meet up and have lunch together at the aforementioned Margaritaville. It was quite a bit of fun - and probably our best meal (and our first) for several. It was a bit of fun hanging out - Sara and me in our skirts (talk about that later) and the Wild Berry Margarita was quite tasty. Now, our little Brandon, he just had water. He was getting over his one drink the night before; unfortunately he said "yeah, give me strong". The mantra for the rest of our trip was, "don't get strong". We didn't want to spend the night with our heads in the potty like Brandon had to.
Third off, let's talk about the conference. The conference was being held at the Paris Hotel. Now, the fire dispatchers (who apparently have much more money), got to stay there (their price $149 a night, our price a more frugal $35 a night). However, the guy that works at the Airport dispatch has even more money, because he was staying at Caesar's Palace with the jetted tub (wish I knew how much that cost a night!!!) Now, with our more frugal price, though, was our nice little jaunt to get to The Paris. The first night was the opening gala. Without knowing what the dress code was for the gala, we decided to wear skirts. Since we didn't know how long we would be hanging out with Crystal and Brandon, we wore our skirts. So, we were in our skirts for quite a long time (though they were rather comfy, they weren't very Vegas-ie, but we survived). We learned rather quickly how much we really didn't want to be there when we went to use our free drink coupons. You could use them on beer or wine (neither of which Sara or I wanted), but, if you wanted a cocktail it was $9, if you wanted a soda it was $5, if you wanted a bottle of water it was $5. Who in the hell buys a bottle of water for FIVE BUCKS???? We didn't spend much time at the opening gala. We headed over to our hotel and ordered really crappy room service and watched The Biggest Loser (honestly, I think it was the better option).
Fourth off, let's talk about what it took to get to The Paris, which we couldn't afford. To get to the monorail, we had to go across the street to the MGM hotel. Now, going across the street doesn't sound bad. But, if you have ever been Vegas, you know that crossing the street is not safe unless you do it at the crosswalk. To get to the crosswalk, we had to walk almost a block.
Then we crossed the street. Then we hiked up to the hotel. Then we had to make our way through the hotel to the walkthrough, which was kind of cool, cuz it was filled with stores and such, to the monorail. In all, the walk to the monorail was about twenty minutes from our hotel. But, we did it, cuz we were in Vegas and we had things to do!!
Fifth off, let's talk about the opening keynote speaker. We got up early the next morning, got our little selves ready and headed our little behinds on our walk to the monorail and over to The Paris. The opening speaker was Richard Picciotto. This man, this hero, was the highest ranking fire officer inside one of the towers to survive the September 11 attacks. All I can say is: AMAZING, BONE CHILLING, AWESOME, TERRIFYING!!! Listening to this man speak of his experience was an honor. He was on the sixth floor of the second tower when it went down. He had been around the 26th floor when the first tower collapsed. It was he that realized what had happened and it was he who was getting everyone who was in the second tower to evacuate. Because of him, a lot of people got out before the collapse. He and thirteen other survivors spent hours under the debris, in the blackest of black, until he found a way to climb out and let rescuers know where they were. He has written a book, "Last Man Down", if you are ever looking for a read. I plan on getting it.
Sixth off, let's talk about BITE. Princess Sara and I decided we wanted to go to a show. She had done some research and we decided on Bite. It was at the Stratosphere. So after hearing the most profound speech, we decided we needed to go get our tickets. We got on the monorail and got off at the Sahara and started for another twenty minute jaunt to the Stratosphere. When it was time to go to the show, we had done alot of twenty minute jaunts and I was butt sick of twenty minute jaunts. Anyway, show time!! It was lots of fun.
I think I enjoyed it much more than the princess did. It's a dance show, with topless female dancers. They dance to rock music with a vampire theme. I thought it was rather fun - however, I would say one thing - they need more than one cocktail waitress to serve an entire theatre. Nuff said. So, being butt sick of jaunts, we decided to take a cab back to Hooters - it was worth EVERY PENNY!!!
Seventh off, let's talk about Rio. Princess Kellie had joined us and we had a chauffer show up (Sara's BFF Tony and his son Brandon) to take us to wherever we wanted to go - and we wanted Vegas buffet!!! We had not had much luck in food so far, so we figured if we went buffet, we could at least find something that tasted good - we were tired of bad food juju. We had an awesome feast. After that, Princess Kellie wanted to be part of the Masquerade show. This show consists of a floor dance show then these awesome sky floats come out and the dancers toss beads. For a small fee of about $12.95, you can pay to ride on these floats that float high above the crowd. So, Princess Kellie and Princess Sara were the Grand Marshall's of the float and made sure that the dancers threw their beads to me!! I also got my picture taken with a very scantily clad female dancer (it was my special treat to Theodore).
Eighth off, closing thoughts. Sara is lots of fun to play with. We got along great (she may disagree). Kellie is lots of fun (she likes me). Hooters is a great, cheap place to stay, but don't expect the drinks at the pool to be really yummy (but, they will do, especially the Rum Punch on an empty tummy - went straight to my head). Sara is the quietest sleeper I have ever been around; she rolls over and you never hear a sound. That is unless she is sleeping with Kellie, who apparently thinks that the entire bed is hers and she feels the need to sleep on top of her mother. Pepsi apparently owns Vegas, I didn't find a Diet Coke until the last morning for breakfast. A caramel apple will cost you $10 (scary that you can get it cheaper in Disneyland!!). It's not easy to find a 7-11 in Vegas. Don't get strong!! Don't wear flip flops that give you a blister before you even make it to Margaritaville if you have to jaunt. It may appear that I am complaining and whining, but I had a great time. AND I love that my boss felt said that I work hard and deserved to go. I wouldn't have missed it for anything!! AND, finally, though it was almost ten years ago, 9-11 can still rip you to your core.
Great Post. Sounds like you had a good time.
ReplyDelete**note to self** Don't stay at Hooters :)
Oh no!!! Hooters was lots of fun!! Just be prepared to walk if you don't have a car!! And don't eat at the Mad Onion!!
ReplyDeleteI remeber the first time I made the mistake of walking around vegas in flip flops. Never again my feet ached sooooooo bad. I guess arch support really is important. It saddends me to my core that you got bad food. That is where I go to eat amazing food. But it ain't cheap that's for sure!!!
ReplyDeleteI had lots of fun! I would travel with you anytime and I know Kelz would rather travel with you than me. Especially if you are gonna dance at crazy singing men on pianos! I liked Bite..I guess I just thought it would be better! We definitely got our walk on..and I would stay at Hooters again..just with a car next time! And I Brandon taught us an important life lesson.. "don't get the strong!!"
ReplyDeleteLove ya!!
P.S. Did Ted like his picture??
ReplyDeleteI liked my picture more than Ted did - so I guess I will keep it for myself. And, don't get strong!! And the Call Girl was definitely weak - so I guess we learned!!! I'm sure your extra two shots though, made your frosty adult beverage more "strong"!!!
ReplyDeleteYou need to take me to Margaritaville. After much anticipation and hype, my Tooele BFF and I went over President's Day. WORST VACATION EVER. Not only did it completely ruin our friendship (apparently we weren't that close to begin with then?), but I was sooooo excited to go to Margaritaville, which we did, but I had a horrible time. It may or may not have been because I allegedly was pouting/throwing a tantrum the entire time. However, if I did happen to possibly, maybe, be doing that, it was completely justified. COMPLETELY.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't that make you want to take me there so I can have pleasant memories of it?
Amberly, my love, lets go!!!! However, I have heard that the one in Orlando is much better - so I say, let's go there!! We could hang out with Mickey and the gang, too!! Just sayin' it could be a different experience!!
ReplyDelete