I absolutely love Las Vegas.
One of the few places I have been on this planet where the minute I got
there I felt like I could live there.
There are only a few of those places.
But it is not because I am a gambler or “bright lights, big city” girl,
oh wait, yeah I am…not the gambler part…I hate gambling…I have only won one
time and that was in Wisconsin. Normally
I have about $20 to blow and since that lasts seconds in a casino, I simply
never go.
I don’t mind the noise of a casino or having a drink in a
casino or even eating in one, but I sure as hell have never been in one gambling
for more than an hour max.
I do not entirely know why I love Las Vegas, I just really,
really do. There is no large body of
water, unless you count Lake Mead, which is nice, but normally I am a sand and
beach girl or pine trees and log cabins.
The very first time I went to Vegas was not a vacation, but
an adventure…quite possibly why I loved it so much.
I do not remember the year but I was managing the Fitness Center in St. Paul, Minnesota
when I am pretty sure my friend Rachel asked me to go to Vegas with her and 2
of her other friends that I didn’t know so well, Jen and Heidi. Heidi worked in the travel department and got
a hell of a deal for 4 people, but they needed a 4th. I could share a bed with Heidi, whom I barely
knew. Ok, whatever, I am up for an
adventure and it was a hell of a deal. I
don’t remember how many nights but it was at the MGM and it included the
airfare, through a charter deal or something…
I should have known this was going to be an adventure of
epic proportions when we all got on the plane and were handed coupon
books. I am pretty sure Jen said “we are
going to every one of these places.”
Thumbing through the book it occurred to me that she wanted to visit
almost all of the hotels to get a free deck of cards, or perhaps a keychain, or
maybe even a free spin on one of the giant slots that greet you at the door…OH,
or a free shrimp cocktail…we had to go where the bargains were…and what a deal
we were getting with all of those coupons.
I don’t think I have packed so much sight-seeing or
entertainment into so few days in my whole life. We rode roller coasters, went to every single
one of the hotels in our coupon book to collect junk, usually walking (to save
money of course.) This was my first
lesson that objects are further away than they appear in Vegas…”oh it is right
down there,” means 45 minutes by foot…and it was 105 every single day. We went on the Hoover Dam tour which was
amazing and I am pretty sure it ended with a chocolate factory tour and the
cactus garden…
This was not vacation, it was pure hell. Who moves the entire time they are on vacation? Well we did.
Our first visit to the pool was a fiasco. Who in their right minds would pay $6 for a
drink? Well, by God, we weren’t going to. So we did what we did best…walk to find a
liquor store. And we walked and walked
and walked. When we did finally find
one, we paid an UNGODLY amount of money for a large bottle of Captain Morgan
and some 2 liters of coke. Vegas does
not want you buying alcohol in a liquor store duh. Then we had to get souvenir mugs to drink with
at the pool. The point is I do not think
we actually saved money. Granted this
was back in the day when you could take a liquid clear up until you got on the
plane…and I am pretty sure Rachel did…pounded her 32 ounce Captain and Coke
because God forbid we waste a drop of it. There are many things that happened
on this trip that I could revisit but when I sat down to write it, I realized
only the 4 of us would truly get it and laugh.
So I will just keep those memories close.
I saw a lot of Vegas on this trip. More than I have any other trip since. However, I have been back to Vegas several
times and picked out just a few things that I love and did them and it was a
much more laid back trip.
If you have been to Vegas and love it you know that everyone
loves something different about it…it can be with a group of friends and a
drunken mess, it can be a romantic getaway, and it can be chill. I am glad my first trip to Vegas was with
Rachel and pretty much complete strangers because one of those strangers became
one of my best friends…she has done a lot for me since that trip. Personally I think we should go back to Vegas
together and chill…I have no way to repay her for the friendship her and her
family have extended me since that trip but if I could, I would certainly start
in Vegas. Thanks for everything Heidi.
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