Las Vegas

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What happened in Vegas, didn't stay in Vegas

On February 12, 2011, I set out for one the biggest trips of my life. Not only was I going the farthest West I've ever been, but I was going to be doing something on this journey that would forever change my life. I was getting married. I thought running off to Vegas, to finally do something we've tried so many years to do, would be fun and stress free. Wrong! Don't get me wrong it was fun, but stress free it was not. First there was the issue of flying with my dress. There was no way I could squeeze my dress in our suitcase, nor did I want it to get all wrinkled. so I just kept it in the garment bag and prayed they let me take my dress, along with my small duffel bag, on the plane as carry on. Thankfully they did, In fact I didn't know this, but they even have closets on the plane and will hang your stuff up for you! On our first flight we got seats all the way in the back of the plane. I thought to myself, alright I like this! Then I quickly realized it was RIGHT NEXT to the bathroom or as they call it the "laboratory." That pretty much sucked, because the door was really squeaky and people were slamming the door, and at one point there was a line. To top it off, my seat was the isle seat!! 😞 Anyway, after the lay over our flight on the second plane was a lot nicer. Apparently some lady in first class, noticed the flight attendant hanging my dress up and asked her if someone was getting married in Vegas. The flight attendant said to the lady "Yes, there is." The lady says, "Tell the bride to be, I want to buy her a drink of her choice." I was so shocked to hear of this! I told the flight attendant to thank the lady many times for me! Even though I never got to meet the lady I will never forget her! We also got to see the Grand Canyon from the plane ride, which was one of the best aerial views I have ever seen in my life. I said to John "Look its the Grand Canyon" John says, "I don't think that's the Grand Canyon, its just a mountainous region." I said "Well It's grand and it looks like canyons to me," Then you hear the Captain of the plane come over the intercom, "Folks if you take a look to your right you will see the beautiful Grand Canyon."

So we finally arrive in beautiful Las Vegas, NV. We were so thankful to have our two good friends come and pick us up from the airport. From there we went straight to the Hoover Dam. This truly is a world-renowned structure. Built during the Depression, while trying to tame the the Colorado River, took almost 5 years to complete. You should see for yourself why it's rated as one of America's Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders.

After the Hoover Dam, we headed back to the strip to check into the hotel. Our first night we stayed at Circus Circus. Our room was an upgrade and was really nice. However, the hotel was packed, and there was kids everywhere. If you have kids, this is one of the few places you can bring them to in Las Vegas. Mostly due to the adventure-dome amusement park attached to the back of the hotel. Which if you stay at their hotel as a guest you get two free tickets to ride any ride. Which was fine with us, because they only had two good rides (for adults anyway). The next day as we were leaving to check out, the wait to get on the elevator to go down to the lobby took 15 minutes!! Every time the elevator would stop on our floor we would get ready to go on and when the doors would open it would be slap packed with people! I never waited for an elevator for so long in my life!!

For the remainder of our trip we stayed in Caesars Palace. We originally booked the mid price room which was in the Palace Tower, but once we told the hotel clerk we was getting married, they upgraded our room to the Augustus Tower at no extra cost. It was complete luxury, you know, the kind where you get a jacuzzi tub with a flat screen TV and nice soft robe to wear afterward. I highly recommend staying at the Caesars Palace. Just don't touch anything on the mini bar in the room, they are now weight sensitive and on a timer, that is unless you don't mind spending $10.00 on 4 oz of popcorn!

Our second day way was the most thrilling! We started our day by meeting up with John's parents for breakfast. We went to the Augustus Cafe, which was good, but overly priced. The food is not really gourmet but the price is and the service was so slow. We don't recommend eating there. Afterward we headed to New York, New York, where we rode one of the best roller coasters I've ever rode. "This isn’t your average upside-down roller coaster. The loops on this ride are insane! You’ll twist and turn in ways you never imagined. The combination of corkscrews, hills, and 180-degree heart-line spiral will take you for one hell of a ride. Next, we met back up with our friends at the Stratosphere for more exhilarating rides. There we purchased tickets to ride to the observation deck and to ride two of the rides at the top. On of the rides known as the X-Scream sounds worst then it is. Basically it shoots you 27 feet over the edge of the top of the stratosphere. Then they let you dangle for a bit, before yanking you back up and lunging you back over again...Oh did I mention your 886 feet off the ground!! Next ride was the the Insanity, and I know why! Because you have to be insane to ride it! Imagine if you will... a huge mechanical arm that sticks out 64 feet over the side, that spins you in a circle at a force of 3 G's forcing your body to tilt in a downward angle... oh and did I mention your over 900 feet in the air!! My friends could tell you best, that I was... chicken $#!t, to say the least. I still did it, but I was praying for my life the whole time and my friends say I was white as a ghost. Once my feet hit ground, I really did have a new outlook on life. Afterward we headed to the old Las Vegas, also known as Fremont Street. That is where you can still to this day see the old Las Vegas signs and casino's such as the famous Golden Nugget. They also have the show in the sky. Which is where the whole street is covered, and on the ceiling they play a show. The first show we saw was a tribute to the band "KISS" and the second show an Alien show, that also played some good music. Plus they have a zip line that runs through the center of the street, that you can ride while you watch the show...Gotta to do that next time we go.

OK, so now we've made it to the day of the wedding! I must say everything started out so perfect. Our two AWESOME best friends bought and brought us breakfast. Thank you again! Then the ladies headed to the salon to get their hair done. Let me tell you, the lady at the salon knew her stuff. She gave all three of us very beautiful hairstyle in practically no time at all. Next we headed back to hotel to finish getting ready, I had only 45 minutes, which for a bride is not a lot. I was to meet the limo driver out front of the hotel at 12:30, but because he was on the side of the hotel, I couldn't find him. So therefore, we didn't meet until 12:45. Then half way to the chapel it dawned on me... I forgot the marriage license!!! So the wedding day fiasco begins! Among rushing to finish getting ready, It had just completely slipped my mind. I'm still kicking myself for that. Because of my huge mistake our wedding time had to be postponed for 2hrs. and to a different Chapel, plus we had to pay an extra $100.00! I felt like crying! John just looked me into the eye's as they were starting whelp up and said, "Honey, don't worry about any of this, all that matters is that we are getting married today." Then suddenly my tears vanished, and nothing else mattered.

After the ceremony we went to the Venetian where we took a Gondola ride while the gondolier serenaded us with beautiful music. She said in Italy it good luck for your relationship to kiss under every bridge, so that we did. I think there was a total of nine bridges, so we got a lot of good luck coming our way. Also the couple riding in the Gondola with us, had just got married the day before. Next we had dinner at the Caneletto. We got our own private room with a spectacular view. The service was excellent and the food was pricey but good. After dinner we had tickets to go and see a show by Cirque du Soleil called Mystère. There was parts of the show the that we really enjoyed and there were part's that we wanted to get up and leave on. That's just our opinion though, go see it for yourself and be your own judge. When the show was over it was time for us newly weds to call it a night, but not before making one more stop. We headed back to the hotel changed into some comfortable clothes, then headed to the famous, "Welcome to the fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Took some pictures and called it a night.

On our last day we squeezed in as much stuff as we could possible do. We started our day off by visiting the Cosmopolitan. That was to me with out a doubt, the most beautifulest hotel on the strip. It has a hanging crystal chandelier in the middle of the hotel that towers down from three stories high. It is a visual spectacular and a must see. Next we went to the City Center, where you can find a combination of hotels, casinos, shops, bars, and restaurants all different from the next. They all connect to each other so you can walk for hours going from place to place and never even go outside. We also visited the Mirage Hotel where every half hour they put on an awesome Volcano show outside, that's free to watch. Afterwards we made a quick trip back to our hotel, and that is also when we discovered that our hotel was one of the biggest hotels on the strip. I mean it's really huge, on one side you can see the The Fall of Atlantis Show, which is located near the Race for Atlantis, and on the west end of the mall is the Festival Fountain Show. Both shows are free and have Greek Gods that take you back in time to the Atlantis. They also have a magnificent salt water aquarium, where you can watch as a diver feeds the tropical puffers, flounder, sharks and the rest of the aquarium's inhabitants each day. Our final and last stop was the Eiffel Tower. I must admit I wasn't expecting to have to wait 45 minutes to take a ride to the top, but the wait was well worth it. Once we got up there the view was incredible, and it provided one of the best views for watching the enchanting Beligo Fountain show that is put on every half hour. The fountains actually move to the sound of the music. The song we heard was "Luck be a Lady" by Frank Sinatra. I will never forget how romantic the show was nor how cold it was! It was so windy up there that we were huddled together to generate some body heat to keep warm. After that we called it a night.

All in all it was a great time. We did a lot of walking and I do mean a lot of walking. We also learned that it is best to rent a car, and were so thankful that friends rented a car. Believe me, it will save you in the long run. Even still you will have to do a lot of walking. Also, in case your wondering... yes, we did gamble. Not much though. We could actual play for a long time on just $20.00 by playing penny slots. After you lose a couple dollars you win it back, until you finally lose or you cash out. All in all we broke even. What we played and lost, we won back. Las Vegas is really the city that never sleeps and times goes by so fast you don't even realize it's 3:00 in the morning. There are so many shows and so many more things that we have still yet to do. Getting married in Vegas made me feel like a queen. Hundreds of people told us congratulations, everyone was staring, and people we didn't even know was taking our picture. Before we booked our trip we had no idea we was not only getting married in the marriage capitol of the world, but also on the most popular wedding day too. We saw at least 10 other couples who got married that day as well. It was very exciting and we had so much fun! Our trip was everything we expected and more and I will cherish those memories forever.

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Photos

stratosphere
The Stratosphere

top of the world view
The view from a top of the Stratosphere

On the Insanity
I know I look happy in this picture. But in reality I was FREAKING OUT!

On the X-Scream
OK so maybe I was little freaked out on this one too!

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At the salon right after the lady finished my hair

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Inside Caesar's Palace

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Fremont Street

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The zip line ride at Fremont

Standing in front of sign
In front of the sign