Advertisement
Published: June 10th 2009
Edit Blog Post
10 days ago I had my first ever Vegas experience and it was drunken, tiring, mind boggling, completely overdone, exactly what you see in the movies AND fun. It started at 5am from my apartment and a time change of 3 hrs, however 2 bloody marys eased the transition as did a few beers. By the time I hit Vegas I was already tired so checked into my home for the next 3 days which was none other than the MGM Grand. The strip is really the only thing in Vegas so in 10 minutes I had checked into the worlds largest capacity hotel and began wandering around what was a monstrosity of 5,500 rooms. Restaurants, nightclubs, bars and yes the pinging of poker machines EVERYWHERE. I had a quick walk up the strip as I had some time to kill before John flew in from NY so I watched people in awe as they consumed novelty sized drinks (the largest housing 15 shots), openly drank in public and glass seemed no issue. Everyone happy, hot and well on the way to alcohol glory.
John arrived so we headed down the strip and grabbed a few drinks at a sports
bar ( I know Im a girl but I have not changed even over here) With the time change our body clocks were registering that they were tired so to shut them up we grabbed cocktails to go with an extra shot and headed to the Bellagio to watch the water sprout to music. Imagine the backyard Aussie sprinkler times a lot. I should appreciate the beauty but I was hungry and the Pina Colada and its extra zip were encouraging a buzz. We headed to Caesars Palace walked past the 'Trevi Fountain' and ate with Roman Gods. I few drinks later and 4am it was time to go home and rest up.
Next morning after a coffee and some TV trolling Bloody Mary was calling so we headed to the Hard Rock Hotel which was off the strip and somewhat overrated. After giving into Mary we decided to indulge in some outlet stores before we had dinner and a Cirq de Soulei show. After getting through the Tommy Hilfiger massive sale we headed for dinner which was awesome and then to New York New York. What a great casino a mini NY with the different haunts of NY
reflected and a younger crowd. Unfortunatley the show wasnt overly good, a cross between Moulin Rouge and a dodgy sex show I saw in Amsterdam for $20. By this time the cocktails and day in the sun hadnt been kind so John retired a little unwell to bed and I wandered about the strip for an hour or so. At 2am I retired before we did our strip crawl the next day.
Saturday breakfast was a Pina Colada with an extra shot and a Pina Colada which we hid on the bus and then reached Circus Circus. An old style cheap (insert Supply Officers here) casino with $1 blackjack and an old school amusement park inside. Armed with 2 stuffed toys we began our journey down the strip past Margartaville, the Wynn, the Encore, Treasure Island, The Flamingo, and back to Paris. After too many drinks and it only being 5pm I needed a rest (shutup) so John headed for Roulette and I headed for a Nanna Nap and then it was time for more casinos. The Bellagio, Tropicana (dodgy dodgy) Paris and our own MGM as the dinner stop at 1am all incurred our wrath. By that time
we had both seen enough casinos and although it was a great novelty they are all essentially the same.
Late to bed early to rise saw us leaving the MGM and heading to the Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam at 6am. The largest dam in the world is amazing and considering it was built in 1936 its unbelievable the ability these engineers had without technology. At the time it cost 48 million. The new visitor centre built has cost 49 million, although its obviously not a scaled cost. The canyon is stunning and we both did the Skywalk which is where you walk on glass and can look straight down into the canyon. $33 to look at rocks from a few hundred yards somewhat overated but hey the box is ticked. The canyon changes colour dependent on the sunlight and is truly spectacular. With the canyon in Arizona I ticked off state number 10 and counting.
On the way home the bus driver hadnt taken into account Spring Break whereby half a million Californian Uni students migrate to Vegas for a week which made a 2.5 hr drive a 5hr drive. With John sweating profusely over his flight we figured we would stay at Mandalay Bay for a night if needed.....when in Vegas. We ditched our tour bus outside of Vegas and grabbed a cab and told the Ethiopian man to drive as quick as he could. 85 miles an hour John grabbing the bags and me sitting in the cab saw us reach the airport 40mins before his flight which he barely made. I on the other hand sat at the bar met a couple from Boston talked basketball over too many beers which left me nearly missing my flight (2hrs later mind you). However I made it and the beer assisted in a 3.5 hour sleep before I was home to Jacksonville, and having gained 3 hrs making it near on lunch time Monday....how to lose 4 days.
So that was my Vegas and for 2 days I was shattered. Tired, jet lagged, hungover and yet what a fun time. 3 nights is plenty and on the last day check the canyon out as you are over casinos and are either drunk, getting there or moving towards a hangover.
Viva Las Vegas.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.071s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0391s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Russell
non-member comment
Glad you enjoyed my home town
I grew up in the Las Vegas area. I work at the airport and always enjoy hearing what people think of it. For those considering coming to Vegas I strongly recommend, especially in the summer time, that you make a point to drink lots of water. Every summer we send several people to the hospital because they'll come here for a weekend, drink alcohol, eat the cherries in the drink and when they get to the airport to go home. They calm down and collapse. Parmedics will ask them "When was the last time you ate?" They'll invariably say.. "ahh... I think it was three days ago." Silly people... Just because you're having fun in Sin City it doesn't mean you don't need food anymore.