First it must be said that I come from a Vegas-Hating-Type family. Anytime we drove past or even got remotely near Vegas it was always, "Drive right through." and "Kids look down at your feet." In fact, the only part of Las Vegas I had ever seen was the 7-11 outside of town and even then we couldn't even think about touching the slot machine outside the store. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating, but that's how I remember it in my little kid mind.
Aunt Becky and Uncle Mark live in North Las Vegas and were kind enough to let us stay with them for the weekend. Jon and I needed desperately to get away from the stress of school and work so we packed our bags and got out of dodge.
It was a wonderful weekend! We got to see family, I got to catch up with the Whitakers (my most favorite missionary couple in Ecuador), and we hung out with Chang and his family too!
Mark and Becky are great hosts and even treated us to a night on the strip, which brings me back to the introduction of my blog. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas because no one is sober enough to remember what happened! Everyone is too drunk to remember anything at all from their Vegas vacation. As Jon and I checked in to the Excalibur on Friday night, we walked through the casino to get to our room and the first thing I saw was an old guy on a motorized chair run over another man and knock him off his stool at the slot machines. I couldn't help from giggling my socks off about this! Picture it... old man in motorized chair rams into another gambler knocking him off his stool! Classic.
Anyway, that was only the beginning of the antics we witnessed on the strip, but I will spare you details and keep my blog G-rated. I love people-watching and since I don't gamble, Vegas is really good for a lot of laughs at others' expense.
Later that night after a delicious dinner at the Elephant Bar (not on the strip, locals only please) in Henderson, we took a stroll down the Las Vegas Strip.
I have always wanted to see the Bellagio Fountains, and let me tell you it was spectacular! We watched a show to the song "All that Jazz" from the musical "Chicago". Absolutely wonderful! The water really does shoot up higher than the hotel itself!
We also saw many other well-known luxury hotels like MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Luxor, Wynn, Trump Tower, Caesar's Palace, just to name few. We also went on the New York New York rollercoaster and did lots of shopping near stores like Harry Winston, Gucci, Armani, and Saks Fifth Avenue where not even a food court is considered respectable enough to be a "real" part of the mall. Can you feel the glamour? Can you smell the stench of credit cards maxing out?
Fact: People on the strip are nuts.
Fact: We saw a modern day version of the great and spacious building encaptured in Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville outside restaurant where guest beckon and mock onlookers and passersby.
Fiction: People will not be held responsible for acts committed in Las Vegas just because the slogan says so.
Fact: I don't think that I was really missing much all those years in my childhood and I've proved it with two exceptions the fountains and a rollercoaster.
Much more meaningful to me was the time spent with family and friends. We even got to spy on Chang's mom while she was on a date. She and her date were great sports! I got to hug Elder and Sister Whitaker which means the world to me after all the love and support they have given me and I was able to get to know Uncle Mark and Aunt Becky better. (Let's just say that the Galbraith men have some distinctive traits that run in the family.)
Hears to great weekend in Las Vegas and the best part is that I remember every bit of it!
4 comments:
FUN TRIP. Thanks for posting all that you remember...
Awe, Yes! I'm glad you can now say you've had the vegas experience. I believe the things that is the most disturbing about the strip is that I never knew where to look. If you look straight ahead you see craziness everywhere, but if you look at the ground you get the nasty view of the "baseball" cards that are littered everywhere. Oh me oh my!
Some of my most favorite memories were the little trips Mike and I took after we got married, but before Macie came along. I'm glad you are able to retreat together a little also. Don't forget to spend a weekend in Lava, Idaho this winter as well. Hotel rooms are cheap and the hot springs are very relaxing!
thanks for the post cutie
The part that killed me this last time we drove through was the homeless people living on the side of the road. It was way too much.
I think that a lot of people are too hard on Vegas. What a lot of people don't realize is that Las Vegas, outside of the strip, houses a lot families that aren't bent on getting drunk, and just want to raise a family. And there are actually a lot of LDS families who call Vegas home. I think people need to look past the stereotypes and realize that there is more to Vegas than meets the eye.
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