They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I'm about to disclose all the insanity that went down last weekend, when four, innocent, Christian girls took Sin City by storm.
Brace yourselves! This post is gonna be as juicy as an episode of "Jersey Shore." Nah...not really. But here are a few pictures and an account of my trip anyways...
Kell and I met ten years ago, in 2001. We sat next to each other during the very first class on the very first day of nursing school. She was my roommate during our senior year of college, and the maid of honor in my wedding. Our friendship has a lot of history, and it's been wonderful to live close to one another again. We both started out in NC, and we both wound up in Nor Cal. Kell is a nurse at Stanford now.
Two of Kelly's friends came along too, Heather and Keeley.
All three of them grew up in Kenya together. Their parents were missionaries in Africa and they all went to the same school. They share a rich history, and I enjoyed hearing some of their crazy boarding school stories. Their hearts and interests are global because of the stories they've lived, and I loved listening to them tell of the journeys they've been on since leaving Africa.
So...introductions aside...here are some highlights and reflections on Sin City...
I can see why people consider Vegas the perfect getaway. It is such a drastic departure from normal life, that it feels like you've left planet earth altogether. It's eerie the way it sits out there in the middle of nowhere, as far away from normalcy as it is from water or trees. It felt more like a lego town or an indoor/outdoor amusement park for adults than an actual city, a place where you can order alcohol almost anywhere and carry it around the entire city, where people never go to sleep, and where the opportunities for numbing out of reality are superfluous.
We stayed at the MGM and I was the first of the four of us to arrive. I ended up at the pool, waiting it out until the other girls arrived, surrounded by dudes drinking buckets of beer and playing water volleyball. I felt like I was back in college. It was the first of many times that I uttered the words,
What is this place?
On Friday night we wandered over to the Bellagio for dinner. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed as we walked into the resort and saw the indoor gardens, the chandelier, the mosaic tile floor, a work of art in itself. Not all of Vegas is tacky!
One of my favorite things was the fountain at the Bellagio. I could have watched it for hours. I was mesmerized.
I didn't know that water could dance...but it can!
After dinner, we walked the strip. Pure entertainment. Vegas offers the most engrossing medium for people-watching I've ever experienced.
These petite, male, acrobatic twins were pretty entertaining.
Never mind the incredible stunts. Check out their costumes!
I was also astounded by how many people take their babies and toddlers to Vegas, pushing them down the strip in strollers at midnight. Turns out, a lot of the casinos offer childcare so parents can drop their kids off while they gamble all day. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
We went to bed early on Saturday morning and slept in late...10:30 am, which is some kind of new record for me. I meandered down to Starbucks around 11am, met by an assault of cigarette smoke, the loud ringing of slot machines, and a sea of blood shot eyes. If you want to go anywhere in Vegas, you have to walk through a casino to get there...clever how they designed it that way...but unfortunate for me, especially in my pre-coffee state. It looked as though most of the people had never gone to sleep, still in clothes from the night before, still drinking and gambling. Once again, I said, what is this place?
By late Saturday afternoon, we started feeling claustrophobic, as if the stimulus overload of the casinos might swallow us whole, so we took a cab down to The Venetian,
where we hit up the Bouchon Bakery, one of my favorite places in the world. We soothed our stunned psyches with smooth coffee and pastries. My vanilla macaron was a little circle of heaven.
Then we planted it on the floor right by the world's largest indoor canal, a replica of the canals in Venice, Italy. The ceiling was painted just like the sky, and we could feel the calm wash over us as soon as we walked into this stretch of The Venetian. I've been to the real Venice, and on some days, this imitation is almost better than the real thing (or maybe I was just that desperate for a peaceful atmosphere). It's air conditioned, the water isn't smelly, polluted, or a suspect shade of fluorescent green, the ground isn't sinking into the ocean, and the gondola drivers have voices like angels.
Gentle, free-spirited Heather with her pastry.
Crazy-fun, creative Keeley and her almond-chocolate croissant.
And the Vegas version of Venice.
Later that night we got all dolled up and went out to a Cirque de Soleil show -- "Ka" --
and then went out to dinner on the strip. We didn't even sit down for dinner until 10pm...partying like rockstars!
At dinner we were approached by a variety of characters, including this cool guy in his white vest and his yardstick drink, and, of course, Wolverine there to the right.
A Transformer joined us for a little while, and we also saw Spiderman walking down the street with a fanny pack.
Viva Las Vegas! Where nothing is out of the ordinary!
Night caps. These drinks were so ridiculously large, we decided to get a couple just for the photo opportunity.
When in Rome...
On the way back to our hotel room, we walked by this room service cart. An accurate portrayal of Las Vegas, with the empty case of Bud Light, the scraps of food.
We also saw a countless number of brides walking around casinos in their long white gowns, carrying 24 oz cans of Coors Light.
It's just wrong.
As we settled into bed at 2am on Sunday morning, we watched a little "Talk Soup" on E! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time, the kind of laughter you can't stop, the kind that makes your stomach contract so hard you can barely breathe.
As I've reflected on my Vegas getaway, I've been thinking about how priceless our girlfriends are. Marriage and raising small children has made me realize how much I need female companionship, how much I need to sometimes get away, how much I need to laugh, to let loose, and take life a little less seriously, to get a break from my over-active, overly self-aware mind.
I'm so grateful for this experience, this true getaway, this momentary break from motherhood and the responsibilities of daily life. I'm thankful for all of my girl friends, even the ones not on this trip, and for how much fun it is to talk and laugh and get pretty together! I never thought that Vegas would be a place I'd find refreshment for my soul...but as they say...it's not where you are, but who you're with, and it was such a blessing to be with these three women this past weekend, even if we found ourselves in such a wild venue. Thanks, Kells, Heather, and Keeley for such a wonderful time. And last but certainly not least, I'm thankful for my dear husband, who supported this whole thing and played single dad for a couple days without me.
Have you been to Vegas before? What were your impressions?
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