So I've decided to cut this week into two posts, because this one is already SUPER long, and it's only about half of our trip.
May is a very busy month for us when it comes to celebrations. Our birthdays are two weeks apart, and our anniversary is smack dab in the middle. Add Mother's Day into that, and we spend a lot of time with family, celebrating!
May is a very busy month for us when it comes to celebrations. Our birthdays are two weeks apart, and our anniversary is smack dab in the middle. Add Mother's Day into that, and we spend a lot of time with family, celebrating!
This year, in place of big birthday and anniversary presents, we decided we wanted to take a trip. We initially looked at going to San Diego, but it would have cost us a whole lot of money to do everything we wanted to do!! Then, we looked at cruises. Again, after air fare and a hotel for the night before we would leave, the costs started adding up. I finally told Neal that I didn't really care where we went, as long as it was warm! While I was at work he did some research, and I got a text message saying, "How about Las Vegas?" We started researching it, and discovered that we could probably pay for the basics of the trip (airfare, hotel, car, and food) for what it would have costed us to just fly and stay in San Diego. We booked our trip, and started to plan!
We left Monday the 13th at about noon. We flew Spirit Airlines (which charges incredible fees for bags if you don't pay early...check out their website before you fly with them...it will literally save you hundreds of dollars).
Our view outside the window of the plane :)
When we arrived in Vegas we walked out of our gate and saw, guess....slot machines! It starts literally the minute you step off the plane! Haha. Anyways, we hopped in a cab and went to the Luxor where we were staying (it's the big pyramid). We got checked in and dropped of our stuff, and headed out to investigate things. We also figured out how to get a "free" $100 dollars that we could spend at pretty much anywhere in the resort (I'll talk about that in a minute).
^^With the Statue of Liberty outside the New York, New York
^^And the Brooklyn Bridge of course!
^^These were pictures of slot machines we took and sent to family members because of the theme
^^With the Statue of Liberty outside the New York, New York
^^These were pictures of slot machines we took and sent to family members because of the theme
Monday night, to celebrate our anniversary, we went to one of the steak houses. They had an awesome deal for dinner: 3 courses for $34 (not a bad deal in Vegas we discovered). Neal had a steak and I had roasted chicken, and for dessert, I had a molten chocolate cake and Neal ate creme brulee. His comment while eating it was "Well, I don't really like creme brulee, but this might turn me into a fan!!"
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| Yummy!!! |
After that, we wandered around a bit more, visited the Excalibur and Mandalay Bay, and we headed back to our room and went to bed. We were both pretty tuckered out from traveling all day and being out in the sun so much, and Neal's knee was hurting pretty bad from walking so much.
On Tuesday we decided to buy passes for the monorail because we were SO tired from walking the day before! It was definitely worth the money!!! Tuesday was kind of a stressful day though. While we were riding the monorail up to the north end of town to go to the outlet mall, my phone fell out of my back pocket and I didn't realize it until after we had walked away from the station. We stopped at the Stratosphere so I could call AT&T and report my phone as lost so no one could use it. We decided to continue on to the outlet mall. We figured that if someone did find my phone, and weren't going to turn it in, waiting wasn't going to make it any more stolen, and if they were going to turn it in, it would give them more time to accomplish that. So, we hopped into a cab and went up to the outlet mall.
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| On the monorail...the "last" picture we took with my phone :( |
Seriously, the outlet mall we went to was one of the most incredible shopping places I have ever seen. It literally had EVERY store I hoped it would! They even had a Volcom outlet, which made Neal SUPER happy. What was even better was that they were having a sale on their shorts, and he could get two pairs for $50. We spent a good three hours wandering around and buying things. I got two new skirts, new Toms-like shoes, a sun hat for the pool, and flip-flops. Neal got two new Volcom shorts, and new flip flops. He gives me a hard time because I bought so much more :) haha.
This moment is where I started to be impressed with the people of Las Vegas. As we were buying my second skirt, Neal realized that he didn't have his Volcom bag, which was very distressing since it contained $50 of clothes! We rushed out of the store we were in and ran back to the previous stores we had been at, and began asking employees if they had seen the bag. When we were starting to lose hope, one of the employees we had just talked to ran after us and started shouting at us. He caught up to us and said his coworker had found the bag and put it in back for us. We were so relieved! We headed back, thanked the employee, and went back to finish purchasing my skirt. We were so grateful that an honest person found the bag and held on to it for us! We began to feel an inkling of hope for my phone.
After we were done shopping we took a cab back to the monorail station. As we walked up the stairs we saw the security guard and asked him about my phone. He contacted the people who had been working before him, and guess what!!! Someone had found my phone and turned it in! We sat and talked to the security guard while we waited for the technician to come and give us my phone. I was so grateful not once, but TWICE for the honesty and integrity of people that day!! We thanked the security guard and the technician for their help, and headed back to the MGM (the furthest stop south and therefore closest to the Luxor). As we were walking through the MGM we decided that we needed to do just one slot machine to say we did it, so we put a dollar in one of the penny slots....and we became millionaires! Ok, not really. We didn't win a single thing. Surprise! Not. Neal kept going on and on about how he didn't understand how that could be fun, and that if he ever did really gamble, he would at least play craps or poker or blackjack so he was doing more than "just sitting there pushing a button." It made me laugh :)
We tried to go to the pool that night, but apparently all of the resorts in Vegas close their pools at 6 pm so that people will spend their time and money inside gambling and drinking. We decided to go to PFChangs for dinner and use the gift card my parents gave us for our anniversary. We both had a fabulous meal (I literally did not want to stop eating mine, but had to because I was so full). After that we went to the "Miracle Mile" and did some window shopping. We walked by the Bellagio, but because of the wind that night they didn't have the fountain shows running. We were bummed. Then we went into Cesar's Palace, and we were quite impressed!! We also found a 3 story H&M store that was pretty awesome!! We had another night where we headed in pretty early - I didn't wear shoes that were conducive to walking, and so my back pain took over and Neal finally convinced me to quite toughing it out and go back to the hotel room.
^^Inside Cesar's Palace. It was incredibly gorgeous in there!!
By this point we had figured out how Vegas works ---> you go and sit at the pool in the morning/afternoon, and go out on the strip at night. So, on Wednesday we went and ate breakfast and then went out to the pool for a little while. We had literally the craziest thing happen that I've ever experienced...we were sitting on the edge of the pool, and a lady who was with a group of her friends got Neal's attention. She motioned for him to come over (you can probably imagine what's going through my mind at this point...."great...she's going to offer him something... embarrassing"). She then proceeded ask him if his name was "Jordan" and to tell him that he had given her his number in the club last night, and that she saw him with me and that we were "crazy drunk." Neal and I both started busting up laughing, and tried to tell her that whoever she saw was most definitely not us. Her friend started arguing with us as well, and we were like, "No, really...we were probably in bed by the time you're talking about." At this point another friend of hers came over, and she had him pull out his phone and look up the number. While he was looking it up, she motioned for Neal to come closer and whispered, "You told me where to get smoke..." Again, Neal busted up laughing because, really, of all people to say did that, Neal and I were probably the least likely out of all of the people at the pool. Then the guy started reading off the phone number, and as soon as he said the area code "902," Neal was like, "Nope! Definitely not me. I'm from Colorado and that is not a Colorado area code." It took them a while to drop the subject, but we were finally able to convince them that we, indeed, did NOT tell them where to get drugs, and that we were NOT crazy drunk the night before. It was pretty entertaining!!
^^Out at the pool, one with Mandalay Bay, and the other with the Luxor
Neal in all his Volcom and Oakley gloriousness <3 p="">
After we left the pool and got ready for the day, we headed up to the "World's Largest Gift Shop." That was interesting to say the least. Haha. We bought a set of used face cards though that came from the Luxor. We figured that'd be a cool souvenir to have, and one that we would use. Then we decided to head over to M&M World and the Coca Cola store. They were both pretty cool to see!
We then headed back to the MGM Grand for "Ka," one of the most incredible shows I have ever seen.
Our tickets.
The show was seriously incredible and well worth the money. The music, acrobatics, and technology were phenomenal. I literally watched the wheels in Neal's brain work as he tried to figure out just how they were pulling off this incredibly technical show.
After the show we went and ate at the Harley Davidson restaurant, and then headed over to the Bellagio to watch the fountains. We decided to go buy M&M's, and ended up spending way more than we intended - word of caution: the little chutes that they put the M&Ms in push those suckers out fast!!
Mmm BBQ under a motorcycle shooting out of the building!!!
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| Outside the MGM Grand with the famous gold lion |
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| At the entrance to the Luxor |
^^This guy's costume was LEGIT!
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| Inside the Bellagio by all the shops - basically when I realized how poor we were money-wise...walking by Prada, Gucci, etc. |
^^Inside Cesar's Palace. It was incredibly gorgeous in there!!
By this point we had figured out how Vegas works ---> you go and sit at the pool in the morning/afternoon, and go out on the strip at night. So, on Wednesday we went and ate breakfast and then went out to the pool for a little while. We had literally the craziest thing happen that I've ever experienced...we were sitting on the edge of the pool, and a lady who was with a group of her friends got Neal's attention. She motioned for him to come over (you can probably imagine what's going through my mind at this point...."great...she's going to offer him something... embarrassing"). She then proceeded ask him if his name was "Jordan" and to tell him that he had given her his number in the club last night, and that she saw him with me and that we were "crazy drunk." Neal and I both started busting up laughing, and tried to tell her that whoever she saw was most definitely not us. Her friend started arguing with us as well, and we were like, "No, really...we were probably in bed by the time you're talking about." At this point another friend of hers came over, and she had him pull out his phone and look up the number. While he was looking it up, she motioned for Neal to come closer and whispered, "You told me where to get smoke..." Again, Neal busted up laughing because, really, of all people to say did that, Neal and I were probably the least likely out of all of the people at the pool. Then the guy started reading off the phone number, and as soon as he said the area code "902," Neal was like, "Nope! Definitely not me. I'm from Colorado and that is not a Colorado area code." It took them a while to drop the subject, but we were finally able to convince them that we, indeed, did NOT tell them where to get drugs, and that we were NOT crazy drunk the night before. It was pretty entertaining!!
^^Out at the pool, one with Mandalay Bay, and the other with the Luxor
After we left the pool and got ready for the day, we headed up to the "World's Largest Gift Shop." That was interesting to say the least. Haha. We bought a set of used face cards though that came from the Luxor. We figured that'd be a cool souvenir to have, and one that we would use. Then we decided to head over to M&M World and the Coca Cola store. They were both pretty cool to see!
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| It's the polar bear!!! |
The show was seriously incredible and well worth the money. The music, acrobatics, and technology were phenomenal. I literally watched the wheels in Neal's brain work as he tried to figure out just how they were pulling off this incredibly technical show.
After the show we went and ate at the Harley Davidson restaurant, and then headed over to the Bellagio to watch the fountains. We decided to go buy M&M's, and ended up spending way more than we intended - word of caution: the little chutes that they put the M&Ms in push those suckers out fast!!
Mmm BBQ under a motorcycle shooting out of the building!!!
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| Bellagio fountains |
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| You can't see me because it's dark. But the fountains look cool! |
To read the about the second half of our trip, click here!
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