This was a 3-generation Vegas vacation, so part one was me being the fun aunt and taking the trip planning more seriously than usual hanging out with my oldest nephew... whilst part two was me being the relaxed kid with Dad and Aunt Charlene! Both super fun, and I'm thankful for the way it was all timed! ❤
Here's me feelin' cute with my new tie dye Las Vegas shirt -- love it -- and my first ever blow-out from our hotel salon - fun! (I'd been swimming at the hotel pool just before all that, so I was heading back to our room to put on my makeup, but still a cute pic overall!)
Starting from the beginning again, here's a pic of New York New York that I took on my Uber ride from the airport to Mandalay Bay! =) (After taking Tman to fly back home.)
I sat in the hotel lobby and called Mom to catch up with her for a bit whilst the kids were with Scout. Dad was at a State Farm meeting from 9am to noon and Charlene was sleeping in, so I stayed downstairs for about an hour, then asked the front desk for a rollaway bed so Dad wouldn't sleep in the uncomfortable chair... then finally went upstairs! Charlene had baked brownies for their road trip, so I had a couple of those whilst sitting on the bed and unpacking my stuff and chatting with her - all fun for me. Then Dad got back from his second crazy-long walk of the trip and we decided to try Gordon Ramsay's for lunch...
I googled it and it turns out there are four different Gordon Ramsay restaurants, all of which serve unique foods from the other. So Charlene checked with Hilary which had served the kettle-chip nachos, and we went to that one at Planet Hollywood. But sadly, they changed their menu when Covid hit, so that was not available. We all got burgers that were pretty good, though! But we did not care much for their house-made curry ketchup... eek.
From there, we took a cab to Bellagio (Dad strongly prefers cabs to Uber because he can pay cash rather than having me pay credit, so Uber times were over). We looked at the lobby and conservatory (again for me, first time this trip for them). I don't get tired of it, though. It's my favorite hotel and always makes me think of Oceans 11 and my own past Vegas memories! And who doesn't love the Chihuly glass centerpiece ceiling!?
We walked out to see the fountains... but it was around 2:40, which means it was around 105 degrees - SO HOT!! I wanted to jump right in and join these presh ducks paddling around in the fountain pool...
But alas, no swimming allowed! lol Here's me psyched to be standing front and center without a crowd surrounding me for the 3pm fountain show whilst Dad and Charlene were attempting to stay cool in the tiny patch of shade. lol
Yay fountains! And yay Vegas memories!
Still my favorite thing about Las Vegas, although there are lots of things I appreciate there!
We walked over to Caesar's Palace for a minute... here's one of their happy outdoor fountains.
But we were sweaty and hot, so we got a cab and went back to the hotel, where we talked for a while and rested a bit and got dressed and ready for our Michael Jackson Cirque show that night! Great music, some really cool Cirque performances, and some really odd Cirque stuff... so pretty much what you would expect from them.
We went to the Linq Promenade for dinner... I got Flour & Barley Pizza (yum!!) and Charlene got In-N-Out Burger, and we all got Ghirardelli shakes! The vibe of this little promenade is genuinely fantastic to me, like I could hang out outside there for hours - especially at night when it's cooler outside, but I don't think they cared for it as much. I really don't love being in charge of planning things for other adults, but neither of them had anything big they wanted to do or see in Vegas, so I did my best on this day, but I felt truly exhausted - both by the first 3 days of my jam-packed Vegas schedule and by trying to please people with varying tastes and preferences who were looking to me to lead.
I assumed these shakes would be great, but they messed Dad's up a bit, so that was frustrating - I feel an odd sense of irrational pressure when I've chosen a restaurant and they mess something up. But oh well... my strong guess is that a year from now when I see these pics, I'll just remember that I loved the Promenade area and the great food (all of my food through the entire trip was excellent) and the people I was with!
And now, we're at Day 5, Tuesday, our last full day in Vegas! It started off with brunch at Mon Ami Gabi... again, we stayed cool indoors but had a great view of the fountains and patio! I finally tried the skinny crepe Sarah has been recommending... it was good! Dad and Charlene both got bacon and eggs and hashbrowns... something I have yet to try in all my visits to Mon Ami. But it was a fun start to our last morning!
After breakfast, we walked down to the M&M Store... here's a random pic I took while on an escalator during our walk!
And we were serenaded by this random bagpipe guy, who of course reminded me of Ross! Such a strange instrument choice... it sounds mournful even when played well.
Anywho, we made it to M&M World, where this through-the-years escalator always makes me happy!
My fav PJ pants were bought here on my last Vegas trip, so I got some new ones (the ones on the left) which I'm wearing as I type this blog. ❤
Yay for this classic M&M shirt pic with Dad!
Dad bought some gifts for the kids, then we crossed the street to check out Hershey World (where we got another cheesy pic, just for fun)!
It was only around 12:30 by this point, and we took a cab back to our hotel. We split up and did whatever we wanted that afternoon, which was perfect timing... I swam for about an hour then took a quick shower and made a blow-out hair appointment at the hotel spa - fun!
This = the light fixture at the spa - I liked it. =)
Then I gambled a very tiny bit in our hotel casino... won a whole dollar then gambled that, so $10 lost there in total -- no complaints! I had an hour to kill, so I called Mom and Rach, and I checked out the hotel shops and found the tie dye LV shirt, which I love!
We met back at the room around 5:15 and headed downstairs to the crazy-long line for the buses to the State Farm event!! Here we are all wearing our badges to get into the conference - you'll notice that Charlene's says "Maxine." lol
We got to Allegiant Stadium around 6:15. There were 35,000 people (all SF agents and their families), and the huge amount of food at every concession stand throughout the stadium was all free, so it was MASS CHAOS, just as you might imagine! They had BBQ, hot dogs, nachos, deli sandwiches, pizza, fried rice, burgers, cheesecake bites, ice cream sandwiches, mini donuts, cotton candy, tons of drinks and candy bars, and I'm certain there was more stuff I didn't see. I'm sure it cost a fortune, and I can only imagine how much food they ended up throwing away.
Dad had said this event would last from 7 to 9 pm. They didn't really get started until 7:30... DJ Jazzy Jeff from Fresh Prince played for a while, then "Jake from State Farm" (whose name is actually Kevin - so odd to me) talked for a bit...
Then Cedric the Entertainer spoke for around 30 minutes, but there was a bad echo on his mic so it was hard to catch what he was saying...
Some SF Presidents and VPs spoke about the company, and we all sang Happy Birthday to State Farm, and I had my phone out ready to video thinking that might be the moment Garth came out!! (No such luck.)
The SF athletes were all there, and when they came out around 8:20, I knew that would take a while, and I was so annoyed wondering if Garth was gonna sing just a couple songs...
Dad coming back with BBQ, cornbread, and more waters for all of us! lol
But apparently, Dad misread the email, because the State-Farm-specific portion of the event lasted until exactly 9pm, at which point Garth began an hour-and-a-half full concert!! YES, PLEASE! ❤
He started off with Rodeo and ended with The Dance, and he sang every song I wanted to hear - Two Pina Coladas, The River, The Thunder Rolls, Callin' Baton Rouge, etc. So fantastic!! Friends in Low Places was the second to last song, and the whole crowd singing that 'secret' fourth verse in unison was everything I wanted it to be! Other than my phone battery nearly giving out, it was the perfect end to a near-perfect vacation in my favorite city!!
We got in line for the shuttle and made it back to our room around 11:15, then we all packed as quickly as possible to get ready to head out at 4:30 the next morning (Dad insisted on taking me to the airport even though I was adamant that I could just get an Uber).
In the end, it's very good that they took me... not knowing everything at the big anniversary event would be free, I'd put my wallet into the clear bag we had to use for the conference the night before. And didn't think one more thing about it until I got to the gate at the airport and opened my purse to grab my ID... yikes... so Dad and Charlene turned right back around and brought it to me! And then I had a non-stop flight to Tulsa (the only one available that day). Mom picked me up there and we had a delicious lunch at Los Cabos... then we came home and I went to bed early! Dad and Charlene got home safely around noon yesterday, so I'm very thankful for that too!!
Thanks for reading along to anyone who made it this far! lol I'm still not quite caught up on sleep, but I'm thrilled that I get to sleep in tomorrow. I was really feeling this meme and the song below about halfway through our trip!
Song for this post = Much Too Young... the first single ever released by Garth Brooks!
May you be radiant with joy as you look to Jesus for help! ❤
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