My Trip to Las Vegas

 I'd like to start this post off with: I WAS SUPPOSE TO GO TO LONDON THIS YEAR! Drinking tea in the afternoons and going to pubs at night. Well, you all know what happened. Covid happened. I was so bummed because I had plans to meet up with British friends and to rent a cute airBnB. 

But I was determined to go somewhere. And since the borders were closed, I had to stay in the US. 

I texted my friend, Noe (who was suppose to go to London with me), and said "hey, do you want to go to Las Vegas instead?" and he replied with "I'm down."

Fast forward to September 8th 2020 and we were off to Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Noe was so excited and it made ME excited. We both had no idea what to expect since we've never been, especially during Covid times. We had to wear our masks on the plane except when were eating and at the end of the flight, I was getting HOT with the mask on. As in, I was sweating! 

As soon as we got off the plane, we were met with a huge light up sign that read "WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS" We made it after 5 hours on the plane! YAY!

We had THE hardest time getting an Uber or a Lyft and it took maybe 30 minutes to snag one. We were both determined not to take a Taxi and get ripped off. We finally arrived at the hotel, The Flamingo. We got our temperatures checked by security guards and then checked in via Kiosk. 

The room was small but still real cute. We had an amazing view of the High Roller, a huge slow moving Ferris wheel (which we found out lit up at night and it was SO cool!)

To save you from the boring details of us walking to many liquor stores to find the perfect alcohol for our room, I'll just bullet point things that we did, which are totally not in order. I mean, everyone loves a good bullet point, right?

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* Gambling. I'm 27 years old, of COURSE I brought money to gamble. I just played the easy press-the-button machines. I won $30 on a Playboy machine at Caesar's Palace and that was my only "big" win...but each casino was NOT packed at all and each machine had at least one chair taken away between them. Sometimes two. So yeah, social distancing. 

*Red Rocks Canyon. My friends from back home, Natalia and Laura, moved to Vegas about a year ago and they drove us to the neat canyon and we hiked a little bit. I got splinters on my hands and legs but we took good pictures so it was worth it! Thanks for taking us around ladies!

*Planet 13. The world's largest dispensary. I'm not very good at things like that so I won't get TOO into it, but it was really cool. They definitely make sure you're of age and they were super nice. And let me tell you, as a last note, their stuff is strong...

*The High Roller. In the non-pandemic times, this 30 minute Ferris wheel is known for having a bar INSIDE the pod! But that was taken out because bars are closed every single place except at restaurants (which ruined a lot of my un-made memories....) BUT we went at night and rose to 500 feet in the air. It overlooked the strip but since the Las Vegas Strip is SO big, it barely showed us half of it! I think you would need a helicopter ride to see it all! It was cool but a little long and they let 8 people in a pod and it wasn't really "social distancing".

(The view from our room at sunrise)

* The Pool. So, the pool is WEIRD. As in, you have to text in to get a spot. We thought you just show up? The pool opened at 10 am, I texted at 10:05 am to get a spot and then waited...and waited...and WAITED for a text back to come down to the pool. It took 3 hours and I was getting fed up so Noe and I went to the pool and they go "sorry, we're still on the 10:04 people who texted in." Apparently, if you text past 10:06, you probably won't get a spot at the pool that day. It was wild. We finally got a text and we had only 10 minutes to get there. 10 MINUTES! Then, we had to wear a mask the whole time you were out of the pool. It was...uncomfortable. I got a bit of a tan and then ordered a Pina colada (which ended up costing me $28! OH MY GOD). The pool was...kinda lame. Sorry. 

(me at the pool)

*Dinner. We went to Margaritaville, which was in the hotel, the first night. Then the next night we met up with my friend's godmother and I had the coolest Poke Nachos (it included raw tuna, shredded seaweed, spicy mayo, and wonton nachos. EVERYTHING I LOVE). There are so many good places to eat, but we only had 3 days!

*Free things. Our hotel had a flamingo zoo with live flamingos and that was cute. We also took some pictures at Paris hotel at night. We went into Caesar's Palace to look around at the Fountains of the Gods. And then we went to the famous Bellagio fountain show. It played to the song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds by the Beatles and I had NO idea how much I would love it! I barely took pictures because I was too busy enjoying it.  

*Other random things: We went during the week. There was NO one on the strip. Barely anyone at the casinos. Noe and I both were like "where are the people?" I guess they all come on Friday then leave Monday. We got there Tuesday and left Thursday. I DO have to say, it really worked out for my anxiety, though. My mom told me people are always dressed "weird" in Vegas. We didn't see any weirdos at all. I was BUMMED. Everyone was dressed in jeans, sometimes a long maxi dress, and pushing their kids in strollers. One night I wore a black glitter off the shoulder body suit with along skirt over top and I felt over dressed! IN LAS VEGAS! Last thing, I wanted a flask so bad and didn't bring one. It cost $17 to get one in the hotel. It cost $6 in a gift shop on the strip for a cuter one. Always shop around. 

(This flask was always full and always in my purse)

All in all, I had a really good time in Vegas. People keep saying "YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS OR THAT!!" Okay, I only had 3 days. Leave me alone. I KNOW I didn't go to Freemont Street. I didn't want to. 

Would I go back to Las Vegas? Yeah, if the time called for it. I don't think it is on my top 5 places I loved, though. 

I had great company (love you, Noe!) and a new experience. It was a really great trip!

 

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