So I've never been to Vegas. Truthfully, it's never been a place I've had a desire to go. That is, until I went.
My fab roommate had her sister coming from Australia. They were planning to go so I figured I would go along for the trip. We invited another distant friend of my along (which turned into a serious mistake - stay tuned to find out) and were excited for this adventure.
Tensions were high approximately 2 weeks prior. 3 un-married women and one married born-again. Now I'm a born-again, but not the same type. I enjoy a good adventure, I know how to get down with the sinners and I won't do street drugs.. lol. In any case, we were worried about this particular 'born-again'. To this one, VEGAS, meant a girls weekend, pedicures, hugs, smiles and photography. What a mistake! To us other 3, we were in it for the Vegas experience - a little gamble, a little drinking on the street...we wanted the true experience. Money wasn't a boundary for us, for our pal, she brought no dolla bills and cleared the maxed c.card enough to put 500 on that sucker.
We grouped at my place the night before our morning flight. There was quiet tension and a fight between the sisters. We talked about 4 of us sharing a room and it was understood that my bed-mate could sleep through anything. I awoke at about 3am the night before the flight - partly due to excitement, partly due to nerves that born again wouldn't be able to take us... and the tension that was even between my roommate and I who never fight. After tossing and turning approximately 13 times, I got up and went to the couch and fell asleep. At 5am I was woken up my the born-again saying 'Why did you leave? I told you I wouldn't wake up,.. and you left, now I can't sleep because you left when I told you it didn't bother me." It was at this point I knew we'd be in for a long trip.
Our convoy departed at 8am. Roommate and her sister sat in the front. Oh, what I would have given to be in the middle. My B-A seat mate didnt' stop talking the entire time and the volume of music continued to go up little by little. This is when I knew the invite was a mistake.
Tension grew and grew and I began to think about how the one room thing may not work. The marathon of staying up and drinking wouldn't fly with the B-A. On the first flight to ATL, I bit my tongue while sucking up the extra cost to get another room in Vegas. Eventually I brought it up and we booked the room. Tension lessened but was still there...especially for me who didn't want to ruin this amazing vacation faking fun. Got to Vegas, got the room, went out on the streets and BA was ready to head back to bed...let the arguments begin.
B.A. didn't want to go anywhere alone or allow us to. Thus cause for sneaking off. BA is incredible at scamming shit. Having no cash in Vegas is a problem. Any moron would know that people lose all their money in Vegas and try to skip out on the resort bill. Not BA..who had a fit and cried. Then was awarded with $250 in free meals from the resort who she refused to share. My amazing roommate tried to save me on this by saying that the discount should be good for the room and we'd saved money - thought BA insisted that the discount was solely for her...like the good christian she is. For me this was an incredible indication of the friend I had...or the 'friend' I thought I had. It was at this point that I realized that this was my trip too... and I was going to have the fun I'd planned to have. And...that is just what I did.
I ate great food, I drank on the street, I talked to SO many people, I saw beautiful things, I high-fived a man who didn't speak english after we bonded over an M&M movie, I won some money and I held a boa constrictor. It was fabulous. There were mighty humorous fights with the BA and the rest of the posse and that christian got off scott-free, praising God for every 'win'....totally lame. The final night was my victory...here is how it goes.
The plan was to hit casinos we hadn't seen yet and gamble, maybe get into a club since women often get in free and drink free. As we were in vegas, I dressed fairly well. This particular night I wore a lovely number I'd gotten the previous weekend, a green, one sleeved silky shirt, jeans and boots. While sitting on my bed, the BA was changing in the washroom. Just then I heard 'wow, you look nice'. I look up to see my 'roommate' for the weekend wearing white sneakers, jeans, a grey sweatshirt and a ball cap (because she's a ball cap girl) that reads 'property of MGM Grand - Las Vegas'. Just then, there is a knock at the door. My roommate's sister looks her up and down and says 'well, I guess we're not going anywhere fancy tonight'. And off we go...
Eventually we end up at Ceasar's Palace. It's at this point my dear actual roommate says 'I'm so sorry, there's no way I can stay up..I'm so tired'. My desire to stay up all night long is so strong that I will do it alone. We eventually make it back to the hotel where my weekend roommate states again she doesnt' think we should be alone. She's worried about being attacked in the hotel room. Thank God she's taken all her iron pills and vitamins - as well as keeping her fluids up all weekend. I tell her I'll be fine and say my plan is to gamble all night long (because I know she's completely against this and will absolutely stay behind.)
I situate myself at 'Little Green Men - Family Reunion' Daringly, I insert my $5. When I'm down to $2.50, I hear a voice behind me asking how I'm doing. Sadly, I reply that I'm down my half. Upon hearing the dismay in his 'Ohhh...', I am sure to say that it's only down by 2.50...so it's not that bad. We chat and both decide to spend the rest of our final night in Vegas...together. We hop from Casino to Casino and resort from resort. I learn he's here from Australia on a poker tournament, independently wealthy and similar to my situation, the rest of his party is in bed. We end up pretending we're a married couple on our 12th year anniversary trip. We give marriage advice to a groom, married 3 hours. Once he approaches us to talk, his gold tooth goes flying out of his mouth, a string of drunk drool down his shirt. He asks for advice, we give it. There are hugs and fist pumps and a drunk friend who looks at me licking his lips and imitating cunnilingus...to which my 'husband' interrupts. Around 730 we locate a parked limo which he then hires to take us on a sunrise limo ride around the city. We sip champagne and he stops at a store to buy me two dozen roses to mark the amount of love he has for his wife. The limo drive remarks at the love we have and we talk about our children. We arrive back at the resort and although we both must leave in a matter of hours, decide to go for brunch. We depart ways - never to be seen again.
My take - the man is 50 and probably married. We both got an incredible night out of it. It was the Vegas one could only expect out of a movie and whatever we wanted to do was at our fingertips. I may even venture to say best night of life.
Now back to reality - facing jet lag and wishing I'd taken an extra day off.
Tis the season, folks.
