Tucson, Ho!
Homesick for... Asian Food?
I just about lost my mind when I saw an actual coconut, though, at a Vietnamese Pho restaurant. My jaw hit the floor, and I started gibbering excitedly at the sight. My friends had the good grace not to make fun of me, but I could tell they were quite amused at my reaction. I was ecstatic to shell out five bucks for that happy-memory-inducing deliciosity, and contentedly savored every drop.
Paying A Visit To Sin City
I converged on Vegas to celebrate life and relationships with family, and had an amazing time. I have never in my life stayed in a hotel anything like the Trump Tower. Granted, my British friend made fun of me for staying there, as “trump” means “fart” in UK slang, but I got the last laugh with phenomenal views, unmatched service and special time with family.
The lobby was… daunting. As in “do I really deserve to be in here” daunting, with tables full of fresh flowers over ten feet high, yawningly humongous vaulted ceilings, and gold everywhere. Shortly after arriving, I consciously decided that I DID deserve to be there and just accepted it as my due, and enjoyed the pampering all the way up to our 23rd-floor room. The jacuzzi with a view over Las Vegas certainly didn’t hurt.
Just A Little Nibble At the Bellagio
The dinner was the centerpiece of our visit, but we had another whole night and day to spend together, and we made full use of it. One highlight: we saw “Beatles Love,” my first Cirque du Soleil show, and I was wowed. I “oohed” and “aahed” at all the right moments with the rest of the audience, utterly entranced. What an experience.
Entertainment Capital of the World
The club itself was big, packed, expensive, noisy and felt vaguely uncomfortable in its own skin. The bathrooms were the most fun I had inside the club, with attendants helping the dancers and waitresses get into and out of outfits and fixing makeup and everybody complaining about all the stupid annoying men, whom they were about to go back out onto the floor and try engage with again to make more cash to take home. The second-most-common topic of conversation was about their boyfriends who were being stupid, or cheating, or rude, or disrespectful. I met several girls paying their way through college by dancing, so I wish them well and I don’t judge them, but it’s definitely not my thing. I managed less than an hour before I escaped back to the comfy quiet hotel room.
The following day, we disported ourselves thoroughly and introduced my sister-in-law to mini-golf. Not only was it her first experience of mini-golf, but it was all of our first time playing it under a black light. They did a great job with it, too, and we had loads of fun dodging toddlers trying to steal our balls, neon-yellow clubs and balls, and fake turf with painfully bright day-glow orange obstacles.
I had previously offered to pick up the day’s transportation tab, though I did turn green at the taxi cost – it was over $50 each way, yikes! Welcome to Vegas, baby. Fork over all your cash and nobody gets hurt.
After that we parted ways, and I flew home, content with my brief foray into the City of Lights and ready to get back to my regularly scheduled desert rat existence for a while longer.
Until next time!