Vegas, Baby!!

Ken and I traveled to Las Vegas - finally!!  We hadn't been there for fun in over three years!!  It was quite the long awaited trip, and I was even more excited that we were going to see Stephanie Bishop and her husband, Chris.  

Stephanie and I met in Chicago at the get together, and we had a blast.  Now, she and Chris made the trip out to Vegas from Michigan, and it was their first trip to Vegas ever!!  Stephanie is not only my fabby goddess, but she has become a great friend to me, so I wanted to make sure that she had the BEST time on her first trip!

We arrived a day early to enjoy some quiet time, and we also wanted to make sure that we were completely available to pick them up from the airport.  I forced Stephanie and Chris to pick the hotel, which took a while, but they finally settled on Treasure Island.  It worked for us since we had never stayed there before.  

The room we requested was not available when we checked in, so we were upgraded to a VIP room.  Nice!!!  The room wasn't much different from a standard room except we had the top floor view and high ceilings.  

When Chris and Steph arrived, we were waiting at baggage claim.  I saw Steph before she saw me, and Chris told her that some lady in a green shirt was waving.  Ha!  

Once they were settled in, we walked the strip and headed to Margaritaville.  Yes!!  They quickly understood why I kept wanting the nachos.  Neither Chris nor Steph are big drinkers, but they had fun.  They couldn't believe the amount of people standing on the sidewalks dressed up.  Of course, Steph and I just HAD to get a picture with Jack Sparrow!

After eating, we all took a cab to Freemont Street.  We were expecting to show them the light and music show, but we got an even better show - The Lt. Dan Band!!  Because it was November and Veteran's Day was coming up, Gary Sinese and his band were performing!  Totally amazing!!

The four of us walked around for a while, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Old Vegas.  Steph did NOT appreciate the mostly naked men walking around, and Cupid was grossing her out.  

Stephanie picked the show to see, so we enjoyed Mystere by Cirque de Soleil which was conveniently located at our hotel.  It took us each a while to figure out that there really wasn't a plot to the show, and the main attraction is the physical limits that get pushed during the show.  

Ken and Chris were interested in seeing the Bikini Bull Riding show at Gilly's in the hotel.  We not only arrived early enough to get a table, but I managed to "bribe" the host to get Ken is as a judge. Ken was very happy with that status, and he loved being able to be up front and close to the action.  Most of the women didn't bother with changing into the bikinis and wore their lingerie instead.  I don't think anyone minded.

The Marine Corp Ball had been held that night, so there were many Marines in attendance as well.  Ken was really happy to see them, and we bought a LOT of drinks for the men. Ken and most of the men chose one of the Marines' girlfriends as the winner, but the winner still ended up being a chick who worked for the bar - go figure.

The final full day, Stephanie and I went to the local stitching shop and met with Juls - one of the FB stitchers we know.  I was impressed with the shoppe, and I would have loved to have a shoppe like that near me.  I made a couple purchases just to be polite, and I spent a ton of the time checking out the framed pieces along the walls - talk about amazing!!

The last evening, we walked the Strip one more time, and we finally called it a night when Chris' back started to hurt.  

I loved getting to see Stephanie and hang out with her some more, and meeting Chris was great.  I'm sure it helped for him to meet me so the next trip I take with Steph will be less stressful for him.  I enjoyed that Chris initially was saying "if" they return to Vegas, and by the time we dropped them back to the airport, he had changed to "when" they return to Vegas.  Yay! New converts to Sin City!!