Vegas Baby

I went to Vegas for a friend’s wedding. Back in my salad days, when I was 18 I moved to the Comox RCAF base on Vancouver Island to live with my brother and his wife for a while since I was unemployed at the time. That is where I met Wendy Alexander and through her met Lori, her best friend. Even though I moved a year later we’ve kept in touch. It was the two of them that got me through my divorce, having been through it themselves. They cheered me up and made me laugh.

Fast forward, Lori and Mitch are getting married and they decided to do it Vegas-style, Elvis and all. Luckily I’m not far from there so I was able to fly in for the weekend. Bruce was going to meet me afterwards and we were going to drive all through Arizona and see the sights.

Thursday night I met Wendy and her daughter Chelsea at the airport, as I had made arrangements to arrive at the same time as their flight, and we were staying at the same hotel. However, since their flight was international I had to hoof it over from terminal 1 to terminal 3. Apparently there is a subway tram that takes you to the baggage claim but I managed to not notice it and had a long walk. Oh well, I needed my steps for the month. (For those of you not in the know, my company discounts our insurance payments if you walk 125,000 steps a month.)

Wendy and me at the wedding.

Speaking of hotels, the hotel that we booked was amazing. The Marriott Chateau is also a timeshare so it had full kitchens, security, free mimosas in the lobby and no casinos. Not bad price either and right in the middle of the strip. Even though it’s mainly a timeshare they also rent out the rooms and the only mention of a timeshare was a message left on the answering machine. I highly recommend staying there if you’re ever in Vegas.

For those of you who have never been to Vegas, well, you see some pretty strange sights there; the little old Asian ladies handing out strip club advertisements, girls walking around in stripper heels and spray on dresses or better yet bathing suites (I kept seeing the same college-age group of girls in their bathing suites just parading up and down the strip, not a pool in sight), guys acting like they’re rich in obviously rented Italian sports cars, and some amazingly bad buskers. I swear the high rollers have a uniform— chino pants, oxford shirt and jacket without a tie.

Mostly the first day Wendy and Chelsea wanted to shop so we walked around and they shopped and I took photos. I was sitting outside of Macy’s while they were shopping and started talking to the older gentleman next to me. Turns out he and his wife lived in my neighbourhood. Small world.

The Friday night before the wedding we all met at a restaurant on Fremont Street. Wendy, Chelsea and I were about 45 minutes late. We took the shuttle bus there and didn’t realize how long it would take for the 6-mile trip as the bus stopped at practically every blessed corner. We got there and everyone had finished eating, so we gulped down a quick meal and met everyone outside. I love Fremont Street, it’s such a party atmosphere. We were singing and dancing while drinking all the way down the street. The highlight is watching the overhead show they had every half hour. It was a Bon Jovi tribute so we were all singing “it’s my life” at the top of our lungs.

Lori and me on Fremont Street.

Lori was wearing the obligatory “bride to be” sash and I bought her a tiara to match. She was one of many brides to be that night and they would greet each other like they were in a sisterhood. It’s fun to have the spotlight and have people acknowledge your happiness. The poor groom never gets the spotlight, although I did see some guys wearing “groom to be” shirts. I hope some of them showed up at their wedding because they were pretty wasted LOL. Lori and I did win a little money that night. We sat down to rest and we put in about $5 in a penny slot and won over $200! I’ve never been so lucky, must have been Lori’s touch.

Later, Mitch went down the zip line that was overhead but by that time Wendy, Chelsea and I had gone back to the hotel as we were exhausted. I don’t know how Mitch and Lori stayed out so late and then got married the next day all bright-eyed. Luckily I don’t suffer from hangovers either as long as I drink a glass of water before I go to bed. Mind you, I don’t get a full night sleep since I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee, but at least I’m headache free!

The wedding was absolutely amazing. I’ve never gone to an over-the-top Vegas wedding. My cousin was married there a few years back at one of the wedding chapels but it was a regular wedding. This could never be described as “regular.” Lori was wearing the most beautiful wedding dress but the officiant was dressed as Elvis, as was the groom, and there was a pink Cadillac in the middle of the chapel. It was funny watching the two Elvis’ (or is that Elvi?) compare blue suede shoes! Mitch even managed an Elvis lip twitch or two while repeating his vows. At the end we all danced to an Elvis song and it was magical.

In the lobby they had photos of all different types of wedding they perform. I was seriously eyeing the Star Trek one for a possible future renewal of our vows, but I don’t think Bruce would go along with it.

Afterward we went into this quaint little bar next to the chapel for one drink while we waiting for the party bus to arrive. Yes, Mitch ordered a party bus and it had a stripper pole! Only in Vegas baby. I don’t think I’ve had so much fun laughing, drinking and seeing the sights. The bus stopped off at the Bellagio water show, and other places I don’t remember because I was sitting next to the box of Coronas! I do remember the Vegas sign which surprised me, it was rather short, I thought it was much taller, which is nice because we could get a group shot in front of it. They have people there that, for a small donation, will take a few photos with your camera so I was able to be in the group shot.

The party bus dropped us off back at the Flamingo and a few of us congregated back at the Margarita bar in the casino. I didn’t stay long, ate a pizza and then walked back to the hotel.

I was very drunk in this photo.

Oh I forgot, while in the lobby a few of us went into the convenience store for food and this girl was selling rabbit ears that lit up for $15. Best $15 I ever spent. I love those ears. And as you can tell I’m a bit lit up myself in this photo.

Wendy and Chelsea had already gone back to the hotel so I did the drunk-walk by myself back. Man, that seemed like a long walk. The ears were very popular with the people I passed, although it was so windy that I almost lost them a few times. BTW, I clocked 16,000 steps on my pedometer that day, the most I’ve ever done and I didn’t feel a thing LOL. Not bad considering 5 months ago I was on crutches with a sprained knee and just finished physical therapy. The daily Motrin and alcohol probably helped as well.

Sunday, we had some time to kill as we were switching hotels for the day. The Marriott prices for Sunday went up drastically so we switched to a hotel near the airport. We had to check out at 11 a.m. but couldn’t check in until 3 p.m. so we had some time to kill. We went to the Mile Mall and did some shopping. I bought a hat that I didn’t realize was $100 until I got to the cashier. Should have realized it since I was in Tommy Bahama’s. But it turned out to be a
pretty nice hat so I think it was worth it.You'll see it in a later blog.

The rest of the day was spent taking a nap and hanging out with my husband as Wendy and Chelsea had gone shopping at the outlet mall for the day. The next day they flew home and Bruce and I started our tour of Arizona.