Flamingos, turtles, and coffee oh my
You know the saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Going on trips always pushes me out of my comfort zone and allows me to find “Ireland Stephanie,” a term I use to describe growing confidence in a once uncomfortable or unfamiliar situation. I feel a piece of myself is left everywhere I visit, and therefore a part of me did remain in Vegas. I never felt drawn to Vegas before, but I spontaneously bought tickets to the “When We Were Young” fest so I was like “guess I’m going to Vegas.” I went with 2 of my close friends so that helped with uber and hotel costs.
Travel:
I flew American and Jetblue but that was the worst partnership and I had a lot of feelings about it. My layover was JFK and I had to go through security again to get to the Jetblue terminal for an hour layover. Fortunately there was a flight delay and a gate change so I got there with plenty of time to spare. I also was worried that I was going to fly standby because there was no seat on my ticket so I splurged for priority seating the day before and it was worth it for the peace of mind. When I sat down on the plane, it was the most relaxed I had felt in days… and I was ready to enter vacation mode.
Day 1:
We all met up at the Harry Reid International Airport and waited in line to take a taxi to the Flamingo. We stayed in one of the renovated rooms on a high floor and had a beautiful view of the strip, Sphere, and mountains. I really enjoyed our time at the Flamingo. It’s located in a good spot on the strip, right across from Caesars and next to “I love Sugar.” We got ready for our first night out and our first stop was Vanderpump Cocktail Garden at Caesars. The plates were more like “small bites,” but since we wanted to experience a lot it was nice to not start with a big meal. The aesthetic is fun and the drinks are instagram worthy. We walked around Caesars, I looked at luxury shops I cannot afford and then we were intrigued by the Gordon Ramsey Pub and Grill so we popped in for more drinks and appetizers (highlights were spinach artichoke dip and banana cheesecake). Tiktok had hyped up “I Love Sugar,” so we went there and my sweet tooth wanted to retire after. The set up of the drink is fun with the dry ice but the drink is massive, is very sugary, and you basically get a whole bag of candy with it… so you better in fact love sugar. I tried watering my leftover drink with seltzer but I ended up tossing it on Day 2. At this point, the time change was strong for me and I was grateful we were next to the hotel. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. My friends had ordered pizza and I didn’t even wake up for that… and that’s saying something coming from a #pizzaslut.
Day 2:
The best part about the Flamingo hotel… is there are real flamingos there!! My morning started with coffee and exploring the small zoo there with flamingos and turtles. At this point I was still living off my airport water bottle so we stopped at the convenience store (all of the vending machines in our hotel were conveniently out of order) for water and a day drinking beverage. Daytime in Vegas is fun but there are plenty of people who want to provide brochures or some form of entertainment for money. We walked past 2 shirtless guys who made me laugh so I participated in their photoshoot bit (“run Stephanie”) my friends urged but I was actually having fun. I tipped them and the photos still make me laugh so it was a worthwhile experience for me but maybe not for everyone. We enjoyed our drinks and walked the strip (pro tip: beatbox drinks from ABC stores are the most bang for your buck) and would stop and explore things that caught our eye, such as the Stranger Things store. We ended up at MGM for the Hunger Games Exhibition and I was so teary eyed the whole time, I had to remind myself that this was a movie and not a real life event. That night I went out before my friends because I was meeting up with an old friend who was also in town, who helped me quickly knock out other touristy things I wanted to see (The Bellagio fountain, Caesars fountain, the Eiffel tower casino). I met up with the OG friends and we waited 40 minutes for an uber. We were on the list for Xs nightclub and Diplo was the DJ. This felt like a fever dream, especially because we got there at midnight, and I was still on Virginia time so ya girl was tired.
Day 3:
You know the drill… coffee and flamingos! We did check out of our hotel and uber to the BlueGreen Vacations Club. It was further from the strip but for the sake of our sanity we all needed a little more space and the downstairs convenience store really was convenient ( and fair priced). After a little recharging, we went to The Pepper Club for happy hour before exploring Fremont Street. Like the strip, it’s fun to walk around and explore. There was a kid shredding on the guitar and that was my favorite experience. We went to Notoriety for a burlesque show but ended up watching a Drag Show before and Hunk O Mania after. I got called up on stage for a contest which was really funny but for the sake of future employers should probably leave off the internet. I had several long islands, another fever dream experience. Our uber, named Lasagna, had trouble finding us but somehow we all made it back to the hotel in one piece.
Day 4:
The day we came for! The “When We Were Young” music fest. Everything was so well-organized here, from getting wristbands, to checking tickets, even the restrooms were staffed and operated like a well-oiled machine. I saw all my favorite bands and got to see so many of my favorite songs performed. It really was a dream come true. Blink 182 and Green Day were the headliners but I was more excited for Simple Plan, Sum 41, and got to see Jaden Hossler for the third time. I had been telling everyone that I hope Simple Plan did “What’s new Scooby Doo” and they did and dreams really do come true. We struggled to get an uber after and there were plenty of non-authorized people offering us rides but overall never felt like we were in a dangerous situation but we very well could have been.
Day 5:
We ubered to the airport and went our separate ways, which is a bittersweet feeling at the end of a trip. Everyone at this airport was so nice and friendly, it really had me thinking “I could live here.” Vegas is filled with so many things to do and there’s so much more outside the city. It’s one of those places where I really need to go back and spend more time there, but there are also so many more places in the world to explore! Ironically, we did not gamble. But I did a little bit of that on my Nola/Mississippi trip you can also read about. 🙂
Dating Everyone Til Nuptials in Existence… and living my best life.
My solo trip to Ireland in the fall of 2022 ignited my love of travel and a desire to see more of the world. However, I’m quick to use work as an excuse as to why I have not done another solo abroad trip (I’m looking at you Crete). So my resolution for myself this year is to take advantage of more travel opportunities, especially more budget friendly ones. So if a friend asks me to visit, I’m gonna take advantage of it. And that’s what led me to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in February. This was a long weekend trip and we did not stay in NOLA the whole time, as we actually stayed at a military base in Mississippi. But if you have limited time in NOLA and want to know what to hit, look no further!
No boys or feelings to avoid while catching flights on Breeze this trip. In fact, I never even looked at a dating app while I was there. I did hope my crush reacted to me being there… but he did not and now that crush is officially crushed hehe.
Breeze from Norfolk to Fort Myers to New Orleans was actually a breeze. No worries about missing a connection because I stayed on the plane so that was major stress I didn’t have to have. In fact my goal for this trip was not to stress–since the stakes weren’t high, I thought it would be good practice.
My friend picked me up from the airport, and we went straight to Decatur Street because I was craving beignets and since she just informed me that we weren’t going to be spending a full day there… a girl had priorities. Pay attention to your drive over because you pass several cemeteries along the highway and Tulane University as well.
Parking was incredibly easy on a Thursday night. There are several public parking lots that line Decatur Street so we chose one close to Cafe Du Monde. It was an easy walk over. You sit yourself at the cafe, the waiter takes your order and you pay and tip as soon as your food is placed (yes she stared at me waiting for her tip). Beignets are less than $4 and that’s less than half of what Busch Gardens Williamsburg charges for their Mardi Gras celebration. We also ordered hot chocolate which was good as well. A street performer was set up next to the cafe so I already felt immersed in the city.
It was dark and we had been told the city wasn’t safe at night but plenty of people were out so we were able to walk around with ease (we were alert and aware of surroundings). Stopped in a couple shops, including Dead on Decatur which made me think of my friend (who’s name I will not mention for obvious reasons) who loves Grateful Dead and mushrooms. A lot of people were out with their dogs (and my friend stopped to pet every last one). At this point we were hungry and went to The Original French Market and had jambalaya which was delicious and very similar to my dad’s (of course Dad’s was better). We walked around a little more (my favorite thing to do in a new city) but it was time to go pick up a dog she was rescuing so we headed back to Mississippi.
The next day, following some animal rescue errands, we went to the Mississippi Aquarium where we participated in the dolphin experience which was so fun and I highly recommend it if you ever want to feed a dolphin and not break the bank! I also had a bonding moment with a sea turtle (something that magically happens occasionally at the aquarium) and got to relax in a bean bag chair while watching the fish and sharks swim in the tank.
That evening we had dinner at The Government Street Grocery where I had the best bloody mary I’ve ever tasted. Honestly I’d go back to Mississippi just to get this again. The staff was really great and understanding when the rescue dog jumped up on the table and almost successfully ate my friend’s burger.
I guess Biloxi, Mississippi is known as the “Vegas of the South” which I would agree with because when I first saw it I said “hey this kinda looks like Vegas.” We went to the Paradise Pier Fun Park to go to the Aerobar. We were 150ft in the sky drinking Rum punch. The Cedar Point girl in me was anxiously waiting for it to drop but it was actually relaxing once you forgot you were dangling from an umbrella in the sky. Next we hit the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino where I started with a $1 bet and left with $7 (don’t ask me how much I lost).
Saturday was a chill day. We went to the beach and the driving range and watched some movies.
Sunday we were back to NOLA and I was ready!! Way more people here than compared to Thursday but we started at the St. Louis Cemetery No.3. There was street parking available and we were able to walk freely without booking a tour. This was honestly the highlight of the trip for me because of a book I read in the 7th grade that had a climactic scene take place in a NOLA cemetery. We drove through the city which was honestly a mistake due to the amount of people, cars, and parades. In hindsight, we should have taken the long way around because we ended up at the same parking lot we were on Thursday. It was a tad more expensive but since we were short on time and I felt lucky to find parking I was fine with $36 for 3 hours (I didn’t have to pay for a hotel so we were still very good on budget). We went to Jackson Square and checked out the local artists. Saw St. Louis Cathedral and watched some street performers. Getting a picture in front of the LaBranche house was also on my bucket list. We walked Bourbon Street but settled on The Vampire Cafe a couple blocks over to drink wine out of a blood bag. We watched a Barbie themed dog parade and then hurried back to the car so I could make it to the airport with time to spare. Since I didn’t have time for souvenir shopping, I bought beignets from the Cafe Du Monde in the airport to take back to my friends.
Overall I did everything I wanted to do on this short NOLA trip. I purposefully didn’t plan or research too much because I did not want to leave feeling unfulfilled. I’d like to go back one day and actually stay in the city. I’d love to do a swamp tour, a city tour to learn history, and maybe even a low key cemetery tour. I think it would make a decent solo travel destination but it definitely gives me the vibe of being more fun with a group of your friends for bar hopping and what not. Everyone was really friendly and it was easy to chat so I would not say solo travel is out of the question.
For early February I wore light dresses but had layers for the colder evenings.
Thanks for reading and I hope this can provide some insight for your first NOLA trip!