Vegas 

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. 🙂