Vegas, baby!

Angela, Arianna, Olga, and me! Ready to head out on the town Saturday night!

Vegas is one of those ideas friends banter around and around, and until somebody comes in from out of town or until somebody gets married, it rarely happens. And yet, this past weekend, we made it happen without any of that. A couple of months ago Angela, Arianna, Olga and I were having lunch and saying it sure would be nice to get away. The other three all teach middle school together and I think the thought of anywhere without preteens was intoxicating. So we made a plan. Quick and simple. One hotel room, food, alcohol, and fun.

Whereas with this Europe trip I've been planning for almost a year, I took the opposite route with Vegas. I Googled pools at strip hotels. And then I modified my Google search to family friendly pools at strip hotels. (Apparently pools are the hottest clubs now, and after getting an eyeful of the club, er pool, at the MGM, I'm glad to say we enjoyed our quiet family friendly pools at the Excalibur where yes, you could drink, and where I didn't feel like I was in a bad spring break movie).

We took in the sights, had some drinks, talked and talked some more, laughed, danced, and ate. We ended up at the Bellagio buffet Saturday night, and yes, the dessert was by far the best part of the meal. Though the Kobe beef wasn't bad either. However, while I'm proud of myself for trying it, I don't think I'll stop by for another round of caviar any time soon.

We caught the Bellagio fountains show at the top of the hour, we had frozen drinks somewhere along the strip, we laughed at girls in six-inch heels and then rubbed our own feet when we got back to the hotel Saturday night. Oh, and we rode the monorail a few extra times because the AC was high and there were benches.

We also threw a few dollars in the slots as we passed through each new casino. None of us won anything until Angela sat down at a video poker machine, put in a dollar and promptly won $50! She cashed out and celebrated!

All in all, the perfect Vegas weekend. We got their Friday after 9pm and left Sunday before 2pm. Just right in that it was too short, none of us wanted to leave, especially after our bottomless champagne brunch at the Rio. But alas, all good things are much too short and remembered much too fondly. Here's to the next trip!