True Sensory Overload
(This post is about our actual time in Vegas - The Party Plane might need it’s own post… but I am still processing the past 48 hours).
Vegas… I’ve learned that people either love or loathe this city. Until this weekend I never understood the polar opposite reactions that mentioning “Vegas” elicits from anyone who has been there. My more outgoing, social, partying friends absolutely love it. They see it as a never ending celebration with drinking, gambling, great food and entertainment. Those of us that are more shy, introverted, and sensitive to sensory overload see it more as a 24 hour a day assault on our senses. I have experienced small doses of this same feeling, primarily when walking through Times Square in NYC and when leaving any concert/ballgame/other extremely crowded place. I can see the appeal for people who are laid back and not overwhelmed easily. To say it in a positive way, I had plenty of opportunities to practice many of my coping skills for anxiety (and I did)!
When the plane landed we were herded in a group through the airport to our shuttle bus transportation to the hotel. One of the volunteers on the bus gave us the 20 minute tour of the strip; she pointed out all the facts that she thought would “wow” us. I am way too cynical. Just saying. We all entered the lobby at the same time to check into our rooms and then entered the fray to make our way to our room. We had just learned that The Venetian is the largest hotel in the world with over 7000 rooms and finding ours was not an easy feat. First you have to walk through a smoke filled casino to get to the guest elevators (found this was true in most of the hotels). Then we had to select the right bank of elevators to take us to our floor which happened to be the same floor as the pool (translation - floor with lots of loud, lost drunk people in bathing suits). Dan and I eventually made our way to our room which was halfway down an extremely long corridor. Then we opened the door.
My first reaction to our gorgeous room at the Venetian was this is going to be a great place to hibernate for the next 36 hours! But then my hunger got the best of me and being that I am way to cheap to pay for either room service or to hit the $9 small box of peanut m&ms sitting on the top of the cabinet in our living room, I was forced to leave my safe cocoon. Dan and I strolled through “Venice” crossed over a bridge on the Grand Canal (with many tourists in gondolas with loudly singing gondoliers) and headed to an offshoot of the famous Grimaldi’s pizza. Dinner was delicious and then we wandered through what can best be described as a theme park/shopping mall with lots of expensive stores/restaurants and casinos that makes up the Venetian (and virtually every other hotel on the strip). I will say that one of my favorite parts of Vegas was the abundance of 80s and early 90s music that was playing almost everywhere we went. I couldn’t help but dance a little to Rob Base and Salt-N-Pepa when we were in a candy store shopping for souvenirs for the kids. But my dancing was short lived and we dragged ourselves back to the room and collapsed for the night. And by night I mean 13+ hours. Best sleep ever. Loved the bed and the black-out shades in the room! Woke as if I was hungover (which was not an option) at 10:30 and immediately noted that the gorgeous hotel room did not include a coffee maker.
Showered, stumbled back into the theme park/mall and collapsed at a table in a restaurant where I faintly mumbled “coffee, please” to our server who I am sure thought I had partied hard last night. Ate well (this was a theme of Vegas for us) and then wandered around the Grand Canal Shoppes some more while intermittently being accosted by many different employees offering us everything from massages, show tickets, discounts for a multitude of buffets… I had to assume my “bitch resting face” and ignore many of them in order to continue my “relaxing stroll” with my husband. At that point we decided that going back to the room and chilling might be our best option for surviving Vegas. Then my sense of curiosity (and love of ice cream) got to me. After a 20 minute recharge, I suggested we venture out onto the Strip in 96 degree weather and see what all the fuss was about. With the Bellagio’s Gelato as my prize we made our way up and down several outdoor escalators, on bridges to cross the main street and past at least 50 creepy costumed characters trying to get us to take photos (and pay) them. This doesn’t include the homeless beggars, the people passing out “business” cards of naked women, and various other hawkers and musicians lining the streets. We did in fact make our way to the Cafe Gelato where I went all out and ordered Dan and myself a double hot fudge sundae to share. I really needed a drink, but this would have to do. We sat and people-watched. And people-listened - a new term I am using instead of eavesdropping. You can hear some very interesting conversations if you just sit quietly in public. It was actually relaxing! But I knew that eventually we would have to reverse our route and head back to our hotel. I summoned up the energy and courage and we were off!
To break our trip back to The Venetian into smaller chunks I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. To gamble in each hotel casino we passed. This gave us a reason to walk into the air conditioning at each hotel and have a little hope that we may walk out with full pockets. Big spender that I am, we gambled in 8 casinos, and the airport, and only lost $10. Of course most of my gambling took under 10 seconds! Fed a dollar bill into a slot machine and said goodbye to it. To be perfectly honest, we did win $0.34. See photo below.
Stumbled back to the hotel, collapsed into bed and had the alarm set for very early to head back to the airport… and home!
Very happy that I had the opportunity to go, don’t think I ever need to go back! I’ll leave a hotel room open for people who enjoy it!
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