What better way to celebrate a 21st birthday than in Vegas?! That's right. Nato and I both turned 21 at the end of October so we met our sisters in Las Vegas for a crazy long weekend. We got up early, drove to Detroit, and flew in mid-afternoon with a whole day still ahead. First, of course, we checked out the condo. This was the "calming fountain" after which the pool was named. If you can't tell, we weren't too impressed.
Regardless, we went to happy hour at the little bar there (because we could) and chilled in the hot tub before venturing to the strip. We were exhausted and it was a lot to take in, but this vacation was definitely not meant for rest. In fact, we were supposed to be in class at this point...
Instead, we found this wonderful little bar on the second level overlooking the strip. We drank some Mexican beer, listened to live music, and people watched for a while. There is seriously never a dull moment or boring place to be.
Erin arrived late that night and Nikki and Laura the next morning. With the crew all together, we headed to The Stratosphere. A big shout-out goes to Erin for driving Freida (her Jeep Liberty) all the way up from Phoenix so that we had a car the whole weekend! Did you know that parking at all the casinos is free? We climbed up some stairs, found this fun little place to pose as pin up girls, and eventually made it to the top!
The Stratosphere is the highest observation point in the city and really cool to look out over. Since we're a little crazy, we decided to buy tickets for the ride that shoots you straight up into the air and drops you back down. The crazier part came when we were actually on the ride, strapped in, and waiting for it to fill up when it took off without warning. My stomach was in my throat, but the thrill was SO awesome. Here's us being all cute before we went.
And here's how we felt on the ride...
But totally worth it! Laura and Nikki stayed down in the casino, so after some lunch and a margarita at the Sky High Bar, we headed back down and out on the town. Next I dragged everyone to Luv-It Frozen Custard because I had read online that it was the best in the city. It seemed like the perfect opportunity because it was so close by, though the neighborhood turned out to be a little sketch. Then again, we were in Vegas... And the chocolate pretzel custard hit the spot!
Oh, and we drove by the Pawn Stars official shop! This one's for you, Dad.
That night, we went back to the hotel to get all fancy for V - The Ultimate Variety show. Erin, Laura, and Nikki locked us away so that they could set up a little birthday celebration for us at the condo. It was perfect! They are seriously the best. It was complete with cards, cupcakes, streamers, and champagne. We couldn't asked for a better birthday surprise :)
On Saturday we explored Freemont Street! It's "Old Las Vegas" covered with lights and, of course, lined with casinos. We went to "The D" because it was Detroit themed, and Nikki won a ton of money on the slot machine! Of course, we think this triggered the manager to come over leading to us all being ID'd (me for the third time in about ten minutes) and Erin having to show her passport since her license was getting renewed. We were a mess, as usual. They also had cool street artists making spray paint pictures, a casino that still payed out in coins, and some yummy Mexican food. We finished off the day with a light show on the ceiling at sunset!
And on to the last day... Time definitely flew by! In the morning, we headed over to The Silverton to check out the Mermaid Bar. Yes, there was literally a mermaid at the bar. We watched her swim with the fish while sipping mimosas. Only in Vegas, right?
On our way to hit a few more of the stunning casinos (and to get one last game of Craps in which Nato got me addicted to), we somehow got real stuck in the "Rock and Roll" Las Vegas Marathon. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but I'm also not surprised...
And the perfect last stop of our trip:
Flying out over The Strip glittering in the night was pretty breathtaking and the weekend was so worth all the jet lag I dealt with in class the next few days! How could I not want to return to explore this a little more? Til my next adventure!
-Sarah
The Bellagio
The Sphinx
Caesar's Palace
New York New York
The Venetian
