Road Trip - Part 1: Vegas Baby
Our last few days in Provo were filled with hours of packing our stuff into boxes and our boxes into a container for transport to Raleigh, NC. Between selling the majority of our furniture and Christie's no-nonsense decision-making and invaluable Tetris skills, those hours were really relatively painless for us. After a few misty-eyed goodbyes with the cutest kids on the planet and a night on an air mattress, we loaded up the essentials and bid Utah adieu. I spent a lot of time in the preceding weeks planning a fun, though less than efficient, route between Provo and Raleigh in an attempt to make the most of Drew's one week of unemployed freedom, and we were anxious to get started on our cross-country adventure.
Though considerably out of the way, our first stop was Las Vegas, NV. Neither of us had ever been to good old Sin City, so it seemed only natural that we make a brief stop there before putting the mountain west in our rearview mirror. We spent most of our stay inside the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. The hotel had surprisingly little pirate paraphernalia, but it was situated in a great spot on the Strip, had nice rooms and a buffet with decent online reviews, and housed the Cirque de Soleil Mystere Theatre - the location of our entertainment for the evening. After 5 hours in the car and standing in line for a long time to check in at the hotel, we decided to get our Vegas vacation started by stretching our legs on the Strip.
The Strip itself was honestly a lot prettier than we expected - fantastic architecture, endless palm trees, impressive fountains, and statues galore. The Vegas culture, on the other hand, was far more bothersome than I expected. My impression of Las Vegas included primarily blind, consequence-free consumption (of natural resources, products, and people), in-your-face sexuality, and overwhelming consumerism, and everything about all of that irritates me to the core. If I could have selectively turned off my nose to the barrage of cigarette smoke, my eyes to the naked women, and my ears to the look at me, want me, buy me messages plastered all of the city and its visitors, Las Vegas just might have been mostly pleasant. At least there was a buffet dinner of lobster ravioli and chocolate covered strawberries to help me feel a bit better; after all, we couldn't properly experience Vegas without participating in at least one deadly sin, so we elected to go with gluttony.
After dinner at the Treasure Island Buffet, we headed to the Mystere Theatre to be wowed by the acrobats of Cirque de Soleil. Most of the rest of our Vegas vacation was honestly take-it-or-leave-it, but this show was absolutely amazing. Unlike magic shows or celebrity impersonators, this performance showcases stunningly raw, real talent, and the plot (as far as we could tell; it was, after all, a mystery) was actually equal parts humor and depth - perfect. I spent most of the show shaking my head in awe of the physical abilities of the performers and trying to figure out how to develop a ripped, strong body like that while planted more firmly on the ground.
The next morning, we (and probably 5 other hotel guests) made use of the free gym in the Treasure Island Spa. It felt restorative to do something good for our bodies in a place that generally promotes everything but fitness. The workout left both of us with an appetite, so we left Treasure Island (passing a pirate ship on the way out) in search of some morning grub. Judging from the paucity of available breakfast spots and the number of people who were out and about that morning, I think very few people in Las Vegas eat breakfast or are even awake to miss it.
After an annoyingly long hunt for real food, with the help of a saleswoman (who asked us if we were married, then, for what seemed like unnecessary clarification, if we were married to each other), we located a small French café in the Venetian. Although we were glad to find somewhere to sit down and eat, the menu was a really limited and incredibly steep (I had an $11 waffle and am still a little bit bitter about it). Although the waffle wasn't worth $11, the feeling of having breakfast with Drew outside a quiet Parisian café certainly was; isn't that ceiling amazing?
With food in our bellies, we got on the road pretty quickly, probably better for the experience (maybe not, but at least with a memory made), but not at all sad to leave Las Vegas behind. Up next: the Hoover Dam!
Though considerably out of the way, our first stop was Las Vegas, NV. Neither of us had ever been to good old Sin City, so it seemed only natural that we make a brief stop there before putting the mountain west in our rearview mirror. We spent most of our stay inside the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. The hotel had surprisingly little pirate paraphernalia, but it was situated in a great spot on the Strip, had nice rooms and a buffet with decent online reviews, and housed the Cirque de Soleil Mystere Theatre - the location of our entertainment for the evening. After 5 hours in the car and standing in line for a long time to check in at the hotel, we decided to get our Vegas vacation started by stretching our legs on the Strip.
^ First things first, Drew paid tribute to Rusty from Vegas Vacation ^
^Treasure Island and the Venetian in the background^
^The fountains at Caesar's Palace^
^Outside Planet Hollywood^
^Paris, Las Vegas^
^The Bellagio. We never did see the fountains go off.^
^The famous Siegfried and Roy^
The Strip itself was honestly a lot prettier than we expected - fantastic architecture, endless palm trees, impressive fountains, and statues galore. The Vegas culture, on the other hand, was far more bothersome than I expected. My impression of Las Vegas included primarily blind, consequence-free consumption (of natural resources, products, and people), in-your-face sexuality, and overwhelming consumerism, and everything about all of that irritates me to the core. If I could have selectively turned off my nose to the barrage of cigarette smoke, my eyes to the naked women, and my ears to the look at me, want me, buy me messages plastered all of the city and its visitors, Las Vegas just might have been mostly pleasant. At least there was a buffet dinner of lobster ravioli and chocolate covered strawberries to help me feel a bit better; after all, we couldn't properly experience Vegas without participating in at least one deadly sin, so we elected to go with gluttony.
After dinner at the Treasure Island Buffet, we headed to the Mystere Theatre to be wowed by the acrobats of Cirque de Soleil. Most of the rest of our Vegas vacation was honestly take-it-or-leave-it, but this show was absolutely amazing. Unlike magic shows or celebrity impersonators, this performance showcases stunningly raw, real talent, and the plot (as far as we could tell; it was, after all, a mystery) was actually equal parts humor and depth - perfect. I spent most of the show shaking my head in awe of the physical abilities of the performers and trying to figure out how to develop a ripped, strong body like that while planted more firmly on the ground.
The next morning, we (and probably 5 other hotel guests) made use of the free gym in the Treasure Island Spa. It felt restorative to do something good for our bodies in a place that generally promotes everything but fitness. The workout left both of us with an appetite, so we left Treasure Island (passing a pirate ship on the way out) in search of some morning grub. Judging from the paucity of available breakfast spots and the number of people who were out and about that morning, I think very few people in Las Vegas eat breakfast or are even awake to miss it.
After an annoyingly long hunt for real food, with the help of a saleswoman (who asked us if we were married, then, for what seemed like unnecessary clarification, if we were married to each other), we located a small French café in the Venetian. Although we were glad to find somewhere to sit down and eat, the menu was a really limited and incredibly steep (I had an $11 waffle and am still a little bit bitter about it). Although the waffle wasn't worth $11, the feeling of having breakfast with Drew outside a quiet Parisian café certainly was; isn't that ceiling amazing?
With food in our bellies, we got on the road pretty quickly, probably better for the experience (maybe not, but at least with a memory made), but not at all sad to leave Las Vegas behind. Up next: the Hoover Dam!
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