I know that people really love Vegas. I mean, they go year after year, super excited for the buffets, gambling, sights, sounds, and alcohol. My mother is one of these Vegas lovers, which makes me even more embarrassed to admit that I don’t like Vegas. I mean, I like the fountains at the Bellagio, the drinks, the excitement, but that doesn’t trump the things I hate. The number one thing being the illegals that try to slap naked booby cards in your hand and somehow always sneak them in to your purse.
And I may have a slight gambling problem. Nothing serious, and thankfully I’m aware of this issue. I mean, I live by the Hard Rock Casino and I rarely go, because I know I’ll blow my money. But put me in Vegas and well, it’s hard not to keep gamblingaway my hard earned money.
But our last stop on our bucket list trip was Vegas. We wanted to break up the flight to the east coast and , as I mentioned, my mother loves Vegas. So we went.
We flew yet another lovely Virgin America first class flight, leaving from San Fran. We arrived in Vegas and checked in to the Bellagio, with fountain view rooms.
Not a bad view.
Our room was so nice. Grandma, the Husband, and I shared a room, and it was just right.
Our room.
Grandma was pretty exhausted from our 22 day trip so she parked herself by the window to watch the fountains and read a book. The Husband and I headed out to meet some of his friends from physical therapy school that live in Vegas now. We started in the casino, where I won $130 on a 30 cent slot machine bet! The Husband let me play down to $100 then hit that cash out button super quick. He knows me so well.
We walked around a bit then headed to the Chandelier Bar at Cosmopolitan. The most beautiful girls I have ever seen in person were sitting across from us. They asked the Husband’s friend to take their photo. No joke, the next day we saw the photo on Twitter. They were apparently on the British Reality Show “The Only Way is Essex.”
Photo the Husband’s friend took for them, stolen from Jessica Wright’s Twitter.
The next morning we packed up and headed on our separate ways. Mom, John, and grandma head back to Buffalo and we headed home to Tampa.
I can’t begin to describe how awesome it was to be on this trip. We made memories that will last my lifetime, then some. I hope my (theoretical and never going to happen) grandchildren will be able to see these photos and appreciate just how awesome my grandma is. I feel so incredibly blessed to be lucky enough to take the time off to see polar bears, take the train through the Rockies, experience Vancouver, Victoria (especially the Butchart Gardens), Seattle, San Fran (and grandma’s best friend of EIGHTY years), and even Vegas.
As funny and morbid as it sounds, I’m thankful sometimes that I have a job where I experience death. I started working in healthcare at 18 (and yes, my very first patient in nursing school died) and it really made me realize just how short life is. My bucket list has lots of things crossed off already, which I think is pretty impressive at 30. And I’m so, so , so thankful that I found a Husband that shares my passion for travel and life. It would be really hard to explain why a trip to Greece is more important than adding the money to a 401K. You can’t buy memories and you certainly can’t take time back.
I can’t wait until we make more memories on our next trip. On grandma’s 87th birthday, we are taking a steamboat cruise down the Mississippi from Memphis to New Orleans!