Several years ago, a high school friend of mine posted pictures of herself and her husband in Las Vegas on their babymoon. What on earth does a pregnant person do in Vegas? I wondered. Of course, this was also right around the time I swore off all future trips to Vegas. They were always full of hot weather, loud clubs, and entirely too much alcohol. It wasn't fun for me anymore, but I didn't understand that there was a different way to experience Las Vegas.
Fast forward and here I am, five months pregnant enjoying a relaxing, extended weekend in Ls Vegas with fun shows, excellent food, and good friends. Not to mention plenty of sleep. At least, I would have gotten plenty of sleep if I weren't 5 months pregnant and waking up to pee every 3 hours.
Kevin went out to Vegas on Tuesday for a work conference. Danielle, Eric, and I joined him on Friday for a much-needed vacation. And a much-needed reunion; it had been over a year and a half since we'd seen Danielle and Eric at this point. Getting together with them was the whole reason for the trip. Then it turned out that my dad was also in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, so we were able to spend some time with him, too.
We stayed at the Palazzo, which is on the north end of the strip and connected to the Venetian with a mall. It meant that we didn't really have to go outside to get food or drinks, which was nice considering the oppressive desert heat.
On Saturday night, I had my pre-planned night of debauchery, which takes on a very different meaning at this stage in life. We went to Delmonico's for dinner, where I had a single glass of wine with my medium-rare filet. I know I'm supposed to be getting all my meat well-done, but if I'm going to pay $60 for a steak, I'm not turning it into leather. I was proud of myself for making the single glass last nearly an hour, especially since it was a rather stingy pour (our water got 8 glasses out of a single bottle). Then I had a sip of Kevin's port with my chocolate cake and followed it up with a cup of coffee in the hopes that I'd stay awake.
After dinner we went to a 9:30 performance of Ka, which was fantastic. It's an amazingly vertical show, with a stage that moves up and down and rotates on all three axes. The show was spectacular. Alas, it wasn't spectacular enough to keep me awake. Despite my carefully planned coffee, I slept through the final battle. I would have slept right through the end if not for a fireworks display during the finale.
We spent the next day hanging out with my dad while Danielle and Eric celebrated their engagement anniversary. We got to see the World Series of Poker, which was amazing. There were several ballrooms in the convention center filled with tables. Then we wandered along the strip and watched most of the Nationals game and all of the final hockey game. At that point the heat combined with a cold I caught on the plane to knock me out. Kevin and I went back to the room where I fell asleep. Then Kevin went out gambling and won almost $600 in half an hour, nicely recouping our earlier losses (I went through $100 alarmingly quickly at a cash game earlier). He decided to stop then, which meant that we ended the trip in the red, gambling-wise.
We also used our relative sobriety this trip to allow us to get up to Fremont Street for some people watching and the incredible light show. Kevin had attended a seminar about the technology behind the light display over Fremont Street, and I thought that knowledge made the show a lot cooler. After the sun set we went back to the Palazzo where Kevin and Danielle tracked down some absinthe while Eric and I ate dessert.
Around this we spent a bunch of time lounging by the pool (before the sun crested the hotel and took away our shade), playing games, and drinking cheap champagne. It was a fantastic trip with just the right balance or relaxation and doing stuff. At this point I'm eager to go back to Las Vegas, though it'll probably be several more years since I can't imagine taking kids there. But that's what grandparents are for, right?
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