So having bid the parentals goodbye, it was time for Vegas take 2. I arrive safely at Vegas and await the girls arrives from Gatwick. 2 hrs later and few high pitch screams later they are here. We are reunited again, quite overwhelming really, but I managed to hold back any tears.......just! The girls had quite an entertaining flight from all accounts, they were entertained throughout the flight by some drunk girl, who proceeded to lunge her way down the walkway in a dress that barely covered what it needed to, little did they know they would see her again. We had a name for her, but I can't really say it on here hehe. We are staying at the Mirage and after Jennie suggested we give the $20 trick a go we were upgraded straight away, nice work Jen! The hotel was fab and even had it's own Volcano! Time for quick showers and straight out. Jen and I headed for some pre-drink drinks, being the first two ready:) Anya, Rachel, Kate and Jen then joined us at the bar, shortly after we found a Japanese restaurant for dinner. After a lovely dinner and catch up on some of the travel stories we went for a look around the strip. Because we are so rock n roll on our first night we had ice cream at midnight......we were easing ourselves in gently for what was to become a pretty full on 3 nights of partying!
The next day started with breakfast at the Rainforest cafe in the MGM. Having had a nice big breakfast we then set off to find the Lions @ the MGM, to then discover they were infact removed a couple of years ago, so no lions for us today. It was on the way to the MGM Grande via the shuttle that whilst working out where we were going the first of the comments of the trip arose, as we were approaching the crystals hotel, someone ( I will keep names anonymous) said, oh are we going to crystal palace??? Errr, no we are not........ So whilst also walking through the MGM the next one came up, whilst discussing going out options for tonight, 'ah we can go to a chillout bar and have a bath!' All I can say is I think the jet lag may have had an affect..... We eventually got to New York New York, where the girls were keen on the roller coaster, me being tight with my money said I would decline this time as i had already been on with with mum and dad. The girls joined the queue, Anya then took charge at the paying bit, by handing the cash over at lightening speed and running through the gates. There had been a small panic in the queue as we weren't sure if tax had to go on top - if it had they didn't have enough. Anyway they got on, I heard the screams from the Casino. I hadn't said I enjoyed the roller coaster the last time, I chose my words carefully and warned of bumpyness and it being a bit rickety. They hated it, Anya then announced she needed a diet coke and that she thought they were all going to die on the roller coaster. I think they really enjoyed it! In the afternoon I stuck my travel agent hat on again and thought I should probably sort out how I was travelling the west coast, considering I would be doing just that in 3 days time. I've got the amtrak booked now all the way up to Seattle which should be pretty cool.
And the tonight is the night we see Britney Spears.......we start off with a lovely dinner in the Henry. From here we make our way quite quickly to a Planet Hollywood. We join the rest of the crowd, a mixture of scantily clad girls, blokes that didn't want to be there, blokes that really did want to be there and a few people in fancy dress. We were actually quite gutted we hadn't thought about dressing up, Jen and I could have dug out our old Quilters bar uniforms and we would have been sorted, but alas no. So she starts the performance, I recognised some stuff, it was over in an hour and a half......... So after this we got whisked off with our pink wrist bands to the after show party which promised free drinks.......yeah, after you paid $20 each, but we did get a group of blokes kicked off an table when we asked if we could have a table. Quite funny, but I don't think they were too impressed, we never asked anyone to be thrown off. It would appear though if you are a group of Brits and all female, they will do everything to get you into their bar/club, a result for us but now for the blokes unfortunately. We stayed here for a bit and then made the longer than we thought walk in ridiculous heels to the MGM. I have never walked so carefully in my entire life 1) I don't wear heels that often 2) this pair had a stupidly high platform, a broken ankle could be the result of a fall 3) the last time I wore these I fell twice and put a massive hole in my jeans and knee! I made it safely to the club, we were then told our tickets expired in 2 mins and we didn't stand a chance of getting in with the queue as it was. We got a cab back to the mirage and I had a red wine at 2am with the girls, then it was time for bed.
Today was pool day and a bit of a relax, which was really lovely and a bit like our own pool party. Having spent the day just chilling, we left the mirage at 6pm to go the Hyde in the Bellagio for cocktails and to watch the fountains, we had a result and got a table right by the window, 3 rounds of fountains and 2 cocktails later it was dinner time. After dinner we set off to Lilly's bar in the casino and bagged another table, after some bubbly and vodka ( yes, those of you who know me will know that I don't normally do vodka......) it was time to go to Bank, the club to be at on a Sunday night........apparently. It was likened to dukes but a bit posher. Quite a large club playing some pretty hardcore RnB, my favourite! So after our free drinks of more vodka I hit the dance floor with the girls, a very fun night. We then departed for a bit of a rest back in Lilly's, on the way out of bank we were handed more free drink vouchers, so decide it would be rude not to go back. So we did and left about 3am.
The next day, Jen, Jen and Kate went off to the Grand Canyon I stayed in bed and eventually made it down to the pool about 12ish had a little swim and went back to sleep on the sunbed. Tonight we hit downtown Vegas and did some gambling, this was great fun, I didn't win, but Kate was doing very well. We had the most amazing steak in casino restaurant and then got a cab back to the strip and ended up in Excess nightclub @ the Wynn. We managed to get free drinks here too which was handy and at 4:30am the club shut, i then decided it wasn't time for bed so went in search of a bar at 5am!
After 2 hrs sleep it was time to checkout, to say I was felling a little delicate would be a slight understatement, but the last night in Vegas was always going to have to be a big night out. We went for our goodbye lunch, which for me consisted of a diet Pepsi. I bid a farewell to the girls, Jen came with me back to the hotel to get the shuttle and that was it, Vegas Billericay styleeee was over. Probably a good thing we weren't there any longer, don't think I could have hacked anymore nights out, as it is I think it could take a good few days before I'm fully recovered.
It was so lovely to see the girls, again it's made part of my trip! Thank you for coming out all this way. Wales next!!! I was very sad to say bye again, but can you believe it I will actually be home in 14 weeks!!!! How quick has that gone.
Look forward to catching up again girls over a few wines in Harry's bar on my return!
Next stop San Diego....
Much love
Lou (I'm never drinking again) wood xx