i'm home!

Arrived in St. Louis Lambert Airport last night from Vegas at 9:19 pm (only 3 minutes past our scheduled arrival time; not bad considering the flight out there was delayed over an hour.) The above is a picture of the Treasure Island hotel and casino, where our group stayed.

Friday night when we got to our hotel and checked in (about 7 pm Vegas time), me & the 2 other secretaries from my office (who are 2 and 4 years older than me, respectively) changed, got tidied up, & headed out to see the nightlife. Ate at Harley Davidson cafe (had a wicked good Monterey chicken sandwich w/ chipotle mayo and pepperjack cheese--yum!), then just started walking down the strip. Passed the M & M shop (which I now wish I would have had more time to check out) and headed into MGM. Looked around, dropped some cash into the slots (didn't win, of course), and took lots of pix inside & out. Took pix of Excalibur and other hotels/casinos around the area, then walked over to New York New York. We were mainly looking for a "happening" bar/dance club to go into so we could DRINK our hearts out, when we stumbled upon..."Coyote Ugly"!!! So yea, we definitely had to go in there! It's JUST LIKE the movie--girls dancing on the bar (and getting free shots for it--not from glasses, but poured down their throats straight from the bottle!), loud music, spunky all female bartenders, big male bouncers guarding the bar & dancing girls, and water getting sprayed at patrons whenever the gals felt like doing it. It was AWESOME! Yes, I danced on the bar--I was the first one up there out of our group!--and got my free shots, but eventually the other 2 gals joined me. We had a BLAST! That's all I'm going to say about "Coyote Ugly", though... ;)

Saturday morning the 3 of us got up at 6 am (after getting into our hotel & into bed at 3:30 am) to sightsee. We walked from Treasure Island down to the Stratosphere (which took a bit over 2 hours), stopping into the Riviera, Circus Circus, the Sahara, and a few other places along the way. Went up to the top observation deck of the Stratosphere, but didn't have enough time to ride the coaster at the top of the building. Instead of walking the 2 + hours BACK to our hotel, we all agreed to take a cab--especially since our legs and feet were KILLING us from Friday night's "excursion". Ate lunch at Emeril's/Delmonico steak house (located in the Venetian) w/ everyone from the office Saturday afternoon--good food, but too much of a hoity toity attitude in that restaurant. (Bit more upscale.) Looked through the Venetian hotel at the gondola rides and fake outdoor scene upstairs (we seriously thought we were outside; the sky is painted to perfection on the ceiling, and it looks like Italian store fronts.) The 2 secretaries and I did some shopping, then went to see Carrot Top at MGM. I've never been a Carrot Top fan, but he was hysterical!!! I loved the show! He never stopped from the time he got onstage until the show was over--90 minutes later! It was really cool. After that we took a cab to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, where we met the 2 'fashionista' paralegals. They were sitting on the roof top level, so we joined them for a bit...until I was bored (and FREEZING!) stiff. No one wanted to walk across the street to check out Caesar's Palace and the Bellagio (and fountain show) w/ me, so I went by myself. Bummed around there for a while, then took a cab back to the hotel room. Played blackjack for 4.5 hours on the same $20 and didn't do too bad. (Ended up losing my winnings--$150 after I cashed out--but it was ok bc I only lost $20 of MY OWN money that I brought.) Went to bed about 4 am when the other gals got back to the room.

Sunday got up at 7 am to shower and pack. Bummed around our hotel, checked out some gift shops for last minute souvenirs, then sat down in the lobby waiting on everyone. Left our hotel about 1:15 pm and then proceeded to sit in the airport from a little before 2 pm until we boarded our flight at 4:15 pm. That SUCKED. I was so tired and just beat--completely exhausted--that all I wanted to do was sleep. But I ate some lunch and bullshitted w/ other people in my office and 2 friends who happened to be on the same flight as me.

All in all, it wasn't a BAD trip--but there were parts that were better than others. (Friday night was honestly the BEST time I had out there all weekend.) Saturday night was hard for me bc I was exhausted and just plain emotional. I was watching the fountain show at the Bellagio and I remember just standing there, crying, wishing so bad that Dustin was there w/ me. I know it was only a couple days apart, but it's something we're not used to--and seeing all the lovey dovey couples holding hands, kissing, and holding ea other was just too much for me. So I kinda lost it. I was just ready to come home. LOL

I'm hoping that, once I get my pix developed, I can find someone w/ a scanner who can help me scan and post 'em on the blog. I think that'd be pretty cool. So we'll see. Anyone want to offer to help me out w/ this endeavor? Let me know...