I finally went to Vegas! I have a terrible habit of never traveling to places nearby because I’m always sure I’ll get around to them eventually, and then eventually never comes and I end up leaving Boston without doing a proper trip to NYC, or the UK without seeing anywhere but London and Gareth’s town in Cornwall. But I did see Iceland, Istanbul, and Morocco!

Vegas was one of those places. Close enough I never felt any urgency to go, and also not really my scene. I’m not a gambler, I don’t love clubbing or going to very fancy places. I was always happy to miss it but knew I’d regret not going if my friends went without me. Which they almost did!

This time was the perfect time though, I still can’t believe how inexpensive it was. My friend started working for Vice relatively recently, and she was sent to cover Kesha’s tour kickoff in Vegas. And to be clear, we love Kesha. She hasn’t been able to perform or do new music in a while, and it’s horrifying and so sad that her career is slowly dying while she holds onto any shred of dignity and self worth. But anyway! We were going to Vegas!

We got a free room and oh my god was it nice. Definitely the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed at, and apparently Selena agrees! When we arrived it was around 110* and it was a nightmare. Not as bad as Morocco, but still pretty debilitating. Luckily, literally everywhere is air conditioned in Vegas, and not the kind that makes a dent but doesn’t stop the heat. I was cold as often as I was hot.

We went to the pools for a bit earlier in the day, though it was almost too hot to be outside, even in a pool. Eventually we gave up and went to dinner, and had the best buffet you can imagine. I didn’t know Vegas was also known for its food/buffets, or I might have made it a priority to come earlier. We stayed for a few hours and had I think four courses each, making sure to really get our money’s worth. We also had unlimited wine/beer, so we had a few drinks as well.

From there we headed to the Cosmopolitan Casino, where I lost $25 and Katie won $100. Ugh. We also got free drinks while gambling, which was very on theme. We arrived at the Kesha show and were given free drink passes, because we were with the ~press. Which was GREAT because a WATER BOTTLE was $10, I kid you not. So, I was forced, against my will, to drink more!

Kesha did Tik Tok, We R Who We R, Timber, and Your Love is My Drug, which was a favorite back in the day. She was great, though gone too soon. Maybe a good thing though, cause we were let into a roped off area that apparently a group of people had bought, and those girls were PISSED. Like, calm down.

Then I called Gareth and had an emotional heart to heart about how much long distance sucks. Because it does you guys, it really, really does. It also might have been fueled by some of the free alcohol I was forced to drink? But probably not. Anyway, that devolved into me listing all the reasons why we’re the best in the entire world, which is one of my favorite things to do when drunk. But also? We are the best in the entire world!

Then it was suddenly 4:00 am and all the bars were closed, so we went back to the room, watched New Adventures of the Old Christine, had a long, in depth conversation about the wonder that is Julia Louis-Dreyfus (but HONESTLY, she is amazing. Watch Veep, watch it now).

We woke up and things were looking pretty bleak, hangover wise, until my friend mentioned a secret, beautiful, lifesaving cure. Dramamine! Honestly, I’ve never felt so sick and then so fine before in my life. And thank god, cause the drive home took around nine hours including our breakfast stop and our stop at the Hoover Dam, which was a sight to behold but also potentially life threatening in the heat. Or so it felt. They had “cool down stations” that were just giant fans that you could walk up to–I honestly don’t know how locals live in that heat, but I certainly couldn’t do it.

It was the perfect way to do Vegas. The hotel was nice and very free. All my drinks were free. I spent $40 gambling, saw a concert for $25 and other than dinner and breakfast, didn’t pay for anything else. I don’t know that I’d ever want to go for two nights in a row–it doesn’t feel like you’re doing Vegas right unless you go out and dance and drink, but I am past the point of being able to manage that multiple nights in a row. I could barely handle it then. Kesha didn’t come on until 1:30 and I was SO proud for making it!

(source for feature photo)