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Feeling Like An Adult
Time to party! It’s November of 2022. My Squad member Emmy just turned 21. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than a trip to Vegas! This was my first time back since April 2022 when I visited for the BTS concerts (That Purple Feeling). Emmy and me. Our first trip together and we are ecstatic to explore Sin City.
After a nonstop flight to Vegas, it was only 8 am when we landed. We were hungry! As an MGM Rewards member, I was able to check into the Delano hotel early, but we had a short wait for our room. We sat down to eat at Della’s Kitchen. They call it “historic farmhouse meets urban kitchen” and that’s exactly how the food tasted. Emmy ordered biscuits and gravy with a side of bacon while I ordered the eggs and grits. An order of the Della’s mimosas was a must to start this trip right. During breakfast, we talked about how we couldn’t believe we were finally on a trip together after being friends for 10 years. “We are adults, Emmy! In Vegas!” I remember saying. Whatever that means. At least we knew that on this trip, we could experience stuff only adults get to do. That’s exciting!
We settled in the hotel room and after a quick power nap, headed down to the Mandalay Bay casino to watch football at the BetMGM Sportsbook. We enjoyed a bucket of beer while watching the great and kind of hilarious atmosphere of men (and some women) yelling at the big screens celebrating their team scoring a touchdown. This was Vegas, and already we had the right vibe.
For a different Vegas vibe, we made reservations at S Bar. This low lit bar with low tables and chairs has some of the best cocktails and food. Even though we didn’t order any cocktails, we still enjoyed the cool vibe with a charcuterie board paired with wine. We had great service (and a cute waiter) that made this dinner even more memorable. I highly recommend the lobster mac and cheese!
After S Bar, we decided to walk the strip instead of taking the complementary trams. Being full of delicious food and walking in heels was not a smart combination, but I just went with it. It’s really cool to walk the strip by going through all of the casinos. Each casino has a different feel. As we were walking through the Excalibur, we were approached by some guys from the Netherlands. They asked us if we wanted to join them at Johnny Rockets. Of course we did!
The night was really fun. We sang Happy Birthday to one of them and ate some of their fries. I asked them about how it was living in the Netherlands and mentioned that I was planning a trip to Amsterdam in 2023 (travel post coming soon). I discovered that they thought our American accents were the hardest to understand. We understood them easily. The rest of the world works hard to communicate with Americans, I realized. This made me want to work harder to learn other languages so I can connect more easily with the rest of the world.
Paris and Clubbing In Vegas
We had a slow start to our first full day with some Starbucks and Emmy writing a paper for school. I never knew she was so good at writing papers! It was strange to learn that about her in a Vegas hotel room.
One of my favorite lunch spots in Vegas is the Noodle Shop in Mandalay Bay. We ordered food and ate it in the room before getting ready to head to the Paris Hotel and Casino. If you can’t see the Eiffel Tower in Paris, there’s one right on the strip of Vegas! The inside of the Paris casino and hotel is beautiful! The ceiling is painted like the sky and makes it look like you are walking through the streets of Paris (but Paris, France doesn’t have slot machines everywhere 😂).
The Mon Ami Gabi is a French restaurant that serves French bistro classics. We ordered steak frites and roast chicken grand-mère. We told the waiter that we were celebrating Emmy’s birthday and she got a free dessert. Nothing like ending a dinner with some profiteroles (also known as chou à la crème or cream puffs).
Did you know that there is a Broadway show in Vegas? Yes, there’s the Bat Out of Hell! performance in the Paris casino. I grew up listening to Meatloaf because of my parents so I knew almost every song in the musical. The performers are amazing and the singing is beautiful. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled in the beginning of 2023 and I hope they bring it back!
After the show, it was club time. Usually to get into clubs, there is a cover fee. To make sure to get into a club for free, I recommend using No Cover Nightclubs. It’s a website that I used to get in the Foundation Room. This club is a rooftop lounge that is an extension of the House of Blues. Emmy and I got two complimentary drinks each and enjoyed Vodka Cranberries aka Cape Cods while looking out over the Vegas strip. The view was gorgeous. We could see almost all of Vegas! Every song played in the club was the right vibe for the night. Dance is my strongest connection to Emmy. I felt it that connection as we danced the night away!
We continued the night walking down the strip until we got stopped in the Park MGM casino. Emmy and I got invited by a promoter for the On the Record club. It’s decorated with vinyls and cassette tapes all on the walls and has a hidden room, or speakeasy, behind a door of cassette tapes. The music was more of a hip hop style which was a great experience for Emmy and me. We like to pretend to be rappers in the club. To wind down after a great club experience, we found a roulette machine and chatted about our trip so far.
Uniquely Vegas
The next day, I spent my morning in the hotel gym while Emmy slept in. Stopping by Starbucks after was a perfect way to celebrate a much needed workout. After waking Emmy up, we headed to New York New York to ride The Big Apple roller coaster. Las Vegas really does have everything! This roller coaster is a must-do every time I visit Vegas. With a loopty-loop and spins, it feels like I’m at an adult amusement park. Maybe I’ll build that amazing park of all coasters someday. Roller coasters are my jam.
Did you know that there is a Taco Bell Cantina right in the middle of the Vegas strip? I first mentioned this in That Purple Feeling. I had to show Emmy. We ordered lunch and large Baja Blast Freezes which you can add any kind of alcohol to! Feeling good and fuzzy, it was time to get ready to head towards the north(ish) part of the strip for the dinner I have been waiting for!
Battista’s Hole In the Wall restaurant is a hidden gem near the Vegas strip. One of my mom’s co-workers mentioned this restaurant to me and said that we had to experience it. We made a reservation early since it is usually very crowded. They offer you complementary house wine, soup or salad, garlic bread, a side pasta dish, and cappuccino at the end. The menu is simple but they have amazing options to choose from. Emmy and I spent this time at dinner talking about our friendship. From hanging out back in high school to the future travel adventures we want to go on together.
Since the restaurant is way down the strip from the Delano, we walked around the Flamingo casino to see the older side of Vegas. We didn’t visit the actual old town Las Vegas so this was the closest we could get. The Flamingo is the 4th oldest hotel and casino in Vegas. It took us back in time to the 1940s/50s. Feather girls still walk around the casino. We shopped in the Flamingo gift shop and RuPaul’s Werkroom shop (there is also a RuPaul’s Drag Race live show too). This is the Vegas vibe that I wanted to experience. The one that shows visitors why the city is notorious. It’s awesome!
Irish Breakfast and Chocolate Cake Shots
We finished off this trip by eating brunch at Rí Rá Irish Pub. Of course we ordered an Irish coffee even though it is not my favorite drink. It’s a tradition for me to drink one every time because it does start my day off right 😂. Emmy and I both enjoyed eggs benedict while laughing about how great we are on trips and that we are already excited for the next one. The waitress surprised us with a shot. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, right? This wasn’t a normal shot though, it’s called a chocolate cake shot. There was no burning after taste of alcohol and it was SO DELICIOUS!
The rest of this last day was spent gambling at the Mandalay Bay casino. Sometimes it’s doing the little things and enjoying the atmosphere around us that makes a trip so memorable. Unfortunately, we didn’t win big on the slot machines but that’s okay. We were cry laughing about something random while drinking our Michelob Ultras. It was that kind of laughing that ended up being the funny thing instead of the actual funny thing. That’s how awesome our connection is.
My friendship with Emmy grew a lot stronger on this trip and we will go on many more adventures together. Stay tuned for all of those. I’m so grateful that my life has turned into one that has room for the amazing friendship I have with Emmy. When the connection is strong, the conversation just picks up wherever it needs to and the support we show each other is endless. No matter where this mysterious life takes me, Emmy is riding shotgun. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
Catch you on the Vegas strip next time?
Check out “Viva Las Vegas” on the Poems page!
Check out my Youtube vlog of our Las Vegas experience!
Discover more from That Twenty-Something Vibe
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