Vegas (again!)
If you’re sick of my Vegas posts, lo siento kids! But, I promise this is my last one (until Sept of this year b/c we’re taking Craig’s sister there for her 21st birthday!).
My last trip to Vegas was November 2003 for a friend’s wedding. Sara and Bret (high school friends) live in Hawaii, so when they decided to marry, they picked Vegas as their destination for the big day. I couldn’t have been happier. After all, Vegas and I have a great track record and this trip would prove to be no different.
While most of our friends decided to stay at the Mirage, I stayed at the Ho. I couldn’t afford $200/night, so I opted for the $60/night at the Ho which I split with Laura.
Ok, some background on my friends.
Martha, Laura, and I were part of a “group” in high school. We weren’t the preppies that were too good for everyone else; our “group” was pretty much the welcome wagon for high schoolers. New to the area? Come on in, we’ll break you in and get you on your mighty way into the halls of OTHS. If you were semi-entertaining and didn’t do drugs or drink, you were more than welcome to hang out with us. We didn’t do drugs, per se. We did, though, stage a drug night in which we convinced Laura to take a hit of the bowl….which, of course, was essentially oregano and some pepper. She eventually caught on, but in the meantime, she provided some much talked about entertainment.
Martha is the sarcastic one, Laura is the wanna-be gangsta, and I am…….somewhere in between.
So now the three of us are in Vegas together. Lord help us all.
At the wedding, we’re seated with friends of Saras from Hawaii (Sara is a some kind of nuclear engineer, I think- so all of her friends are presuambly super intelligent scientists). We’re given table #69. Let the party begin.
Patrick, Martha’s husband, is the first to consume a little too much early on in the evening, and when the videographer comes around and asks what song comes to mind when we think of the lovely couple, Patrick looks right into the camera and says “Put it in your mouth.” (if you’re not a Laura Gangsta, then you may not know that that refers to a rap song which describes certain lude acts). I’m sure thats exactly what they want on their wedding video.
The night got more and more fun. We bonded with the Hawaiian friends we dined with and became especially fond of Ryan (the very cheery man in the middle below).
With the bar being right next to our table, we all enjoyed our fair share of beverages. The wedding was a mid-afternoon ceremony and reception, so afterwards, a group of us decided to head back to the strip and hang out. Not sure what made us think of this, but someone thought it would be a great idea to ride the roller coaster at New York New York (seen as the red winding coaster in the picture below)
The girls and I handled it well, Ryan on the other hand, upchucked several times in the bushes outside the exit to the coaster. Uh, sorry dude.
Overall, another very successful trip. What I enjoy about Vegas is each trip was very different for me; even when I went with the same people, we created great memories each and every time.
Unfortunately, in November 2005, the Westward Ho closed it doors for good. Needless to say, Polly and I shared several emotional phone calls, and have realized that future trips will not only cost more, but won’t be nearly as fun to recall b/c they won’t include stories that center around staying in the Upper Rear of the Ho.
Long Live Las Vegas!
Cheers to my girls
Correction: everyone else stayed at the Monte Carlo (see the picture from previous post of Patrick longing for the naked statue). We were at table 6, but turned our number over to make it a 9 because we thought they would tell people to cut off table 6. Thus, we became table 69.
I personally enjoyed how our table was the only group to get out and dance…and look like we were having fun, particularly our dance moves to the ever-popular “Mmmm Bop” by Hansen. Note - we were so much fun, the DJ told us to come back out to Vegas for his 21st birthday! He probably played “Put it in Your Mouth” at that party
Special thanks to Sara’s parents for the shuttle from the reception site back to the strip, and to Vegas for the public transportation up and down the strip. It wouldn’t have been nearly as fun if we had to drive ourselves.
And for the wanna big Ganstas…here is a link to the words to the poetic “Put it in Your Mouth” by Akinyele. http://www.lyricsdepot.com/akinyele/put-it-in-your-mouth.html
Comment by Martha | March 24, 2006
M. Fraffel- this is why I’m glad you make comments- it’s no secret that my memory is ~terrible~
I totally forgot about “mmmm Bop.” We def. carried the dance floor crowd at that reception.
Maybe we should sell our wedding reception services to others. Several friends of mine expressed concern during the planning stages of their wedding that people wouldn’t dance at their reception, and therefore, it may not be as fun. Every wedding that Martha and I have graced with our presence has been largely successful (now, I’m sure most of that is due to a large number of other factors, but I like to *think* it’s b/c of us). Instead of being wedding crashers, we could be wedding makers.
We can talk to a wall, so you’ve solved the problem of who’s going to occupy Aunt Nellie. We get people who normally wouldn’t drink to consume an appropriate amount of alcohol as to make sure they enjoy the party as much as we do. We dress nicely, but never too much as to take away from the bride. We’re courteous, so we’ve got the parental approval factor doing on.
Seriously, Martha, let’s consider this business adventure for the future.
Comment by Jessica | March 24, 2006