December 22, 2003
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December 2003 Las Vegas, Nevada
Last year this time, I was getting hitched in Las Vegas. I highly recommend Vegas weddings. I adore my friend Claire, but after being maid of honor at her wedding and seeing all the crap you have to do to plan a wedding, I am really glad Matt and I did it in Vegas.
Weddings are boring affairs. You are forced to sit for an hour in some church in clothes that are usually too tight, and which you’ll hafta get dry cleaned afterwards. In outdoor weddings, there’s always the chance you’ll get the seat that’s in the sun for the whole hour, after which your neck is sunburned, but not the rest of you. Or as in Claire’s wedding, it’ll start to rain and you’ll be helping people carry chairs inside in your nice dress that you paid $250 for.
The only good thing about weddings is the reception. Good food, good friends, and partying. I like going to parties. I refuse to throw them.
When I landed in Vegas, I needed to get to the Stratosphere. As soon as I step out with my suitcase, some guy in a suit offers me a limo. “How much is it?” I ask. “$70,” he says, casually. Like, what the hell do I look like? A fucking movie star? No way am I paying a fucking $70 to get to a hotel.
“Don’t you guys have a shuttle?”
“Yeah, to your left.”
The shuttle costs about $4.50 one way. I bought a round trip ticket.
The only “downside” is that you stop at a lot of different hotels along the way, but I don’t consider that a downside. It’s really more of a free tour of the city. Plus, I met a really nice lady from Louisiana who told me the story of how she had to take off her knee high boots at security check, which meant she almost had to take off her jeans, since they were covering her boots. Fortunately, she was able to get them off by squishing them to her ankles.
The pictures above were taken from the balcony of the Venetian hotel, of which one of my high school classmates Jen was part of the architectural team.
I love the taxi drivers in Vegas. Everyone that I’ve met has always been really nice.
But to be honest, the cheapest and best way to get around the Strip is. . . the bus. The 301 bus runs up and down the Las Vegas Strip for only $2. Don’t forget to ask the bus driver for a transfer ticket when you get on the bus, because the transfers last about 3 hours.
