Vegas baby

Four AM on Monday, 12/26, we were up and off to the airport for our 6AM flight to Vegas.  It was an easy flight and we were thankful for the chauffeur service of my dad too!  

Check out this view when the sun started to rise.  So pretty!!!

If you can do math quick in your head, we left at 6:05AM KC time, it was about a 2 hour flight and we landed in Vegas at what time Vegas time??  Yep - 7:15AM.  If you have ever been to Vegas you know that pretty much no one is awake at that time.  However, we were operating like it was 9:15AM, so we hit up the breakfast buffet at our hotel, Treasure Island, after we dropped our bags off.  It was empty and delicious.  Perfect way to start the day. 

Our hotel was conveniently connected to the Fashion Show Mall on the Vegas strip, so since it was the day after Christmas, holding to Bruns girl style, I convinced Jimmy that we should head over there and check out some sales.  I ended up buying a black coat at Macy's which was by far the best purchase of the whole trip because the weather in Vegas and night was COLD and I was not prepared for that.  For $34 and a coat that I can wear in KC - I'll take it.

So what to do after that?  Well - we couldn't get into our hotel room until around 11 or 12 Vegas time, so it was off to the strip we went to explore other hotels and give Jimmy a chance to see Vegas.

I think this is in the Mirage.  Such cool flowers!

Mirage Christmas decor

The Venetian aka Vegas Paris

Jimmy's favorite TV show by far is Seinfeld and guess what?  He was in town the same 2 nights we were doing stand up at Caesar's Palace.  We didn't get each other Christmas presents for that reason because we knew we would be spending some $$ on our vacation - so that was Jimmy's big present.  Tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld on Monday night!  That also meant we got to take a tour around Caesar's Palace to pick up some tickets. 

Me in front of the fountain at Caesar's (I promise I eventually showered)

We hit up a Thai place at Bally's (after searching all over the strip for Thai) for lunch - it was delicious!

After a quick nap, we got dressed for Jerry's show!  It was at 7:30, so we ate some appetizers before the show and then headed there. It was hilarious - we both really enjoyed it.  I have to say some of the people around us that were laughing so hard might have been the funniest part of the show.  Then randomly these people got in a huge fight in front of us and stormed out - awkward.  And with how expensive the tickets were, I am pretty sure you couldn't pay me to leave at that point.  People are nuts.

Before the show in our hotel room!

Jimmy's dream come true!

The next morning, my body and sleep schedule were still operating 2 hours ahead of Vegas time, so of course I was up bright and early and ready to explore the strip more.  Jimmy was not that excited, but when I told him we could hit up Denny's first - he was in. Ha ha.  So after hitting up Denny's and using the 20% coupon I found in the visitor's guide (always looking for a deal...), we took a cab ALL the way down the other end of the strip from where we were staying and started at the Mandalay Bay hotel.  I had done some early morning research and they highly recommended the shark reef.  Even knowing that Jimmy is deathly afraid of ocean animals, I made him walk all the way there with me.  And take this picture.  Gosh he must really like me, looking back on this trip.

So then we got there and it was not open until 11AM.  Guess that's how most people in Vegas roll.  Nope, we were there around 9AM.  And it was $18/each. Ok, pass.  Oh well.  We did walk by this pool. And were sad that we weren't there in the summer time and couldn't take advantage of all of these that Vegas had to offer!!

He was mad I was taking random pictures that he wasn't in them.  Here is a picture of the Mandalay Bay.  And Jimmy.  And his peace sign.

Then we made our way to the Luxor.  And were completely fascinated about the window washer at the very TOP of the pyramid.  I'm glad that's not my job.  Really glad.

Once we were in the Luxor, we were immediately stopped by someone in there and they tried to give us free stuff.  So we took the bait and went over to this lady and started talking to her about all the awesome stuff they will give us by JUST going to a FREE lunch at one of their new hotels just off the strip.  Yep, they were just trying to get people there to see it and they will bus us there for free.  For doing that (free lunch and free ride), they will give us free dinner and show tickets.  Here was the catch.   Lunch wasn't until like 2PM.  And we had to leave from the Luxor.  I was totally in.  We even gave her our IDs (not sure why??).  But then I stopped myself.  Because guess what?  The whole point of this vacation was that we have NO plans.  And we didn't know where we would be at 2PM.  So I said no and walked away.  And then walking into the Excaliber hotel, we were stopped again.  I said no again. And then as we were crossing the bridge over to the New York, New York hotel....stopped again.  And this time promised a bigger and better deal.  We could even bring friends (yep, had no friends in Vegas).  And I said no again...and Jimmy and I walked away.  Really, Brittany saying "no" THREE times to someone that is not Jimmy.  I would say we'll chalk that up as a great start to 2012, even though it took place in late 2011.  Very proud.  Now, not so happy that we ended up paying for tickets to a show...but I was glad we got to eat lunch where we wanted to and use our buy one get one free dinner buffet coupon. (I'm so cool)

Anyways - here I am after saying no three times and on our way to the New York, New York, which was Jimmy's favorite hotel on the strip AND where I hit it big with penny slots!!! YES!!

And in front of the statue of liberty!

Next we headed over the bridge to the MGM hotel.  Because I read about this awesome lion habitat that you can look at.

And guess what???  It was closed - because we were there too early.  That seems to be a trend, huh?

And onward we walked.  I think this was in the Aria?  Or the Cosmopolitan?  I can't remember - I think the Aria.  Check out all those jewels in the sky/air.  Awesome!!!

Then we had to make the obligatory stop at the Bellagio hotel.  And took a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower in the background.  Ah - we were happy to be in some nice weather!!!

And with the beautiful Christmas decor that was still up - Jimmy got someone to snap a picture of us in front of the beautiful tree!

And a shot of the hotel later that night...while catching the fountain show!!

So what did we do in between the day and night?  Jimmy placed a bet at the sports book at Caesar's Palace on a couple bowl games.  Walked back to Treasure Island and I took a quick nap while he gambled some more. Then I went over and bought some tickets to the Vegas Variety Show at Planet Hollywood hotel.  We hit up the buffet at Treasure Island before the line got too long (I mean, I bet some people waited in line for like 2 hours.  Seriously?!?!?).  Got ready to go and headed to the show.  While we were waiting in line to get in, Jimmy realized that he lost his ticket that he had won from betting on the two bowl games and winning.  Major fail.  That meant that after the show we walked back over the Caesar's Palace to talk to them because he had the information from a picture he took of his ticket on his phone (thank goodness he randomly did that).  Well the sports book closed at 11PM, so he waited in the cashier line.  No such luck.  Had to wait until 8AM the next day.  And so we left and off to bed we went.

We were up early because we had originally planned to get up super early and drive straight to DisneyLand, but then changed our plans.  We still picked up the rental car and checked out very early and had some breakfast at IHOP (can you tell we are breakfast people?) away from the strip.  When 8AM hit I drove Jimmy back to to Caesar's Palace to talk to someone there.  Well, he did but then the manager disappeared until like 9:30.  With no where to park in Vegas when you are waiting, I just drove to a local outlet mall and sat in the parking lot.  At this point, I was READY to get out of Vegas. But we waited and finally he text messaged me around 9:45 and said he was able to fill out a lost ticket form because he had all the information and they will just send him the winnings.  Yeah.  And let's get the heck out....our luck had run out.

OFF TO LA, THROUGH THE DESERT WE WENT.....