70 Hours in Vegas

There was absolutely no way I was passing up an opportunity to see Omar Apollo & Daniel Caesar perform in The Garden.

Day One

YYZ --> SLC --> LAS

Last minute packing

Boarding

Dinner

Night one accommodations - Excalibur

Breakfast & Swimming

We left Excalibur and headed for Vdara Hotel & Spa pretty soon after we woke up. We made it just in time for breakfast (which took forever BTW). I got blueberry pancakes and lemonade and Dash got Eggs Benedict and (My dad probably got some sort of egg white omelette and hot water with lemon). My dad had to leave for work half way through so he left Dash and I to finish breakfast. Literally, five seconds after we finished, the Lakers summer league team checked into the hotel. Dash accidentally broke a plate when he got up to see them.

We had some time to kill before my mom's flight got in, so we got changed and headed down to the pool. (We were too lazy to go over to the bigger pool at Aria Casino & Resort). Dash packed aerosol sunscreen which was snatched by airport security, so we had to buy some by the pool (it was like 40 USD and left a grey tint). I brought The Celebrants, but I only read about five pages before I Dash finally got me to get in the water.

After swimming, we went back to our room to get ready for the rest of the day, but our key was desensitized. We went back down to get a new one, but the lady at the desk said she couldn't help me without ID. Of course, my wallet was in the room so she sent security to escort us up. I was so nervous that I completely disregarded the spare key on the table and left without it. I had to wait in line when we got back down, but wehn it was finally my turn, the lady said there was nothing she could do because my name wasn't on the room and I wasn't 21. I called my dad to fill him in on the whole debacle and he added my name to the room. After going back and forth a few times and getting no where, we wre about to cut our losses when my dad said to try again. By the grace of God, we got helped by a different lady behind the desk and she didin't care that I was 21 because my name was on the room. After two hours running around the hotel in our swim suits, it was nice to finally be able to shower and put on actual clothes.

Tourism Moment - Horseshoe, Ben & Jerry's, New York-New York

My mom got to the hotel not long after the room key drama. We filled her in on the whole thing and then plotted our next move. We still had some time before my dad could meet us for dinner. I saw an Ad for a Ben & Jerry's flavour that I'd never seen before (Marshmallow Sky) and made the executive decision that we needed to go to a scoops shop immediately. I google maps'd the closest location but didn't feel confident in my directiobnal abilities, so I asked a bell-hop for assistance. He said it was MUCH farther than what I had thought and suggested we take a cab instead of walk. I wasn't completely sure he was thinking of the right place, but who was I as a tourist to correct someone who's literal job is to give directions. We had to ask directions a few more times after getting out of the cab, and as we got closer to the destination, I knew something was off. We were directed to a Ben & Jerry's, but it wasn't the right one. That location didn't have what I was looking for and the employee looked depressed, so we walked to the location I had originally looked up. Of course, that location didn't have it either, but they had a much better selection.

After ice cream, we walked around Horseshoe and then met up with my dad for dinner at ShakeShack. There was a Target across the street, but they didn't have books or music so it was a flop.

Morning - Back to New York-New York

Day Two

CODE launch

The whole reason we went to Vegas in the first place was to support my dad at the launch of CODE, Gentry Humphrey's latest shoe venture which my dad played a major role in getting off the ground. All we had been hearing for months was CODE, CODE, CODE, so of course, we wanted to be there when it was finally introduced to the world. The event was pretty cool! Especially because special guests Morris Chestnut and Ray Allen made an appearance. We pretty much went to bed right after dinner.

Salt Lake City sunset

SLC layover

Take-off queue

landed

Day Three

My mom, brother and I went to Denny's for breakfast (my dad had to leave super early for work). We stopped at Marshall's while we were waiting for a table, and let me just say that some of the deals were INSANE. Canadians are getting scammed for real. It took all of my will power not to buy 1394804 graphic tees. After breakfast, we went to Adidas and then back to the hotel to get ready for the CODE launch.

Day Four

NBA Summer League

Our last day in Vegas was spent watching basketball. The first game we saw was Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics. We were there early to make sure we got good seats. As we were finding a spot, I saw Jaime Jaquez Jr. sitting on the bench and pointed him out to my mom. I never thought I would be able to meet him, let alone get a picture (I was more than satisfied by just seeing him from a few feet away) but my mom somehow finessed and I got my picture. (Sorry to that security guard that we evaded!)

We all ate together at the airport lounge, but then went our separate ways when it was time to go to the gate (my mom was on a different flight). My brother and I took a detour to Auntie Anne's because he told me he'd never had it before and I couldn't let him go home without trying the best pretzels ever. The pretzel bites ATE, but the blue raspberry lemonade made me sick. Thankfully we were on a direct flight because otherwise, I probably wouldn't have made it in time for the brunch plans the next morning (I had like maybe 4 hours to sleep and get ready). Also, sorry to Selener, but Marci was THE originator of the blanket meme.

Another super fun last-minute trip in the books! I LOVE VEGAS! Even though I probably won't be able to go back for the third time in a row (I went for the first time last spring), I hope I'm able to return sooner rather than later.

LAS --> YYZ