Childhood Dreams in Vegas
The decision to head to Vegas was a simple one. My best friend, and long time follow Britney Spears fan, Kate, had finally turned 21 recently (as had Michael), and Britney had just announced the next leg of her Vegas residency. Knowing full well that neither Michael, nor Kate had been to Vegas since they could actually do anything there, and the fact that I'd only spent about a day and a half there previously, I proposed a trip.
So, on January 12 Michael and I hopped on our Frontier flight from Chicago and headed to Vegas to meet Kate, who had flown in from Virginia. We weren't going to waste any time. We arrived at the hotel and promptly mapped the nearest CVS to buy the alcohol for our five-night stay. Being that our flights arrived around 11pm, we actually didn't get to bed until about 4am (6am Michael's & my time, 7am Kate's time). This wasn't the best way to kick off a trip, as we spent the rest of the trip exhausted and didn't accomplish as much as we'd expected we would. Our sleep schedules were damaged beyond repair after staying up that first night.
The following day, January 13, was the big day. We'd booked our big, bad, $110 back row seats to Britney Spears' Piece of Me. This was a big deal to both Kate, and I. She'd pulled back pictures of her six-year-old-self rocking an Oops, I Did It Again... era t-shirt, while I had reflected on the time I called KISS FM repeatedly for days for the Circus Tour tickets that I'd never receive. To prepare for our night, we obviously needed a few drinks, so we dropped by Fat Tuesday for some refillable cups (that would go on to be filled five more times) and started to get ready... or, Michael and I sat around for an hour and a half watching Kate get ready. Unfortunately, the buzz would wear off, thanks to NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINKS and the Vegas famous prices of $13 shots in the venue lobby.
Sadly, Britney did not live up to our wildest dreams. We knew she was a world-famous lip-syncher, but we'd hoped her choreography and theatrics would make up for it. We believe she did not sing a single word of the 90-minute show and she actually did about 40% of the intense choreography that her dancers did. But, what I will say is that, while our seats were last row, there was not a bad seat in the house, and it was still a great time to hear 15 years of fun music being performed with a theatre full of other long-time fans.
So, one childhood dream. Check. Time for the next. Another thing that Kate and I have always loved is the movie Titanic. This is probably one of the biggest roots in our friendship. While I'm not sure of the origins of her love for the movie, mine began probably around age six. I will always remember the look on my mom's face as she sent me to my room while Titanic was on, and I only agreed to go if she called me back out when "the naked part" came on. She didn't. However, Kate and I shared dozens of car rides singing "My Heart Will Go On" on full blast, leaving our vocal cords aching, which was nothing new for me. I would also sing this song at karaoke parties frequently. My mom even got the staff of one bar to let me in for just one song so that I could perform "My Heart" for them. Anyway, learning that the Titanic Artifact Exhibit was in the lobby of the VERY HOTEL WE WERE STAYING AT was really exciting for both the friend that had himself drawn like a French girl wearing the Heart of the Ocean (and only this), and the friend that received it for her 20th birthday (I'm talking about me and Kate).
This museum gave us a glimpse of real artifacts from the ship, such as china, knick-knaks, and even "the Big Piece," a huge piece of one outside wall of the ship. Along the way, we followed the journeys of real passengers that were assigned to us, ultimately finding out if they lived or died in the Titanic's demise. We even got to see an exact replica of the grand staircase, and the opportunity to touch a mock iceberg that was the same temperature as the one from that fateful night.
While we had left the museum, our adventure hadn't stopped there. Kate spotted a Titanic slot machine and said it was fate that we play. I gave myself $100 cash to spend on gambling for the trip, and so far, I was only down $20. So, after spinning twice and quickly winning $4 on this machine, I decided I was satisfied and got up. Kate sat down at the same machine and won $300 in a matter of minutes. I guess I'm not so lucky, after all.
All in all, even though I am now 23, my childhood came out on this trip. Though, there were plenty of adult things, too. Like the topless Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity, that we saw, or this picture of me and Nicki Minaj at Madame Tussaud's.
By the way, yes, Michael was still there for all of this. He just quietly had fun while Kate and I relived our childhood (which was really only the first two days). And as usual, Vegas was a 10/10 overall, with lots of In-N-Out Burger.