Lazy Las Vegas

This weekend my husband and I (and my father-in-law) drove to Las Vegas for a Karate Championship. I really wasn't looking forward to it. I'm not a Vegas person. I think it's dirty and full of people trying to live the Vegas motto "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" to the limit. ...but as a loving wife, I went and it was nice to have a short get away from our daily routine.

The trip started off with my mother-in-law freaking out about our hotel. When we picked up Jeff's dad we told them where Jeff and I would be staying... the El Cortez hotel... which was followed by a few minutes of extreme warnings about the quality of our hotel choice... which according to her was in the worst part of town, frequented by druggies and whores, and complimented by an extremely unsafe parking garage. Jeff and I had read tons of reviews on tons of hotels and for the price, the reviews could not be beat. But we're much more inclined to trust the opinion of people we know... And so we started to worry. (We've had bad hotel experiences before... In March we went to San Diego and got a grey deal on America's Best Value Inn.. Which turned out to have no value, and instead was a dirty dingy tiny room with puke on the stairs and blood on the floor... But that's a whole different story).

The drive was long and it was intermittently spent worrying about our hotel. Our worrying was only made worse when we made it to Jeff's uncle's house, where Uncle Greg confirmed the impression left by Jeff's mom.

The pitstop bathrooms were either horrible... no toilet paper, dirty floors, walls, mirrors, & counters or fantastic, clean, and tidy.

We didn't get to the hotel until after 10pm. And we were very relieved. It was much nicer than expected. The El Cortez was owned by Bugsy Siegel (Las Vegas mobster) back in the day, and we stayed in a vintage queen room that was one of the original rooms from Bugsy's time. The room was smaller, but had been tastefully redecorated recently. It was clean and comfortable (although the floor creaked slightly) and even had little toiletries (which earns a hotel major points in my book ;] ). To make it even cooler there was a traditional barber on the floor of our rooms (right above the casino) and jeff got his haircut from him!

The parking garage was well lit, safe, and overlooked a crazy art piece that lit up at night!


Friday we spent most of the day hanging out and watching the Karate seminars. I mostly don't understand it so I took some pictures, played on my phone, read a couple magazines, and lost myself in rabbit trails of thoughts. By the end of the day I felt pretty lazy, like I hadn't done anything (which was partially true, but at the same time I was being a loving and supportive wife so I suppose that counters some of the laziness feeling).

We ate dinner at the best sushi place ever. If you're ever in Vegas go to Wayne's Sushi Bar (inside Shilla Korean BBQ, near the Palace Station). The place is run by Wayne (a Mr. Miyagi look-alike from Hawaii) and his wife. They make amazing sushi and their conversation makes you feel like you've web good friend for years. To make it even better they take turns singing you karaoke (and they can really sing) and then offer the karaoke mic to the customers.

Saturday Jeff and I had breakfast at Blueberry Hill. Normally Jeff gets the man breakfast and I get the sweet & frilly breakfast, but for whatever reason I was craving ham and eggs and Jeff went for blueberry crepes. Everything was delicious, and neither of us could finish everything on our plates.


We did a little shopping (I got jeans on clearance for $6 and a shirt for $5!!!!!) and then headed to Uncle Greg's to meet up for some karate time. Karate time turned into 3 hrs of discussion on conspiracy theories (and I didn't have my computer to work on something else while they were busy, :/ ).

After dinner we raced go-karts at the Las Vegas Mini Grand Prix. I kicked butt and had a blast the first time, but got stuck with a really crappy cart the second time. When I got back to our room I had exhaust ash all over my face!!! (ew!)


Later that night Jeff and I walked down Fremony street to the Fremont street experience.. A huge outdoor mall covered with a huge LCD screen thingy that plays various art/video/music compilations. It was crowded, but we walked around and even saw a ton of look alike actors and Elvis!


Sunday the guys did some Kenpo and visited Jeff Speakman's studio and then we headed home, through the wide open Nevada landscape and on-off rain.


Overall, there were lots of fun parts, but I'm just not a Vegas person. I don't really care for the sights and sounds and scene... so I'm really glad to be home, in my own bed, in my quiet little town. ;]