Viva Las Vegas #5: The Strip

"There's just no quiet in Vegas."  ~Barry Manilow

So after two nights of totally showing us up, the old people were FINALLY tired and decided not to go out and leave The Strip to the young ones.  That meant that we young ones had big shoes to fill....because I'm telling y'all, our parents are crazy! 

The young ones.

Now, because the old people didn't go out, that meant that my two teenage cousins and Little Hepburn, also a teenager, needed a chaparone.  Enter....me.  Yes folks, that's right.  I took three teenagers out on the strip.  Not going to lie, I was a bit nervous....particularly because I knew that Mama Hepburn and Uncle Black Belt would kill me if I lost their daughters!  I totally had a flash of wanting one of those little backpack deals that is like a leash for your children. 

Me and the kids.

Because the Mayweather Cotto fight had just ended and it was Cinco de Mayo, our cab driver said that this was some of the worst traffic he had seen in Vegas. He was totally the cabbie you want on the Amazing Race--swerving in and out of lanes, driving down the turn lane only to zip back in, and there may have been a sidewalk incident--but he got us to The Bellagio just in time for the last fountain show of the evening.

After the water show at the Bellagio, we headed for the Eiffel Tower with plans to go up to the top.  We barely made it, we were the last group sent up.  If you are ever in Vegas, this is a must-do at night.  The view of the strip and all of the lights was incredible.  Turns out, however, Soldier Cousin is terrified of heights.  A fact that he disclosed about halfway up in the elevator.  Poor kid would not let go of the guardrail.  It was pretty hilarious.

Then we just randomly walked around the strip for a while enjoying the chaos. During this time is when I received my marriage proposal from the drunk Italian man. This is actually the second time this happened to me....in Rome one day a t-shirt vendor asked me to marry him and live with him in Italy forever....I seriously contemplated saying yes. Anyway, back to the Vegas proposal. We were walking up to the Venecian when we see two guys standing with a girl who was peeing on the sidewalk. Classy, I know. The one guy must have though I looked like a rat because he started saying, "I so sorry, I so sorry!" I just said, "No worries. When you gotta go, you gotta go." And that's when he looked at me, pointed, and said, "I want to marry you." Romantic, no? Then he sort of stumbled off. Just like that, dream over. No billboard for this girl.  Yet. :)

After we walked all around, and learned that we were not going to be able to see an Elvis wedding that night (bucket list item remains not checked off), we decided that breakfast was in store, so we ended up at Peppermill, a cute little diner somewhere between the Venecian and Circus Circus.  I kept getting thrown off by people saying, "good morning" but then realized it was 3:00 am.  At this point I turn to the kids and asked if anyone had a curfew we were breaking.  Since it has been YEARS since I have had to worry about that, I totally forgot.  They assured me that it was fine.  And we all know teenagers are honest about that kind of thing.  Phew.

Me and my "little" cousins.

Finally at the end of the night/morning (with about 3 hours before the shuttle took us to the airport) I had managed to get all three kids home safe and sound, not accept the marriage proposal, and almost have to break up a fight in the hotel lobby.  Viva Las Vegas, I say!

Stay tuned tomorrow for my final Viva Las Vegas blog summarizing the whole experience.