For the majority of my collegiate career at Western Illinois University, I often frowned upon the fact that I have never been to a state outside of the Midwest.

While places like Idaho, Iowa, Wisconsin, and even my hometown Chicago are nice places filled with scenery and historic landmarks, I always wanted to see what other regions in the United States had to offer.

On spring breaks, I would watch my Snapchat story and see college students alike bask in the joy of states such as Florida, Texas, or California. I yearned for the day I could enjoy such a youthful, collegiate atmosphere filled with a “NO WORRIES” mentality.

Fortunate enough, my pipe dream would become a reality in just a few short months as my mother tells my family at-random that we’re going to Las Vegas, Nevada in the following August of 2018.

Yes, LAS VEGAS. 

The Airplane

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas
Flying contraption … THE AIRPLANE.

 

I’m so excited for Las Vegas that I picked up two jobs over the summer to compensate for all of the money I’d spend during my time in SIN CITY. So excited that I forgot that I’d never been on an airplane in my life and that it was one of my grave fears … still is to this day.

My family and I end up checking in at Chicago’s Midway Airport where we go through TSA customs and BOOM … 

I have my first ever meeting with a gigantic flying contraption that I’d been terrified of my entire life.

Feelings were surreal at this moment. As I am boarding the plane, I’m looking behind me to decide if this is something I really want to indulge in.

Of course NOT, but it’s Vegas … no way I sit at home in the Southside of Chicago thinking of what could’ve been.

F*ck em, we ball!

As I strap myself to my seat, I happen to notice my family is laughing at me, a 22-year-old grown ass man afraid of airplanes. The plane takes off and I am suffering from apparently laughable anxiety.

It turns out the aerial view was nothing short of AMAZING.  From the Colorado mountains to the view of Arizona’s Grand Canyon, my spirits were ecstatic and I’m ready to descend from the air and leave this mechanical flying bird back to the ground safely.

Dramatic, I know. Flying 30,000+ feet in the air just sounds insane to me, but only the strong survive.

And I survived.

 

Stepping Foot in Las Vegas

The hard part, flying, is over and we’ve landed in Vegas where I am so happy that I’m smiling from ear to ear. That smile went from an immediate facial expression of anguish as I step my first foot outside and it is over 90 DEGREES OUTSIDE!

The hot weather conditions in Vegas feel more severe than equivalent weather conditions in Chicago for three reasons:

  1. Vegas is a desert, I could count on one finger how many trees were present. Trees bring shade!

 

  1. The sun was beaming down on me to the point I was three skin tones darker by the time I left Sin City.

 

  1. Vegas is iconic for its tourist attraction; therefore, visitors want to be outside regardless of extreme heat conditions. More exposure = More heat!

As if the heat wasn’t already unbearable, my family decides they want to walk a few blocks to the nearest breakfast spot for our first meal in Vegas.

WHAT?!?

To make matters worse, that first meal was trash, so trash that we never thought about that spot again. The establishment is a well-deserved distant memory.

After our meal, we walked back to check-in our hotel and finally get some rest. The heat drained our stamina and we needed rest, so we can go out and explore the rest of LAS VEGAS … with our bus passes, walking as a primary method of travel was ELIMINATED rather quickly.

 

The MGM Grand Hotel

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

 

When my mother told me, we’d be staying at the MGM Grand Hotel for nearly a week, my response was “WHAT?!!!?”

I became an MGM Grand Ph.D. owner at the blink of an eye.

The MGM Grand is one of the most reputable, renowned hotels that Las Vegas has to offer. It is a place Legendary Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. calls home … and I’m residing in this hotel every night.

Is this a dream?!!?

I ask myself while simultaneously questioning my mother because you must have a BAG to afford not one, but two rooms in the MGM GRAND.

MAMA, WE MADE IT!

Nonetheless, after our comfort levels settled in the MGM Grand, we set off at sunset to explore the city and see what it’s about.

The Strip

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

 

Ahhhhhhhh the strip!

Arguably Vegas’s most prized possession, the strip of Las Vegas from a bird’s eye view is one of the most amazing, imagery-filled sights anyone could see. On the ground, it gets even better. 

From the underground mall located in Caesar’s Palace filled with high-end stores, window shoppers, and the illustrious Cheesecake Factory …

To the Fountains of Bellagio, the Volcano at the Mirage, and the wax museum … the attractions on the strip are endless. 

The Wax Museum

Speaking of attractions, the wax museum was the creepiest, yet interesting exhibit I’d ever seen in my life. Filled with wax clones of celebrities, the attraction definitely had a weird feel to it, but guess what?

I’m in Vegas, f*ck em, we ball.

Balling to the point we’re taking pictures with every celebrity we can find in the museum. From Shaquille O’Neal to Will Smith, Rihanna, Snoop Dogg, etc. The list is endless!

All in all, the wax museum was a sight to see and if anybody’s looking for a quick pic with their favorite celebrity, the wax museum is the place to go!

It makes for some pretty cool pictures too!

 

Young in Sin City

After we finished sightseeing and taking a billion pictures with my picture hoarding mother, my cousin Justin and I ran off to engage in what makes Vegas “Sin City.”

It’s time to drink!

Allowing a 22-year old and 24-year-old to roam Sin City in search of extraneous activities was a mistake, and we capitalize on those all trip long!

My cousin and I had so many daiquiris, mixed drinks, that we could’ve got behind the bar and served as interim bartenders for the entire vacation. We knew every alcoholic mixture like the back of our hands.

Those alcoholic fruit drinks were a prelude to what was in store for what would be a wild night for my cousin and me.

Ironically, we were sober the entire night out because we were afraid of the unknown and wanted to be in our most natural state of mind should fight or flight come our way.

Honestly, after a night in Vegas, the name Sin City is a well-deserved, well-coined moniker given all the wild, ignorant, blasphemous, and atrocious things we saw all in ONE night.

First, we got approached by what felt like a million hosts of strip clubs offering a free escort and entrance into their strip club.

Yea, no thanks, buddy.

I’d like to leave Vegas and go back to my home in Chicago at the conclusion of my vacation.

I’m not volunteering myself to a stranger who is more than capable of kidnapping me and taking me under the radar.

Not for half-nude women, it’s not worth it.

Second, there were so many underground drug dealers approaching us that we thought something was wrong with us or that we looked like drug addicts.

But no, Las Vegas is filled with salesmen albeit sex, drugs, escort services, firearm services, and other questionable activities that we wanted NOTHING to do with.

Overall, the atmosphere was interesting, to say the least. Half-naked women, drunk and drugged people having a ball, and then there’s me and my cousin observing what we felt to be a foreign world.

Well, that’s Sin City for you.

Old Vegas

Photo Credit: Pierre André

After my cousin and I woke up from one hell of a night, we linked up with the rest of the family, ate, and took the bus all the way to the Old Vegas.

My youth played a part in my everlasting confusion of what exactly Old Vegas was. However, I gained a very keen understanding after we toured the ancient strip.

To my knowledge, Old Vegas is the strip old heads such as Muhammad Ali (R.I.P.) would go to before the modernized strip filled with roller coasters, Caesar’s Palace, the MGM Grand, and other fascinating features of the new Vegas strip.

Old Vegas felt, well … old, but one interesting feat about the old strip created eagerness within my sister, Sydney.

The little 12-year-old girl ran into an artist who apparently had the spiritual gift of discernment as he looked her in her eyes and told her she was an artist before she could even utter a word.

Sydney loves art, she came out of the womb drawing anything her eyes could lay hold of. The elderly artist told my sister to “keep drawing and never stop, no matter what anybody has to say about it.”

It seems the spirit of God is everywhere, LITERALLY!

Anyways, the rest of Old Vegas was filled with con artists and salesmen looking to make a quick buck. It seems all of the elder drug addicts reside in the vicinity of Old Vegas … which is understandable.

Old Vegas is interesting, but outdated nonetheless.

Party’s Over, Back to Chicago

We stayed in Vegas for nearly a week, and it was arguably the best week of my life. From walking the strip with my family to enjoying the comfort of one of the best hotels in the entire city, Las Vegas was quite the experience.

As I’m boarding the fright-filled airplane to return home to Chicago, I couldn’t believe it all ended so fast.

Anyone thinking about going to Las Vegas for the first time should seriously stop thinking about it and …

LIKE NIKE … JUST DO IT.

Seriously, do it.

Anyone who experienced Vegas or is eager to experience one of the best cities in the world feel free to share your experience, questions, and thoughts below.

……..Or not.

As the old adage goes … WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS, STAYS IN VEGAS!

 

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.
What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas. The End.

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