4 nights in Vegas over Halloween for a Phish run...craziness. One thing is certain, I will not be going back to Las Vegas any time soon. So I should start by saying I just went to Vegas back in September for a pharmacy conference with my friend Jenn from pharmacy school. Now we mostly gambled and conferenced, with the exception of seeing Britney Spears. Also, as you all know I was just recently in Reno. To make any money gambling you have to committed and dedicated to it, unless you just happen to have a lucky day. I knew that I wasn't going to have that kind of time, Jenn and I were there from morning til night...haha. So this trip, although there was still plenty of gambling being had, it was not the main reason and had to take a backseat.
It took forever to get off of Catalina and then I hit a ton of traffic on my way to Vegas. I didn't end up arriving to Sin City until about 11:30pm Thursday. Dani and Steve had gotten there about an hour before that and Andy wasn't arriving until Friday afternoon. They were pretty tired from the time difference and I had a long day as well. We ventured downstairs to the casino for a few hours but decided to turn in early because we knew it was going to be a long weekend. Phish was performing at MGM Grand Arena which holds about 17,000 people. We were staying at the MGM Grand as well. It was going to mobbed with Phish "phans" all weekend! I was shocked the hotel would even entertain the idea of letting all these hippies trash the place all weekend.
On Friday we woke up super early and decided to take my car off the strip to Wal-mart to stock up on supplies for the weekend. I had brought some snacks, waters, and gatorades but we would definitely need more. We saved a ton of money in the long run I because just night one Steve bought an $8 bag of Doritos and Dani bought like four $8 Coors Lights. After the morning errands we took the monorail down to Bally's and Paris to gamble and have some lunch. Overall, we felt that MGM was too crowded to gamble there so we wanted to head to other casinos. Andy arrived and we met him back at MGM to get ready and head to the show. They let you bring in your own alcohol to the show which is nice so we don't have to buy any drinks.
So for anyone who doesn't know Phish is a jam band. People say they have a similar following to the Grateful Dead. They are definitely not known for their amazing vocal abilities. Night 1 they played a 25 minute Golden Age! One song 25 minutes long, that is pretty incredible. After the show we went to New York, New York to gamble and hang out. No one won big...but Steve was doing the best out of any of us.
The next morning we woke up early again and decided to go head to the pool area. It was the perfect way to start the morning relaxing in the lazy river. After that we decided to head to "Old Vegas" or Fremont street because Dani desperately wanted to get an $8.99 prime rib dinner. We had a good time playing some roulette and watching the people zip line over the strip. The Uber driver on the way back told us we had to go to the stratosphere which was at the very end of the strip. They let people bungee jump off it until 2 in the morning! All night everyone I met I asked them if they wanted to go bungee jump off the stratosphere and for the most part no one was crazy enough to do it. The second night of the show was more epic than the first!
I met up with some other Phish friends from Jersey and even ran into someone I met at the gorge in Washington, but by the third day we were all feeling pretty tired out. Andy wanted to stay back and get some rest, while me, Dani, and Steve walked to the Flamingo. Night three was probably my favorite of all four nights, it was the only thing keeping me awake! I went to bed immediately after the show was over the others followed shortly after.
Halloween, in Vegas! We didn't get dressed up, lame I know. Dani and I spend all morning in the spa getting rejuvenated with massages and hanging out in the sauna and jacuzzi. It was perfect. We both felt so much better afterward and couldn't wait to start the night up again. The crazies were definitely out and it was very entertaining to people watch. I learned a new term for Phish fans called "wook". According to urban dictionary a wook is a dirty, hairy, stinky, mal-nourished, dishonest creature without any ambition, motivation, or drive other than drugs and image. I witnessed some of these ungodly creatures and second guessed ever going to another Phish concert again. Google image search if you have further questions....haha...There is also apparently a Facebook group called the Colorado Big Game Trophy Wook Hunters where people post pictures like they found Big Foot.
I asked my masseuse why the MGM would sign up for this sort of mayhem. She explained to me that the spa is the busiest it's been in months. So despite the fact the rooms may get destroyed people are spending money and it's good for the hotel.
The four of us had a really great weekend together. Andy rounded out the group nicely and we all got along really well and had a ton of laughs. It worked out really well that he came barely knowing me and having never met Dani or Steve. Things could have turned out much differently. As far as Andy and I and whatever crush he or I may have had, I told him from the beginning that it was best to be friends since he lived in Michigan and there was no point in pursuing anything more than that. Being in that kind of atmosphere made it hard enough to get to know someone on any kind of deep level and I didn't want to pursue a long distance relationship.
We all said our goodbyes and parted ways. I now get to begin my time in San Diego and I couldn't be more excited! I will be staying in an area known as North Park for the first 12 days at an Air BnB guest house. I arrived last night at about 5pm and got settled in. There are a ton of restaurants, microbreweries, and coffee shops within walking distance, which is really nice. Last night I went out to eat at a place called One Door North which is described as "camp" style dining, whatever that means. I figured since I had been camping I was intrigued what this glamping restaurant had to offer. The decor was pretty. Tables underneath big antler chandeliers and canvas tent drapes. I had a nice hearty beef stew. Today, I am taking it easy. Doing some training for work, walking the neighborhood, and enjoying the gorgeous weather in the "zen-like" backyard. The neighborhood of North Park is very residential with craftsman style homes lining the streets, my favorite. Chad, who I am renting the guest house from works in pharmaceutical sales and knows a ton of pharmacists in the area. Hopefully his connections can open some doors because I already love this hipster neighborhood. AROOOO WOOOO!!!
Song of the Day
"Born to Be Alive" Patrick Hernandez. From Vegas Vacation. Staying at MGM Grand meant the elevators were always packed with fans and a very entertaining part of the day. This song was a big hit to get everyone pumped for the weekend and I played it every time we rode the elevators.
"Animals" Martin Garrix. I used Siri to figure out the name of this song. Dani and I had a good time dancing to it at the pool today. Let's face it...it's Vegas, it's Halloween, it's Phish these people are animals!!
"Birds of a Feather" Phish. So I kind of made this rule with myself that I would not pick the same artist more than once on this trip. Since Phish was playing four nights I had to be very selective which night I was going to pick a Phish song for my playlist and then the hard decision of which song to pick. Birds of a Feather is definitely not my favorite Phish song and actually it implies people just flock along with the crowd instead of being their own person. I chose this song because we went to the Flamingo during the day and Dani and I had our "Flamingo" pose going. I also picked it because Phish rocked it that night, it was awesome. I truly think Dani and I are birds of a feather, in a good way. We get along so well!
"Ziggy Stardust" David Bowie. For the Halloween mystery musical costume set Phish performed David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars. I really didn't know this album too well at all and because Phish doesn't have great vocal talent, I don't think they sounded too much like Bowie. It would have been really cool if Trey would have dressed like David Bowie. This was probably the only song that I recognized from that album.
"Lemonade" Adam Friedman feat. Mike Posner. I found this song using Spotfy's Discover Weekly playlist. I like its catchy beat and of course it's about California! Plus, I am 5'5 with big brown eyes, I don't know about the sweet like Lemonade part...😘!
"Floating Vibes" Surfer Blood. "If you're moving out to he West then you better learn how to surf..." Definitely on my to-do list! This album is a couple years old but Chris really liked it and I have to agree I like it a lot as well.
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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
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