Viva Las Vegas

My recent mini-vacation, Chad and I took to Las Vegas wasn't too thrilling nor was it a major let down. We wound up booking our rooms at the Excalibur since we got a fairly decent deal. The rooms needed some updating but everything was clean. This was my first time back to Las Vegas since I was about twelve years old. A lot has changed since I was last there.

      I was never too particularly fond of Vegas considering my parents used to drag me along on their week long gambling expeditions when I was a child. I was usually left unsupervised to wander around the arcade or swimming pool areas. I consider myself very lucky to have never been abducted back then and it makes me shudder to think of how easily I could have been kidnapped as a child. Now that I am a parent, it makes me wonder sometimes what my own parents were thinking with letting me wander around like that. I would NEVER even think of letting my own son do that and especially in a town as seedy as Las Vegas.

   Let me get back to my most recent ventures... Chad and I didn't really plan too much out in advance. We figured we might see a show, have some nice dinners, ride a few roller coasters, and pretty much wander around like typical Vegas tourists and take photos and lose some money gambling. The first day that we arrived we were both pretty tired. It was about a four hour drive and we woke up ridiculously early to get a head start on our trip. We switched off driving on the way so that I wouldn't carry the entire stress of driving there myself. When we arrived we checked into our room and then proceeded to make our way to the closest hotel, The Luxor. I had always loved The Luxor as a child and believe it helped pique my interest in Egyptology. When we finished up there we decided to check out Fremont Street. On our way there we noticed how much more dilapidated and unseemly our surroundings became. We decided to grab a mediocre dinner at the Golden Nugget buffet. It was a major let down and a complete waste of money. I really disliked Fremont Street. Where would I start with my list of Fremont Street dislikes? The list is so long but here it goes: Half naked people walking around, billboards with girls taking their tops off, commercials playing on large screens showing scantily clad girls eating hot dogs in the most vile manner, homeless people everywhere, drunk and high people stumbling around, and rough looking men who appeared to be purse snatchers. Lovely place, right? And on top of all that it smelled AWFUL. I could not go more than five minutes without getting a huge whiff of who-knows-wtf. 

     The next day we decided to see the Las Vegas Zoo since we figured that would be something most people would never go to Vegas and see. We were incredibly disappointed and didn't even get out of the car to park. It is in the horrible part of North Vegas and is literally in a neighborhood and the size of the zoo is the size of someone's yard. We could see through the fence and saw horse stalls with animals in them. Really? That's not a zoo to me and I am still perplexed how it even became an AZA certified zoo. Don't ever bother visiting it. After that, we decided to venture down the strip. This turned out much better but just as smelly and sex ridden. We never did get to see a show but if we return, we know exactly which shows we want to see this time and how to get in for free. I really enjoyed the Paris hotel and casino and the Venetian. Those two would definitely have to be my new favorites.Aside from the horrible smells that seemed to permeate throughout the entire city and the obnoxious sex everywhere it wasn't too bad of a vacation. I know Vegas is Sin City, but is it really necessary to shove pornographic business cards and pamphlets at families walking down the street. Not just shove them at you but literally put it right up in your face. It pissed me off so bad I had to refrain from decking a few of those scum suckers. Neither Chad nor myself is entirely sure we want to return but if we do, we know exactly which places to avoid and which to frequent.

My recommendations: The Venetian, Paris, and The Luxor.

Photos from our trip can be found here.

Book Review: By Royal Decree (Secrets of the Tudor Court #3)

By Royal Decree follows the life of young Elizabeth Brooke, more commonly referred to as Bess, throughout the book. The events take place around 1542 during the reign of King Henry VIII, followed by Mary Tudor (after her father's death, of course), and eventually ends off during Queen Elizabeth's reign. The story revolves around the love story that develops between a lower noblewoman, Bess, and William Parr. However, they face a problem because William is already betrothed to another woman. Parliament grants him a divorce and it is  decreed that Will may not marry again for as long as Anne, his first wife, lives. Bess does her best to try and persuade the King to allow William Parr to marry her and declare his previous marriage invalid on the grounds of William's Anne's proven adultery.  Despite never having formally been granted permission from the King to re-marry, William and Bess hold a secret marriage ceremony and consider themselves husband and wife. They live a comfortable life together until Henry VIII's death. Plots to have a distant cousin, the Lady Jane Grey, take the throne instead of the former King's daughter, Mary, embroil William into a treasonous plot. He is eventually imprisoned in the Tower of London and Henry VIII's oldest daughter, Mary, claims her place on the throne. Throughout the story many trials and tribulations occur that throw obstacles at Bess and William, trying to keep them apart from one another or ultimately kill them. When Mary Tudor claims William Parr is still married to his first wife, Bess is told to stay away from him or face death. Despite Bess's fervent love for William, she keeps a safe distance from him for about a year to save both their necks. After they stay under the Queen's radar for a while they reunite and begin to live together again. They conspire with the French ambassador to keep Elizabeth, Mary's sister, safe in her position to the throne while the Queen Mary dies. William Parr and Bess are eventually granted an official recognition of their marriage for their hand in helping the Queen Elizabeth.

       I enjoyed the book. It was a delightful read with lots of Tudor love and sadness. I did not really connect with any particular characters in the story but still enjoyed reading about their lives despite the disconnected feeling I felt. The plot was very predictable yet I still enjoyed the historical details. If you have a penchant for Tudor love stories, I would pick this title up and give it a go. 

3/5  stars - I liked it.

And Here We Go Again!

It seems I find myself blogging this on an annual basis, but this year I really mean it! I have decided to come crawling back to the blogging community I so easily keep discarding. I have come to the conclusion that it is beneficial both creatively and psychologically for me. Also, despite fervent efforts (from someone whom I will choose not to name) to dissuade me from continuing one of the hobbies I used to enjoy so immensely, I have decided to just go for it and open up a blog again. Normally, I would do the whole shebang and buy a domain name and hosting package to really give myself the freedom in design and the platform choices I really desire. Yet, since I am strapped for cash and not entirely sure how successful this not-so-new-found venture will be, I decided to play it safe and just stick with Blogspot for a while. While, I am still working and continuing my education I believe it's best not to overburden myself with everything on my plate. I figured this would be the best solution for my current situation. I still have a lot of content which I hope to add throughout the coming months and I'm sure I will make adjustments and tweak the layout periodically, as I seem never to be completely satisfied with my work. Yet, as of right now, it feels pretty damn good to be back in the blogosphere again. While I will be doing the majority of my blogging here, I will also be utilizing my LiveJournal for more personal entries, I would prefer to hide from prying eyes. If you would like access to those entries you can request to do so through LJ. In the meantime, I will be slowly, but surely, reintegrating my procrastinating ass back into the groove of things.