Thursday: Anaheim/Vegas
My parents and I got up and around, then had lunch at Knott's Berry Farm's Chicken dinner restaurant! It was just as good as I remember it! I was a little cranky to start with; feeling annoyed with everything, but I moved past that after we ate...Food is a lifesaver, let me just say that. We walked through the candy store to pick up some treats for the plane after we ate, then decided to head over to the Long Beach area. It didn't take us very long at all to get there, and we still had plenty of time before we needed to get to the airport, so we went to the dock by the Queen Mary, which was really cool. I don't think I've been there since I was about five or so, so that was neat to see. After that, we drove down near a marina area, and got out for a few minutes! It was a seriously gorgeous day; 75 degrees or so and so BRIGHT! I could have stayed there all day, but we're talking about possibly going back for another weekend trip sometime. I love the beach, and would just love to sit and write, while people watching. I find so much joy and inspiration from that.
Pretty soon, we headed out to the airport! As we pulled up, it looked so familiar, and we've never been to this airport! Then, I remembered I had read somewhere that it was used in The Parent Trap (remake with Lindsay Lohan), which has sort of been on my bucket list for quite awhile. We parked, checked in our luggage, then headed to the X-Ray machine where you run your carry on's through and have to get checked and everything--my least favorite part. Well, we made it through pretty quickly, and I was at the opposite end of the conveyor belt, when I glanced up. There was a guy with curly hair, and I was about to joke with my mom that it was Cory Matthews (Boy Meets World), because we do that sometimes when we see guys with brillow pad hair. Anyway, he turned, and I kept looking at him and started realizing that it was Ben Savage, so I kinda nudged my mom and said, "Isn't that..." and don't think I finished my sentence. She caught on to who I was pointing to and said yeah, that's him! Go get your picture, he's just standing there! I was trying to grab my stuff and put on my shoes, and neither was working out for me. I was FREAKING OUT, because I was so excited! I have loved Boy Meets World FOREVER, as I'm sure most of the 90s kids my age have. I never finished putting on my boots, and just walked over to him.
Here's the conversation:
Me: Ben
Ben: Yeah...
Me: Can I get a picture with you?
Ben: Yeah, of course!
Me: I love Boy Meets World! I still watch it all the time!
Ben: Oh, well thank you!
I think my mom added something about me watching it too.
Me: I'm really excited about the new one too!
Ben: Oh great! Thank you so much!
(After picture, I usually just get ready to go, but he kept talking)
Ben: So, what's your name?
Me: Shelby!
Ben: It's really nice to meet you!
Me: Yeah, you too!
Ben: Where are you guys heading?
Me: We're going to Vegas!
Ben: Oh nice!
Me: It's actually for my 21st birthday!
Ben: I think he said something about it being a big birthday?? Wow! Well, happy birthday!
Me: Thank you!
Ben: Are you meeting up with friends or anything?
Me: No, just going with my parents (I nodded to them)
Ben: WHAT?! (Total Cory Matthews face while laughing LOL)
Me: (I just kind of shrugged)
Mom: Added something about us having been at disneyland for the past couple days
Ben: Well that's fun! where are you guys from?
Mom: Bakersfield
Me: So, we're just a couple of hours away!
Ben: Bakersfield..(looked like he was thinking about it for a few seconds) Oh ok...Not too far!
Mom got called off to deal with the liquids in her bag, and Ben had to take care of something too.
Ben: It was really nice meeting you guys! Have fun in Vegas!
Me: Thank you! You too wherever you're heading to! (Found out later he was going to Sundance in Utah)
I was still shaking after, and it took awhile to come down from all the excitement! After that, we had a couple hours to kill before our plane arrived, so I basically killed the battery on my phone by texting and tweeting...Nothing new. Around 4 or so, we got on the plane and headed to Vegas! I love flying with JetBlue; you get a snack and they always have great entertainment provided for FREE, which rarely happens on airlines these days. I ended up just watching an episode of The Office that I had on my ipad, and before I had even finished, we were there! I love how flying gets you there in way less than half the time it would take to drive!
We picked up our bags at baggage claim, then had to pick up our rental car, and finally we were on our way to the next adventure! We made our way to Excalibur, checked in, and headed to the room to freshen up before going out to dinner. We ended up having dinner at Buca Di Beppo again in our hotel again, then went driving down The Strip. Vegas is filled with a lot of wacky, crazy, and just plain wrong...But, it sure looks pretty at night if you look at the right things. We went into The Venitian to check out things for the next night at the concert, grabbed some dessert and went back to the room to hang out.
I always feel inspired when I'm in a different city, so I tend to always either bring my laptop or a notebook to write. I always do my best writing at night, so I sat in bed and got started on some ideas I'd been brainstorming for a story, which is always fun! It's a little escape from reality.
I always feel inspired when I'm in a different city, so I tend to always either bring my laptop or a notebook to write. I always do my best writing at night, so I sat in bed and got started on some ideas I'd been brainstorming for a story, which is always fun! It's a little escape from reality.
Friday:
I woke up around 5:45, not feeling good, so I had to take medicine and fell back to sleep shortly after. Around 9, We woke up, got ready and got a bit of a later start, which was nice! It was a vacation, so we didn't really have any set plans. We had lunch at this restaurant called, Texas De Brazil, which is all you can eat meat and salad bar! It has a lot of interesting foods, which is awesome and you don't even have to go out of the country to try it.
I always feel really important too, because it's one of those restaurants where they come over with your every beck and call. They pull out your chairs, place your napkin on your lap, refill your drinks even if they're out of a bottle (I had Passion Tea), and they continue to bring meat on kabobs and ask you if you want anything else. I wasn't feeling too good, so I think I ate too much, and decided to call it quits.
After lunch, we went to the outlets next door to check some things out for a little bit, then headed down the street to The Mirage. We cut through Caesar's Palace and checked out the Celine Dion/Shania Twain store, which had me freaking out over everything in there. They are two of my favorite artists!
We walked through The Mirage to find the Kardashian Khaos store, which I was really excited about. To be honest, it was a lot cooler than I thought it was going to be. Everything had their face on it, of course, but there were some really different things in there, like makeup bags, makeup, fans, etc. I was geeking out a little.
When we finished there, we ended up going to the Siegfried and Roy exhibit at the hotel, which was a lot of fun. We watched the training session at the dolphin pool, then walked around the lion/tiger habitat, and we actually got really close to them. Most of them were sleeping, except for the tiger, so we hung around him the most. We didn't spend very much time there before leaving, but I was really glad we did it! It was something different and for once we weren't shopping, which was great.
We got back to the hotel and grabbed some treats, then headed back to the room to hang out. Finally, we started getting ready for the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill show at The Venitian. I was so excited to go out; Vegas is just a really fun place, and even though I'm 21 now, I did NOT drink, and I don't really plan to anytime soon. It's just not my thing and I don't understand why people can't get over that. If you want to drink, that's cool..But, I just don't want to right now. So, there's that!
We drove over to The Venitian, picked up our tickets, and had plenty of time to kill after that, so I played one of the slots. Let me just be clear, I really don't care about gambling, I just thought it would be fun to try since I was able to now. After putting in some money...and losing...I just still think I'm going to stick with my prior idea that I'd rather just go shopping with that money. Unless you're just extremely lucky, it's really not that great. I also don't think that they really care or pay attention to how old people are in the casino. Sure, I was with my parents, but I don't look my age, and I didn't get carded once. Actually, I'm kind of disappointed about that, but oh well.
We went into the auditorium, after they opened the doors, a little later than planned. The concert started a bit later than planned, but that was okay. The show was really incredible! Tim and Faith are probably one of the cutest couples ever, and you really get to see just how much they love each other as they go back and forth on stage. They're much more laid back and chill with one another than you really get to see a lot of the time. Tim is smitten with her, and you can tell she totally adores him, which is part of what being married is supposed to be about. I wish they would've sang a little bit more, it felt like there was more of turning down the lights/entrances and exits, and a little more interaction between them. Tim had a lot of energy and Faith's vocals were incredible! The two are definitely performers, and I think they really bounce inspiration off of one another. There are some really cool elements in the show that really make them more approachable and truly give back to the fans, which I'm all about.
Tim even came up to our section and SHOOK OUR HANDS! I can't believe just how excited I got and how I pushed past my mom and dad to get to the aisle when he started getting closer. I was literally shaking from excitement afterwards! Pretty soon after, the concert ended and that was it. I had a really great time and I highly recommend the show to anyone who might be going to the Vegas area until April. It's a small arena, and being able to capture the essence of two country superstars/legends for this day in age, is pretty incredible.
Saturday:
It was our last day there, and we didn't really have much of anything else planned, so we got a bit of a later start; packed up our things, got ready, and headed out by 10:30 from our hotel. We checked out, then decided to head to The Mirage for lunch. We went to a Jewish Deli, which was really good, but the portions are always SO BIG! My dad and I split a roast beef sandwich, which was pretty tasty! After lunch, we headed up to Kardashian Khaos to check things out with Kourtney's signing, and waited a little while for her to show up! It was pretty packed, but not as bad as it could have been. She is GORGEOUS in person! I honestly think she's the prettiest of the three, and in person she's even more of that. We hung around for a few minutes as the "paparazzi" and fans took pictures of her outside of the store, and then started moving through the line, then we decided to leave. I really wish I could've met her, but it's not the end of the world that I didn't get to. There will be other times, and maybe then I won't have to pay! I was just so excited that one of the Kardashians was actually there when we were and I got to see her. I was crossing my fingers that they'd do a signing while we were there, and it worked out! You can even check out some of the pics on Kourtney's blog!
We still had a little bit of time before our flight took off, so we drove around and filled up the gas tank, stopped at Dunkin Donuts, then we had to return the rental car and get to the airport. Everything went really smooth; I even saw a Shane West look alike on the shuttle from the rental car depot to the airport, which pretty much made my day! Then, we get settled into the airport and the lady comes over the loud speaker saying our flight has been delayed a couple hours. And that's where the "going smoothly" thing stopped. They kept us updated on everything, and it didn't feel like it took too long! I journaled, tweeted, and texted with a few of my friends, and pretty soon it was time to go. We also met some really cool people and talked to them for a few minutes! Airports just have a lot of really cool stories to be told, I have a feeling! You just never know who you're going to cross paths with.
We got back into Long Beach, and still had to drive home from there. I plugged my ipod into the car speakers, and turned up the Tim/Faith playlist I had created for the trip. My parents and I talked about the concert and a few other things that happened, and then I did what I do best on car trips...Daydream! We made it home a couple hours later, and I couldn't have been happier to be in my own bed and to not be SO COLD everywhere we went, which seemed to be the theme. Apparently I just didn't dress warm enough. I unpacked some of my things, and that was that! What a way to bring in 21...I know it's going to be a great year, it feels like it's just taking awhile to get that motivation back again.
I'm going to try to post more pictures sometime this week, so stay tuned for that :)
That's all for now,
Shelby
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