This is hard for me. I don't think you understand. But I made my readers a promise, and I'm going to uphold it as best as I can. I promised that every weekend I would go out and report back to my #SpotZoneCrew how the evening went. Well. It was a Saturday like any other. One of my favorite places in Orange County, Haven Gastropub, was giving me Basil Hayden's on the rocks to toss back, and it was after the third one that my roommate and I decided to go meet up with our friends in Las Vegas. It's only a five hour drive. We could pack and be on the road in twenty minutes.
We begged any of our friends to tell us not to go. They didn't. Since this was the fifth time I have made this journey in the past twelve months (no, I'm not proud of that fact either), I was able to throw a bag together pretty quickly. Want to go to Vegas tonight and have only fifteen minutes to pack? Everything you need to survive the trip can most likely be found in the comfort of your own home:
- A short, tight dress, and a backup one in case you change your mind.
- High heeled shoes and even higher ones in case you change your mind.
- A brush.
- EmergenC.
- Underwear.
- A strapless bra.
- Ibuprofen.
- Red Bull.
- Flip flops to wear on the ride home.
- A shirt and jeans to wear on the ride home.
- Sunglasses.
- All of your makeup.
- Vodka. Preferably in a skull-shaped bottle.
- Phone, keys, wallet (to be left in your hotel room).
- Portable speakers (for the pregame).
- A phone charger.
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| The infamous Zzyzx Rd and probably the least romantic place to get engaged. Good luck being newlywed in Sin City. |
We ended up staying the night at a new hotel called The Linq, which was relatively inexpensive and surprisingly nice. Not walking distance to our favorite clubs, but a cheap cab ride away. Okay, you could walk if you were wearing normal shoes, and we weren't.
We hit up our promoter, downed some vodka, and headed to my favorite/worst place in the world: The Marquee on the second floor of the Cosmopolitan. If you don't go clubbing in Vegas very often, there's a few things you need to know. One: always find a promoter before you go. If you're with girls, they'll be able to get you into clubs for free and skip the line. If you're with guys, I hope they like spending money.
I have learned the hard way to leave my cell phone in my room. I have had two stolen in Vegas on two different occasions, and this weekend I had the pleasure of having my wallet stolen as well. Leave anything of value at home, don't bring a purse, stick your ID in your bra, and bring some cash if you must. You have been warned.
If you're deciding on which club to go to, I will always recommend Marquee, though my worst experiences have all taken place there. It's not the club's fault. The club is magical. It's got an indoor and outdoor area that's temperature controlled, but makes you feel less claustrophobic than, say, Hakkasan or Tao. Somehow we keep going back.
How do you Vegas? We live in LA and it's only an hour flight or a half a day's drive, so we basically count as locals. Let me know what you would add to your last-minute packing list in the comments.