Essenique-Inspirations

We flew out of Denver on Tues. 7/29. It was basically the first time flying for both of us and after a 30min. delay (due to a "computer" problem - as we were told later) the flight went off without a hitch. We arrived safely in Vegas a couple hours later and took a shuttle to the Sahara!

After a little rest, we walked towards downtown to get our marriage license and then continued on till we reached Freemont St., which was an unforgettable experience of music and lights.

Wednesday was our Wedding Day! A limo picked us up and took us to the Shalimar chapel which was located in the Howard Johnson hotel on the strip. The chapel was small, but very pretty and we had a nice, short service. After arriving back at the Sahara, Kelly celebrated with some fellow discgolfers at a local discgolf course at Sunset Park, while I did a little exploring in the Nascar giftshop and cafe at the Sahara. That evening, we went back to Freemont St. where we announced our marriage on the largest tv screen in the world! We also ate way too much at one of the great Vegas buffets!

Thursday evening, we finally made it down the main part of the strip. We mostly explored inside some of the casinos and caught the pirate show at TI.

Friday, sadly our last full day, started out at Mandalay Bay, viewing sharks, jellyfish, and even "petting" a stingray at the Shark Reef! We then continued up the strip, stopping, of course, at the M&M store where we spent a few hours! We made it through all 4 levels while keeping our (my) spending at a minimum! We even made it to a movie! (a short 3-D movie which stared Red & Yellow - even Kelly enjoyed it! :-) Anyway, after realizing I didn't bring near enough money!, we went back to the Sahara to get ready for the evening.
After getting dressed up, we took the monorail to the Flamingo to see "Morris Day and the Time" (for those of you going, "who?", they were the competing band in Prince's movie "Purple Rain"). We had front row balcony seats which turned out to be really good seats. There were a few famous people there, such as Kevin Garnett of the Celtics who sat right below us! While we were hoping Prince might make a guest appearance, it turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip!  After the concert, we headed to the NY/NY, catching the Bellagio fountains on the way as they danced in time to a love song. When we reached the NY/NY, we prepared ourselves to ride the roller coaster. Once on, there was no turning back! It was probably one of the best coasters I've been on, made even better in the dark!

After only a few hours sleep, we got up Saturday morning to go back to Freemont St. to pick up a few last minute items and pack up. Our flight left on time and we got back to Denver around 6:30pm.

We decided to extend our vacation a couple days by staying in CO for a round of discgolf in the mountains.

Overall, it was a great vacation!! We didn't get everything done in Vegas that we wanted to do, but I guess that just gives us a reason to go back!

(Check out the Photo Gallery to view more wedding pictures and Vegas.)