The Rock ‘ n’ Roll Half Marathon may have been the primary reason I went to Vegas, but I certainly did a lot more than run 13.1 miles while I was there!
The day before the race, we arrived in Vegas around 9am. Luckily we were able to check into our room at the Encore as soon as we arrived. Since I work for Marriott, I will admit to being a little bit of a hotel snob. I am pretty particular about the hotels I stay at and I have no tolerance for poor service. However, The Encore certainly did not disappoint! The hotel was beautiful! The employees were friendly and personable. Our room was amazing and had lots of bells and whistles for me to play with. Our room had it’s own doorbell and digital display that we could change from “Do not disturb” to “Please make up room.” On the nightstand next to the bed was a control panel that allowed me to remotely open the drapes and turn on / off various lights throughout the room. We had a fax machine, a radio with an Ipod docking station, plush bath robes and much more!
My key even had my name on it!
Yep, I took this home with me!
Later in the day we went to box office at the Wynn to pick up our tickets to the Garth Brooks concert!
Look its me and Garth!!! And my tickets!!!
I may have also purchased a few Garth Brooks souvenirs while I was there too. You know, just the necessities. A key chain, a shirt & CD / DVD combo. 
We also spent a lot of time walking up and down the strip. I learned two valuable lessons from all the walking. 1) My boots are cute and comfy for a short time but cute and not comfy after a couple miles. (Hence the blisters on my feet on the day of the race.) 2) I can not navigate my way OUT of a casino. At one point we ended up in an alley behind the casino that was for employees only. No one said a word to us and it ended up being a great short cut. Although, a tad scary in the dark.
Later in the day I finally went to the Garth Brooks concert! In case you need a reminder about why Garth means so much to me click here. Even at the concert we managed to take a wrong turn and ended up in a private area. Don’t ask . . .and no we were not intoxicated. However, I had only had about 3 hours of sleep, so that is going to be my excuse. But I digress, back to Garth. Did I mention that I was in the second row?!?!?!
That's Garth's guitar behind me!!!!
The Garth concert was amazing and I would highly recommend that if you ever have the chance to see his show, you should! It wasn’t a typical Garth concert at a huge venue with the band and lights. It was an intimate setting with just Garth and his guitar. He sang songs from various artists that influenced him from his childhood through his adult years. He also shared a lot of stories about his family and how music was an integral part of his life. It was an amazing experience!
Trisha Yearwood (a great country singer & his wife) also came on stage and sang a few songs! I smiled a lot, laughed a lot and cried a little. It certainly will be a concert that I will never forgot, for many reasons.
After the Garth concert we headed to one of the pre-parties for the race, but since the line was so long to get in, we ended up at Coyote Ugly instead. We have been there a few times and it never disappoints. I also may or may not have danced on the bar there . . . We will just leave that question unanswered. 
Finally, after Coyote Ugly we called it a night. I wish I could say I slept great and woke up refreshed the next day for my race, but my body was completely confused from jumping time zones and I was excited / nervous for the race, so I only slept for a couple of hours.
We spent all of Sunday leading up to the race relaxing and mentally preparing for the race. Thankfully I also took a short nap, which helped energize me. In case you missed how my first half marathon went, click here to find out. Our orignal after race plan was to go to the after party at XS at The Wynn. I even had an awesome dress just for the event!
I love this dress!!!
But instead, I was so sick, I went straight to bed and slept until the alarm went off at 5:30am so we could pack and head to the airport for our flight home. I am still very bummed I didn’t get to go to the party and even more bummed I didn’t get to wear the dress.
Despite all of the ups and downs that occurred during my trip to Vegas, I really had a great time. The highlight of the trip was definitely the Garth Brooks concert and the race! There may also have been a few other things that occurred in Vegas that I have not told you about, however I took the oath on the plane and I am not a liberty to tell you about those.
What happens in Vegas . . . Stays in Vegas!!!
