Vegas! Day 7 - And on the 7th day, they rested!

We awoke at the glorious time of 9am!  LouAnna was coughing her head off and Chris felt bad and made his 48^th trip to Walgreens.  He got more Puffs (with lotion) a couple of sandwiches, and Mucinex.  LouAnna took her cocktail of 7 pills and then ate the sandwich…with a cocktail of ginger ale and Jameson.  She relaxed with a long soak in the jetted tub, as well.  Then, the couple watched TV, blogged, and LouAnna took another needed nap now that her head/chest cold is full blown.

We had bought a groupon to Little Tony’s Pizzeria at the Palace Station casino. So, we got back on the Strip bus up to SLS Casino (which isn’t far from the Statosphere) and then caught another bus going west to the Casino.  We hit happy hour so we tried garlic bread and then a pizza sampler!  Check out our tasty treats!

Then it was back to the hotel to rest, pack for tomorrow’s departure, and finish up our [2^nd] Jameson!  ;)



Okay, we were in Vegas for a week and gambled here and there.  Here's our totals:


Gambling Final Numbers
LouAnna: up $8 after playing slots and roulette
Chris: had fun leaving $72 at various casinos in Vegas (slots and roulette)!

Vegas! Day 6 - Hoover Dam and Bellagio

The Eichrodts wake up at 7am to catch the coach to the Hoover Dam tour.  We get picked up right at our hotel, pick up many other couples up and down the strip and head to Hoover.  Chris walked across the road and stepped into Arizona for the first time, as well!!  We take the dam tour and get a bunch of dam pics!  Here are a few! 

Lake Mead

On the way back, the coach stopped for lunch at a pizzeria where we both had the buffet.  Then, we FINALLY get back to our hotel and LouAnna crashes for a much needed 2 hour nap.  Then we get ready and head back to the bus stop to travel just up the strip to Circus Circus.  We found a Groupon for Vince Neil’s restaurant that includes two 8oz steak dinners with a bottle of wine.  Chris picks the Reisling option and out comes the Flipflop brand and he really likes it.  The food was pretty good.

Then, we get back on the bus and head down to Paris/Bellagio for pictures and the famous water show!  It was gorgeous!!

Then, it’s back to the hotel and sleeping/resting.  There are no alarms set for tomorrow...their final day in Vegas!  We see a lot of resting in LouAnna's future.

Vegas! Day 5 - End of Conference, but officially sick

LouAnna woke up feeling like she’d been hit by a Mack truck.  Sore throat is full blown, stuffy nose and chest congestion.  All she wants to do is stay in her PJs and sleep it off, but there are 2 more sessions and then she and Chris are off to explore Vegas!  While in session, Chris ran to the drug store to get medicine, cough drops and Puffs for her already sore nose.  Why does one of us get sick during big occasions?  UGH!

LouAnna powers through and makes it through the morning sessions and the end of the conference!  She and Chris then get a cab to Acrylic Tank Manufacturing for the tour.  LouAnna’s first time in a cab and now she can mark that off the bucket list.  A $25 (>5 miles) cab ride there and they make it just in time for the tour to start.  Here’s some of the pics of us getting to meet/see from the show Tanked on Animal Planet: Redneck, Frankie, Agnes, Chewie, Brett and Wayde.  We also met Trish, who conducted the tour for us.  We were able to see the projects they have been working on, meet the guy that does the initial graphic design renderings of the tanks, and have a meet and greet with Wayde and Brett.  What do you think?

Chewie off to the left

Redneck

Wayde

Brett and Chris!!

We stopped for a quick lunch and then headed back to the hotel to buy/reserve the Hoover Dam tour for tomorrow, catch up on the blog, and allow LouAnna to rest.  Next stop…downtown Vegas!

We bought a 3-day pass to ride the Strip bus that takes you all the way to downtown and then all the way down past where we even care to venture.  So, we hop on at Harrah’s and ride all the way to downtown, the old Strip.  We played penny slots in a couple of them and LouAnna played roulette for the first time ever in the Golden Nugget!  She turned 20 into 37 and then ended up walking away with $17.  That was fun!

We saw all types of characters while walking around the old section on Fremont Street.  People in all stages of undress and lots of impersonators.  Neither of us being huge gamblers, we walked around for about 2.5 hours and then got back on the bus for the trip back to the hotel.  We met a couple that we from Ohio that were in town for the NACADA conference, as well.  He works for Wright State and we swapped business cards, advising, conference and Vegas stories during the ride back and that was pretty fun.  We arrived back to our room at about 10:30pm completely exhausted and LouAnna dead on her feet and spiriting a pretty dry cough and chapped nose.  L  But check out these pics of the lights of the old strip!

We found a bar with Jameson on tap - they are no joke!

There was a canopy between casinos that was lit up!

LouAnna in front of the Golden Nuggest with Elvis.

Vegas! Day 4 - Getting sick?

LouAnna woke up with a sore throat.  Hopefully it’s nothing.  She’s off to conference sessions while Chris headed out to capture more of Vegas on film.  Breakfast was arranged MUCH nicer this morning even though the menu was the same.  There was plenty of everything!  Today’s morning sessions were MUCH better, but as the morning wears on…LouAnna starts to wear down.  To avoid yesterday’s issues…Chris made a Subway sandwich run and delivered them to Loren, Jana and LouAnna.  We ate and then more conference sessions.  Here’s just a taste of what Chris caught on his camera this fine day.

Then the IUPUI Kelley gang and Chris went to the sushi restaurant here in Caesar’s called Sushi Roku…aren’t we cute?  The happy hour menu proved to be in our price range and we filled up before heading out to a comedy show at Harrah’s.

The comedy show was great.  Alysia Wood MC’d the night, Suli McCullough opened and the headliner was Scott Henry. We were laughing till we cried!!  Check them out with the links I provided.  Good times!

Then Jana, Loren, Chris and LouAnna decided to ride this monster! 

LouAnna’s not a fan of extreme heights were there’s clear glass between you and certain death!  But she mustered the guts and rode the entire 30 minute journey around without tossing her beers!  ;)  Here are a few pics that Chris took during the ride!  Awesome, huh?

After all that excitement, it’s time for bed.  Goodnight Vegas!

Vegas! Day 3 - Wow, this place is SO freaking crowded!

LouAnna’s day officially started at 7:30am with a continental breakfast that the conference provided.  Chris decided to get up and go take pictures starting about 7am, as well.  He found that the casino is so much less crowded and he can frame up pictures without the mobs!  He walked through Caesars, up to the Venetian, across and up to Treasure Island and caught the Mirage on the way back.  Here are just a few of his pics.

LouAnna got to breakfast that was buffet in the hallways of the lower level conference center and it was mayhem.  There were about 4000 advisors trying to get food and coffee while there was also a poster session in the same hallways.  Poor planning, NACADA!  They ran out of coffee by the time I finally got through the lines up to the pots. L  Several sessions later (they were just so-so), it was lunch time and now over 4k people were trying to eat lunch in the same 90 minutes in the casino.  Again…mayhem and VERY long lines with crowds of people that did nothing for crowd anxiety and claustrophobia.  After trying to find a less busy location, Loren, Carly, Chris and I decided to put our name in at Spago at 12:52 because there was only a 25 minute wait.  That turned into about 38 minutes.  Here was our view…which as you can see is pretty and with the ceiling painted…you never know what time of day it is...that's how Vegas gets ya!  ;)

The food only took 15 minutes and was VERY tasty.  Chris got a veggie pizza with a spicy pesto sauce that was YUM, and LouAnna got the BBQ chicken pizza that was a perfect blend of flavors!  The meal was pretty affordable, but we didn’t get done with lunch until 2:15pm, which means that by the time I would have gotten back to the conference rooms, it would have been 2:30…and I missed my 2pm session.  This session was the one at the conference that was my “must see”.  Oh well.  I did go to the next two sessions and then decided to stay in the rest of the evening to recharge my batteries.  Loren decided to stay in, as well, and brought her mixed drink to our room where we drank and chilled.  My darling, Chris, went on a burger run to Smash Burger (which is still in the casino), so that Loren and I could just chill out.  The burgers were good, but the company was better!

Today’s weather was rainy most of the day with heavy rain during parts of the day…namely during lunch when some of the 4000+ people might have left the casino to eat elsewhere.  Geez!  By the time bedtime rolled around…I was SO glad to have about 900 sf of hotel room to just me and Chris!!  I think we fell asleep in 2.4 seconds!  Goodnight Vegas…you crazy crowded city!

Vegas! Day 2 – Pre-Conference

We slept 10 hours last night!  Aaah!!  Loren suggested Denny’s for brunch and we were up for it because we were starving!  It wasn’t but a couple bucks more expensive than Denny’s back home and we got our fill of food and caffeine, so we were good for the day!  We grabbed a few groceries at Walgreens, stepped into the Venetian to check it out and use the potty (it was SO nice…all white marble), then went gambling at the Bellagio for about an hour on penny slots.  The three of us played with $20 each.  Chris lost his.  Loren left with about $13 and LouAnna turned hers into $44.74! 

WOOOHOO!!!! I just broke Vegas

Then it was pool time for about an hour before LouAnna & Loren had to get ready for the conference.  LouAnna & Loren met up with Jana at the first session.  Chris went back down to the casino for a little bit and then took a Jacuzzi bath!  Then us three girls met up with Chris and the four of us headed to dinner at Senor Frogs (at Treasure Island) between conference sessions.  Here’s a pic of my three best friends on our way to dinner…then our fun balloon hats we got while at dinner!

The four of us wearing silly balloon hats

It was another long, fun day with lots of walking. Tomorrow will be a full day, so we’d better rest up!  We crashed at about 9pm (local time).

Vegas! Day 1 - Getting There!

Major players and information to keep in mind:

*We are here so LouAnna can attend an annual conference called NACADA (National Academic Advising Association).
*Loren – best friend, we work together now, too.
*Jen – the other Kelley advisor in addition to Loren and me.
*Carly – our new supervisor
*Jana – my other best friend, advisor at IUPUI, as well.

Day 1 – Getting there

Once Rachel and Daisy were off to spend the weekend away, Chris and I were off to the airport!  We met Jen at Champps.  Jen isn’t a fan of flying, so we decided to join her for drinks (and a pre-flight quesadilla).  Loren joined us shortly after and rounded out the fab 4 for the flight to Vegas.  Chris and I have never been…so Viva Las Vegas!

The flight was without issue.  Chris and I did a first…we ordered a cocktail.  I had a Jack and Coke, while Chris had a Rum and Coke.  Jen had two cocktails.  (A few hours after getting off the plane, we realized that the attendant never did come back to charge us for the drinks.  Drinks were on the house, I guess!)  Here’s one of the MANY pictures Chris took of the Grand Canyon…amazing!

We quickly found our bags and the shuttle.  It was a very short ride to our hotel.  Jen left to meet up with one of her friends.  Check in was very quick because I had pre-checked in and that meant our room and keys were ready.  We are staying on the 65^th floor in the Octavius Tower…the fancy tower!  Here’s a view of the pools from our room.

We dropped off our stuff, met up with Loren in the Palace Tower so we could check in with NACADA!  In that check in bag, there was free margarita, so we all set out to find that place to eat/drink.  It felt like it was a good mile from the hotel rooms, but we got a couple appetizers and our free drinks.  Then, we were worn out, so Chris and I headed to bed…it was only 9pm local time, but midnight back in Indy.  Goodnight Vegas!

Where have we been?!

Okay, loyal followers.  Thank you for keeping up with us and looking forward to the next posts!  We are humbled by your following, care, and concern for our words/pictures/trip details!  Here is where all we went...mostly.  We went back to Killarney after the 1/2 day trip to Dingle, but Google Maps only lets you keep track of 10 places...so we hit the high points.  We drove around at each place, so the total mileage would be a LOT closer to 1300 km!  We drove about 1/2 of all of Ireland.  Impressive...we sure think so!

Thanks for sharing in our journey.  We've had a blast documenting it for you (and us as we look back over the years)!  Love you all!  

Mr. & Mrs. Chris Eichrodt!

Hotels in Ireland

Here are our thoughts on the hotels we stayed at during our time in Ireland.

The Aspect Hotel was a smoking hotel, so all our stuff smelled like a hint of cigarette smoke.  The shower was hot and had a shower head that was massaging.  The bed and the pillows weren't all that great.  It has a beer bottle opener in the bathroom.  We had to use the computer at the little desk that was opposite the bed, that held the tv.  The view was of the parking lot and it had a huge window that you could open, but wanted to fall off the tracks!

The International Hotel faced a roundabout, out the front of the hotel.  Green lights shone into our room's window, but the curtain blocked it fine.  It had two little windows that could be opened when the sun made the room too warm.  The bed was better, the duvet was wonderful.  The pillows were still too firm.  The bathroom was beautiful in tile but had a dumb shower design that spilled water all over the floor.  My hair stunk like I washed it in the toilet each morning.  UGH!  I'm still not exactly sure what it was because Chris's hair didn't smell.  We did love the breakfast that was included each morning.  Scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of a honey-cured ham that was SO good!  There was also hot tea, pastries, juices, etc.

The Salthill Hotel was a 4-star hotel RIGHT on Galway Bay.  We ordered room service of a 12-inch pizza and a pint of beer for $15 euros.  It was the first time either one of us had ever ordered room service.  The mushroom/chicken pizza and Smithwick's beer was very tasty!  I just LOVED this room!  There was a double bed and 2 twins pushed together.  The bed was SO comfy, the pillows were SO soft, as was the duvet!  It was also a road between us and the beach!  We had to park in the underground garage one day, but it was always free!  :)

The Best Western in Dublin was fine.  But it was a Friday night and that meant the pubs right around the hotel partied till 2:20am...which meant for a rough night of sleep the night before we had to get up at 7am to fly back home.  This room was SO narrow.  The shower made LouAnna's hair smell LESS like sewer, but the smell was still there.  Dublin was a dirty city, compared to the rest of Ireland and having to park around the block and pay for parking was a hassle.

Day 7 - Returning Home

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning (6:30am local time, 2:30am Indiana time) so that we had time to shower, pack the rest of our stuff, check out, drive to the airport, return the rental car, get through United Check-in line, get through security, get through customs, grab some breakfast at the airport, and get on the plane by 10:15am for an 11:10am take off.  We actually made it, but had to go through Dublin Airport security AND the Customs security...lame!  We made it to the terminal at about 9:30am and had just enough time to grab snacks, some "to go" breakfast, and chill before the SEVEN HOUR flight to Washington DC - Dulles, where we connected.  The 7 hour flight wasn't as bad as it could be, because they had free in-flight movies on the screens in each seat back.  We watched This is Where I Leave You, a comedy with Jason Bateman, and The Judge, with Robert Downey, Jr.  We started to watch Tammy, but turned it off because we either weren't in the mood, or just didn't find it funny.  Gosh, that was a long flight.  Here's just how long...almost 3500 miles at about 500mph.  LouAnna is NOT happy sitting that long, let alone in the middle seat!

As we were slowing down...one of the last times they updated us on the monitors.

We finally got to Dulles and had about a 90 minute layover, and then it was just another 2 hours till we arrived in Indiana and got down to baggage claim.  By about 7:05pm, LouAnna's dad, Slick, and Rachel were in the car picking us up and we were headed to our house...FINALLY!  We got home at about 7:35pm and were happy and exhausted!  This was the longest amount of daylight we had ever seen!  We fell asleep a little after 10pm (after having been up almost 20 hours) and slept for 11 hours!  Bliss!

We had a little time to reflect on our week and come up with our favorites.  Chris and LouAnna both agree that Ladies View was the best moment of the trip!  Cliffs of Moher and the Hawk Walk take spots and 2 and 3!  This trip was better than we imagined and the PERFECT honeymoon for these two love birds!  We had an absolute blast, but Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz was right, there "is no place like home"!

Day 6 - Guinness and our last night in Ireland

After sleeping in, taking our time putting up the blog post, and gathering our things, we left Salthill/Galway and headed to Dublin.  After stopping for petro and a yummy chicken burrito at the Centra/gas station, we were on our way to the Academy Plaza hotel (aka - Best Western) to drop off our things because we bought tickets to Guinness last night online for 10% off!  Each ticket gets you a free pint of beer - yay!!  So, we arrived at our hotel after the 2.5 hour drive, literally put our stuff down, used the potty, and headed to St. James Gate (aka: Guinness)!  The tour was better than we thought it would be.  It goes into detail about how they make the beer and what makes them different than other brewers and other beers!  There was a tasting area and then a free pint at the end of the tour.  Chris doesn't like beer, so LouAnna was able to drink both pints!  Yay!  We even got a few recipes and will TOTALLY be making the Beef and Guinness Stew!  We both totally loved that!

Picture of what hops look like...they are flowers!

LouAnna found an anchor inside Guinness!  haha!

Included in the price of admission!  Both for LouAnna!

the Miranda - a beer ship that transported to England.

The actual bell from Miranda!  Saw this in the taste testing room!

We finally saw guys wearing kilts inside Guinness...this must be more of a Scotland thing.  :(

You would enter in on an iPad why you like Guinness and it would be added to their interactive screen in the factory.  Here was LouAnna's.

 After Guinness, we went back to our hotel and asked the receptionist where we could get a good plate of fish and chips.  She told us about Murray's, just around the corner.  Boy, was she right?!  That was the best plate of fish that LouAnna had this trip, and Chris thought the Bangers and Mash were pretty darn good, as well,  We each had 3 Jameson and Cokes, as well.  Cheers!  Man, that whiskey is so smooth!  Our waitress, Lily, was so adorable when she found out we are on our honeymoon.  We ended up leaving with a little group hug!  :)

Now, we are in our room, winding down and getting ready to sleep our last night in Ireland.  Well, the last night for this trip.  We are sure we'll be coming back before our passports expire!  ;)

Fish and chips

Bangers and mash

We will be home tomorrow and we'll blog again, but it may not be till Sunday morning...or afternoon!  Talk to you soon!!  Love from Dublin!

Here's where we went today...