I woke first at around 6AM. The plan was to sleep in, but if we were still back home, it would have been 9, which for us is sleeping in. I didn’t fight the early rise, instead I tiptoed out of the room to get ready for the day. Gabby also thought she had slept in, to only find it to be around 6AM. When we knew the other was awake, we decided to fully get ready for the day, but first, to let light into the blacked out room. What welcomed us was a sweeping desert view. Mountains like embers. Red glowing and hypnotizing. Before plans could be made, we remained still at the window. The day would arrive all the same, but first, the two of us needed quiet, and this view.

We decided to take the first day easy to accommodate for jet lag. So, for breakfast we planned to go downstairs to the Primrose, Park MGM’s go to breakfast and brunch restaurant. Then we would explore the casino, then Eataly, then do some immediate shopping and exploring outside. My heart was set on the Coke Store, Gabby’s—the Hershey Store. The day would be sweet.

Primrose started out incredible. My coffee was perfect, so too was Gabby’s juice, and our seats outside had a lovely view with an even lovelier breeze. At least at first, it was a little lovely breeze. That breeze decided it was going to fuck shit up for everyone. I guess it hated breakfast, because the breeze evolved into full on gusts that expanded the canopy next to us sporadically without warning. The first giant gale without warning knocked over the coffee pot at the table in front of us, splashing hot liquid all over the older gentleman who hadn’t even had a chance to sip it. Plates smashed, people screamed, and Gabby and I ducked out of the pregnant swell of the canopy. Once the wind died down, the couple behind us moved tables, and another went inside all together. Gabby and I tangled with the wind for a bit, and decided, we too would have to retreat. A nice waitress agreed to find seating for us inside, but in the process of helping us, dropped my coffee, and part of my breakfast. We were sat at an awkward table, without my coffee, and part of my breakfast, so I just sat there while my two eggs, two chicken sausage links, two slices of toast, and home fries got cold. Gabby was able to eat her avocado toast just fine, and quite enjoyed it. Mine was only OK. The circumstances of our meal made it all the worse.

(The pictures of our breakfast seem to have blown away with the angry wind. So no food pictures this time).

After breakfast it was time to explore. It was around 9AM and with it seemingly being quiet, we walked around the casino, found small shops, saw the casino floor, where we said we would do a little gambling later in the trip, then scouted our lunch and dinner. We found Eataly and Best Friend no problem. We even found a store dedicated to Lady Gaga, and realized it would have been amazing to come to Vegas while she was doing her residency. Oh well.

Now that we scouted the casino, it was time to make our way outside and see how easy it would be to navigate the strip, and as it turned out, it was super easy. The city designed the strip to be walked by millions of people, and it shows. We crossed an overhead foot bridge to get to the Coke store with the giant Coke Bottle out front, and as impressive as the outside was, the inside was more impressive.

**I Just Love the Combination of Coke and Christmas.**

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved Coke memorabilia. Not sure why, I just do. It calms me, in a nostalgic way. So being in a store surrounded by it turned me giddy. I wanted to spend all day looking at everything in this store, and Gabby was nice enough to have let me if my body hadn’t had other plans. Between the travel and all the big meals outside, my diet suddenly caused an issue with my sensitive tummy, because I suddenly needed to rush to the nearest bathroom, which unfortunately was back at our hotel room.

After a quick rest, we decided to venture forth again, but chose to save the rest of the Coke store for another day, and instead went to the Hershey store attached to New York, New York. It didn’t have the same magic to me as the Coke store did, but it was still cool, and the fact that it boasted Gabby’s two favorite candies, Twizzlers and Hershey Bars, made it a delight seeing her so happy.

We did the first of our shopping for those that contributed to our honeymoon fund, then called it a day, because my stomach once again called me to our room.

For an hour or more we rested on the couch while watching TV, looking outside, and talking while eating chocolate/candy. I was sure my stomach could handle it.

On to lunch where we hoped to have a better experience than breakfast, fresh pizza and pasta should do the trick. It was around noon now and Eataly was packed! It felt like a bustling market in a major city. I guess that was the point. Well, it tested my anxiety over crowds, noise, and the unknown. It might have for Gabby as well. But thank God we were seated in a relatively quiet corner to ourselves where I got a very good Italian diet cola and it took no time at all for Gabby and I to choose our lunch. I went with the Margherita Verace, while Gabby got the Fettuccine “Alfredo” Burro e Parmigiano Reggiano, a recommendation by our wonderful server.

We were shocked at how fast both meals were dropped off at the table. Couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes, might have been ten. Which is about right for fresh pasta and fresh Neapolitan pizza. Oh man, how can I describe how delicious both of these meals were. I’ll start with the light and springy pasta since it is Spring as we speak. Neither of us had ever had fettuccine alfredo this light and fresh tasting. This must have been made the traditional Italian way without cream and just a little butter, pasta water, and cheese, because it didn’t drag either of us down bite after bite, while the same dish from Olive Garden, would put us in a wheel barrow. My pizza just melted in my mouth. It was so hot and soft that it reminded me of eating Hot and Ready donuts, the way the dough just dissolves on the tongue, and chewing almost feels optional. That’s what eating my fresh pizza was like. That’s not to say my pizza just dissolved, because the end crust had an impressive and flavorful chew to it. Gabby and I agreed, it’s the best tasting dough either of us had ever had. I often eat her crust at the end of our pizza meals, but this time, she wanted my crust. I gave up some since she was allowing me to dip my crust in her light and cheesy sauce. I was going to do something I hadn’t done in years and finish the entire pizza (with Gabby’s help) when my stomach struck again. DAMN YOU STOMACH!

I yelled for Gabby to pay while running to our room.

In the room I stayed until 2PM, when it was time for our couples massage, except, when we got to spa level of the casino, we found out that our massages weren’t a couples massage, but were instead individual massages at the same time. This was my first professional massage, and I was very nervous, in part because of my health, and didn’t want to do this alone, but we had to. This was a very expensive spa treatment we paid for, and I knew Gabby was looking forward to it, so I toughed it out so she could be pampered the way she deserved. I’ll jump ahead and spoil this one. The spa was the first miss of the honeymoon, especially when factoring in the price. It sucked being away from one another during our honeymoon, and afterwards, we both got turned around, couldn’t find one another, and had anxiety attacks. When it was over, we were more stressed than before the whole ordeal, and just wanted to cuddle. So back in the room, we sat in plush chairs, pushed to face the mountains, held hands, and calmed down.

To cap the first night off, we had dinner reservations at Best Friend, the Korean fusion restaurant by celebrity chef Roy Choi, who I loved from his help on the movie Chef, and who stars in The Chef Show on Netflix. When The Chef Show came out, I struggled hard with college, stress, sobriety, and PTSD. To calm down at night, I would throw on The Chef Show and melt into my mattress. Since then, I’ve always wanted to try Roy Choi’s food, especially his famous Kogi Tacos.

Entering his restaurant was so cool! The front of it is a waiting area that looks like a bodega, fit with things to buy. In the back, where you sit and eat, it’s a block party. There’s nothing but late 90’s and early 00’s hip hop blaring, every server is wearing a tracksuit, and the cocktails/mocktails come in giant solo cups. This felt like a party, and I was so ecstatic to finally be a part of it. This was the restaurant I was most excited to go to before the trip, and it was living up to the hype.

For our appetizer we had their complimentary rolls and ordered Korean fried chicken wings. We unfortunately scarfed the food down and forgot to take pictures of either. The rolls were so buttery, salty, and hot they felt like a warm hug and lasted only a couple of bites. I wish we had gotten more of them because damn, those were some good rolls. I absolutely loved the chicken wings. The spice rub on them were spicy and flavorful and the wings themselves were nice and crispy as Korean fried chicken usually is. They also came with a delightful sweet and spicy sauce that we both loved to drizzle over the wings. For me, these were some of the best wings I’d ever had. For Gabby, she liked them as they were, and loved them when they were saucy, so it was a mixed bag. I think this is because I love a spice rubbed wing, while she loved a wet and saucy wing.

For our mains I got the famous Kogi tacos, which is beef short ribs on homemade tortillas with onion, kimchi, and lime juice. They were awesome, but a little cold because my food came out a good ten minutes before Gabby’s, and I decided to wait until she got her food. In retrospect, we should have eaten the tacos together, fresh, and then split her pasta meal when it came to the table. Oh well.

Now I still enjoyed my tacos quite a bit, and hope to have them again sometime, but Gabby’s kimchi pasta carbonara was truly special. The flavors were so complex. The buttery smoothness of the parmesan melded with the sharp kick of spice from the kimchi, coating our tongues in a bite of both familiar and wild flavor. The kimchi was definitely the star of the dish, brining a comforting heat to the aftertaste and calling us to continue eating the chewy, curled pasta delicacy. And that’s not even mentioning the bites with guanciale—so meaty and smoky! It truly felt like an elevated version of comfort food—the best sort of party for your tastebuds.

With our bellies full, we walked back to the front of the bodega, so I could buy a Best Friend T-Shirt and Roy Choi cookbook. And with that, we slowly retreated to our room, where we watched the Vegas lights blink on from the serenity of our hotel room. And that was Day One. There were some hiccups, but we were so happy to be navigating them together, and without tension between us. We were a real partnership.

Day One: Testing The Waters

Day Two: We Saw A Shark!

Day Zero: Heading to Vegas in Style