FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME :: Philip Tetro felt like he was on La Isla Bonita when he and the rest of the Shaun Proulx Media team (above) took over Las Vegas, Nevada. How his whole Sin City cherry pop went down.
For my whole life, Las Vegas has been made out to be this big, adult playground with flashing lights, casinos, strippers, restaurants, tons of alcohol and tons of food. Let me tell you, it is all that and a bag of potato chips, my friend. Let me tell you the story about my Vegas cherry-popping:
The energy there is so different than anywhere else I’d experienced before: the dry, hot air; the array of scantily clad men; the never-ending smell of cigarettes masked by air fresheners; the sound of music and sounds from slot machines; the over-priced coffee and under-priced alcohol; the portion size of your food (this was amazing) and the feeling of relaxation that made you want to lounge by a pool while listening to the best music of the 80s and 90s.
For six straight days, I felt that I was on vacation – the vacation that every person deserves: I felt welcomed as soon as I walked into the brand new Tropicana Hotel (which smelled like a field of vanilla and lavender); the reception desk’s wall was coloured in rainbow strobe lighting in honour of Gay Days weekend – yes, I, Philip Tetro, was in Las Fricking Vegas for Pride Weekend. The design of the hotel was like a resort in the Bahamas – “tropical fierce,” I’d call it. It goes without saying that the eye-candy was more than wonderful by the pool (The Tropicana’s Pool has been voted #1 in all of Vegas.) I may or may not have spent 8 hours a day ogling over the hairless boys dancing to house music, throwing beach balls, and tanning. I am a generally tanned person, but I have never been darker in my life. Thank you, Gay Days at Tropicana. Even when the rest of Shaun Proulx Media decided to go shoot machine guns and zip-line across the downtown, I poured myself another vodka-Fresca and decided that the sun was a better option for me than more air-time on The Shaun Proulx Show Season 3.
Not being one for gambling (there are always so many Madonna items I need to buy instead), Vegas has everything else I love: food, shopping, pools and cheap booze. There is always something to do, and even going to the corner store seems grandiose. Everything is bigger, better, more lit up, fast-paced, and fun. I would look forward to going for a walk along the strip because I couldn’t get enough of the lights and energy that every single adventure possessed.
I ate whatever I wanted, drank whatever I wanted, and did whatever the hell I wanted to do. But what happens in Vegas…
DOESN’T STAY IN VEGAS :: Catch the whole of the SPM Team’s Big Vegas Adventure when The Shaun Proulx Show Season 3 debuts exclusively on ShaunProulxMedia.com
