Visiting with some blue men

 For many years I had wanted to visit Las Vegas.  Maybe it was seeing pictures of the Las Vegas strip,  movies like Oceans Eleven, or pictures of some Blue Men.  Anyway, for my 36^th birthday, I was able to convince my DH that we should go to Vegas.   We went for 5 days and still didn’t get to do all the things that were on my bucket list.  For our hotel we chose the Orleans Hotel which was a very nice hotel, but it was off-strip.   Take my advice, stay on the strip.  Even though many off-strip hotels are nice, you lose time going to/from the strip each day.

Las Vegas is one of those unique places that you should visit at least once.  It’s one of the few places where I’ve been where for absolutely nothing you can entertain yourself for the day.  You can stroll through a hotel for free and see fascinating sights and people.  Of course, if you want to, Las Vegas can be a place where you can spend lots too especially if you like to go to shows, drink and gamble.   I will confess that although we don’t drink, I absolutely love the penny slots and hotel buffets.

Some of our Las Vegas favorites

The Venetian – it was so fascinating to me to see gondolas floating in the water inside a hotel!

The Blue Man Group show (when we saw it, it was in the Venetian)

Go to the top of the Paris hotel at night.  What a view!

The Secret Garden of Siegfried and Roy

Visit Shark Reef

Free Stuff

    The Flamingos and Koi at the Flamingo hotel

For a nice change of pace, visit Red Rock Canyon – rent a car for a day and take a drive outside of the city.

When (not if) you go

·          Stay on the strip (assuming you aren’t visiting during prime times like New Year’s and the like, there are affordable hotels to be had on the strip and otherwise you lose too much time waiting for hotel shuttles to pick you up and drop you off)

·          At least 6 months in advance of your trip you should sign up for emails from as many hotels as you can stand (or at least the ones you’d consider staying at).  I have received emails that offer hotel room nights in nice hotels for $40 - $50 a night.  As long as you’re not fussy on time of year, you can get a cheap hotel in Vegas.  You do have to sign up for those hotel emails though so you can get the deals.

·          Ride the bus.  The Las Vegas strip buses (AKA The Deuce) are clean, comfortable, affordable and very convenient.  Sure, you can walk everywhere, but for those moments when you’re tired, those buses are a God-send.

·          Unless you’re traveling with a large group, definitely spring for the professional photos.  I have never regretted paying for the professional pictures we got on any of our trips including Las Vegas.


Some scenes from our Vegas trip