Las Vegas, May 2012, was the first stop on a week long trip where we also visited Zion National Park (Part 2) and Bryce Canyon (Part 3). I loved our recent European vacation (and will continue to post more about it soon), but this was one of my all time favorite trips.
In Vegas we stayed at the Venetian.
I booked it through Jetsetter.com as a special deal so we stayed in a Luxury View Suite, which was 650 square feet, had a sunken living room and a view of the Las Vegas Strip. It was the most opulent hotel room I've ever stayed in - loads of marble. In general, the Venetian is opulent.
The nice thing about Vegas is that there are a ton of hotel rooms and almost daily deals to fit a range of desires, from cheap and easy to all inclusive luxury. Our deal was somewhere in the middle, free wifi, access to the pool and gym, view of the strip.
Day Time View
Night Time View
We paid more on the first two nights because we were there over Memorial Day weekend so if you are on a strict budget don't visit over a holiday weekend. However, if you are hoping to catch someone in particular performing in Vegas, a holiday weekend is the time to go! Literally everyone I could think of was in town that weekend from P. Diddy to Taylor Swift to Elton John. Not to mention all of the standard shows from Circ de Soleil to Celine Dion.
With the plethora of options we chose to see comedian Ron White at the Mirage, which, as you can see from the pictures above, is across the street from the Venetian. Paul and I love comedy shows and Ron White delivered. To top it off, Ron invited the crowd, to join him after the show to watch his wife, Margo Rey, sing with her band at the BB King Blues club down the hall (currently reported by Yelp as closed!), so of course we went. I thought everyone would go and there would be a mad rush, but it was only us, about 40 other people and Ron White. Ron sat in the very middle, close to the stage, and jumped up after every song and cheered so enthusiastically it was cute, crazy, and made the memory highlight reel of the trip. During his show he said that he had been performing at the Mirage for over twenty years. It was cool because he was so comfortable, both during his own show, and his wife's, that both felt less like performances and more like hanging out...with extremely talented entertainers... just like every weekend, right?
(Ron White and Margo Rey - Courtesy of margorey.com)
One shocking thing about our time in Vegas? We did not gamble a penny! To be honest, I thought we would play a slot machine or a black jack table at least once, but it was more fun to walk around and watch other people. We walked through the Bellagio and watched a poker tournament and found an area with a million TV screens showing literally every live sports game.
The Bellagio also had an all flower exhibit when we were there. How cute is this guy?
And of course outside the the Bellagio we had our Ocean's 11 moment where we watched the fountain show.
While in Vegas we ate a lot of good food, tartars, perfectly cooked and flavorful fish, divine chocolate... but while the food was very tasty, I often found the ambiance to be a bit lacking. One of the places that we went we walked through what felt like an underground mall to get there - florescent lights, white title floor. Perhaps that's why I didn't take an pictures of the food?
One last thought on Vegas. It's surprisingly big. The hotels are huge and maze-like. One end of the strip to the other may only be a couple of miles, which might not seem like much but there are a lot of people and not particularly large or straight side walks so even a few blocks can seem long. Our flight landed late on a Saturday and by Tuesday I felt like we finally understood the energy and vibe of the city, but we were already off to Zion! Next time I could see spending another day or two. Have you been to Vegas? Did you like it? Was it too much? Are you ready to go back?
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