Coming back from a vacation is always a challenge. At least I seem to think so. Vacations are necessary in order to relax and rejuvinate, but eventually they all must come to an end and you have to get back to the "real world" I guess. This was one of the biggest vacations I have ever taken, and the best and most memorable. I love all my vacations I have been able to take and I carry memories with me forever, but this one was just so huge and one of the most costly. Was it worth it? Hell yeah! So here's my Vegas vacation in a nutshell. If you're thinking about going to Vegas, it comes highly recommended!
We hit the ground running in Vegas. Plane landed around 2 p.m., and with the 3 hour time difference, it was like 5 p.m. our time, which made for a long day since we were in the air at 6:20 that morning. We had to wait awhile for our pre-booked shuttle from the airport to the hotel, but we checked into the hotel around 3:30 p.m. We changed and got ready for an afternoon/night out on the town. We eventually found the bus and paid our $3 to take the bus to the strip (we stayed in a downtown hotel - cheaper and not as noisy at night). Then we went to the Caesars Forum Shops where we wandered around and found the Apple store so Rich could check that out. Then we went to the Fall of Atlantis Show which was very cool. We ate shortly after at the Cheesecake Factory. When we went back outside it was dark, which was great because it made for some great nighttime photos. You know how you see great nighttime photos of Vegas online? Well being there in person is 100 times better! I was like a kid at Christmas. I couldn't stop looking at everything. We wandered around for a bit and made our way to the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. There we found the Wildlife Habitat, which was cool. They had flamingos, different types of fish, ducks, lots of cool areas to wander and explore. After that we decided to do one last thing for the evening and that was to see the Bellagio Fountains. They are absolutely amazing! Nothing beats seeing those. It is totally and completely incredible! Nothing else I have ever seen compares to that.
The next day started out early. I think we weren't completely used to the time change yet, despite not going to bed until 10:30, which was like 1:30 a.m. our time. We got up at 6:30 a.m., took showers and went for our free breakfast at the hotel. Then it was time to explore again. The weather was calling for Temps in the 90s so it was time to lather up with sunscreen, grabbed our cameras, and out the door. This time we bought the 24-hour bus pas for $7, well worth it, let me tell you, you don't want to walk the entire time! We headed to the furthest end of the strip away from our hotel and got off at the Luxor Hotel. That's an amazing hotel to see from the outside. It's lined with egyptian items. We continued our way down, checking out the Excalibur Hotel and the New York New York Hotel. We then made our way to the MGM Grand, where there is a lion habitat. The lions were cool to see. The next stop was a must, the M&M World! 4 stories of M&M Goodness! Needless to say I bought some stuff from there and brought home stuff for the family (we actually went twice to the M&M World! - It was THAT good!) Following that we were both getting kind of tired and very hot, so we decided to stop at our final place for the day and that was the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel. This was what I was most excited about while visiting. I collect dolphin items so it was off we went to that. $15 to get in, but while worth it! I watched the dolphins play and swim for probably a good 45 minutes and got tons of pictures! Then we headed into the Secret Garden place. They took our pictures, which we later bought. They had lions, llamas, ducks, tigers, tons of cool animals in the secret garden. Most were trying to seek shade because they were hot. On the way out we stopped in the gift shop and I got a stuffed dolphin and a souvenir to go in my collection. Once we made it back to the hotel we immediately threw on our bathing suits and headed to the pool. Great day to lay out by the pool and cool down. We then showered and had dinner in the hotel before heading back out to go to our big show, Penn & Teller! It was a good show, funny, and Rich got their autographs so I think he was excited about that. That had to be his favorite part of the trip for sure.
For Monday, our last full day there, we began our day a little later, about 9:30 a.m., got used to the time change just in time to go back home the next day. We ate our free breakfast again and bought our 24-hour pass again. We started off at a huge gift shop and bought sovenirs for the family and friends. Then we visited Circus Circus Hotel. By about 11 in the morning it was already around 95 degrees so we were very hot. We climbed on the bus and I got off at the Fashion Show Mall while Rich headed to a ham radio shop out there. I promptly got a cold Starbucks drink and made my way to the Caesars Forum Shops where I sat in the air conditioning for awhile just people watching. Then I finally decided I was hot and miserable so I headed back to the hotel and told Rich I'd meet him there. I took a nice nap :) He didn't get back until around 3 so we relaxed for a bit before heading back out and going to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We then made our way back down the strip to the Venetian, which is cool with the gondola rides and the Mirage, which starting at 8 p.m. every hour has a volcano show where a real volcano eruptes. That was amazing as well! After that it was time to head back to the hotel. We dropped off our purchases and changed before heading down to right below our hotel for the Fremont Street Experience. Cool lights, shows, and tons of people were down there. We hung out for awhile before heading back up to pack up our stuff. We were in bed around 11 p.m. and up at 2:30 a.m. We had to catch our shuttle to the airport at 3:30 a.m. We were sitting at our gate by 4:30 and our flight took off at 6:30. We were home safe and sound at 4 p.m. (our time)
We squeezed so much into those three days that if you go it is recommended to take a week to do everything. We hope to go back as we didn't do everything we had wanted to. Wish I had more time to do some gambling. It's always nice to be home, but vacations are necessary to stay sane with working ALL the time! Highly recommended with 5 stars!!
