Viva Las Vegas!! My long awaited 10th trip was fabulous, and it felt even more special since it was my first real vacation since the pandemic!
As usual, here's an absurdly detailed recap of my travels...
(*I had Tman take this pic of me in front of this cheesy little shop. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be the thumbnail pic for this blog post! lol)
Let's start from the very beginning... Rach and the kids dropped us off! J&K had never seen an airport, so they were excited about the idea of being there! Jace asked me to just stuff him into my suitcase and bring him along, but sadly, it was already quite full! lol
I'd already warned Triston about the differences in "Day Vegas" vs. "Night Vegas," and I was happy about that when we walked by discarded porn fliers as the strong scent of cigarette smoke mixed with weed filled the air. The sweet smells of Vegas. lol ...We checked in at the Paris Hotel and stopped by La Pizza for a late dinner, then crossed the street to catch the midnight Bellagio fountains (Whitney's Star Spangled Banner, as expected). I put my hand over my heart and felt nostalgic about it all. The fountains will always be magical to me... as Chet said 12 years back, "Ignore the trashiness and focus on the glamor!" lol
Then we went inside and I showed Triston the Chihuly glass flowers in the Bellagio lobby, followed by the jungle-themed Conservatory and Botanical Gardens!
This room changes seasonally, and it's always fun to me to see what they've created, but I do wish there was a way to walk through it without the massive crowds. Perhaps if you went at 4am, but I'm not sure even that would make much difference in Vegas.
Then we stopped at CVS to stock up on water and buy sunscreen and a few other things we needed. I had gotten up at 6:50am that morning for work, and with the two-hour extended time difference and enough walking to create blisters on both feet that first night, I was soooo tired when we finally got back to the room. Triston, on the other hand, had slept in till 2pm and was ready to watch a movie when we got back to the hotel! lol So he put in his AirPods and watched TV while I crashed into bed!
Our next morning started off strong with brunch reservations at Mon Ami! We both had the French toast with a side of date-glazed bacon... his topped with strawberries and mine was bananas foster! Yum to all of the above! We had a window seat, which worked out pretty perfectly... a lovely view without all the crazy summer heat!
From there, we took our second of many Uber rides to NYNY to check out Hershey World and ride the Big Apple roller coaster... Triston had fun, but I shut my eyes the whole time and was surprised at how much my head was being jerked around and how long it felt! lol
My entire body was tense, and I think closing my eyes may have made the motion worse since I couldn't anticipate which way I was going to be flung next! lol I felt a little queasy afterwards, but recovered better than I could have without the Dramamine!
We crossed the street to check out M&M World, followed by Coca-Cola World. I didn't realize that T loved Coca-Cola so much, but that was one of his favorite things on this trip! Here we are posing for the traditional cheesy pics! =)
And here we are trying 16 different soft drinks from around the world... some far better than others, and one of which was especially foul and earned a spit take from both of us! I also had a Coke Icee and would recommend getting that and skipping the taste test! lol
Hershey World was earlier and In-N-Out was later, but here's this happy collage anyway! I had to get a pic with that shirt because it made me think of Alexis!
We took an Uber to the Caesar's Forum shops to check out a few stores... Triston got some new shorts he was excited about... then we grabbed gelato as an afternoon snack, and I thought of Jeffrey pronouncing "limon!" =)
We went back to our room to change clothes, then I insisted he pose for a slot machine pic downstairs since no one working there seemed to care! =)
We went to Planet Hollywood for the Jonas Brothers' concert... and my appreciation for Nick Jonas, (aka Captain Seaplane McDonough from Jumanji) was strengthened! lol It was such a fun concert all around, and it made me happy to learn that we caught one of just five shows they were performing in Vegas this summer! I also liked that their parents, wives, and other brother were all there! But kinda sad for the youngest brother to be left out of this trio - I'd take him over Joe if I'm being honest. Anyway, yay for Nick and for them singing all the songs I'd just learned, and yay for taking Triston to his first concert ever! =)
We couldn't find the Uber pick-up spot (different from the taxi line at most hotels), so we decided to just get in the line for a taxi... and I laughed out loud when we were directed into this gem of a vehicle for our first cab ride! (And of course I snapped a picture when he dropped us off at the Linq Promenade for our High Roller ride!)
The High Roller is the tallest Farris wheel in the world, and it takes 35 minutes to go all the way around! Here is our pod - they hold several people and have spaces to sit down or stand up as you go. (And it's very slow-moving, so I had no issues with motion sickness.)
The outside view (from our Thunder from Down Under cab)!
View from the top... it made me happy that we could see the fountains from there!
We actually went to the Linq Promenade for dinner at In-N-Out before, then came back for a few minutes to look around afterward! It's a cute little area that's new to me, and it includes lots of great restaurants that are on the more affordable side for Vegas, the strip's only zipline overhead, and a fun mini-fountain that changes colors!
After that, we walked back to our room and went to bed around 1am! (I had made an itinerary for us of things Triston wanted to try to do, and we did everything but the Paris pool... but that was a deliberate choice and worked out well.)
Day 3 began with putting on swim stuff + coverups, bringing sunscreen, and taking an Uber to the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Aquarium!
We Facetimed Jaceman (which he requested) to show him the sharks, alligators, piranhas, etc. This looked like they were in a cute little fish choir, so I obviously had to snap a photo!
We slept in that morning then had lunch at Johnny Rockets at the Aquarium Food Court! We checked into Dad and Charlene's room because we had to have a room key for the pool... then finally, we headed to the Mandalay Bay Beach!!! The stage behind us is where OneRepublic played 12 years ago... and the sand in front of us is where we sat for that memorable beach concert! It made me very happy to be back there again, and it was fun to actually swim this time!
We swam for a couple hours, checking out the different pools there, then we layed out to dry off for our next Uber ride. Tman grabbed a coconut drink and said it wasn't as good as he'd hoped.
We went back to shower and change as quickly as possible, then we Uber'd to the Strat Hotel and bought tickets for the SkyPod Observation Deck (for us both) and the Big Shot ride (for him only).
This makes me happy
Our view from Floor 109
Soooooo windy!!
They had all the rides marked as closed, but when we asked they said it was open... so he rode this drop tower alone, and I applauded his courage and took a video!
One of the worst edited cheesy pics (me taking a photo of the pic with my phone).
And from there, we Uber'd to the Fashion Show Mall and promptly found the huge Apple Store, another thing Tman was excited about...
I stopped to put free perfume on myself - lol - then when I met up with him, he was busy listening to the AirPods Max and telling me how "insane" the sound quality is! It better be for $500 headphones!!
I did find this pink and red computer that made me happy, but everything Mac is a little too overpriced for my tastes, not to mention that it would involve learning an entirely new system!
And at long last (after a 16 hour drive over two days for them), we met Dad and Charlene for dinner at Maggiano's!
Table pic after dinner... I got chicken parm and everyone else got spaghetti and meatballs! lol
Thanks to JEM's suggestion, we all walked over to tour the Wynn Hotel after dinner! We saw the lobby and the flower carousel and Parasol Bar, and I had to get a pic by "the Lake of Frogs and Dreams." =)
Then we walked to the Palazzo and Venetian Hotels... where I insisted on more pictures, and Tman threw a few coins in trying to hit a specific target! lol (He's left-handed if you were wondering.)
I was super thrilled about this pic... we had to wait in a line for it and find a stranger willing to take it, but very worth it if you ask me! lol (I'm guessing the other 3 might disagree, but whatevs.)
Venetian.
A cool ceiling -- I tend not to take many photos without my people in them, thanks to Denise Webb's advice back in 1996 (that you can always get a postcard with better pics of the buildings, and that your pictures should focus on documenting the people and the memories with the group you enjoyed that place with). I still agree with that, but Charlene mentioned that Kristin wanted pictures of stuff around town, so I took more of those than usual (and will show you at our next OG dinner, Kristin)!!
One last fountain show that night... the selfie-stick couple behind us makes me laugh! =)
We bought tickets the day before for the Eiffel Tower Viewing Deck at our hotel. After the Strat and the High Roller, I was feeling pretty indifferent about it, but it ended up being one of my favorite things, thanks to the awesome view of the fountains from up there!!
And on Day 4 (Monday morning), we packed up and took an Uber to the airport where Tman flew home... then I Uber'd back to Mandalay Bay for part 2 of this trip!! Here's T in his new Coca-Cola hoodie and Lululemon shorts! And Grandpa's sunglasses that he loved! =)
Annnnd that's it for part one, friends. Part two recap coming later tonight! =)
This song is stuck in my head today and it's hard not to be happy while singing it, so here's the Jonas Brothers singing Cool.
May God's unfailing love be our comfort!
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