Last week Christopher and I went to Las Vegas. Christopher had a trade show for work and I tagged along so we could do some sight seeing. Just a warning, this is a long post with tons of pictures. Get comfortable!
The Hoover Dam is so big you can see it from the plane. This is a picture I took as we flew over.
We got to Vegas pretty early in the morning so we picked up our rental car, took a quick drive down the strip, and then headed to In-N-Out as soon as they opened. It has been YEARS since I've had In-N-Out so I was really excited.
Do you like our dumb hats? We decided to rent a convertible for our drive to the Hoover Dam, but didn't come prepared with anything to keep the sun out of our faces, so we stopped at Walmart and bought these hats. We thought they were too ridiculous to pass up. Oh, that's the Hoover Dam in the background there.
The dam is so huge! It was really cool to see.
We even got to stand in two states!
This bridge was built in London, and then no joke a dude bought the bridge and paid to have it moved to AZ and set up exactly the same, brick by brick. They even have a little shops that are all sort of London themed around the bridge. I couldn't decide if it was cute or weird or maybe both.
After we walked around Lake Havasu for a little bit we started making our way back to Vegas. We even drove along Historic Route 66 for a little bit. It was pretty cold, but we wanted to keep enjoying driving with the top down, so I snuggled up in my hoodie and we cranked up the heat. It was so dark out and you could see SO MANY STARS! I just rode with my head back looking at the sky for most of the time.
We were staying at Bally's which is connected to the Paris Hotel. We ended up eating at the restaurants in Paris most mornings for breakfast because they were close and because crepes.
We visited the real live flamingos that live in the Flamingo Hotel.
I love fountains, and I was particularly proud to take this picture with a little rainbow.
LVB Burgers Bar was one of our favorite things we ate. It's inside the Mirage and the burgers were really good.
I don't think you can go to Las Vegas and not go to the Bellagio. They have this GIANT Chihuly glass feature. It's just amazing how large it is and how beautiful it is.
The Bellagio also had some amazing fall decorations. This basket below is at least twice as tall as me, if not taller.
And the fountain shows alone would have been worth the trip. I wonder if you stay in the hotel with a room that has a fountain view if you can hear the music. I might have to look into this.
In addition to a replica Eiffel Tower, the Paris hotel also has a replica Arc De Triomphe. I didn't have a great experience in real Paris because I had to spend a lot of time getting a new passport on one of my two days there, so I didn't really have a desire to go back, but again seeing the fake version with Christopher makes me want to go back with him.
In the Cosmopolitan hotel they had these really cool old cigarette machines that had been converted to sell art. It was so cool, for $5 you could pick a selection of art and it would be dispensed instead of cigarettes.
We didn't have any $1 or $5 bills, and we made plans to get change and go back but we forgot. If we ever go back to Las Vegas I will definitely make sure to find one of these cool art machines.
We ate at the buffet in the Cosmopolitan, Wicked Spoon. It was really good. I wish I had remembered to take pictures of the whole buffet space, because it was HUGE!
My First trip I got, Prime rib, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, bacon, mac and cheese and drunken noodles (in the box).
Chris's first trip he got a meat filed pasta, salmon, sushi, a chicken drumstick with some kind of sauce, lox, pork roast, bacon, and a shrimp cocktail (not pictured).
I went back for more meat and potatoes, french toast, a caramel sticky bun, and some kind of pink juice (there was no sign).
Then we tried all of the desserts except the cookies.
Obviously we needed ice cream for the cobbler.
There was also a really great steampunk shoe in the Cosmopolitan. This was one of my favorite hotels. If we went back I would totally stay here.
I was surprised by how much art was around. This is kind of a frozen fountain, it's a pool of water and ice pillars. It was cold to stand near and I loved it. I want something like this in my house!
On election day the High Roller featured red, white, and blue lights and the Venetian letters had a flag background instead of gold.
We went to a dinner party and somehow I ended up going back to the hotel with this awesome balloon hat!
There was a quick service food place called Lobster Me and they sell a lobster tail on a stick that they call a Lobsicle. Christopher was SO excited to eat his lobsicle.
There is also a Serendipity on the strip, and we didn't have time to try it when we were in New York, so we got ourselves a Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. It was good, but not what I expected. I thought it would be more milkshakey and not as much like a frozen coffee.
On our last day in Las Vegas I had some time on my own without a hotel room, so I had to be brave and wander around. I ended up spending my morning exploring a row of shops between The Flamingo and The Linq in font of the High Roller. I got a coffee at Starbucks (it was red cup day) and read a book for a bit, I got a slice of pizza from Flour & Barley, and of course I had to get a cupcake from Sprinkles.
I know we have a Sprinkles in Orlando now, but I still haven't been. Plus, I couldn't just walk by a cupcake place and not get a treat.
Overall our trip to Las Vegas was pretty good. It smells kind of like a landfill outside and casinos are so smokey you could choke, but if you find yourself inside somewhere that isn't a casino or near plants or a fountain, you will probably be somewhere really beautiful.
My last piece of advice for anyone going to Las Vegas for the first time is look up. The hotels are so large and they almost always have something beautiful either on the ceiling or hanging from it.
