The plan was to go to Vegas on my 21st birthday. Thirteen years later, I finally managed to get there. I went as part of a Bachelorette Weekend for my wonderful tiny/tall gal pal who is getting married in May. She’s a lucky girl, he’s a lucky guy. It is just that delightfully adorable.
Vegas, in turn, was not what I would call ‘adorable.’ Fun. Bizarre. Chaotic. Exhausting. Exciting. But not adorable. I truly had a fantastic time during our Las Vegas adventure and look forward to a repeat journey sometime in the near future (hopefully not another thirteen years from now).
What were my fave moments of the trip? How about I tell you with this easy to follow listicle!
- Lunch at Diablo’s – Once we’d all (for the most part) arrived in Vegas we taxi’d our way to our hotel (the Monte Carlo) and set about hunting up some lunch. It had been a long travel day and we were starving. Diablo’s Cantina was located in the Monte Carlo and offered some very tempting margarita specials that we couldn’t pass up. Three of our party ended up sharing one giant plate of pulled chicken nachos with extra sour cream and pico de gallo. I also had a marvelous blood orange margarita about the size of my head.
- Happy Hour at D.Vino Wine Bar – Vegas is expensive. Like ridiculously so. We may have all been surprised by just how pricey everything from bottles of water to multi-course meals cost. So our first night we went looking for something a bit cheaper than $16 a plate for food. Luckily we happened upon a sign that read “all day happy hour”, sitting outside a wine bar located in the Monte Carlo casino. Half price appetizers and $5 well drinks sounded way too reasonable so we took them up on their offer. Their bartender made a tasty Tequila Sunrise, but their cheese plate left a little to be desired (there was only about two small hunks of cheese on it).
- Meeting crew from the Bourne 5 film – I’ll admit the first guy that told us he was working on the crew of the new Bourne film (filming in Las Vegas apparently) was kind of tipsy and talking at us in a bar. We may not have fully believed him. Even when he went to sit with a bunch of people who did look like they may have been working on a movie set all day. It wasn’t until we met another gentleman in an elevator, late at night with a bag of In-and-Out in his hands and a world of exhaustion on his face, that it seemed like the first guy may have been telling the truth. The elevator man said he worked on lighting, had been living in the hotel for two months, and he had in fact met Matt Damon and said Mr Damon was very nice.
- Breakfast at Denny’s – Remember when I said we were on the hunt for cheap eats? That very search operation led us to Denny’s for brunch our first day in Vegas. It also helped that there was a Denny’s right across the street from our hotel. The food was all priced about the same as it would be outside of Vegas, and we were able to fill up on veggie omelets (yum!), peanut butter chocolate pancakes (intensely delicious), hot coffee, and cold soda (for me cause I wanted caffeine but don’t care for coffee).
- The Bodies exhibit at the Luxor – This was so very cool. Unfortunately I don’t have pics of my own to share as they don’t allow cameras or phone usage or recording devices in the exhibit. But take my word for it this exhibit was pretty amazing. It included real bodies showing off real muscles, bones, and systems. The circulatory system room was especially beautiful.
- The top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris – We got tickets to a bunch of stuff all at once from a discount ticket kiosk. This included passes to ride up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which we chose to do as late as possible so we could see all the pretty lights. We also ended up there when the Bellagio Fountain went off right across the street. It was rather pretty from high up.
- Zumanity by Cirque de Soleil at New York New York – What is a bachelorette weekend without some adult entertainment? We debated between Thunder from Down Under, Chippendales, and Zumanity, and settled on Zumanity in the end. Not only was it a cabaret act, but it was Cirque de Soleil! And what a fabulously fun and sexy show it was. Funny, risque, entertaining, and highly enjoyable. My fave acts included the lady swimming in the giant fishbowl and the mow-hawked aerialist swinging in on metal chains.
- Lunch at Earl of Sandwich – We set out one morning to find cheap breakfast food at the Earl of Sandwich inside Planet Hollywood. We attempted to take one of the free trams from our hotel over to the Bellagio which was relatively close to our destination. Somehow after exiting the tram we ended up wandering through the Bellagio, into Aria, and ending up right back next to our hotel. (Aria may be the black hole of Vegas. We ended up lost there more than once.) It ended up taking so long to get back to Planet Hollywood after escaping Aria that we missed breakfast altogether. Luckily they had very tasty wraps, sandwiches, soups, and sides (mac and cheese!) at very reasonable prices so we still filled our bellies. It was just more lunch than breakfast in the end.
- The Titanic exhibit at the Luxor – The Luxor has some pretty cool stuff going on, if you’re into science and biology and history. The Titanic exhibit (which I also was not allowed to take pictures of) had some amazing artifacts from the ship, as well as some really interesting and sad stories. Some rooms were set up to look like actual parts of the Titanic (like the grand staircase – no Leonardo DiCaprio included) while others seemed to be set up to show off their displays the best. There was even a room with a Big Piece (that’s what they call it and everything) of the ship itself.
- Dinner at In-And-Out Burger – They don’t have In-And-Out Burger here in Spokane, or in Houston and the outlying areas where I grew up, so this was my very first visit to one. I liked the simple menu, the delicious food, and the hectic busy atmosphere of the restaurant. I’d also like to belatedly apologize for scaring several tables of ladies after my sister told me via Facebook that she had friends at In-And-Out in Vegas at the same time and I should look for them.
And though that isn’t (even really close) to everything I got up to on my very first Vegas vacation, that is where I’m gonna wrap up this installment of Adventures in Spokane – Special Edition. If you wanna know more exciting things to do in Las Vegas you should probably take yourself on a trip there asap!
I’ll be back soon (probably) to talk about shopping trips, lady!dates, cat shows, and more. If you want to pass the time until I return you can head out for some adventures of your own. You might even see me bouncing around town while you’re out there (and if you find me and introduce yourself I’ll give you a prize)!
This Week’s Adventures in Spokane brought to you by:
Monte Carlo Resort and Casino
Diablo’s Cantina
D.Vino Italian Food and Wine
Bodies: The Exhibition
Paris Las Vegas Hotel
Zumanity
Earl of Sandwich
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
In-and-Out Burger
