Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Las Vegas: Sure it's family friendly...

Las Vegas, the infamous city of sin where, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.  Since I visited on a Tuesday through Thursday for work though, I can’t fully relate.  It was fun, don’t get me wrong, but I am going to have to go back for the traditional madness that ensues.  (I was there for work after-all.)

Mural in the Venetian
This all being said, I did drink - quite a bit - in the streets - as everyone meeting the legal age of 21 should.  Even if you aren’t going out for a wild night or decide to believe that the moniker of being family friendly is true, there is enough extravagance to take in that it won’t be difficult to enjoy a simple walk down the strip.  And, in our case, make a quick stop at a casino whenever you need a refill.  As a side note, the casinos seem close together until you start walking.  To say the least, we didn’t have to skip a single casino due to an unfinished drink.

In all reality, I just wanted to walk the strip, see the city a bit, and find a big slot machine to pull the handle on.  If it was not big, and did not have a handle to pull, I was not interested.  We stayed at the Mirage in between Treasure Island (TI) and Caesar’s Palace right in the middle of it all.  I was fortunate to have been traveling with some seasoned Las Vegas pros who could show us youngins the ropes, or in this case, inform us of what Casino we were even in. 

I found my big slot machine - and won too!
During our two nights of roaming we managed to visit TI, Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, The Venetian, Margarita Ville, and more, including a street corner bar or two for refills.   The architecture, as expected, was extravagant and the street scene exactly as you would image it.  And don’t be surprised to run into kids, grandparents, young 20 somethings and anyone in between, dressed from casual attire to high-rolling suits.

I found eating in general was over-priced, not a surprise, but ultimately provided a pretty enjoyable experience.   (I had never cooked thin slices of steak on a very hot rock before.)   However, I unfortunately wasn’t able to experience one of Las Vegas’ infamous buffets.  That will definitely happen the next time I visit!

Las Vegas, NV

Lesson Learned: if you do not smoke cigars (or in general) and do not particularly enjoy dairy, deciding to smoke your own cigar and drink white Russians all night may or may not leave you with a good experience in a random casino bathroom.  Memorable - yes, good – no

Mixing It Up!

I am so far behind, that I have decided to share my experiences as I am able rather than try to keep them in consecutive order.  I may go back and re-date them in the future (I think I can do that), but until then just note that one post may have happened a year ago and the very next post may have happened yesterday.  Fun right?!

Enjoy - and I hope that these posts ignite your feeling of wanderlust, and even more-so, provide the needed boost to get you out there exploring too!

Cheers!
     Quillyn
A beautiful day in Chicago, IL USA