Las Vegas: Yay or Nay?

When we planned our trip out west in June, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas was the closest airport to Washington, Utah which would serve as our home base for the week. Once the decision was made to fly into McCarran, Bill and I tossed around the idea of going out a couple of days early to spend time in Las Vegas before the kids arrived. We ended up scrapping the idea in what proved to be a very good decision.

After flying into Las Vegas, we stopped for lunch just outside the city before making our way to nearby Red Rock Canyon. We’d originally planned to drive down The Strip before heading out of town, but decided to allow extra time the following week on our return trip to the airport to explore Las Vegas on foot.

Driving Down the Vegas Strip

We checked ourselves out of our Airbnb in Washington, Utah on June 29th and drove 130 miles to Las Vegas. Driving down The Strip was fascinating as we recognized many famous hotels and restaurants.

The Mirage…

Gordon Ramsey’s Hells Kitchen…

Caesar’s Palace…

A Quick Walking Tour

After a drive down The Strip, we parked at around 10 AM and toured the gaudy city on foot. One of our first encounters was with two scantily dressed women wearing not much more than huge boas and tail feathers who shoved cards into our hands advertising some show for later in the day.

We headed to see the Bellagio fountains, but they were undergoing maintenance. We did, at least, get to see a boat and a few guys wading around in the water. Not everyone gets to see that! I must admit that I would love to see the fountains showing off at night.

Looking to our right, we could see Caesar’s Palace…

Cutting Through the Bellagio

We decided to take an up-close look at one of the hotels and chose the Bellagio. I had seen signs in another casino saying that taking pictures was prohibited and even though I wasn’t sure about the Bellagio, I chickened out. I did take lots of other pictures as we walked through and here are a few of my favorites.

The lion out front welcoming guests…

This very cool ceiling…

Photo credit: Jess

This indoor fountain at the entrance to Bellagio’s 14,000-square-foot glass-ceilinged floral arcadia…

Jockeys on horses in the arcadia…

Swans in the arcadia…

Back Outside in the Desert Heat

We continued walking around the city until it was time to get to the airport. During our walk, we passed the Eiffel Tower…

And like typical tourists we paused for a picture with the Las Vegas Strip behind us…

Airport Casino

Had we chosen, we could have gambled while at McCarran International Airport. Of course, the Las Vegas airport has slot machines!

Final Thoughts on Las Vegas

It became obvious to me very quickly that Las Vegas is not my kind of place, especially since gambling doesn’t really interest me. We were there during the late morning and even then, I felt completely out of my element. I can only imagine how much more uncomfortable I would have been at night. Perhaps had I seen the lights of The Strip at night while running in a race, it might have been more to my liking.

It was definitely great to check visiting Las Vegas off my bucket list, but it just goes to show that bucket list items don’t always pan out as you expect.

• Questions:
• • Have you visited Las Vegas, and if so would you go back again?
• • If you’ve been to Las Vegas where did you stay?
• • Do you enjoy casinos?