November 2021

Having never been to the Sin City, I jumped at the chance to be whisked away for a quick trip to see the lights for the first time.

I believe that you should definitely arrive at night; it feels more magical that way. There’s music and lights and noise and it’s all overwhelming in a body-tingly way:

The Paris hotel was both elegant and I loved the replicas of the landmarks that were very detailed:

So you have to play at least some games while there (even if you really didn’t know what you were doing exactly). I had beginner’s luck in Paris and at Harrah’s and did not lose big at all.

Most of the casinos are like cities within walls and everything is just brighter and flashier:

You forget it’s daytime when you step outside:

The food is delicious!

There’s no buffets because of COVID (unless you make a reservation in one of the few ones left like a year in advance) but there’s still plenty of great food to try, no matter what time it is. There’s even a Chick-Fil-A that was open until around 2 AM!

Food can be found in vending machines too:

And the clubs and bars are the epitome of glamour and sophistication:

The Bellagio Fountains are gorgeous to see no matter what time of day. I had to be dragged away from watching them. The spouts boom like bombs, and they play to songs. I had to stay when Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas came on, of course.

Of course, there’s the desert around the city about 20 minutes out. Our Uber driver was kind enough to take us to the Tule Springs Fossil Beds, where it’s such a new park by the National Park Service that there were no marked trails yet. Named after the fossils of a baby mammoth that was found, this park contains thousands of Pleistocene fossils that are still being discovered.

Then it was off to the Seven Magic Mountains, an art installation in the desert for lots of fun pics:

And more sightseeing and shopping:

I hardly slept a wink and didn’t regret it! Coming up next will be about the Omega Mart, the Meow Wolf art collective installation at Area 15 that I caught before flying out!