It’s been a LONG time since I was able to travel anywhere, thanks to COVID.. but after getting married, we knew we had to go somewhere. 3 weeks after our wedding, we hopped on a plane and went to LAS VEGAS! It was just for a couple of days, so we’re claiming it as our mini-honeymoon until we can travel somewhere further, for a longer time. We had no plans set before getting there other than to wing it. No dinners planned, no shows planned, nothing! I usually like to plan some activities before going on a vacation, but being so busy with our wedding made me a zombie afterwards. We might have missed out on a couple of shows that we would’ve enjoyed, but we had just as much fun exploring all the hotels and what there is to offer.
Before setting off to Las Vegas, we made sure to grab personalized luggage tags and passport covers from WeddingStar (I’ve mentioned them so much for items surrounding our wedding, but they have SO many items that can be personalized for any type of event or everyday life). They were also super handy for recognizing my luggage when we had to check it in, and made finding our passports easy when shoved in our packed bags.
The main thing I was focused on was eating! My main goal for any trip is to always find good restaurants and try things we don’t have in Canada. Las Vegas had a good mix of chain restaurants, fast food joints, and popular restaurants. Since I didn’t plan much prior to arriving, the main things I wanted to try were In N Out Burger and Shake Shack! The famous debate on which has the better burger.. and my choice is Shake Shack! I love smash burgers, so this was a no brainer. In N Out’s burger didn’t seem to wow me. The only original thing they had unique was their sauce, otherwise it was a basic hamburger.. AND their fries had NO flavour (I guess this is why people are obsessed with their animal fries? lol).
The Excalibur Hotel
We also got chicken and waffles at two different places (I love this combination!), and I need to advise everyone that you HAVE to go to Yardbird inside of the Venetian hotel! We ordered their Chicken & Waffles (it came with honey hot sauce, chilled spiced watermelon, a vermont sharp cheddar cheese waffle, & bourbon maple syrup), and a side of their Southern Street Corn. We were extra pleased with this meal because we actually stumbled across the restaurant on our way out of the hotel – it was SO good! I also got the chicken & waffles at Hexx Kitchen + Bar (inside Paris Las Vegas hotel), and it was really good too – with the addition of pickles! Highly recommend either of these two restaurants.We went to Las Vegas for 5 days, 4 nights, and somehow that didn’t seem like enough time to take it all in. We tried to walk the entire strip and check out all the hotels and what they have to offer, but it was just too much. The hotels themselves were enough to sightsee, but going inside them and exploring the restaurants, Christmas decor, and stores were a lot! Add all that in, with walking, taking the time to eat, and watching some shows… we couldn’t even make it down to the other end of the strip.
One of my highlights from the trip was experiencing The High Roller – a huge observation wheel that gives you spectacular views of the strip! It takes about 30 minutes to go around once, and there are 28 pods to go into, which hold up to around 20 people. There was an option to pay more for a “Happy Half Hour”, which included the 30 minute ride, but with the addition of an open bar! With the prices of drinks at the hotel bars, this was a great deal!! However, it struck me as odd when we went in because no one else was with us. Everyone else just paid for regular admission, so we had the entire pod to ourselves, along with the bartender. It was so fun because we didn’t have to wait for drinks to be made, and we were able to view the entire strip without having people in our way. Definitely worth it!
We are definitely going to have to come back to Las Vegas and continue exploring, and I’ll have to pre-plan a bit better just so I can make sure we get tickets to certain shows. I definitely love the Aria and Wynn hotels, but I’d happily stay at the Vdara again! It was an all-suites hotel, so there wasn’t a casino or entertainment on site, but that helped us save money and it was also much more quiet than the other hotels. Plus, everything is so close and you’re bound to explore, so we didn’t need anything “on site” or regret the fact that we didn’t have it at our hotel.