At the moment we’re not travelling (much) because we’re trying to do the grown up thing and save for a house, but Shaun managed to convince me that before we start saving we should have one last “big” holiday (not that it took much convincing!). He really wanted to take me to America so we decided to spend 5 nights in Vegas, drive to LA, spend 6 nights there, and then back to Vegas for one final night before flying home. In this post I’m going to tell you about our experiences in Vegas and some of the “must-dos”!
Hire a Car
Hiring a car is an absolute must if you’re going to be doing a lot of exploring, especially if you’re visiting places outside of Vegas. I’m so glad we decided to get one because we couldn’t have done half the things we did without it! Once we landed (after about a 15 hour journey!) we picked up our bags and made our way through the airport to the car rental desk (but not before posing for photos beside some sculptures!)
We got to the desk and there was a wee bit of
a queue but we noticed a sign that said “if your name is on this screen, please
make your way to the allocated parking space”, so we saw “S. Brown, parking
space xx” and thought “oh thank goodness, we don’t have to queue!” and we made
our way to the car. When we got there it
was a little bigger and fancier than we were expecting but we were so shattered
we didn’t think to question it. We
packed up and drove out of the car park, stopping to show ID at the kiosk. The lady looked at Shaun’s driving licence,
read out “Shaun Brown, yup…ok have a nice vacation!” and lifted the barrier for
us. It wasn’t until I noticed that
Shaun’s name was spelled wrong on the receipt and decided to check it
thoroughly that I realized THEY HAD GIVEN
US THE WRONG CAR. There was
unbelievably ANOTHER SHAUN BROWN
(albeit spelled Sean) due to pick up a car that night! What were the chances?? So we just had to drive round the block and
head back into the car park to give the car back. Unfortunately we were then told to go back
into the airport and wait at the bloody desk!
(which, by the way, had an even bigger queue than it did the first time!) Eventually we got our car, a little Nissan
Juke which we were quite happy with and we headed along to our hotel.
Always Carry a Bottle of Water With You
The first thing I noticed upon
leaving the car was the heat. In the
words of Janice from Friends, Oh. My. God.
I have never experienced anything like it. As soon as you venture outside the heat just
hits you, it’s like walking into a sauna and not being able to leave. You’re hoping and hoping for a bit of wind to
cool you down but even the wind is hot so there’s no escape! If you’re from a naturally warm country you
probably won’t notice it as much but when you’re from a cold country like
Scotland it’s certainly a bit of a shock!
Breakfast (or any meal for that matter) at Denny’s
On our first
morning we went to Denny’s where we had an absolutely amazing breakfast and I
discovered a love of raspberry lemonade!
I remember it was at that moment I just couldn’t believe that we were in America because it was just
somewhere that I never thought I would get to go!
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| Amazing breakfast at Denny's! |
Explore the Hotels
The hotels are amazing and one of the main
attractions of Vegas. We stayed at a
hotel on the strip called Circus Circus, which was on the budget side
price-wise but really good value for money and we’d definitely stay there
again. Their main feature as you can
probably guess is an actual circus! As
we were checking in, the lady behind the desk offered us an upgrade to a suite
for an extra $10 per night so we decided to upgrade. By the time we got there we’d been up for
over 24 hours and I was just dead on my feet, so much so that I barely recall
the journey up to our room and didn’t even notice we were walking past the
casinos! Once we got to our room though
we regretted the upgrade. Although the
room was beautiful, it had some kind of decorative grating on the windows that
we weren’t advised of so it restricted our view of the strip and meant that we
couldn’t take any pictures from the room so that was quite disappointing.
Each hotel has its own attraction; The Venetian has a gorgeous shopping mall and "canals" with gondolas, Caesar's Palace has the Colosseum, The Flamingo actually has flamingos, The Paris Hotel has a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower on top of it, the list goes on but I won't spoil it for you, it's much more exciting finding these things out for yourself!
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| Shaun and I in the Venetian Hotel |
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| The canal in the Venetian Hotel |
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| A sleepy flamingo at the Flamingo! |
The Welcome to Las Vegas Sign
Because you just have to!
Area 51 and the Little A’Le’inn
Because we were so close to Area 51 we
just had to go and have a look! We drove
for a couple of hours through the desert to Rachel, Nevada and had lunch at a
little diner that we’d seen in various YouTube videos called The Little A’Le’Inn
(clever!). If you’re even a little curious
about the “Extra Terrestrial” you should absolutely go and check this place
out! It’s such a cute little diner and it’s
themed really well with all sorts of alien/ufo related artifacts and
merchandise.
Afterwards we drove to Area 51 just to check it out but there’s not really much to say about it. We stopped quite a distance away from the gates because we didn’t want to get into any trouble or seem suspicious but I still think it’s cool that we were even anywhere close! One of the highlights of that day for me was getting to drive the Juke in the desert!* I’d only ever driven a standard UK right hand drive manual car before so getting to drive a left hand drive automatic (on the “wrong” side of the road as well!) was pretty exciting for me!
Afterwards we drove to Area 51 just to check it out but there’s not really much to say about it. We stopped quite a distance away from the gates because we didn’t want to get into any trouble or seem suspicious but I still think it’s cool that we were even anywhere close! One of the highlights of that day for me was getting to drive the Juke in the desert!* I’d only ever driven a standard UK right hand drive manual car before so getting to drive a left hand drive automatic (on the “wrong” side of the road as well!) was pretty exciting for me!
*for about 20 seconds before Shaun got scared and asked for it back.
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| Ok I've taken your picture, now give it back |
Fremont Street Experience
Situated in Downtown Vegas, the Fremont Street Experience just amazing, the
atmosphere is incredible and there’s so much to see and do. There’s a zip line that goes along right
above the street but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to have a go. There’s live music, light shows and
attractions everywhere you look and you can get your photo taken beside a million dollars in cash FOR FREE at a casino called Binion’s! One of
the places we would recommend to eat is at the Heart Attack Grill. It’s a novelty burger restaurant where you
dress up in hospital gowns, drink wine through an “IV line” and get spanked if
you don’t finish your meal! (don't worry, that part is optional!). There’s also karaoke while you eat which is
pretty entertaining!
Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam is definitely worth visiting because it’s so
impressive! It’s on the Nevada-Arizona
border so there’s actually a time difference of one hour between one side and
the other!
Linq High Roller
Situated at the Linq hotel on the strip, it’s
basically just a big ferris wheel but Vegas-style. It stands at 550ft tall which makes it the
tallest ferris wheel in the world! It
takes approximately 30 minutes to rotate and there are screens in each pod that
tell you facts about Vegas and the hotels and also tells you when you’re at the
very top. Ticket prices start from
around $22 but you can usually get good deals if you buy them online. There’s also a bar where you can buy yourself
a drink before heading into your pod. (Go for the alcoholic slushies, they’re amazing!)
Carlo's Bake Shop
Anyone who watches Cake Boss will know about Carlo's Bakery and their famous Cannolis! I’m a
fan of the show so when I found out they had one in Vegas I was super excited
and just HAD to get one! You can find
the shop in the Venetian hotel and I have to say, the Cannoli was absolutely out
of this world!
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| My amazing Cannoli! |
Celine Dion
Celine has a residency at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace
so if you’re even just a little into her I’d definitely recommend getting
tickets for her show, she’s just incredible!
Although quick tip – if you do go to see her, or any show for that
matter, PLEASE don’t sit and chat and laugh your way through it because it is
VERY frustrating to those who have paid to actually hear her sing. The 4 French people in the back row next to
us I’m looking at you! Why pay all that
money to chat and laugh all the way through the performance?? Soooo disrespectful!
Eiffel Tower Experience
If you like amazing views then this is another
must-do. The Eiffel Tower Experience is
a 460ft high observation deck on top of the Paris hotel. Shaun surprised me with tickets right after
the Celine Dion show at night so we got a brilliant view of Vegas in the
dark! Prices range from $16 during the
day to $22 at night.
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| View from the Eiffel Tower Experience |
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden
You can find the Secret Garden at
the Mirage hotel. Tickets cost around
$22 but it’s definitely worth it because you can spend as much time there as you like, watching the dolphins or walking around looking at the tigers, lions and
leopards. There’s also a snack bar if
you get hungry, as well as a shop and a discovery centre.
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| "Hello!" :) |
Shark Reef Aquarium
Mandalay Bay has its own aquarium with lots of
exhibits featuring over 2,000 animals and over 100 different species (including
15 species of sharks). Tickets cost
around $25 for an adult and around $19 for kids.
Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch
If you do drive from Vegas to LA as we did,
a good place to visit is Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch on Route 66. It’s basically a LOT of “trees” made from
metal and glass bottles with various decorations around them. The story is Elmer’s father used to collect glass
bottles and when he passed away Elmer inherited his father’s collection. He wasn’t sure what to do with them at first
but he eventually decided to create bottle trees from them and there are now
over 200 trees at the ranch! It’s really
quirky and it’s completely free, although you can leave a donation if you
wish. Elmer himself usually wanders
around talking to visitors so if you’re lucky you might get his story first
hand! You can find out a bit more about
it in this post from California Through My Lens, a travel blog that I
follow.
So that’s it for Vegas, I’ve rambled on enough for one post! Stay tuned for Part 2 – Los Angeles,
California!
I’d love to hear about some of your experiences in Vegas, tell me about them in the comments section below!
I’d love to hear about some of your experiences in Vegas, tell me about them in the comments section below!
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