May 10th and 11th 2021- Las Vegas
I just returned from a 6 day trip into Las Vegas and the surrounding area. My husband and I had an amazing time. This was the first time we had visited and got a rental car to explore beyond the Vegas strip. Ready at 5am for our early flight out of Syracuse NY we got a call from the airline, change in plans we leave earlier to a new city. Thank you Terri, my friend from school and once co-worker for taking care of everything. We left an hour earlier then intended and flew into Atlanta, instead of JFK. We also scored $30- in food vouchers for the trouble. There was none involved so this was a great score. Once we landed in Atlanta, I quickly purchased some free Micky D's for breakfast and before to long we were on our way to Las Vegas.
Got our rental for the week and headed to our free (COMP) hotel for the next 5 days. The Venetian resort, as always is/was beautiful and we had an amazing room. Checked in easily enough and taking a break from the morning flights we did a little slot playing and relaxed in the room. Later that evening we played a little more and decided on dinner at Asian Noodle. I had a wonderful dish of sweet and sour chicken.
For concerns with COVID, there was a pack in our room with hand sanitizer and masks. The Las Vegas area has only recently really opened up for many of its services, and masks are required in public spaces. The pools were open, but not the hot tubs, and there are several gaming machines with plexi glass between players. The eateries also have limited seating to encouraging social distance. Mark and I have both been vaccinated and we brought our COVID 19 cards with us, but no one ever requested it, not even in the airport. Our plane ride, btw was not spaced socially distant from anyone although we were required to wear masks and given a handi wipe upon boarding. Interestingly the CDC announced that Masks were no longer a requirement for those who are vaccinated happened while we were here. At the time of this writing, I have not seen any changes in the mask requirements, and were we not just all about to DIE from this just the week before. I can't keep up with the whole thing. I can only say that I have lived through this whole pandemic following all the rules, traveled to several areas, exposed and on County mandated lock down, (Although I never got it.) Lived with it in my home, also never got it, and lived with my husband who works as an essential worker who never got it. I am not going to explore this discussion further, but come on already. Make up your mind people.
Anyway, our first evening in Las Vegas was wonderful. The following day, we were up early and took a stroll along the strip before heading back to our hotel and to the pools. We spent the morning enjoying the sunshine and swimming, before heading back to our room to clean up and taking the trip further down the strip to meet up with a friend of mine from High School.
Inside the Venetian. Beautiful area for the gondola rides.
The artwork is incredible. These resorts really take the theming to the extreme. The sad part is that as thing progress a lot of the hotels/casino's become tired and need to be rebranded. Often the entire place is demolished and rebuilt. Currently the only hotel and casino that I have seen that is sad and needs some love is Treasure Island. My first two visits to Vegas, TI was the place to be. Today, it looks so empty and dirty. I imagine that the days of pirates and fun shows will be gone forever soon.
The pirate ship at Treasure Island still stands, but the shows and the themes have long ago died.
a view of the strip from the overpass bridge.
our view in the pool area.
My friend from High School has lived in Las Vegas for 12 years. We had planned to meet for lunch at Walburgers. It was only about a 20minute walk from our hotel, so we started down the strip and enjoyed the scenery as we walked.
Remember the days when characters on the street were happy to take a picture with you and did not attack you for a picture and expect a fee in trade? Those days are long gone. The strip had dozens of ladies in showgirl outfits ready to have a picture with you for a tip, strange looking Mickey Mouse, tron characters, robots, and 1/2 dressed cowboys are everywhere on the street. You see this in NYC and LA too. I understand that people need to make money, but it's overkill. I tried to get a picture of this guy....
The Flamingo casino
Bally's
Everything looks closer then it really is....we walked a lot in our first two days along this strip.
Bellagio resort and casino.
Some of the clothing is not my style. WoW!!
After some walking we finally met up with Mark and were seated for lunch. I have never been to a Wahburger before. The burger was pretty good, and we got a nice picture to remember. Thanks Mark for the meal.
All these Marks, but not the Markie Mark I would have loved to get a picture with. LOL.
Paris resort and casino.
After a wonderful lunch and some catch up with Mark. It has been over 30years after all. We did some more walking and talking along the strip.
MGM casino and resort.
NY NY casino and resort.
Excalibur hotel and casino
Having some fun.
Cosmopolitan hotel and casino.
Over looking the gondola rides at the Venetian.
After a wonderful time with Mark we said our goodbyes and headed back to our hotel to clean up before dinner.
We went to the shop area of the Venetian for our meal and had the most amazing dinner at Mercato della Pescheria. It was incredible. Highly recommended.
YUM!!!
This had to be one of my favorite meals.
One thing for sure about Vegas is over indulgence is the key and we had a day full of it. After dinner we enjoyed the gamming rooms where we won some lost some and generally had a good time with each other playing. We never did have any big hits on this trip, but we had fun trying.
After a long day of everything Vegas, we hit the bed ready for am excursion off the strip tomorrow.
