It’s time for our next vacation! I always get inspired to write posts about vacations, but hey, going to new places is what makes life interesting! After much contemplation, we decided to go to Las Vegas this spring for our next big vacation. I’ll get to cross another destination on my Travel Bucket List. See that blog post here. My husband and I like to go on a big trip at least once a year. We had originally planned on going to London. We have always wanted to go to Europe and had wanted to do the London trip for years. But, we found out how much it was going to cost, which was a lot higher than our budget. A London trip may not be in our near future, especially since we may plan to have kids in the next several years, but we WILL go one day! My husband accrued thousands of American Airline miles for our London trip to pay for the flight, but we will keep on saving them for our next great adventure.

A few months ago, my husband and I were talking about what vacation we would like to do next, since London was out of the question. New York and Chicago came to mind. We talked about it for about an hour in the car (not sure where we were going but it was somewhere pretty far away) and it took us that long to think of going to Las Vegas. We said, “How did it take that long for us to think of a Vegas vacation!?” Some time went by, and then a few weeks ago, we seriously considered going to Vegas in June. We looked up flights and hotels and priced things out. Then, we realized Vegas in June can be over 100 degrees. So, a sooner date was picked. We looked at hotel prices for the last week in April and they were a bit high. Then we looked at the week before and the hotel prices dropped dramatically. So, we booked our trip for mid-April. We used Delta miles for our flights and somehow were able to purchase them with fewer miles than anticipated and no surcharges. The flight was totally free! We decided to stay at Bally’s because they are a nice, centrally located hotel with good prices.

Bally’s

This is my pre-trip post and I will be posting a trip after our Vegas vacation too of course. Despite what others told us, we decided to go to Vegas for a week. We already had the time off work, and we don’t think we’ll get bored since we are not big partyers.

We will also be going on a few day trips during our time in Vegas. We plan to go on the Pink Jeep Tours trip to the Grand Canyon. It is an all day tour that will pick us up at our hotel at 6 a.m. The Grand Canyon is a few hours away from Vegas. That is something we have always wanted to see. They have a skywalk where you can see great views of the canyon. If we decide we are tired of the strip, we may rent a car for a day and go on the Hoover Dam tour as well as explore the areas surrounding Las Vegas.

I plan on relaxing on a lawn chair by the pool while in Vegas. April is the start of pool season and I heard Bally’s has a really nice pool. I purchased a new bathing suit and cover ups for the trip. I really need to get my body in shape so that I am swim suit ready. My husband and I are doing a weight loss program together with the My Fitness Pal app. So far, we’ve been sticking to it and it’s going very well. So far, I lost about a pound and he lost 5 ½ pounds! Men always loose more. So unfair!

While in Vegas, we of course have to go to a show. We definitely plan to go see the Blue Man Group and have heard very good things about that show. I have also heard good things about the Beatles tribute Circe de Soleil show called Love. We may go see that show as well if we can get discounted tickets the day of at the Tix4Tonight booth. I’ve heard there are a lot of free shows in Vegas such as the fountain show at the Bellagio and the volcano show at the Mirage. We plan on doing all the free shows while we are there. You can’t beat free!

Here are some other things we are going to try to do while in Vegas:

• Eat well: Straying from a diet for vacation makes it all worth it. Besides, if you’re on vacation it doesn’t count, right? We’re not sure where we will go out to eat yet. I know I want to do a breakfast or brunch buffet. I’ve been dying to go to In–N-Out Burger since we were in California last September. I saw there was one in Vegas, so we’re going! We also got a few restaurant recommendations from family and friends. We are going to Gordon Ramsay Burgr because we’ve always wanted to eat at one of his restaurants. I plan to read up in my Fodor’s Las Vegas 2015 Guide Book about good places to eat in Sin City.
• Walk thorough all the hotels: From the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the canals at the Venetian, we’re excited to see it all. I’ve heard each hotel is incredibly unique and different from the rest.
• Downtown: We were told to go downtown and see the strip in old Las Vegas where the original casinos are and where it all started. We plan to gamble a bit at the Golden Nugget or the 4 Queens. The gambling is cheaper at the old strip. So are the hotels. We also plan to see the Freemont Street Experience, which is a cool show under an arched canopy with tons of lights, cool music, and dancers.
• Shopping: My guide book told me to check these places out- Grand Canal Shoppes (stores near St. Mark’s Square at the Venetian).  The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood and The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, which is, of course, located at Mandalay Bay.
• Bally’s Gym and Spa: It will be good to have a nice gym in our hotel, especially a Bally’s gym. Use of the fitness center is included in the resort fee of the hotel (which we were required to pay).
• Ride the tram/bus/monorail to get around: We will have to use public transportation since we don’t plan on renting a car for the majority of the trip. We may take a few taxis, like to and from the airport, but I’ve heard the bus/tram/monorail is the way to go. And the trams are free!
  

  Paris

  

  New York New York

There’s less than a month to go before we leave! I’m ready for a vacation where there’s no schedule. No more road trips! (See my post called Pacific Northwest Road Trip about our first wedding anniversary vacation). We are going to see all the sights in Vegas but not make a schedule. As I have explained, we have a few things planned out, but we plan to just enjoy ourselves and not be burdened by the clock.

The lights, the sights, the casinos, the people — it can all be overwhelming and over stimulating, but that is what makes Vegas unique. I’ve even heard that walking down the strip makes you feel like you’re on acid. I wouldn’t know about that!

I am so excited for the Vegas trip! What’s your favorite thing to do in Vegas? If you don’t want to tell me, I understand. After all, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

The Venetian

Luxor