VEGAS VEGAS VEGAS!

It seems like forever ago that we were in Vegas and I still have not posted about it! So here it goes (and it's a long one)...

At a work event back in May I won two nights free at the Wynn Encore as well as two show tickets to Le Reve and a dinner at Wynn's Switch steakhouse. This is what prompted our Vegas trip so we decided to make a long weekend out of it.

We arrived on a Wednesday night. Since we only had 2 free nights at the Wynn we decided to stay in downtown Vegas for our first 2 nights. This way we could get the best of both worlds. Downtown Vegas is the Old Vegas, not on the strip. I must say that I LOVE downtown Vegas definitely maybe even more than I like staying on the strip. Granted it would probably be considered the 'tacky' area of Vegas and there are definitely are some questionable people roaming around but it is so fun!  It is a lot less crowded than the strip but you are less than a 5 minute drive and there are free shuttles that run back and forth all day. Also I am not a huge gambler but when I'm in Vegas I definitely like to gamble so downtown is much better suited for me in the gambling department. Table games downtown are so much less expensive than ANY hotel on the strip. You can find a $5 blackjack table or $1 minimum roulette table on a Saturday night at any casino in downtown. This is my kind of gambling- I like to put $40 on the table at roulette, sit and be entertained for 2 hours sip free drinks and walk away with $45. I'm not in it to win big money I just think its fun and entertaining to do in Vegas. Also the gambling etiquette is much more relaxed downtown I don't have to worry about messing up someones black jack hand if I don't double down when I am supposed to, if I am inconsistent to hit or not hit on a 16, or reach for my chips too early etc. On the strip those kind of mistakes will get you an eat sh*t and die look or your hand slapped by the dealer. Downtown this type of behavior is usually totally fine and sometimes I feel like I may even know more than the people I am playing with. Ok you get the idea, I will get off of my soapbox about downtown Vegas  now.

So when we arrived at the Vegas airport Matt surprised me with a limo to take us to our hotel. When we met our driver he informed us that we were in luck and were about to receive a huge upgrade (awesome!) He asked me if I knew what Jersey Shore was (if you know me you know this answer is -of course!) he said he was Mike, The Situations driver for 4 days while he was in town and that he had just dropped Mike off at an event and had a short break before he needed to pick him up so they sent him to the airport to do a pick up (aka we were in the Situations limo-even more awesome!) Sidenote: He said Mike was much cooler than they made him out to be on TV and not nearly as much of a tool. So we ended up getting upgrade from a 6 passenger limo this one:

We stayed at the Golden Nugget downtown for the first two nights. Golden Nugget is a really nice hotel and probably the only one I would recommend if you are staying downtown, plus it is super inexpensive. When we arrived Wednesday night we checked in, went to grab a quick bite to eat and headed out to gamble!

 

On Thursday we had lunch at Du Ponts in the Golden Gate casino. It was a really nice day so we laid by the pool at the Golden Nugget (aka the Nug). Their pool has a huge aquarium inside of it. There is a waterslide that goes through the aquarium, so you can see the fish and even sharks when you are going through (it was really cool but the water was freezing!). They also have blackjack tables by the pool so Matt and I went and played in the sun and sipped daiquiris and beer.


We had dinner and Vic and Anthony's (a really good steakhouse in The Nug). Then we went to Four Queens for a comedy show and gambled at the Golden Gate. We were having a lot of luck at the Golden Gate so we ended up staying there pretty much all night. Golden Gate is a super small casino (famous for letting the guys from The Buried Life do the 1 million dollar roulette spin) but they always have really weird girls in bikinis dancing on boxes- it seems to attract a lot of locals from Vegas but I find it hilarious and entertaining! (Sidenote: once when I was there my my parents my mom and I were playing roulette at Golden Gate with a local who looked like he camped out there everyday. He was betting on red AND black every spin. You may think this is weird but it may be genius because I'm pretty sure he was only there for free booze and if he is betting on red and black he obviously will be at the table for a long time. )

Fremont Street Light Show- KISS themed

 

Friday we played blackjack by the pool, made some basketball bets and then it was time to head to The Wynn.

Amazing view of the strip from our room

After we checked in we headed out to the strip. We went to Harrahs because I wanted to see The Mac King show (which is a daytime magic/comedy show). They give away free tickets to the show in the courtyard outside of Harrahs (right in from of the open air Carnival bar- which is really fun BTW). It was a really good show but since it is during the day it never sells out and they always give away free tickets. Matt and I even got called on the stage to do a magic trick so we know the tricks were real and not people that had been planted.



After the show we went to Caesars Palace/The Forum shops and I did some shopping at the 3 story H&M while Matt boozed at the bar outside (Sidenote: malls everywhere should take note and set up little stands with booze and TV's so guys can enjoy the mall as much as us girls do).

That night for dinner we ate at an Italian Restaurant in the Venetian and walked around there (I love the Venetian!)




After dinner we watched the fountains at the Belagio...


Then headed to Caesars Palace, Serendipity for dessert- yum! We sat and ate our dessert outside with a view of the strip, only in Vegas can you have dessert with a view of the Eiffel Tower and see the New York New York skyline at the same time! :)



Then we went and gambled at Wild Bills (the former Barbary Coast) casino for awhile. I would like to note that at this point we were really ahead gambling wise, this was our high point but after that it was all downhill from here!

On Saturday we had lunch at the Pizza Place in the Wynn and watched the Clemson/UNC game (where UNC beat us- thank goodness we did not bet on that game!) Then we went back out on the strip and walked around/did some gambling at some other hotels (Flamingo, Harrahs, TI etc.)

Saturday night we cashed in on our free dinner at Switch in the Wynn Encore. The restaurant is really cool every 20 minutes the restaurant changes atmospheres- the lights get low and new walls and ceilings come up. Then we went to see Le Reve- which is a Cirque Du Soleil show with water- it was SO GOOD! It is an expensive show (if we didn't have free tickets I originally would have never paid the ticket value to see it but now that I have, I would definitely see it again!)

The circular stage at Wynns Le Reve

Sunday we had lunch at I heart burgers in the Venetian and went to see Nathan Burton's Magic Show at the Flamingo. We got free tickets from one of those Vegas discount books in all of the cabs. It was a much larger scale show than the Mac King show but I have to say I liked Mac King a lot better.

By this point Matt and I had lost a decent amount of money gambling so we ventured to some of the more seedy establishments on the strip as a desperate attempt to try to win back some of our money back before we left. We went places like Rio, Circus Circus and Slots of Fun. We slightly recovered some of our losses and headed back to the Wynn. Our flight didn't leave until midnight so we went and ate at the Wynn buffet (I'm pretty sure this was Matt's favorite meal our whole trip!) We went to our room and soaked up the Vegas view while we packed then had to head to the airport.

Attempted self timer portrait from our room

I already cannot wait to go back to Vegas- I need one of my friends to have a bachelorette party there so I will have an excuse to go back ASAP!