We spent the first two day of our spring break in Las Vegas. One of the most alive and enjoyable cities I have been to.

We stayed at the MGM Grand hotel on the strip. It was very nice and exciting. There was a casino and plenty of restaurants in the hotel. The gigantic pool area contained numerous pools and a lazy river. I definitely recommend the hotel if you plan on staying in Vegas.

We explored the hotel for a bit before we visited the STRAT. The STRAT is another hotel towards the northern end of the strip. The STRAT has a tall structure with a few different thrill rides at the top. We visited the op if the tall building and saw the amazing view of Las Vegas. Sadly the thrill rides closed due to weather when we were there.

We had a dinner reservation at a highly rated restaurant called Honey Salt. The dishes at this place were outstanding and the decorations and vibe of the place was perfect. They had all sorts of stuff on their menu. The dishes were pretty big servings too, so if you visit Honey Salt, expect to bring some food home.

After dinner we walked around the strip for a bit, and stopped at the Bellagio to see the water show. The water show was a memorable experience. The had a different song play every show and the water would shoot up to the beat.

Later into the night we visited the Paris hotel which was my personal favorite. The inside looked like you were outside. It had a casino and trees and a sky as the ceiling. It was beautiful inside and was an incredible sight to see.

By that time is was last so we headed back to the MGM Grand. The next morning we drive out t red rock canyon to do a hike. It was gorgeous scenery and a nice hike.

-Jules

Dad says…flying into Vegas at night and seeing the strip and endless sea of lights that extend from it was a visual delight.

The energy I felt from returning to Vegas after 21 years was exciting and I had the thought that I should really give this city another shot.

After spending the day traipsing around the strip and wandering through smoke-filled casinos with little interest in gambling, my thoughts returned of Vegas being a place that isn’t for me.

A quick note… we are here in Vegas during the COVID pandemic and while Vegas is on the cusp of reopening there are virtually no shows playing and many restaurants are closed. There certainly isn’t the intense energy, overwhelming options for entertainment and throngs of people I remember from my first trip to Vegas.

That isn’t to say that I had a bad time. Our kids enjoyed seeing this unique city and I was enthralled by the sheer scale of the MGM Grand and the many resort hotels around it. I had read that Vegas boasts 17 of the country’s 20 biggest resort hotels. It was fun to explore the different themed hotel lobbies and casino areas. My favorite this time being New York where I went for coffee and bagels the morning of our departure.

And while I have little interest in gambling, I wanted to make sure to experience a bit of it while in Vegas so Kevin and I went down to the casino to see if Lady Luck was on our side. We started playing blackjack and both doubled our money. I had played blackjack before and wanted to try something new so we took our winnings over to the roulette table where we promptly lost them all.

Another classic Vegas experience I can check off my list!

-Shane