I just returned from a weekend trip to Las Vegas late last night and thought I'd share a TR with pictures with you while I continue to countdown towards my October DLR trip! A little background about this Vegas trip. In 2003, I joined a fantasy football league made up of my friends from my pediatric residency. Some were a year or two ahead of me and some were in my class. Since then, we made the draft a big get together event which continued way after we all went our separate ways in our careers. For the most part, the draft was hosted at one of my friend's house in Indianapolis every August. Then in 2010, the idea was suggested that we get together at a city other than Indy. 2010 it was Vegas. 2011 we got together in Chicago. This year, we decided to go back to Vegas. 9 out of the 12 friends in the league made it out to Vegas this year. It's such a great way to catch up with the guys.
Most of my friends spent time gambling. I on the other hand do not particularly enjoy gambling so I had some opportunities to walk around the Strip and take pictures. We also got to try out some good food, and caught the Blue Man Group show.
Night 1 (August 16th)
I headed to the BWI airport straight from work to catch my 6:50pm flight. It always make me smile that I can spot the gates for a flight to Las Vegas just by looking at the people in the waiting area.
The flight was uneventful and we landed in LV at 9pm local time (which would 12am for my internal clock). For the first night, I ended up booking Planet Hollywood Casino/Hotel to save some money. Hotel was nice but definitely caters to a younger crowd. The room was clean. I lucked out with a room on the 31st floor with a southern Strip View.
Views from my room - Not bad at all! I mean, where else can you get a view of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, AND the great pyramid shooting a laser into the sky in one sitting?
Across the street, I could see a rock concert happening in the swimming pool area at The Cosmopolitan. I never figured out who the band or singer was, but there were a lot of people packed in that area.
I was starving since I hadn't eaten anything since lunch. They had a Earl of Sandwich in the casino! Always wanted to try it everytime we've been at WDW but never got a chance to. So I took this opportunity to try out their Italian sandwich. My expectations must have been too high - was not as good as I was hoping it to be. I called up my friends who had arrived a few hours earlier than I did, and they were headed to the Mirage. So I grabbed my camera, and made my way up the Strip while snapping some pictures.
As I exited Planet Hollywood, the concert at the Cosmopolitan reached its finale with a release of confetti that eventually blew over to Las Vegas Blvd. You can sort of see the reflections off the confetti in this picture.
Starting making my way north. The fountains at the Bellagio finished its show right as I was coming out. I would have to come back at another time for that.
Walked past in front of Paris Casino/Hotel. Reminded me of Epcot.
Also found it funny that on the replica of Arc de Triomphe, there was a huge projection of a British celebrity chef.
Crossed the street once I passed Paris. On the bridge and standing over the middle of Las Vegas Blvd, got a beautiful view of the strip. They had plexi-glass lining the whole bridge, so was hard snap a picture without getting reflections.
Walked in front of Caesar's Palace which now always makes me think of the movie Hangover!
And across the street was Harrah's.
I got to the Mirage and met up my friends who most I hadn't seen in a year. We walked around a bit at the Forum Shops which were of course now all closed. Then made our way inside the Bellagio. By then, it was already midnight, so I decided to turn in and planned to meet up with them the next morning. All of them were staying at the Wynn, so they caught a cab back to their rooms. After I got back to my room, I spent about 15-20 minutes sitting in a chair by the window and staring at the scenery outside. Then I turned in for the night.