Trip Report!!
We left the house on 1/12 at 5am and drove to Sea-Tac Airport. The drive went by quickly, and eventually we found a spot in the General Parking area. I don't like Sea-Tac Airport. I much prefer Portland (but the price was more from Portland and this was a last minute budget trip).
We wandered around the airport a bit, and eventually it was time to board our flight. We flew with Alaska Airlines. The flight was uneventful, not much turbulance until we got about a half hour from Las Vegas.
We landed and found our shuttle van (Gray Line) and got to Ballys. I thought about doing the $20 trick, but decided not to. Luckily too, as the person who checked us in was training another person, and I think we would have looked crazy trying to get a free upgrade. They did offer an upgrade to the North Tower, but we said the South Tower was fine (and it was).
After we checked in, we decided to explore a bit. And headed across the street to Caesars Palace to the Forum Shops, where I oohed and aahed at all of the high priced boutiques (Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Coach, etc.) as we made our way to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
The portions were huge - I got the Turkey Club sandwich and salad, and DH got the Double BBQ Burger. We only finished about half of our meals.
From there, we decided to make our way down the strip, and figure out what we wanted to do as we decided to do it.
I knew I wanted to do the M&M store, so I kept my eyes our and eventually asked someone where it was. We were going the right way, we just needed to keep going.
The "porn pushers" were getting annoying. They kept attempting to hand our call girl cards. I honestly think that Las Vegas is not as family friendly as they try to put it out to be. I know I don't want my son to see the nudie call girl cards (and they were all over the ground).
We found the M&M store. Very cool! Lots of neat stuff in there. It was worth the walk (a long walk) from Ballys.
And then since we were so close to the Luxor, I talked DH into going to the Titanic Exhibit.
It was amazing! DH thought we overpaid at first (2 tickets were $60) but the whole experience kept running through his head, and since it stuck with him so much, he decided it was worth every penny. You get to put your hand on an iceburg to see how cold it was and how cold the water would be.
There were many artifacts from the wreck site, as well as a piece of the actual ship. They took your photo on a replica of the "grand staircase" and sold them, but we didn't purchase them (I believe the photos were $25 for 2).
From the Luxor, we made our way back to the hotel. I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed.
We got up early and headed across the street to Bills and had their early morning steak & eggs (or DH had the steak and eggs).
From there, we walked past the Venetian and headed to Harrahs. Explored and gambled a bit (I am not a gambler) and then worked our way back towards Ballys. Stopped by the Margaritaville gift shop but decided not to go in, as lunch was planned here.
We went to the Bellagio and looked around and gambled a bit, and then finally headed to Margaritaville for lunch.
We shared the Volcano Nachos (not hot - they are "Volcano" because of the JB song) and a strawberry margarita. Yummy!! We felt like we were on an episode of Man VS Food - the nachos were H-U-G-E!! And delicious! I highly recommend them! Then we went to the gift shop to buy a "lost shaker of salt" to bring my parents back as a souvenier.
We were tired and wanted to just chill out, so we headed back to Caesars, and DH wanted to play some Keno. Not keno machines, but the super slow casino Keno.
He stayed there, while I wandered around the Forum Shops.
Caesars Palace was easily our favorite hotel in Las Vegas. They had so much going on there, many shops and restaurants. We would pay the extra and stay there next time we go to Las Vegas.
Eventually, it was time for dinner. DH wanted to get the buffet experience, so we headed to Harrahs and had their buffet. He is a buffet person. I am not. The buffet had a lot of seafood, and I do not eat seafood. So I had a $20 (we had a $5 off coupon) salad. It was good though and I am glad DH had the buffet experience.
We headed back to Ballys because we were exhausted, and had to get up early (3am) to catch the shuttle van at 4am to head to the airport.
Caught the shuttle van, and grabbed a snack at the airport before heading off home. Thankfully, we took our Dramamine, as the entire flight was full of turbulance. I think the seatbelt light was off only 10 minutes (2- 5 minute intervals) during the entire flight. It was bad.
Got to Seattle, and headed home. I was in bed at 7:30pm last night, and can still use a nap!
So, their is our quickie trip report!! I would be happy to answer any questions anyone might have. This was our first trip to Vegas, and overall it was a much needed, fun trip!!
