Drive In
OUR LAST LONG DRIVE! It was a 4.5 hour drive from Bakersfield to Vegas and I was sooo excited to be done driving and have a few days to just sit around.
The drive was straight desert but it was my first time in the desert or anything like that. I’d never been out to this region before so it was cool to see everything and what you expectations vs reality really are.
Hotel
We got to our hotel around 4pm and stayed at the Trump Hotel. It was actually one of the better priced hotels and we liked that it was still near the strip but not necessarily RIGHT in the heart of everything. After our last trip to Vegas I’m also SUPER glad it didn’t have a casino in it. It was clean, our maid was SUPER nice and wrote us a nice little note one day and the pool was great too. After the long week we had, we were not interested in partying – we don’t party anyways so this for us was perfect. One thing I noticed was all the hotels with Casinos REAKED of smoke. I cannot stand the smell and so it was nice to walk in and out of our hotel and NEVER smell like smoke. You do have to valet park but that was actually nice.
Vegas
We put some miles on our feet these next three days. We walked EVERYWHERE. Some of the things we did
- Bellagio Fountain (times)
- Bellagio Gardens
- Walked the Venetian (get gelato here)
- Walked Caesar’s Palace
- Walked the Cosmopolitan
- Walked Planet Hollywood
Basically we walked EVERYWHERE. The hotels are just huge. Malls inside and each really plays into their own theme. Like The Venetian had canals inside where people can take gondola rides. Caesar’s Palace had marble and Statues everywhere, Cosmopolitan was all glitz and sparkles.
Food
One of the hardest things was that food was more expensive than I thought it was going to be, so here’s where we ate
- Maggiano’s because Ricky reminded me we had a gift card and the one in Cleveland closed
- La Salsa Cantina (inside Planet Hollywood for breakfast, get the special for $4.95)
- Egg & I (HUGE portions, not on the strip, we went after church)
- In & Out Burger – no need to explain
- The Henry (Inside Cosmopolitan, service was ehhh but Ricky’s french toast was enormous)
Hoover Dam
We also did the Hoover Dam after church on Sunday. Wasn’t sure how crowded it was going to be but we managed. It’s about an hour away and from reading stuff online parking can be a pain. We actually drove over the Dam and parked on the Arizona side. We basically walked the Dam, looked over the side, clutched my camera gear like none other and just marveled at the size.
Not many bathrooms, there is one on the bridge inside one of the towers and then there are porter potties as you leave to go back to Vegas if you stop to do the overlook bridge. After we walked the Dam we did the Mike O’Callaghan Bridge which if you go back to the Nevada side there is parking on the south side of the road. Nice little walk, the bridge is so high. If you have a fear of heights… ehhhh maybe just hold the rail.
Old Vegas
We also decided to walk Old Vegas on Fremont Street. That was an experience. I don’t know how to explain other than it was a site to see, once in your life. People performing and dancing and doing magic and bands playing and old men in little thongs and show girls (all being paid to have their picture taken) it was just odd. Ya that’s all I got.
Overview
Vegas was … interesting. There are so many grand buildings and it was actually really clean but I couldn’t get over the people who were half naked and how many people had YOUNG children with them out at like 9pm at night. In my opinion, Vegas is not for children because you literally have no idea what you’ll see anywhere and a 5 year old doesn’t need to see an old man in a thong or a lady who’s basically naked except that her body is painted. We gambled once and lost $30 in 5 minutes, so that was the end of that – I’m not a fan of gambling anyway so that was the extent of that. And we’re not partiers or drinkers. We were in bed by 9/10pm every day, so for us Vegas was a site, we relaxed, walked around (a lot) and sat by the pool one day. It was a good end to a really jam packed vacation and I enjoyed being in ONE PLACE for a few days.
